[Sonido]

  Are there any genres on the HE-500 you feel disappointed about? I'm thinking Electronic music right now. Maybe if I rolled different tubes it would be better.

HE-500 is pretty well rounded. Now as far as classical, yes I have to agree with the others, except for one caveat. With the setup I have (Qucikie+Emotiva) I found, while the soundstage depth has improved, it's still not the best on representing a large concert hall. The HD800 still has it beat there. However, with my setup, I found instruments to have more body and tactility and sound much more realistic, even more so than HD800. I think this would be well suited for smaller ensemble classical music with a distinct leading instrument. Also, while it has body and tactility, it's not the fastest, so it suffers with some instruments like violin on vibrato or harpsichord. Comparing with my electrostatic Koss ESP950, it's quite obvious how much slower it is. That's also why I have the ESP950 for classical/orchestral songs.

 
I found the HE-500 and ESP950 to complement each other quite well. A good analogy for the sound differences would be that the ESP950 is like a graceful katana, whereas the HE-500 is like an impactful two-handed greatsword.

 

[koiloco]

   
 
Well, I only say this for EDM because the HE-6 bass has me spoiled lol. The TH-900 is great for EDM too (bass!), but that slight shrillness up top and slight scoop on female vocals killed it for me.  My ears would fatigue way too early on with TH-900.

If you like tight, drier bass then the HE-6 will satisfy.  Personally, I prefer a touch wetter, looser bass like the HE500. One can argue that HE-6 bass is more "controlled" and has better extension.  I am honestly not so sure about that evaluation.  Well, to my ears anyway.  I listened to the HE-6 on a few high end amps and like the mid and high very much though.

 

[brunk]

  If you like tight, drier bass then the HE-6 will satisfy.  Personally, I prefer a touch wetter, looser bass like the HE500. One can argue that HE-6 bass is more "controlled" and has better extension.  I am honestly not so sure about that evaluation.  Well, to my ears anyway.  I listened to the HE-6 on a few high end amps and like the mid and high very much though.

If you like a more visceral, 3D punch, the RE-600 is stunning. There is no shortage of bass awesomeness. It's a little dark, but you can listen for hours on end without those EDM treble daggers gnawing at your cochlea lol Here's a graph of them. Pretty nice right?
 

 

[hifimanrookie]

Are there any genres on the HE-500 you feel disappointed about? I'm thinking Electronic music right now. Maybe if I rolled different tubes it would be better.

Are there any genres on the HE-500 you feel disappointed about? I'm thinking Electronic music right now. Maybe if I rolled different tubes it would be better.

Get a better amp....go balanced 8wire and get urself some better powercables... Then U get a he500 is does everything well..especially. Before i got the headphonecable it didnt do to well with large classical pieces and electronic (fast paced thumping)..and i mean lossless 24bit muziek! After upgrading it was 90% solved... And tuberolling helped also... But hey..i got a very good amp to begin with... If the basics are not on par with ur phone..its hard to make it really shine on music genres which are originally not the strenghts of the he 500

 

[Makaan]

Before i got the headphonecable it didnt do to well with large classical pieces and electronic (fast paced thumping)..and i mean lossless 24bit muziek! After upgrading it was 90% solved... 

So what is your suggetion about cable upgrading ? Which brand, link will be appreciated. Thanks.
I'm planning to buy this one : http://www.ebay.com/itm/121176877296?var=420172540680&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
 
Is it better than stock one ? 

 

[hifimanrookie]

So what is your suggetion about cable upgrading ? Which brand, link will be appreciated. Thanks.
I'm planning to buy this one : http://www.ebay.com/itm/121176877296?var=420172540680&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Is it better than stock one ? 

So what is your suggetion about cable upgrading ? Which brand, link will be appreciated. Thanks.
I'm planning to buy this one : http://www.ebay.com/itm/121176877296?var=420172540680&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Is it better than stock one ? 

I have experience with a couple of brands..until now the best cable i listened to and which sounded best on my rig was this:

Toxic cables balanced BW 22AWG 8wire dual mono cable with dual silverpinned 3pin XLR cable

Was best until now WITH MY RIG

Before this i had the normal BW 22awg 4 wire version..single ended..

Before this i had a custommade Double helix molecule cable for two years or so and it was okay..but toxic was way better (to my ears )

I listened to a couple of other brands also..didnt buy them though..only one other brand i would consider also...Norse audio

All in all...i found out to get the best u have to invest in ur rig..an expensive cable is useless if ur rig cant show it anyway..

A golden rule i learned over the years (with more then 20 years of experience with high quality speaker rigs and HIGH END car audio (i attended contests with my cars back in the days) and the. 4 years i have been into headphone stuff: INVEST IF U WANT THE BEST... And get urself up to speed about everything concerning the matter..

Ofcourse spending huge amount of money blindly on a rig with components who dont pair well, just because its expensive is just as rediculus as saying a 100usd amp goes one on one with a cavalli gold...u know what i mean..u have to find that special balance..to get that doesnt mean spending hugely..but getting urself a higher end phone and then get urself a lower end budget amp to drive it is in my eyes a bit unbalanced to say the least.... Ur bound to hit a spot with those amps one time just because the amp has budget parts... U cant magically make an amp of 199usd that does all fine, so as soon u hit the more difficult areas of that particular headphone it shows its (minor) flaws...only the better amps are capable to overcome that..at least part of it..IMHO. Ofcourse!

With my rig the he500 didnt really have any flaws..no matter the genre of music. (But my he500 was moddded also with modulor. 2.0 pads and the extreme open grill-mod..that last one helped greatly on soundstage..especially i also threw away the dust filter!..so my he500 was basically completely open on the sides !)

 

[daerron]

Some surprising comments on EDM here with the HE-500, as it was the HE-500 that got me into listening to EDM in the first place (The Grado RS1i and EDM was a big no no), though you have to have the Emotiva Mini-X in your arsenal. With all my other (underpowered) headphones amps, the bass was a little bit too subdued and thin. EDM sounds great with the Emotiva and RL Concero combo. In fact I prefer listening to EDM on my headphones vs my Hi-fi stereo system and I have some large floorstanders in my listening room. The other nice advantage of the Mini-X is that its maintains it bass and impact even on turning down the volume which is nice. Currently enjoying the Legend's Fearless album with my headphone rig. I thought the Sennheiser HD700 was one of the few headphones that smacked the HE-500 when it comes down to bass which is kind of ironic considering its an open dynamic headphone. The HD700 did sound much brighter than the HE-500.
Classical is one of those genres where I wish the HE-500 did just a touch better. Its got great sound stage width and imaging, but lacking in depth which does spoil classical somewhat, but the HE-500 is one of the few headphones that I've listen to that does the dynamics of classical justice, especially with organs. Adding some tubes does help making the HE-500 sound a touch more holographic. At least it gives me some hope for the future as this is one aspect where I think Hifiman can really focus on. Imagine them nailing sound stage, it would make the follow up to the HE-500 an absolute killer. The speed of the transducer could also do with some improvement.
I can imagine Hifimanrookie's Darkvoice 337 should probably nail classical music quite nicely with the HE-500.

 

[Alexnova]

Hifimanrookie are you saying thay I shoul upgrade my Schiit Lyr? Seemed like the best pairing from what I read.

 

[hifimanrookie]

Hifimanrookie are you saying thay I shoul upgrade my Schiit Lyr? Seemed like the best pairing from what I read.

Hifimanrookie are you saying thay I shoul upgrade my Schiit Lyr? Seemed like the best pairing from what I read.

U will never hear me say that..as then 1 certain fellow headfi'er could get eeny weeny irritated..lolz.. But i can only advice...try one (337/339)with some GOOD TUBES. In it..this amp is one of those few amps who react rather extremy on tuberolling...as he has both driver tubes and powertubes....the lyr u mentiones only uses driver tubes u can change...so u can only go as far driver tubes go..u cant change The power output character (in the 337 the powertubes give the biggest change in sound)..as thats solid state in the lyr.
For me...with the he 500.. No question about it..337(mine! A modded version)...

But there is one person here who disagrees wih me on that....

As i said..try one..but i see NOT ONE SINGLE One of u has done that....except for fearless but he has put his mind on the pair lyr -he500.

Or try a wa2 ..i tried one also..same day as i tried the lyr at same meeting (small meeting)... And the lyr was the lesser of the three (sounded muddy compared to the other. 2)...the 337 the most neutral... The lyr excelled on the bass though above the others...the wa2 was the master of soundstage..but voices...no question aboit it..my 337... I used TS 5998 as powertubes and TS 6sj7gt meshplates as drivers...voices sound almost velvetly..and the 337 is a very fast amp,.on contrary to most tube amps who loose on that compared to Solid state amps... The lyr did extremey well with audeze by the way..i didnt like the audeze at all with my337 as also the hd800.. Didnt like that pair also.. So yes...the 337 is choosy...the lyr is a more usable amp. (If u use those heaphones i just mentioned ).. But for hd600/650 he400/500, grado,and some beyers....337!

All with all...all three are good amps...in their own right...but...for the price (and i am selling mine for. 350euro) ,u cant find a better headphone tube amp that does almost all well then mine... But u need space for it..as its 16kg heavy and 43cm wide..but it looks sooo sexy

The lyr always is a mid fi amp..as is the 337.. If u really wanna get better u need to invest in a wa2 or better (stratos).. Or let a specilist make u one from scratch as i am doing now...it will cost ya..but it will be worth it..
But u can also choose to get a watmer sounding SS amp..like a violectric v200.. An excellent amp for the money!

 

[jerg]

You have to do the grill mod (ideally with as open meshes as possible and no fabric), and probably the fuzzor mod, to get HE500s competitive with classical music.

 

[tuna47]

I agree classical is a weak point except for chamber music which sounds great my favorite is modern jazz they are the best I've heard

 

[Anda]

Getting a Woo WA2 would be a very stupid thing to do. It's not properly dimensioned for the HE-500.

 

[preproman]

Or just get a pair of HD800s for classical music.

 

[koiloco]

  Or just get a pair of HD800s for classical music.

^what he said +1.

 

[jerg]

  Or just get a pair of HD800s for classical music.

Not easily done for us poor folks.