HE-500 Review and Shoot out. - Page 47

Hi,

Can I use my existing Fiio E11 with HE-500 ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnSantana 

Hi,

 

Can I use my existing Fiio E11 with HE-500 ?

I don't think that'll cut it. I tried a Fiio E11 with my HE-400 which is supposed to be easier to drive, and it didn't do much for it besides volume, and bass boost function. The dynamics weren't fully there, so it sounded very plain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luic 

 

I don't think that'll cut it. I tried a Fiio E11 with my HE-400 which is supposed to be easier to drive, and it didn't do much for it besides volume, and bass boost function. The dynamics weren't fully there, so it sounded very plain.

Ouw no :-o ?

So what aspect that I need to look for when looking for a new amp to drive HE-500 ?

is there any portable amp which can drive the amp ?

I will be having my own HE-500 shoot out this evening.  When I bring the HE-500s that I received while at work today home to add to my collection, my wife will be the one doing all the shooting.    

Quote:

Originally Posted by wje 

I will be having my own HE-500 shoot out this evening.  When I bring the HE-500s that I received while at work today home to add to my collection, my wife will be the one doing all the shooting.    

Well, keep them in the box and wear some closed back phones for hearing protection until it's over....

Quote:

Originally Posted by wje 

I will be having my own HE-500 shoot out this evening.  When I bring the HE-500s that I received while at work today home to add to my collection, my wife will be the one doing all the shooting.    

The Hifiman cans all look pretty similar to each other.  Never have more than one out at a time, and if she says the pair that's out looks "different" than the one she saw earlier, blame the lighting. . .  

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnSantana 

Ouw no :-o ?

 

So what aspect that I need to look for when looking for a new amp to drive HE-500 ?

is there any portable amp which can drive the amp ?

Not many..maybe one of the more expensive rsa amps or woo audio?

Is anyone underwhelmed with the bass on these cans?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexnova 

Is anyone underwhelmed with the bass on these cans?

It depends on why you bought them. I had the impression these were going to be pretty Bassy and I never bothered to check a frequency chart on them. They aren't super Bassy headphones.  The bass you hear people raving about is not the quantity, but the quality. It's very layered and textured Bass, but it's not overly boosted. 

Open backed  Planars in general have a very detailed bass response. They just lack the slam you get from a closed dynamic speaker which push more air that you can actually feel. Here's a chart comparing the HE500 to the Fostex Th-900 which is a closed back system. You can see here that the HE500 is not super "Bass heavy" but has a a nice boost in the lower end. The Th-900 on the other hand... probably going to sound a bit more Bassy. I've taken to looking at the frequency charts as a general guideline as I like a lot of Bass too. 

Thanks for the awesome reply. I guess I'm used to having that slam in the bass, since I have IEMs that do that. It seems to me that the HE-500 wants to accurately reproduce the bass from a song, instead of artificially doing it like a lot of other headphones. In fact when I had the Grado PS500s for awhile, when it couldn't handle certain bass it would exagerrate and distort it.

The bass on these cans are much more subdued to where the mids are more of the focus. All I wanted was just a little more volume in the bass to really hear the layers clearly.

Then again folks say my hearing is gone considering I turn up my Schiit Lyr past half way. ;)
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexnova 

Thanks for the awesome reply. I guess I'm used to having that slam in the bass, since I have IEMs that do that. It seems to me that the HE-500 wants to accurately reproduce the bass from a song, instead of artificially doing it like a lot of other headphones. In fact when I had the Grado PS500s for awhile, when it couldn't handle certain bass it would exagerrate and distort it.

 

The bass on these cans are much more subdued to where the mids are more of the focus. All I wanted was just a little more volume in the bass to really hear the layers clearly.

 

Then again folks say my hearing is gone considering I turn up my Schiit Lyr past half way. ;)
 

One thing about them is they do EQ up better than just about any other headphone I've had.  If you have iTunes try using the "Electronic" preset in the EQ if you want some grins. If you want a little more Bass you can just bump it up manually in the EQ. I know EQ isn't the purest way to go, but in my case it added to the enjoyment and didn't seem to cause any sonic harm. I bump it up about 2 dB and I've been pretty happy with that. 

(cross posted through several threads) :

Quote:

Originally Posted by PleasantSounds 

 

Quoting from another thread I'm following:

 

You want scary binaural? Try a virtual haircut. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA

Wow...... never tried that before.  I listened through the Q701, the T1, and HE-500.  Finally, a good way to easily rank soundstage :

1. HE-500

2. Q701

3. T1

The HE-500s REALLY sounded like the sound was all around the room, way outside of my head.  Was playing from the Lyr with the Amperex A-Frame 6DJ8/ECC88 tubes known for great sound and soundstage