[bedlam inside]

Hi,
Quote:

A friend of mine coming back from CES told me that HiFiMAN may be revising the design (looks/comfort) of the HE series in the future. I'm anxious to see this, and hear the difference if this is to happen.

 
I recently tested the HE-500. I liked the sound a lot.

But I thought the build was a bit of a shambles and these may the least comfortable headphones EVER.

Let's hope they improve them a lot, so build quality and wearing comfort get in line with the sound. 

Cheers Rich

 

[daigo]

Quote:

A friend of mine coming back from CES told me that HiFiMAN may be revising the design (looks/comfort) of the HE series in the future. I'm anxious to see this, and hear the difference if this is to happen.

 
That would be great, if the sound signature doesn't change too much.  I've enjoyed the recent HiFiman headphones when I've tried them at meets, but they weren't comfortable for my head and felt more fragile than Audio Technica's wing system.

 

[preproman]

Maybe he's doing away with that horrible connector..

 

[conquerator2]

Quote:

Maybe he's doing away with that horrible connector..

 
Well its not THAT horrible. Just twist clockwise and twist back in and it is screwed in forever Actually there is no way it would fall lose now.
Still there are better solution of course

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
Well its not THAT horrible. Just twist clockwise and twist back in and it is screwed in forever Actually there is no way it would fall lose now.
Still there are better solution of course

 
Yes,
 
Hardwire

 

[conquerator2]

Quote:

 
Yes,
 
Hardwire

I knew you will bring that up Sure why not

 

[Terja]

Ummm ... no please! Hifiman listens to customers, so before this gets away from us, I'll contribute a -1. Being able to swap cables and try different ones is a real bonus and a good characteristic of hi-end audio. THEY SHOULD RETAIN A CONNECTOR OF SOME KIND ..... but .... PLEASE a different kind that is easy(ier) to swap cables with.

 

[214324]

David, any chance you could try to review the ATH-AD900x? I'm assuming it should start ending up in American stores now that it's up on the Audio-Technica's USA website. It would definitely be interesting.
 
Edit: on AudioCubes only as of now as far as I can see (besides for eBay).

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Hey guys. I have just seen my thread about LCD2 move from High-End forum to headphones section, to find out later that LCD2 was taken out of the High-End category  on headfi alltogether ). 
 
Explained "why" here.
 
It may not be Ultra High-End, but saying that it isn't high end is funny actually (imo) ) . 
 
What are you opinions on this? Is it not high end? 
 
If it isn't, many other headphones should be taken out of the high end section.

 

[Kendoji]

Not really much point arguing about it, certainly not in this thread.  For the record, I agree with the mods on this one.

 

[spaark]

Quote:

Hey guys. I have just seen my thread about LCD2 move from High-End forum, to find out later that LCD2 was taken out of the High-End category  on headfi alltogether ). 
 
Explained "why" here.
 
It may not be Ultra High-End, but saying that it isn't high end is funny actually (imo) ) . 
 
What are you opinions on this? Is it not high end? 

It's a matter of opinion, but I think anything at $1000 or more should be considered high-end for headphones. Is the LCD2 something only a hardcore audiophile would get? Not really, which is probably why it isn't Summit-Fi material.

 

[LugBug1]

Its a fast moving business headphones these days. I never would have thought of the 650's ever becoming mainstream a few years back and now they are some peoples first headphone. But the LCD2's and HE500's have kind of taken over what the 650's and K701's were..  Peoples first taste of high-end. And they are'nt at the top anymore. To be fair the HE500's never were, its just that some folk rate them higher than the top tiers.
 
All the best peeps are on this subforum anyway

 

[pelli]

Quote:

 
What are you opinions on this? Is it not high end? 

 
Who cares?  Whether or not it is classified as "High End" doesn't change the sound.  I love my LCD-2s and I know there are many more who do as well.  Hell, they are ranked #12 on this thread.  If you are tired of listening to the haters, turn your headphones up! 

 

[jerg]

I think the rule of thumb for summit-fi now is that any headphone that does not explicitly encourage huge investment (both in terms of money and mind) into upstream gear as well as general technical audiophile / snake-oil knowledge, is not considered as summit-fi.
 
So it is more about the commitment one needs to give to a particular headphone in question, that determines whether or not the gear is considered top of the line; NOT about the performance or raw costs of headphones.
 
I guess from a discussion point of view that is fair, it puts a neat dividing line between casual audiophile hobbyists and the more hardcore types.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Quote:

 
Who cares?  Whether or not it is classified as "High End" doesn't change the sound.  I love my LCD-2s and I know there are many more who do as well.  Hell, they are ranked #12 on this thread.  If you are tired of listening to the haters, turn your headphones up! 

Agreed, I don't care about where they put them, I just do not agree with the mentality. If the category would be Ultra High-End, well yes...it should not be there, but in high end it sure has a place. Who sets the price limit?
 
I have listened to a 7k vaughan site by side to a 2k burson conductor and the differences were minor, actually preferred conductor in some aspects, and I am sure that some people owning vaughan or gear in that price category would say that Burson Counductor is not high end or the differences are enormous, without actually blind testing them both.
 
Beyond a level, It is very easy to be thrown into psychoacoustic . Blind testing in these cases would show this.
 
And if it is a price issue, I don't know why other headphones still in the high end category.... In Europe hd800 is the same price as lcd2, even cheaper .
 
 
 

I think the rule of thumb for summit-fi now is that any headphone that does not explicitly encourage huge investment (both in terms of money and mind) into upstream gear as well as general technical audiophile / snake-oil knowledge, is not considered as summit-fi.
 
So it is more about the commitment one needs to give to a particular headphone in question, that determines whether or not the gear is considered top of the line; NOT about the performance or raw costs of headphones.
 
I guess from a discussion point of view that is fair, it puts a neat dividing line between casual audiophile hobbyists and the more hardcore types.
 

Ok....that seems a rather good explanation, but the rules are kind of foggy and the existing rules should apply to all headphones from High-End . They can put it anywhere, I don't care, but they should apply the rules to all of them.