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Battle Of The Flagships (58 Headphones Compared)
Dec 16, 2012 at 6:26 PM Post #1,696 of 5,854
Quote:
davidmahler said:
Speaking of the HE-500, I'm bummed today because I went to resume my review of the HE-400 and in the process of switching the cable back and forth several times, I think the twisting over and over has created a short in the left side of my connector.  And since APS no longer is in business, I doubt I can get it fixed easily.  It's like the headphone gods don't want me to finish this HE-400 review.
Click to expand...

Not fun.
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 6:32 PM Post #1,697 of 5,854
The Hifiman connector is one of the most frustrating part of this headphone series. After a few cable swapping experiments I finally decided to stay put with the stock silver cable for the HE500s, partly because of the fear of doing irreparable damage (or painfully reparable) to the connectors. I terminated the cable to 4-pin XLR and have various extendors I use for connecting with various speaker amps (serves saves having to swap an XLR extendor from amp to amp). I use my HE500 almost exclusively via speaker terminals of the amps. The discussion for or against doing that stills rages on, but I have long since excluded myself from it because the results speak perfectly for themselves.
 
Looking forward to the HE400 review especially considering the HE400 only has one magnet per driver versus the two magnets per driver for the HE500 and HE6. It will be interesting to find out how close it gets to its older siblings.
 
(oops edit ... (saves having to swap ...))
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 6:34 PM Post #1,698 of 5,854
nick dangerous said:
First of all, kudos and a big "Thank YOU!" to David for dedicating so much time to this comprehensive guide. I believe he deserves a canvas Time Bandits/LOTR style map of the "Kingdom of Headphonia" for all of his hard work.

I've heard nearly everything (IEM's excepted) on his list short of a few outliers such as the Ultrasone and JVC, and generally agree with his rankings from the Orpheus on down. I've long held the HD600 and Grado SR-225 as price/performance leaders. However, my one significant divergence is with the HiFiMan HE-500... it just doesn't fit into the way I view the headphone hierarchy.

I briefly owned the HE-500 and paired it with a Decware Taboo. The HE-500 delivered satisfyingly deep bass and excelled with certain instruments such as the piano. What bothered me most was the uneven soundstaging. Human voices sounded as if they were coming from a different area of the venue, as if artificially recessed or encased within a plastic bubble. This lack of cohesiveness across the band was frustrating to experience. My mind wanted to enjoy the excellent rendering of individual sounds but was unable to integrate them uniformly. By comparison, my Grado 225's (despite being less sophisticated and having a smaller soundstage) were much more fun to listen to via the Taboo because the sound was consistent across the spectrum.

I didn't keep the HE-500's very long. I found them to be rather heavy, hot, and required occasional adjustment to prevent the hard surfaces of the speaker area from brushing against the top of my ears. Overall refinement & appearance was a bit rough in comparison with other peers at this price point. I dunno... the HD800 in my opinion vastly outclasses it in terms of detail retrieval, neutrality, comfort, soundstaging, fit and finish, and realism. Like, no contest.

*shrug* I'll have to confirm this at the next Head-Fi meet & contrast with some LCD's to find out what's what.
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1. Question..have u tried the he500 with other amps? I heared of at least one other person that decware amps dont mix well with he500...just as some woo audio amps..
2. U say ' Overall refinement & appearance was a bit rough in comparison with other peers at this price point. I dunno... the HD800 in my opinion vastly outclasses it in terms of detail retrieval, neutrality, comfort, soundstaging, fit and finish, and realism. Like, no contest. BUT u know the hd800 is at least 300 usd more expensive right? But then again..try the he500 with a lafigaro 339 or a darkvoice 337 or violetric v200 or a shiit mjolnir or the yulong a18 sabre..and am sure there are others on which the he500 will surprise u..especially because its 699usd. Much cheaper then any other real competitor around..
Yes i love the he6 and the lcd3 more then the he500.. And i tried a hd800 also..only with right amp that phone shines..and a decware is almost made for the hd800. In this price range u dont really have bad phones i think..only preferances and which amp u have..
Try the he500 with one of the amps i just mentioned and maybe then u will change ur view on the he500.. But ofcourse is all my personal opinion.. :D
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 6:38 PM Post #1,699 of 5,854
P.S. David. Open up the HE500 grills. The wires are easily accessible. Sometimes the retaining screw comes loose. You would need to untwist the wires (if they're twisted) and then retighten the retaining screw. Good luck.
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 6:40 PM Post #1,700 of 5,854
terja said:
The Hifiman connector is one of the most frustrating part of this headphone series. After a few cable swapping experiments I finally decided to stay put with the stock silver cable for the HE500s, partly because of the fear of doing irreparable damage (or painfully reparable) to the connectors. I terminated the cable to 4-pin XLR and have various extendors I use for connecting with various speaker amps (serves having to swap an XLR extendor from amp to amp). I use my HE500 almost exclusively via speaker terminals of the amps. The discussion for or against doing that stills rages on, but I have long since excluded myself from it because the results speak perfectly for themselves.

Looking forward to the HE400 review especially considering the HE400 only has one magnet per driver versus the two magnets per driver for the HE500 and HE6. It will be interesting to find out how close it gets to its older siblings.
Click to expand...

I totally. Agree with this..how. In earth did mr. Fang cameup with these..beeeeep connectors..they are hell to put on..and because they are so ..dont know the word in english sorryy..itsnot my first language..u always are afraid to unscrew them..and making them faulty....for instance i dont use the carying bag of hifiman because for that u have to unscrew the cable..instead i use the bag of my sennheiser in which i can put my he500 without unscrewing the cable...hope hifiman will come to a conclusion a different connector would be better.. Hope so
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 6:41 PM Post #1,701 of 5,854
Quote:
hifimanrookie said:
1. Question..have u tried the he500 with other amps? I heared of at least one other person that decware amps dont mix well with he500...just as some woo audio amps..
..try the he500 with a lafigaro 339 or a darkvoice 337 or violetric v200 or a shiit mjolnir or the yulong a18 sabre..and am sure there are others on which the he500 will surprise u..
Click to expand...

 
I'm not ruling out the possibility. I'll give the HE-500 another try at the Austin meet & mix it up with some different amps. It would be a shame if it was an amp mismatch, because I really like the Taboo. It's my favorite amp for Grados at the moment & the tube crossfeed mode is a nice bonus feature.
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 6:48 PM Post #1,702 of 5,854
nick dangerous said:
I'm not ruling out the possibility. I'll give the HE-500 another try at the Austin meet & mix it up with some different amps. It would be a shame if it was an amp mismatch, because I really like the Taboo. It's my favorite amp for Grados at the moment & the tube crossfeed mode is a nice bonus feature.
Click to expand...

I agree with u..the decware taboo is a excellent amp! And to be honest..i would keep the taboo and find myself a headphone that goes well with it if i had one :D .its that good! But as an experiment..try a he500 with another amp..as i said..u will be surprised :D
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 7:03 PM Post #1,703 of 5,854
Quote:
viralcow said:
 
Wow, that sucks. and I was really looking forward to this review...
Click to expand...

im still working on the review:)  I got well over 50 hrs of play time with it, but I hate not having it for reference.  I can still use the stock cable, but the APS cable really was better.  I'm not all about cable upgrades, but I noticed a real difference with this cable.
 
Quote:
terja said:
P.S. David. Open up the HE500 grills. The wires are easily accessible. Sometimes the retaining screw comes loose. You would need to untwist the wires (if they're twisted) and then retighten the retaining screw. Good luck.
Click to expand...

It's not in the headphone, its the cable that is shorting, which I guess is still a better scenario:)
Quote:
hifimanrookie said:
I totally. Agree with this..how. In earth did mr. Fang cameup with these..beeeeep connectors..they are hell to put on..and because they are so ..dont know the word in english sorryy..itsnot my first language..u always are afraid to unscrew them..and making them faulty....for instance i dont use the carying bag of hifiman because for that u have to unscrew the cable..instead i use the bag of my sennheiser in which i can put my he500 without unscrewing the cable...hope hifiman will come to a conclusion a different connector would be better.. Hope so
Click to expand...

Its definitely not my preference either.
 
Since, APS seems to be off the map, I've contacted a few cable manufacturers and Fang himself to see if perhaps they can help.  If its just a matter of splicing and reconnecting, I may as well do that here myself, but I have to get the connectors and shielding.  It would be easier to just send it away maybe.
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 7:20 PM Post #1,705 of 5,854
Quote:
terja said:
The Hifiman connector is one of the most frustrating part of this headphone series. After a few cable swapping experiments I finally decided to stay put with the stock silver cable for the HE500s, partly because of the fear of doing irreparable damage (or painfully reparable) to the connectors. I terminated the cable to 4-pin XLR and have various extendors I use for connecting with various speaker amps (serves saves having to swap an XLR extendor from amp to amp). I use my HE500 almost exclusively via speaker terminals of the amps. The discussion for or against doing that stills rages on, but I have long since excluded myself from it because the results speak perfectly for themselves.
 
Looking forward to the HE400 review especially considering the HE400 only has one magnet per driver versus the two magnets per driver for the HE500 and HE6. It will be interesting to find out how close it gets to its older siblings.
 
(oops edit ... (saves having to swap ...))
Click to expand...

thought i responded to this...
 
It can be frustrating yea.  I knew the mutliple retwists would eventually result in damage to the cable.  My cable happens to be terminated to 4-pin also.  It's just that I don't have 3 cables.  I have 4 hifiman headphones and one aftermarket cable haha.  
 
The HE400 review is on its way.  I also have to revise some other parts of the review to make sure it still reads correctly.  Everything from the #ing to the ranking is manual.  I'm regretting the way I formatted it now haha, but its too late.
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 7:48 PM Post #1,706 of 5,854
I really like my Moon Silver Dragon with my HE500s. It took some careful twisting and positioning to attach them, but it wasn't all that difficult.
And now they sound so great the Moon cable is never coming off of these.
 
Dec 16, 2012 at 9:38 PM Post #1,709 of 5,854

 
 
Um, could I borrow those after I book 'em into evidence as Exhibit A? 
evil_smiley.gif

 
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