[mikiphile]

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I think both Hifimans have more weight than the K701 and DT880, but slightly less than the HD 600/650. I'm most impressed by lack of grain across the spectrum, especially in the mids. The HD 800 has the least grain of any dynamic I've heard, but the HE-6 still bests it in this area. I don't have a Q701 to a/b against the HE-6 and HD 800 anymore, but my memory indicates that the HE-6 and HD 800 beat it on both musicality and technicalities. But then again, I never really liked the Q701. I would always reach for the DT 880, DT 990, or HD 580 unless listening to classical.
 
The HE-500 is a more polite sounding than the HE-6 with less treble energy, but the sound signature is still closer to the HE-6 than the LCD-2. 

 
Truth be told.. the AKGs even though I still like them.. just cant even compete to the real high end stuff. They are a very hardcore headphone.. like Grado. I understand that a lot of people like them (Grado) but they arent my thing (despite what you see on my pic 

). Ive heard the Joseph Grado HP-1000.. and they are a different story altogether. 
 
The HD-800 were the first true high end headphone I ever heard and it was off the LYR. It sounded unbelievable.. in the next few weeks, I had the opportunity to hear the rest of the high end cans: HE-6, K1000, LCD-2, SR-009, HP-1000 driven by some of the best amps on the market, fed from the best sources. The ones that really left a big impression are the HE-6 and the HP-1000. 
 
What my K701 really lack is, as you said, weight! They are very plain and "two dimensional" if you will. I like Blues, Jazz, Classic Rock, occasionally acid jazz, Classical, even Pop. The K701 is useless with half of these. My K242 HD is a much better all rounder (a very laid back can, but also quite detailed) than the K701. Oh btw.. they survived 4 watts of torture that my friend gave to them thorugh the LYR... I still do know how!!????!
 
Went slightly off topic... well I really hope that the HE-500 would be a better all rounder than the K701, given its apparent qualitative advantage. 

 

[palmfish]

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I completely agree with your wish for leaner, tighter bass with the D7000. I'm jealous that you get to go to a head-fi meet!  Be sure to bring your D7000 and be very careful with the amp you use for direct comparison with the HE-500.  If I didn't have the Lyr at my disposal, I probably would have sent my HE-500 back in disgust (due to my unrealistic yet stratospherically high expectations).  I'm glad you found something in my review that might help you make a more informed choice in the future.  I feel kinda stuck as I don't know which direction I should be headed from here.  Do I search for a 'better' amp, or a 'better' headphone?  HE-400?  LCD-2?  HD-800?  Ultrasone?  BTW - if you get a chance to demo anything in the new Denon lineup - pleeeeeze let me know! 

I thought I'd let you know that I had a chance to spend some decent time with the HE-500 at last weekends meet and I was really impressed by them. I auditioned them with my vintage (if 1985 qualifies as vintage) Carver Receiver first and they knocked my socks off! They sounded a little darker than my D7000's but all the high frequency details were still present. And the bass - exactly what I was hoping for. Powerful impact and deep response, but tighter and more controlled than the Denon's. I didn't really notice anything exceptional about the mids (always difficult for me to identify), but they were easily a match for my Denon's, but with none of the bloat that the Denon's sometimes exhibit.
 
I also had a chance to listen to them on the owner's Violectric V200 side-by-side with the Sennheiser HD600 (another headphone I am very familiar with) and I was blown away. Everything that I love about the HD600 was heightened with the HE-500 - better in every way, ie: Mostly neutral presentation, but superior speed, detail, clarity, etc. I just loved them.

Finally, I headed over to another table and plugged them into a DAC1 for some side-by-side listening of the HE-500 and LCD-2. Again, I have never been a fan of the LCD-2 although I keep trying to like them. Well, I certainly liked the LCD-2's low end, but the dark presentation was ever present with them. The overall brighter and slightly less lush sounding HE-500 really pleased me while the low end was still very satisfying - even if it wasn't quite a match for the Audeze's, I would say it had 90-95% of the LCD-2's punch and impact.
 
A bonus result of this meet which I hadn't planned for was the confirmation of how good my Carver is. I have no idea of the headphone out specifications, but that old behemoth was able to drive the HE-500 and LCD-2 with authority. Although I couldn't directly A/B it against the other setups, my impression is that my Carver gives up nothing to the DAC1 and V200.
 
I ordered a pair of HE-500's this morning and hope to have them by this weekend so I can do some more controlled listening vs. my D7000's. Even under the best of conditions, meets are a difficult venue for auditioning sound equipment so I am very much looking forward to getting the HE-500's in my home.

 

[palmfish]

Well, my HE-500's arrived on Thursday and I have been listening, burning in, and comparing them since their arrival. Here are my initial observations:

I like the build quality and comfort. I remember trying the HE-400 a few months ago and hating the fit, but somehow I have no problem with the 500's. They are heavier and clamp harder than my Denon AH-D7000's, but I wear a helmet at work so I have no issue with this. In fact in some ways, my Denon's are less comfortable in that the pads aren't as deep so part of my ear touches the inside when I wear them, and the shape of the Denon pads is uneven and feels a little weird to me (always has). However, the Denon's are so light and loose clamping that these factors are never a problem. Overall I find the Denon's and HE-500 equally comfortable.

Aubibly, my first reaction was not positive. I couldn't believe how recessed the treble sounded and the mids sounded thick and congested. Bass was as I remembered, deep, layered, yet controlled and satisfying.

I did some reading here and took the suggestion of a few members and swapped to the velour pads. A surprisingly big difference. I've swapped pads on other headphones before and noticed little if any change, but here the improvement was significant. I don't think the bass or treble was affected, but the mids opened up and thinned out a little.

Now, I don't really believe in burn-in but I do it anyways because, well, it can't hurt. I think I am just growing more accustomed to their signature, and now, after about 20 hours of burn and 10 hours of listening, they are now sounding a little brighter and the mids are sounding cleaner.

However, I have also been comparing them repeatedly with my Denon D7000's and I am still not convinced that the HE-500's are the better choice for me. On a few of my "go-to" test tracks, the HE-500's do sound more detailed with better layering and instrument separation, better controlled and balanced bass, and PRaT does sound better - a smidge smoother and more refined presentation with an easy pacing. Unfortunately, the mids are still bothering me - most especially with vocal jazz recordings. Both male and female vocals sound a little thick and congested still, and higher frequency acoustic percussion sounds (wire brush strokes, high hat taps, etc.) are definitely recessed compared to the Denon's - sometimes to the point that I cannot even hear them on the HE-500's at all. This is a big deal for me as I like the airy, open sound of the Denon's and the clarity and realism these sounds provide.

It could be that I simpy prefer a brighter headphone, or maybe I have listened to my D7000's so much that I am used to them. It seems to me that lush mids (LCD-2 anyone?) are the current trend in high-end headphones (kind of like the British loudspeaker sound so popular with audiophiles), but i have never found that presentation appealing. I do plan on spending time with the HE-500's over the next couple of weeks to see if I experience a paradigm shift and grow to like them more. This will involve not listening to my Denon's for a while so I can "reset" my brain. I am also going to meet up with a friend who has a studio so I can properly level match them and sample some different amps.

 

[Gradofan2]

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Well, my HE-500's arrived on Thursday and I been listening, burning in, and comparing them since their arrival. Here are my initial observations:

... Aubibly, my first reaction was not positive. I couldn't believe how recessed the treble sounded and the mids sounded thick and congested. Bass was as I remembered, deep, layered, yet controlled and satisfying...

... However, I have also been comparing them repeatedly with my Denon D7000's and I am still not convinced that the HE-500's are the better choice for me... Unfortunately, the mids are still bothering me - most especially with vocal jazz recordings. Both male and female vocals sound a little thick and congested still, and higher frequency acoustic percussion sounds (wire brush strokes, high hat taps, etc.) are definitely recessed compared to the Denon's - sometimes to the point that I cannot even hear them on the HE-500's at all. This is a big deal for me as I like the airy, open sound of the Denon's and the clarity and realism these sounds provide.

 
My experience with the HE-500's... exactly... 
 
... the mids were thick and syrupy... and not clear.  They had nowhere near the clarity, resolution and detail of my MD-5000's, RS-1's, PS500's, or certainly PS1000's.  Even my "new version" HD580/600/650's have greater resolution and clarity.  I didn't have the patience to buy other amps to drive them, or to "burn them in," and returned them after a about a week.  So... I may never have heard the "real HE-500's"... but... I'm very skeptical that they could "clear up" that much.  

 

[WhiteCrow]

TMraven has so graciously let me barrow his HE-400 and I gotta say, my initial impressions are pretty good! I will post a full write up later and hopefully a video or two I have re-shot and been too lazy to put up here.

 

[MattTCG]

For those who are interested in a straight comparison between the he400 and he500, here are my thoughts...
 
 
 
I got about two and a half hours of listening/comparison done today once the he500 got here. Basically, this is my opinion:
 
1. The he500 needs at least a mid-fi amp and dac to reach it's potential. My e09k and odac are not enough to drive it properly even on high gain. On the fiio/odac combo the he400 sound noticeably better. 
 
2. On a Class A amp with proper power, I have the nfb-6, the he500 begins to shine and ultimately outclasses the he400. Under this condition the difference between the two is exposed, which is that the mids of the he500 are clearly superior. Although it's worth noting that the he400 also improves across the spectrum with the nfb-6. 
 
3. The impact and texture of the bass with the he400 is better under both setups. I like a little warmer bass in the presentation of music and the he400 hits the sweet spot for me. While the mids of the he500 were smile inducing, I found myself quickly looking for more bass impact. Please don't misunderstand. The mids on the he400 are good...very good. But the mids on the he500 are some of the best out there. Outlclassed by the likes of the he6 and a few select others that would require you to take out a second mortgage to own. 
 
4. At the end of the day, the he400 is for me...no question. I prefer the bass, the versatility of a headphone that is more easily driven even in a portable setup and the sticker price sits quite a bit better with me. 

 
Stepping back from  the listening session, it suddenly became clear that while all the comments I made were on target and that the differences were certainly there, I was omitting a simple truth. The he400 and he500 do in fact sound a lot alike. These differences are not night and day and require a trained and patient  ear to appreciate. They are both wonderful headphones. At $400, about $360 on sale at Moon Audio, there is no doubt that the he400 is a special hp and one of the best deals out there today. 

 

[WhiteCrow]

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3. The impact and texture of the bass with the he400 is better under both setups. I like a little warmer bass in the presentation of music and the he400 hits the sweet spot for me.

I gotta disagree with you on this one. the HE-400 bass through the Little dot MKII so far is better than the HE-500 through the MKII, but through the lyr there's no contest. the HE-500 blows it out of the water IMO. BUT the HE-400 reacts very well to the lyr and plays well with more sources.

 

[MattTCG]

I do not have the lyr anymore. 

 While what you say may be completely accurate, with the equipment that I have, I'll stick to my original statement. I do think that the "synergy" with the HFM series is very good...maybe the best pairing. I've said it before, I don't think that I've heard a better pairing for the HFM cans than a Schitt stack. 

 

[RushNerd]

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I gotta disagree with you on this one. the HE-400 bass through the Little dot MKII so far is better than the HE-500 through the MKII, but through the lyr there's no contest. the HE-500 blows it out of the water IMO. BUT the HE-400 reacts very well to the lyr and plays well with more sources.

How are your D2K's through your Lyr? How are they compared to the 500's off the amp?

 

[MalVeauX]

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I gotta disagree with you on this one. the HE-400 bass through the Little dot MKII so far is better than the HE-500 through the MKII, but through the lyr there's no contest. the HE-500 blows it out of the water IMO. BUT the HE-400 reacts very well to the lyr and plays well with more sources.

 
Heya,
 
Seeing as the LDMKII only puts like 100mw into that low of an impedance, it makes sense that the HE500 sounded anemic. When I plugged my HE500 into a LDMKIII it's bass was barely there and it clipped and flubbed around like a fish out of water. Simply way too under powered. It really does need about 1 watt to really do it's thing. The Lyr puts about 5ish watts into the 38ohms, so it makes sense it would be quite a different headphone on the Lyr than the LDMKII. You can't really compare the HE500 and HE400 on the same source if the source cannot output enough power to juice the HE500 enough. Both can be compared on the Lyr however, since the HE400 can take just as much current as the HE500 without a problem, since they're orthos; both being sufficiently driven.
 
Very best,

 

[MattTCG]

I'll let WhiteCrow answer that directly, but I'll say that I've been impressed with how the Denon series reacts when paired with Schitt amp/dacs. It's a very good pairing from my experience.

 

[MalVeauX]

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How are your D2K's through your Lyr? How are they compared to the 500's off the amp?

 
Heya,
 
The D2000 through a Lyr works fine. There's an obvious noise floor though. The Lyr is a transparent amp, but it really wasn't made for a headphone like the Denon, or a Grado. It has a nice solid state buffer that adjusts nicely. But end of the day, the Lyr simply has a noise floor on headphones like that. It was meant to output gobs of power into low impedance headphones that could take tons and tons of current, like orthos. My HE500 sounds dead silent on the Lyr for example. But my Denons, and other low impedance headphones, have noise floor on the Lyr.
 
Very best,

 

[WhiteCrow]

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How are your D2K's through your Lyr? How are they compared to the 500's off the amp?

the DK2 off the lyr are super noisy and hard to listen too as they get pushed very loud very fast. with no amp they are on the same level with the HE-500 in highs, better bass and better mids. but with the HE-500 amped properly they quickly got pushed to the back of my listening que.

 

[RushNerd]

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the DK2 off the lyr are super noisy and hard to listen too as they get pushed very loud very fast. with no amp they are on the same level with the HE-500 in highs, better bass and better mids. but with the HE-500 amped properly they quickly got pushed to the back of my listening que.

Ahh I figured, it's not supposed to be the type of amp to go with denons anyway. If this is true however, I wonder how HE's will through my Asgard. Obviously MattTCG already knows.

 

[MattTCG]

I owned the lyr and he500 a long time ago. I more recently owned the Asgard/Bifrost and d5k. I thought that the d5k sounded very good with the AG/BF. There was no noise for me.