HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) please post your impressions. . loan pair for UK pg. 28. - Page 238

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingStyles 

unlike my audeze, my he500 never needed burnin. They sounded the same out of box as they did when they were older.

Same with mine ..... they were supposed to be new @ list price from Crutchfield, serial # 9### , but who knows if they were really virgin.

Interesting.. I've noticed that the bass has tightened up, seemed a little HD650'ish at first (slow), mids have alway been brilliant and the highs are smoothing out. Maybe because I was mostly using an ill fitting set of velour pads.  Have the pleathers back on now and am really liking it. YMMV.. just my experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingStyles 

unlike my audeze, my he500 never needed burnin. They sounded the same out of box as they did when they were older.

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

 

 

 

noted 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeyVee 

Interesting.. I've noticed that the bass has tightened up, seemed a little HD650'ish at first (slow), mids have alway been brilliant and the highs are smoothing out. Maybe because I was mostly using an ill fitting set of velour pads.  Have the pleathers back on now and am really liking it. YMMV.. just my experience.

My experience has been similar. I've got about 50-60 hours now and I've noticed the bass seems quicker and has a bit more impact than when I first took it out of the box. Mids and highs are silky smooth. I prefer the velour pads though, they just sound more natural to me. I found the pleathers sounded slightly hollow and artificial.

mine changed after about 20 hours, out of the box the HE-500 is like a hybrid between DT880 (abit forward on the treble yet very smooth and never sounded thin) and HD650 (abit forward on the mids, and thick bass yet tighter and faster), after 20 hours the treble start to take forms, take a few step back but sounded realistic and still retaining that smoothness, the mids become lusher yet still forward though. After changing my setups the HE-500 is become a newly beast, most noticeable is it's techicality, seperation, depth, height and imaging improves.

This is my first encounter with an orthodynamic headphone and the experience is very intriguing, so is everybody i guess

Just my 2cent

Worried I might have damaged my precious HE 500. For about 30 sec I accidentally played white noise at a very high volume. Where I had to take them off and disconnect from the Amplifier. Is there anyway of finding out if some damage has occurred to the headphones. Any advice is welcomed thanks. By the way these are the best headphones I have ever heard. 

The only burn-in they needed is actually switching the muffled pleather to the velour.

Too bad I started the experiment with the Alpha pads after I sold the 500s... Considering the positive effect they have on both my 4s and 5LEs, I might have done a mistake selling them...

The 500s with Alpha pads and hard wired Norse cables might be an extremely yummy experience! In the future, maybe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidsh 


I doubt you have damaged them. They can handle several watts. The lcd2 can handle 15 watt rms.

Thanks for that its good to get some technical feedback. I have been listening to them for the past 30min and everything seems fine.

The difference between when I first opened the box and when I plugged them in and put electronic signals though them was literally night and day. Initially they were just a lump of metal, plastic, and wires, then when I hit "play" on the FOOBAR, they sounded like the best headphones I've ever owned.