Hifiman HE500 vs LFF Paradox's, best price to preformance? - Page 10

Because on head-fi, the word neutral is like the bat-signal for objectivists.

Has anyone else heard the paradox and the he-500?

Not the paradox..but the mad dog version..compared to the he500it was more of a monitor phone then the he500..but the he500 was more fun to listen to it..on my 337 amp..its a strong amp..on a weaker mstage i dont know which was best..it was close call..the mad dog was more agressive..needs less power..and is maybe better for house kind of music with lots of bpm..or driven directly by a mp3 player..but as i said..with good quality amping ther is no contest between mad dog and he500., the 500 wins always..last sunday it was clear at a meet for many people..butbthen again..the mad dog is much cheaper..so..msybe better value for the money..i have the he500 for one reason and one reason only..the best sounding phone i ever heard under 1000...especially with my rig behind it....and my full copper cables around from dhc.

The Mad Dogs are one of the best bang for you buck headphones in the business.

+1 I agree
Together with the he300 and the he400 (if the latter is not faulty..i sold mine very quickly it was to agressive for my taste ...and only have the he500 and 300 now) ofcourse..
And to be honest..the he500 doesnt have any real competors in his price range..i still can remember it was introduced for 800...i am still wondrering why the price went down..marketing? Getting more followers? As it worked!
Edited by hifimanrookie - 11/19/12 at 5:50pm

Just wanted to point out that the Paradox does not sound like the Mad Dog.

 

I listened to both the Mad Dogs and the Paradox and to my ears they sound very different. If you take the time to read comparative impressions (Mad Dog vs Paradox) you may find out that I'm not alone in making this assessment.

 

Given this please note this thread is not Mad Dogs vs. HE-500...

Edited by ultrabike - 11/19/12 at 5:57pm

 

Well, maybe a few, depending on ones personal preference.

 

HE-5LE

Shure 1840

The all new AKG K702 65th anv. (I have not heard this yet.  it's getting rave reviews thus far)

Audio Technica ATH-AD2000

 

I think the HE-500 measures better than most if not all of them.

 

Not saying one is better than the other.  Just a few to consider.  Again, depending on ones personal preference..  

Edited by preproman - 11/19/12 at 6:23pm

...and the Paradox depending on one's priorities...

My aplogies,..didnt know that the mad dog was so night and day different soundwise then the paradox..
I take back my comparision..
But still the base of both modded phones is one same fostex..the t50r right? does the paradox has different kind of drivers or something? Am just curious..

 

 

Correct.

No worries, just thought bringing the differences up might be useful.

 

The drivers are the same. The damping scheme is what results in a significant difference with regards to sound performance. It effectively results in acoustic equalization and tuning of the headphone. These differences have been documented both through measurements and subjective evaluation.

Edited by ultrabike - 11/19/12 at 6:30pm

Oops never thought of those..i was more thinkin bout thebsennheisers...
As i tried them all..and the he500 was the most complete headphone..but i can remember for soundstage no one was better then the standard k702.
Sorry..i started a offtopic thread..there are a lot of good phones out there..for everyones tastes..i will leave it like this..
This thread is about he500 vs paradox.

Interesting! Thanks for explaining Sooo when is someone making modded he500's? except for the grill mod

 

LOL! Sorry if I sounded a bit blunt. FWIW, I agree that the HE500 are outstanding.

I guess it comes down to personal taste. When I bought my HE500 I was really determined to love them, which then did not happen. They ARE very nice headphones, of course, and you hear that when you listen to them. But, to my ears they had an ever so slight tendency to sound dark and with time the laid-back nature of the mids was a turn-off for me. So I sold them, and I do not regret it.

Having listened to the Paradox for some time now,  I do not miss anything, everything is nicely in balance, and what is most important to me, the mids are just right. Plus, they are closed and I doubt that it will be easy to find as excellent a pair of closed headphones out there as LFF's Paradox. Unless one looks for coloration. Excellent job, LFF!

Edited by stratocaster - 11/25/12 at 6:09am

I know for a fact that the HE500 was a reference for LFF before he developed his Paradox. LFF's HE500 pair is actually in my possession on sort of a loan term loan (LFF has completely forgotten about them. I will be sure to return them one day.) That should tell you guys something about the Paradox. I like the HE500 because it is slightly dark and laid-back (exactly as Strato described above). The HE500 is forgiving and pleasant. I feel it matches best with more forward sounding amps. You get the idea...

 

The Paradox essentially corrects my minor quibbles with the HE500. The Paradox does not have that slight mid-bass emphasis of the HE500. The Paradox rendering of bass is less muddy than the HE500's. The Paradox is not scooped in the upper mids, so you will get the full bite of trumpets, snare drums, female voices, etc. It's more honest. And believe it or not, the Paradox has slightly more treble air and can even be slightly more open sounding at times than the HE500 (which was never that open sounding in the first place.)

 

I've hesitated for the longest time from making a strong statement about the Paradox because LFF is a friend of mine and I did not want to appear to shill for him but simply let the Paradox stand for itself. But given the fact that discussions on HF now need to come down to a vote from people who have not heard both, I will now simply state that the Paradox is sonically superior to the HE500 musically and in every technical aspect, noting that I still consider the HE500 to be an excellent headphone.

Edited by purrin - 11/28/12 at 11:30pm