HE-500 Review and Shoot out. - Page 23

Quote:

Originally Posted by LugBug1 

Congrats! Yeah they really open up over time, mine sounded quite dull and congested to begin with but after about 20 hrs or so they start to liven up. 50 hrs and they sound wonderful!

 

(cough... Velour pads )

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

 

 

 

What pads are you using?

Mine comes with a pair of plether pad and a pair of velour pad (but no travel case ), i'm using the plether pad right now and haven't try the velour yet, do i get a defect HE500 since others get more sparkle when using the velour pad? i don't know and i don't mind , can't wait for the HE500 to reach it's full potential interms of SQ and definitly i will try the velour pad

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeinharis 

 

 

Mine comes with a pair of plether pad and a pair of velour pad (but no travel case ), i'm using the plether pad right now and haven't try the velour yet, do i get a defect HE500 since others get more sparkle when using the velour pad? i don't know and i don't mind , can't wait for the HE500 to reach it's full potential interms of SQ and definitly i will try the velour pad

Yeah the velour pads help to open them up, they sound 50% better with them in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeinharis 

 

 

Mine comes with a pair of plether pad and a pair of velour pad (but no travel case ), i'm using the plether pad right now and haven't try the velour yet, do i get a defect HE500 since others get more sparkle when using the velour pad? i don't know and i don't mind , can't wait for the HE500 to reach it's full potential interms of SQ and definitly i will try the velour pad

Did you get a box case?  I got a travel case and wanted a box case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LugBug1 

Yeah the velour pads help to open them up, they sound 50% better with them in my opinion.

I see, will do that ASAP

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

 

Did you get a box case?  I got a travel case and wanted a box case.

Here's some picture of my HE500

wishing to exchange my box for your travel case

I'm using the velour pad now, for the test i throw some eluveitie track and i can tell that the HE500 is 2x better than my DT880/600 ohm in terms of PRaT

Ohh boy this baby is heavy

Quote:

Originally Posted by captouch 


I think you're also in for a nice upgrade once you get some real power driving them. If you have an old (70's) receiver around somewhere, give that a try as comparison point vs your Dacport LX.

I will do that, i've been eyeing on some ss amp, i never like the tube amp not for it's sound but more to tube rolling while the ss amp is also pretty good job when it paired to ortho headphone

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kukuk 

 

Have you tried them unamped? They still sound very nice, though that sensitivity kind of goes out the window.

 

I had the chance to use Whitecrow's HE-500's, and a pair of HE-400's he was borrowing, and they both sounded great out of my phone, but I had to crank the volume to 100%. Kind of weird since my Little Dot I+ only needed to be at like 20% for the same volume.

I've been wanting to get the HE-500, but was concerned about my LD1+ that I already have. How does th HE-500 sound with the LD1+? I also have an old Luxman integrated amp or a Cambridge audio integrated amp that I could use if someone could tell me how to hook it up to the speaker terminals.

Ok, So I couldn't help myself, and just ordered. I should have my HE-500's by Thursday. I just hope my wife never finds out how much I just paid for a pair of headphones (thank goodness for credit card points!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by scheiderichdmd 

I've been wanting to get the HE-500, but was concerned about my LD1+ that I already have. How does th HE-500 sound with the LD1+? I also have an old Luxman integrated amp or a Cambridge audio integrated amp that I could use if someone could tell me how to hook it up to the speaker terminals.

 

Ok, So I couldn't help myself, and just ordered. I should have my HE-500's by Thursday. I just hope my wife never finds out how much I just paid for a pair of headphones (thank goodness for credit card points!)

Most old receivers and integrated amps just have a resistor drop to the HP out, so it's not so different versus going to speaker terminals. 

But if you do want to go to the speaker terminals, you'll need to reterminate your HP cord to XLR male and buy/make a speaker tap cable (4 wires on one side that go to speaker terminals and XLR female on the other side).  The 5LE came with a cord option that had XLR male, so you only needed the speaker tap cable.  Starting with the HE-500, it's more work since you need to address the HP cord side as well.

I would suggest verifying that your integrated amps are just resistor drops off the main amp, and if so, use the HP out.  Then decide if you want to really go for speaker terminals.  Aftermarket cords that have XLR connection tend to be a little pricey (actually aftermarket cables in general), but you could probably find a Head-Fi'er who can make both for you if you're not comfortable in making them yourself.  

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely try the HP out on my Luxman and see how that sounds. I also have an old Carver pre-amp with a HP out, but I'm not sure if the resistor drop off holds true for a pre-amp. If it comes to buying new cables/connectors, it would probably be just as well to buy a new high current HP amp like the Lyr.

I think you'd be surprised by how nice they sound out of the Little Dot I+. I think even Whitecrow was impressed by how well it powered them.

It probably doesn't power them as well as a $400+ amp, but for the price, the Little Dot I+ does an admirable job. I was even able to get a great soundstage with them, and this amp, to me, has always had trouble getting a really large soundstage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wetfit9 

Hi
I just ordered the he-500 and didn't do good research on them. Meaning didn't realize I needed a good amp to push them.
Need help,
Going to using with my computer and from reading this from front to back tonight, it seem the lyr and bit frost dac is the best combo for these. Could you recommend these and the best place to buy stateside
I am open for suggestions also.
Thanks ahead of time.

I'd keep your eyes open on the For Sale forums for both Bifrost and Lyr.  I got my Bifrost from another Head-Fi'er for about $100 below retail this way.  If you're impatient, you can just buy at full price from Schiit.  

If you can afford to spend the $, I've heard it is a great combo for not only HE-500, but many cans.  I have NFB-12 (combo DAC and HP amp) - not as good as Bifrost/Lyr to be sure, but only about $200-250 and does the job.  Hifiman EF5 is also a good amp (about $250 used), but you'll still need a DAC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scheiderichdmd 

I've been wanting to get the HE-500, but was concerned about my LD1+ that I already have. How does th HE-500 sound with the LD1+? I also have an old Luxman integrated amp or a Cambridge audio integrated amp that I could use if someone could tell me how to hook it up to the speaker terminals.

 

Ok, So I couldn't help myself, and just ordered. I should have my HE-500's by Thursday. I just hope my wife never finds out how much I just paid for a pair of headphones (thank goodness for credit card points!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kukuk 

I think you'd be surprised by how nice they sound out of the Little Dot I+. I think even Whitecrow was impressed by how well it powered them.

 

It probably don't power them as well as a $400+ amp, but for the price, the Little Dot I+ does an admirable job. I was even able to get a great soundstage with them, and this amp, to me, has always had trouble getting a really large soundstage.

I'd agree with this too, its a great little amp for the money and it will certainly do until you get something a little more refined. It has bags of current but I'd also recommend altering it for the higher gain setting and therefore feeding the hifimans as much voltage as poss.

There are people on here who love the HE500's driven from speaker taps and others who think there is no need to. I've used them with a number of normal headphone amps and have never found them lacking. Audio gd do some good cheapish amps that give out a lot of power and are defo worth a look at.

opps wrong thread.