MINI-REVIEW HE-500:
I haven't done a HE-500 review yet because I was waiting for my ZDT amp to return after a socket replacement and a silver transformer upgrade. This wont be anywhere near as thorough as my HE-5 LE review that I put in the review section a while back. Once I get my daughter on the plane for her school trip to Germany this weekend I'll have much more time to devote to listening and comparing gear this summer.
I have over 300 hours on them right now. I've spent most of the time listening to the HE-500 with either a 5G Nano line out and lossless music fed into an ALO Amphora amp, or with the DACport and DACmini 24/96 DAC/amp headphone-out (and DACmini line-out into the Amphora or SR-71b). I've also used the Apogee mini-DAC > HiFiman EF5 amp.
I think these headphones sound very good. I also find them to fit my head a little better than the original HE-5, HE-5 LE, and HE-6 - while the older models all seem to be slightly loose fitting at the their smallest setting. My head isn't too small, but HiFiMan headphones often seem to be made for bigger heads than mine. Comfort for me is still miles ahead of the LCD-2 which clamp my head too tightly, even after 9 months of use. The weight still seems like it's more than the HE-5 LE, and on a bad using any of my orthos bothers my neck due to a couple of bad cervical discs.
Previously the HE-5 LE were one of my favorite phones and I used them more than the HD800 or LCD-2, until I got the HE-6. But the HE-500 improve upon the HE-5 LE sound with a little fuller midrange that has better body and weight, plus more air-ambience, and sparkle in the highs. And they do it without becoming too bright, with less treble energy than the HE-5 and HE-6, although a little more than the HE-5 LE. The HE-6 border on sounding bright when driven by an underpowered amp, but everything evens out when given gobs of power. But the HE-6 treble is so smooth and sweet that it's not bothersome even with the wrong amp, while the original HE-5 treble could sometimes become a little tizzy with some amps like the HDP (ZDT was perfect). The HE-500 seems to have a smooth treble like the HE-6 but just a little tamer sounding, along with just the right amount of everything else; although the HE-6 seem a little more revealing of micro-detail than the HE-500. The HE-500 are also a little more efficient than the HE-5 LE, and a wider variety of desktop and portable amps work well with them.
Like with all the other HiFiMan headphones the EF5 amp is a great choice for these headphones, and I'm feeding the amp with an Apogee mini-DAC and ALO SXC interconnects. As I said, I'm finding that the HE-500 also get along with a wide variety of amps around the house including my DACport, DACmini, HDP, Amphora, and SR-71b; but the Apogee > EF5 combination is very good with them and I think this combo is a little more enjoyable than the DACmini > LCD-2 by a small margin. I can't decide yet whether the HE-500 are still ahead of the LCD-2 when both headphones are driven by the DACmini, which is slightly brighter sounding with HE-500 and HE-6 than I prefer. But, I've spent the past two days listening to them only with the DACmini, and haven't wanted to pull out the LCD-2 once to compare again. Feeding the DACmini into my ALO Amphora is a very good combo for HE-500 (and LCD-2 as well), although a little less powerful than the Apogee > EF5 combo it works better than it did with the HE-5 LE.
I know that previously with my Eddie Current ZDT amp I've posted that I preferred the HE-5 LE over the LCD-2 out of the ZDT, which makes my LCD-2 sound a little darker than I prefer. However, I haven't tried the HE-500 with the ZDT yet because I sent the amp back a few weeks ago for repairs to two tube sockets and to get a transformer upgrade to partial silver ones. I will be able to try the HE-500 with the ZDT in a couple of days, and will report back as soon as I can. Plus I have the WA6, HDP and about 8-10 portable amps that I haven't tried yet. Regardless, for now if I only could pick one current production orthodynamic to fill a variety of listening needs, it would be the HE-500 (or HE-6 given enough power). That might change when I receive my Silver Dragon cable for LCD-2, but it still doesn't solve the LCD-2 comfort issue and may not solve the mild added reverb or recessed treble issues I have either.
Overall I think the HE-500 are a better or more versatile "all rounder" headphone than the HE-6 because of the very high amp demands of the HE-6. They have great speed and detail, good frequency balance, a nice soundstage and imaging, good presence and good transparency. It's what the HD600 "should" have been, and while auditory memory is short I think they remind me a lot of my old Stax SR-404 Limited Edition but with better impact and a more cohesive soundstage and imaging. I'd love to get my hands on another 404LE and compare them someday.
In comparison to the HE-5 and HE-5 LE I think the HE-500 is a clear upgrade, although the HE-6 can still do a few things better if given enough power. To anyone with an original HE-5 I would say buy the HE-500 and sell the old pair. To anyone with a HE-6, if they don't have an amp that can drive them properly (or would like a little less treble energy) then they should really consider the HE-500. For those with a HE-5 LE it gets more difficult, although I do feel the HE-500 sound a little more complete, life-like and immersive than the HE-5 LE. To me the extra $200 is not wasted on these over the HE-5 LE, but I can't say if that holds true for everyone. I do know that even if my only rig was my lowly Marantz CD5001 > EF5 > HE-500 this could keep me happy for a long time.
What a difference in the overall enjoyment, there is no major difference but a bunch of small ones (depth, clarity, width, musicality, etc) which add to a much nicer experience. Now the Monarchy Audio NM24 uses the 6922/6DJ8 family of tubes just like the RWA so perhaps they are a better match. Too early to tell specially since I have to try other 6SN7 tubes on the Singlepower.
