HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) please post your impressions. . loan pair for UK pg. 28. - Page 172

+1 i agree..i also owned a dhc copper cable since a year and loved it and since a few days i upgraded them with toxic cables black widow 22awg litz copper cable for only 120gbp..and wow..i cant imagine my rig sounding better then how it does now..not even with silvercables....but am already putting money aside for their top copper cable..the copper venom with retangular wire...costing 300 gbp... Ouch! .that will make a hole in my wallet..but then again..that kind of cables costs twice or even triple with other manufacturers and from what i understand..those kind of cables sound stellar!
Edited by hifimanrookie - 1/13/13 at 12:46pm

 

Wow, just a few posts back you were lecturing me on how only a few people can afford the HE-6 and look at you!

You are spending half of that on cables...

Just saying :D 

I found mine smoothed out with breakin the mids became creamy smooth treble sharper

I was surprised also.as .i loved my dhc cable!.. And to be honest I did expect a difference but didnt expect that it was this big ... biggest difference was the soundstage and the placement (especially with some queen songs..) ..u can hear exactly where the intruments and various singers stand in the recording..and the bassimpact ..it was less boomy and more natural sounding (on songs of loreen and petra berger)..a trombone actually had that nice deep dark sound to it.. .treble and mids were better but not by a big margin with the black widow compared to the dhc cable .but..that bigger soundstage and that placement....u have to hear the difference to believe it.. and no..i dont have superhearing..but soon i will put my excellent dhc cable for sale as i wont be needing him anymore.
Dont get me wrong..both companies are pro's (as are more of them!) in what they do..so big respect for what they give us to connect to our beloved rigs

As soon i have some time i will post a little review about the black widows..i will be comparing them to my dhc molecule quicksilver and the hifiman silver cable wich i both own using my he500 and my 337...i will be comparing them with different kind of music. It will be my first review so wish me luck. ..

Ur right..but..i wont be keeping my dhc cables..they are going to be on sale soon so part of the spend money flows back to me..the he6 is 1299 euro..i wish i had that money laying around and have money to buy the amp it deserves also..we are talking at least 2000 euro total. and i dont even talk about powercable/rca cable and headphone cable...thats another 500 euro at least.. like i said..wish i had that money to spend on my rig but u never know.. This hobby can be dangerous...

Man that is all optional...
HE-6 1300 bucks off headdirect. Emotiva Mini 220 bucks. NFB 3.32 350 bucks. Plus shipping and my silver cable run me 150 bucks incl. the extension. With shipping I am at 1900 bucks.
And you got a solid entry lvl setup.
More in the HE6 thread and the upcoming review

If anyone is looking for HE-500, looks Amazon like sells a used 'good' condition pair through their warehousedeals seller acount for $619 with a standard return policy.

 

Given that I haven't seen HE-500 all that often in the marketplace, this might not be a bad grab for some.

 

(i'm content with my he-400 and the amount I spent on them for now)

Does anyone find the silver cable in being the deal breaker? I mean, I'm thinking about picking these up again sometime, but I'm worried about the cable (experienced it's treachery first hand with the HE-300).

 

What ever happened to the awesome Canare cable?

Deal breaker, no. The stock silver cable still sucks in terms of its build and flexibility

^^ The silver cable is quite stiff and tangles (although untangles easy) and is micro-phonic, but its light when it comes to weight and works.  If you read through the thread you will find numerous aftermarket suggestions.

 

 

 

Something has been bugging me about the HE-500's as of late.  This did not become apparent until the winter season was in full swing.  

 

You see, I live in an extremely dry climate, where hung up wet laundry is dry the next morning and wet dishes are dry within an hour after being tossed into the dish rack.  Although potato chips stay nice and crunchy after being left out all day and night.  I love this climate and have enjoyed to appreciate its benefits.

 

What started occurring is that whenever I put on my HE-500's to do some listening the static electricity build up shocks my ears (---> insert pun here <---).  This tends to go on while the headphones are on my head.  Wearing any clothing that's made of fleece or covering myself with a blanket on a cold night only makes the situation worse.

To further worsen the matter, we have a wood burning fireplace.  Once fired up it dries the air out even more.  At this point, the problem is compounded three fold and the HE-500's are left hanging on the headphone rack due to "health concerns" :D

This was not an issue in the summer but during the winter its become a big problem.  

 

I have been searching for a humidifier but haven't found one that I'm willing to drop $100-$250 dollars on.  Do any of you fine Head-Fi peeps have any recommendations.  Something quiet, low on power and durable.  Atypical request, I know.  

 

Is anyone experiencing or has experienced similar issues with the HiFiMAN line of headphones?  If so, is a humidifier the best way to go?

 

Cheers.

 

P.S.  Needless to say, the K501's have been getting a lot of head time.  No regrets here :)

I get a little static shock every now and then as well.  Mostly during the winter months when it's most arid here. Individually, for some reason i build static up quite easily though.  For example I get shocked just about every time I get out of my car as I close the door.  Needless to say the next car I buy(not for a long time unfortunately) will not have cloth seats.

Rezolver, are you still using the stock cables? Possibly, you could consider a breaded silver or gold dotted silver aftermarket cable as a substitute? I have no experience in this matter. Depending on cloth, I've also experienced some electrostatic effects leading to crackling noises.

Edited by Acapella11 - 1/16/13 at 2:46pm

 

So are you using the velour or the pleather pads? If so, the velours might be part of the problem..I guess you could do a little experiment and pick up the headphones by the leather band (then alternate by picking them up by the cups), ground yourself by touching the case of your amp or dac, and then put them on your head and see if you still get a shock... 

Edited by WestLander - 1/16/13 at 2:52pm