[kothganesh]

quote name="jamato8" url="/t/551345/hifiman-he-500-he-as-in-high-end-impressions-and-feedback/9900#post_10081772"]How many use their HE-500 balanced?
[/quote]
Almost all the time.

 

[Dogmatrix]

  How many use their HE-500 balanced?

Sometimes via Violectric V181 but I find it a little sterile and too revealing so mostly I run them SE out of a WA7

 

[davidsh]

Have the cables but no balanced amp.

 

[hifimiami]

  How many use their HE-500 balanced?

I use it with Q French Silk balanced and Mjolnir amp excllent combination.

 

[bearFNF]

  I use it with Q French Silk balanced and Mjolnir amp excllent combination.

ditto the 'Q'

 

[Alexnova]

Alright time to ask you guys, what do you think of the HE-500 vs the Sennheiser 650? What are the differences that jump out to you? I'm just curious if the sound signature is something I could get into.

 

[jamato8]

  Alright time to ask you guys, what do you think of the HE-500 vs the Sennheiser 650? What are the differences that jump out to you? I'm just curious if the sound signature is something I could get into.

To me, once the HD650 are balanced, they are much better than SE but the 500 have more detail and a general feel for the musical venue. To me, they are a step up. The bass of the 500 is tighter and to my ear, more tuneful. 

 

[Alexnova]

Well I do want to purchase the Canare cable from HeadDirect to see what that sounds like and then get the Bifrost Uber. I think I'll do that first.

 

[Austin Morrow]

  Alright time to ask you guys, what do you think of the HE-500 vs the Sennheiser 650? What are the differences that jump out to you? I'm just curious if the sound signature is something I could get into.

 
I'm literally A/B'ing them now as we speak. 
 
HD650 has a slightly better center image, but much less wide soundstage, instrumental separation and overall airyness is poor compared to the HE-500, the lower octaves are much nicer, more articulated, with much faster attack and decay times (transients are 2-3X faster) on the HE-500, overall tighter. More open soundstage, better width and height, an extra league of detail extraction, and a treble presence that's much more extended and revealing. 
 
HD650's are muddy and closed-in compared to the HE-500, I find that the HE-500 outclasses the HD650 in almost every way excpet possibly the HD650's ablity to image very accurately.
 
Using the Yulong DA8 with the Forza Audio Works Noir on the HE-500 and the Whiplash Audio TWag V2 on the HD650, and a LessLoss DFPC power cable and a KingRex Unanimous Y-Art USB cable.

 

[Roronoa]

The HE-500 has better imaging, detail levels, treble detail+extension, better sub bass and lower distortion overall. It has a far faster response and is a fantastic all rounder. The HD650 is more laid back and has a fair bit less treble and liveliness. The 650 is more romantic "euphonic" but the HE-500 is still very enjoyable for mellow or sultry music.

 

[Austin Morrow]

  The HE-500 has better imaging, detail levels, treble detail+extension, better sub bass and lower distortion overall. It has a far faster response and is a fantastic all rounder. The HD650 is more laid back and has a fair bit less treble and liveliness. The 650 is more romantic "euphonic" but the HE-500 is still very enjoyable for mellow or sultry music.

 
I thnk the HE-500 has super imaging overall, but the HD650 has a slighty better center image, all IMHO. 

 

[Roronoa]

I feel the Hifiman headphones out there are top level at imaging - never felt let down by any of their planars in this regard. I feel the HE-4 was the overall best at it though. I'd have to re listen to the HD650 side by side with the 500 to see the center imaging thing - been a while.

 

[Austin Morrow]

  I feel the Hifiman headphones out there are top level at imaging - never felt let down by any of their planars in this regard. I feel the HE-4 was the overall best at it though. I'd have to re listen to the HD650 side by side with the 500 to see the center imaging thing - been a while.

 
Oh, don't get me wrong, the HiFiMAN planar are imaging freaks, and I mean that in a good way, but the HD650 does scale really well, ahaha. 

 

[Textfeud]

Am I the only one who really really didn't like the HD650? 

 

[Andolink]

  How many use their HE-500 balanced?

I do exclusively for the simple reason that my amp, the Audio-gd NFB 6, performs optimally only in balanced or ACSS modes.   I use a Norse Skuld 2 terminated in XLR and my balanced source is the Audiolab 8200 CD player.