HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) please post your impressions. Proving to be a great headphone... - Page 132

Yeah I find the velours transform the HE500's, they become less congested than with the pleathers. The bass becomes free and doesn't spill on to the lower mids as much. Better for classical music with the more open and balanced sound. 

I hate what the pleather pads do to the sound of the HE-500. Love the velours, the openness of them.

I wasn't either until I put velours on them.

Yup, I just took out the pleather and added velours. Huge difference here. Treble opened up and the congestion with the pleather pads went away.

 

Thumbs up.

Brian over at BTG Audio sent me a picture of the Appalachian cable I ordered for my HE-500. Needless to say, they look gorgeous.

 

Edited by sregor - 9/23/12 at 5:40am

Just as someone suggested previously on this thread, I bought a Beyerdynamic Pad from Ebay for my HE-500. Definitely a great investment. Initially it was hard to get it on but now it's secure and helps a lot with comfort. The headband really helps hold the headphone be more stable. The HE-500 before had a tendency to move a bit here and there and it would sometimes throw the imaging off and somewhat annoy my ears. Also due to the added stability, the bass performance is more consistent throughout my listening sessions - much appreciated. With these pads, the clamping force went down, and relieves some pressure for sure. I would say I have an "average head" - I didn't need to, but ended up maximizing the height of the headband to make room for the add-on and give some extra comfort. Definitely worth the $10.

 

I don't have a camera with me ATM, although the headband somewhat ruins the look of HE-500 - although I only use the HE-500 at home, so the looks don't really mean too much, especially given the much added comfort.

 

Here is the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/200799150982?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

There are couple of other models similar to this one. Also, this apparently only fits the newer HE-500 models and not the older ones....it explains it in the link.

Quote link: For Hifiman: Fit the newer version (the model that comes with two sets of earpads and thin silver cable)

 

Well, that´s not really true. The Hifiman headband is actually too wide. You have to squeeze the Hifiman headband tightly together to make the snapon thingies snap together, which makes the end result a bit bumpy on the head. It´s working ok with only the first and last pair of snapons closed, even though it looks a bit daft. 

 

 

I posted the original information about that aftermarket pad. After I posted I got some pm's from members saying that the headband didn't fit their HE500 and they had to send it back. I thought the only issue was the change over to the version with the silver cable which had a thinner headband. Later I got to thinking that maybe Hifiman was not being consistent about their headband. On the HE500 I had it fit perfectly (I posted pictures). This all causes me to think that the headbands on the HE500 may be somewhat random in size? I really can't draw any other conclusion.

 

Yea, my headband looks like that too, and at first this was the exact position I could go to and was confused for a while. I tried closing the buttons on the far end first and then worked my way to the middle. It took me a good 2 minutes to get it on.

 

However, I can't notice any bumps now on my head with all the buttons clipped on. It feels quite smooth and even throughout.

 

I wonder what the leather is going to look like, after having been squashed up for a while. Hopefully it´s not going to decrease in resale value, if it´s totally wrinkled up.

 

Yea, I am going to check it out after a month and see how it turns out. Hopefully, it stays intact (the Hifiman heaband looks quite durable)

 

As for resale.... I don't really plan on selling my HE-500, they're just so right. Although for others who either plan on selling it, they might want to factor it in. 

That's why I returned mine - was concerned it would leave permanent creases. I don't plan on selling mine, but you never know. Would be nice if they came in a wider size option.

With the first snowfall of the year upon us, covering every inch of our city, I've decided sit back, toss on the HE-500's and just let the music flow as I sip on a glass of V.S.O.P. My ears are telling me my system matching has perfected the sound signature of the HiFi's with speed, soundstage, instrument separation, bass tightness and detail along with high end sparkle without fatigue all combined with accurate tonality all at a perfect balance. 

Tonality took some time to nail down and I found that to be the toughest part but it was well worth it. Oh boy, was it ever.

 

Audio Nirvana achieved? ... *CHECK*.

 

Toodles.

I found out about how good the HE-500 is by reading the "Battle Of The Flagships" thread. It is ranked #16 of all the flagship headphones reviewed and about half the headphones with a lower rating are no longer in production. The reviewer said a lot of good things about this headphone and gave it an A+ for the price. I will be buying these headphones but need to focus first on buying a quality DAC AMP that is all in one because don't have much space. Have been thinking of either buying the Audio-GD Compass 2 or preferably the Reference 10 if am able to afford it. Has been a pleasure reading about the HE-500 here. Thanks to everyone's contributions.
Edited by WizardKnight - 11/3/12 at 10:16pm