[Wildcatsare1]

Well for a planar magnetic, a great treble is somewhat of an anomaly,while bass and midrange usually comes with an expected excellence, imo of course.  Planars seem to struggle with resonance issues that can plague the treble, and that has been my experience as well.

Headphones like HE-400 have far too much treble, Mad Dogs have too little of it and it's too unrefined, LCD2 has both too little of it and a slight hardness around 9khz.  PM-1 has a rough transition from upper midrange to treble.  LCD-X has too much of a spike around 9khz-- an accentuated LCD2 problem imo.  I've not heard the HE-4,HE-500 or HE-6 but I've read from trusted ears that they all have issues with treble as well. 


HE-560 (with focus a pads) is the first planar I've personally heard that does treble right, the balance at around 10khz is just right, and the transition from upper midrange to lower treble and then upper treble is near flawless, it remains relatively smooth while having enough presence in that region to keep a linear sound.  Other planars have dips or peaks in that critical transition from 4-10khz.

How 'bout the Alpha Dogs?

 

[Ron12]

 
Everything is quite special about the HE-560. From the top to the very bottom.... the most special property? The focus of the middle is without peer at it's price. Talking about the division of the sound spectrum, talking about highs, middle and lows and the HE-560 is misleading, the intrinsic balance and even power response is what sets this phone apart.
 
You can use an iFi amp and NAD HP-50 and enjoy 90 percent of what I'm talking about...... the search for the last few percentile points isn't for everyone.
 
Synergy, is that is one "component" that manifests and melds two components to reach above their station. The mixing and matching of components is an art unto itself, something with the needs of an ortho? To enjoy an ortho as intended and manifest it's FULL potential? Doesn't come cheap.

 
Does 'FULL potential' equal '100% performance that a device is capable of'? Because, you know, even my crappy speakers and mediocre 40USD headphones are resolving enough to scale at least a tiny little bit with each DAC/amp/whatever upgrade in my audio chain. That's why I have never understood this full potential concept... Is there anyone that really got to hear or unleash that ultimate peak performance of any audio device, except absolutely crappy transducers that sound all the time like... well absolute crap?

 

[Skooks]

 
While very different, what do you think in terms of musicality, and accurate musical reproduction 560 versus the 800? The planar sound is certainly to my inexperienced planar ears quite different than dynamic cans.

I have had the HD-800, and it did not excite me, so I passed it on. But, the HE-500 excited me, especially with the modified pads. Now, the 560 excites me even more. I definitely like the planar sound... just like I liked the big Magneplanar speakers. But, everyone has their own taste in music reproduction... as for me now, I'm enjoying the 560's driven by the Lyr 2 and Oppo 105... great combo.

 

[SBranson]

I had the HD800 in the past and other than the pure bliss of the Stax 007mk1 rig, they were were the first and maybe only headphone that I put on that I immediately said "wow".  It's the sheer scale and expansiveness and height that got me.  I guess that's more why I would not call the presentation of the HE560s at all similar.  Maybe they have some similarities tonally but I can't really remember that far back to be sure.
 
The only drawback I had with the HD800, is that, coming from a speaker system and lots of mix and matching with my audio buddies back then, I found that I tended to listen to "sounds" over music.  I didn't find them that engaging for all the "wow" factor I felt.  Kind of "HiFi" over musicality.  I have found myself "transported" more often with the HE560s, coming back to my room and thinking,, "whoa, how long was I out"
 
They're all good at this level and it's just a matter of taste and listening preferences.  I remember going to a guy's house to pick up some cables and he had Martin Logans run by Krell monoblocks along with other "bright" sounding gear and silver cables..  It sounded to me like a drill to the forehead but he was happy with his expensive gear..  I digress..

 

[TooPoor]

The Enigmas found a new friend tonight...
 

 
- Box and headphones came unscathed. Phew.
- Already in love with the comfort. Sound awesome out of the box.
- So my Norne cable for my HE-500 doesn't work with them. Hugely disappointed with that considering I kept it just for these. Not really sure why they won't connect properly. Oh well.
- Need a lot more time with these before I compare them to anything (ie LFF Engima)

 

[hifimanrookie]

Everything is quite special about the HE-560. From the top to the very bottom.... the most special property? The focus of the middle is without peer at it's price. Talking about the division of the sound spectrum, talking about highs, middle and lows and the HE-560 is misleading, the intrinsic balance and even power response is what sets this phone apart.

You can use an iFi amp and NAD HP-50 and enjoy 90 percent of what I'm talking about...... the search for the last few percentile points isn't for everyone.

Synergy, is that is one "component" that manifests and melds two components to reach above their station. The mixing and matching of components is an art unto itself, something with the needs of an ortho? To enjoy an ortho as intended and manifest it's FULL potential? Doesn't come cheap.

+1 i totally agree with that..i found that out since recently that the better the amp (pairs) with ur hifiman (in my case the code-x) the better ur sound experience..and it has costed me much more then i initially anticipated, being a budget of around 1200usd...well..some of u guys know where i ended up with and dont regret it a bit..
As i also didnt regret my earlier headphone rigs being a more modest darkvoice 337(modded) with a he500 (jergpad and opengrill modded) and even my first hooray into headphone audio, the he300 with a matrix m-stage (opa627 modded)and a hifiman hm602 as source gave me utmost pleasure when listening to my music...they all paired very well with each other... The he400 was not my taste..it gave me headaches when listening to more agressive music, like rammstein or evenescene, for longer periods.. It was just to much for me...but am sure others love that agressivity...so i sold that one very quickly

Am really curious how the he560 is sounding....many say its a league above the he500... Thats surprising as its single driver configured.... I always heard that a dual driver configuration for a planer is superior sounding then a single driver version... So if its true what jerg and others say that it sounds better then a he500, then i am really curious...but first get my hands one..i wont buy one for sure...as i am waiting for the next phone that for sure will outperform my code-x..the new jade...already knowthat i need a WEE to get it working with my PaG.

 

[hifimanrookie]

Well said. You don't sound like a rookie at all.

Lolz..thanks..

 

[jamato8]

Will see how the 560's sound shortly with a special litz wire, Hugo/901 to the Lyr 2 and some good NOS tubes. Sounds good out of the Lyr. I really like live music on the 560's. 

 

[jexby]

You can use an iFi amp and NAD HP-50 and enjoy 90 percent of what I'm talking about...... the search for the last few percentile points isn't for everyone.

Wow jinx- that's my office setup. nano iDSD (or GO450) and HP50. Great sounding and cheaper alternative.
Yet always nice to return home in the evening for the HE-560 big boys tho. Ha!

 

[Sonic Defender]

Wow jinx- that's my office setup. nano iDSD (or GO450) and HP50. Great sounding and cheaper alternative.
Yet always nice to return home in the evening for the HE-560 big boys tho. Ha!

For sure, I just sold my HP50s, and while they were indeed an excellent headphone and full value for the money, the 560 is quite a bit better on pretty much every front. Ultimately the HP50 does everything well, and nothing poorly, hence the balanced accolade, but they aren't brilliant at any one thing per say. At least not to my ears. I consider the HP50 as a performance to cost ratio equal to the DT 880, which I believe to be a great feat. If anything the HP50 would likely please more people due to it's even handedness.

 

[ThurstonX]

  - So my Norne cable for my HE-500 doesn't work with them. Hugely disappointed with that considering I kept it just for these. Not really sure why they won't connect properly. Oh well.
 

 
Maybe they use a non-standard SMC connector, or at least somehow different than the stock HFM connector.  Don't recall reading about other aftermarket cables not fitting.  That's definitely a bummer.

 

[tin427]

Maybe they use a non-standard SMC connector, or at least somehow different than the stock HFM connector.  Don't recall reading about other aftermarket cables not fitting.  That's definitely a bummer.

anyone facing the same problem? Considering a norne cable for my 560.

 

[SBranson]

That would be good to know if the connectors aren't working.  I was thinking of getting a balanced cable so I guess I should steer clear of used ones?

 

[AgentXXL]

 

Maybe they use a non-standard SMC connector, or at least somehow different than the stock HFM connector.  Don't recall reading about other aftermarket cables not fitting.  That's definitely a bummer.

anyone facing the same problem? Considering a norne cable for my 560.

 
The HE-560 use the same SMC connector as all of the older HE series headphones from Hifiman. Not sure why the Norne (Norse) cable won't connect to your HE-560. It's definitely tough to tighten the SMC male plugs onto the female SMC jacks mounted in the headphone cups. I've found using a 6mm open end wrench (commonly sold as an 'ignition' wrench) works quite well, although I had to take mine to the grinder to flatten the sides of it so that the jaws of the wrench would have enough bite to grip the nut portion of the SMC connector. When tightened up there's only about 1/3 of the nut facings available for the wrench to grip, but my mildly modified wrench does the job.

 

[AgentXXL]

I modded the stock cable that came with the HE-560 so it can be used with any of the different adapters I have - balanced or SE. I'm also building myself a new, longer balanced cable but I'm waiting for some paracord to get delivered before I can finish it up. I would not be concerned about any 3rd party cable as long as it uses the standard SMC connectors used for all of Hifiman's HE series headphones.
 
Dale