audiophilehe400
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2016
- Posts
- 289
- Likes
- 39
Looking at selling my 400i is this a good option to trade up for ?
Thanks
Thanks
New Hifiman HE-5LE planar magnetic headphone
- Thread starter thinker
- Start date
Kiats
Headphoneus Supremus
audiophilehe400
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2016
- Posts
- 289
- Likes
- 39
Thanks for recommendation, anybody selling?
Only if you have a very powerful amp, 1 watt minimum. Also, I thought balanced really made a different with these cans when I had them.
audiophilehe400
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2016
- Posts
- 289
- Likes
- 39
I have the EF5 amp
If you're interested in buying the HE-5LE, hit me up, I'm willing to part with mine.
I'm interested in picking up a pair of these, if anyone is selling. Send me a message, thanks!
Can you offer insight into the speaker tap (i.e.; 4, 6, or 8 ohm?) of the Miniwatt that drove the 5LE? Was an adapter necessary to resist the power output to the phones? Care to share the vacuum tubes you used? I'm really interested in going with this setup.
Appreciate the pointers!
SJ
Roscoeiii
1000+ Head-Fier
Sorry, just now seeing this.
I use the 8 ohm tap on the MiniWatt. And the 12AX7s I use in it are Psvanes. Don't recall the other tubes. And yes, I am using the adaptor that HiFiMan sells for speaker taps.
bagwell359
Headphoneus Supremus
Long review of a can that hasn't been made for about 8 years, be warned.
Just bought a pair of the 2nd version (black plastic) that had been damaged (positive lead near membrane cut) and put aside for years. I broke them in and estimate they had less then 50 hours on them. The new HE5se appears to be a version that is similar to these and the original HE5. Given the reviews on the HE5se and what these sound like - I'd say it's a new creation, or closer to the HE-5 and not the 5LE.
In this thread mostly written in 2011-2013, power was an oft cited issue (as in they need a lot - not the legendary amount of the HE-6, but more than the HE-500). I've got a Ragnarok - so no issue. There were also lots of comparisons with the HD-650, HD-600, LCD2, HE-5, HE-400, HE-6, HE-500. Never heard the HE-5, heard all the rest.
I am using the HE-500 and HD-600 as the prime comparison units in the now. I'm using the same cables (500 stock SPC, Black Dragons) with each HFM, Custom Cans cable with the 600; 600's no mods, HFM pads (Mr Speaker Angled C, stock 560, stock 500). fuzzor on 500, not HE-5LE. Running both HFM's with and w/o back. It seems to make a bit less difference for the 5LE's but that annoying mid range echo and closed down sound? Better to be w/o them IMO. Bass better on the HE-5LE's w/ screens as one could guess.
So what does it sound like? Difficult to characterize, as they are quite the chimera. In fact, they are the most difficult I've tried to review.
Bass: Somewhere in the 60-150 Hz area with really fast hard hitting bass they can sound quite menacing, hinting a bit in the direction of the HE-6, and less diffuse than the HE-500. They do not extend into the sub bass. With sustained bass they are pretty well damped - also, a nice plus. They show very well with well recorded jazz quartet/quintets that have a lot of empty space. Drums, bass, piano, etc. all lay out nicely.
Mids: Low mids bias. The emphasis/weight of these cans goes from 50-1500Hz. Again quiet well recorded music - it eats that stuff for breakfast. But female vocals, violins - the upper 1/3 of pianos? Sometimes relaxed, sometimes reticent and sometimes really missing something. Reminds me overly much of the LCD2-2C (in the 1.5-6 kHz area) which my regular readers know I do not care for. However, the treble from 6kHz-12kHz is a bit hot, and there are some artifacts I'm trying to ID in the 5-8 kHz range - ringing perhaps that also helps add emphasis so the mid/lower treble dip isn't so obvious.
Treble: Cymbals and high hats have a lovely, but, overdone sheen/decay (more than the HE-500 - which also has too much). Sometimes its not hot, but 70% of the time - it is hot. Its not as extended as the HE-6, I don't think there is much over 13k.
I found that it was way too hot with the 'normal' pads, Mr. Speakers Angled C really did the job. The SPC cable really added extra tizz in the highs, but the upper mids somehow seemed better then the Black Dragon did, so I kept switching those as the Dragons muted the hot treble.
Specific recordings:
Likes Diana Kralls music, but her vocals are a tad pinched, HE-500 much more well rounded and sweet (too much? Sure)
Likes Mapleshade records (jazz), Patricia Barber (but again her voice isn't quite right - both HD600 and HE500 agree)
Police - Percussion again very notable and over the top. Guitar in 'Couldn't Stand Another Hour of Daylight' wrong size and character.
REM - 'Camera' nice. A lot of their recordings are thick, but HE5LE able to resolve pretty well
Who - 'Sea and and Sand'. Drums and bass a bit more spongy then expected. Image sizes again small vs HE500 and HD600
Staid - Bass and vocals potent; Red Hots - acoustic earlier stuff nice, treble hot a few times.
DSOTM - Whoa. These cans hate that - smearing of instruments, lost details, hot. As a guy that sold stereo equipment from '75-'82, plus saw Floyd twice before its release I've heard it thousands of times. I cannot name a can that did a worse job... MD-4XX better, LCD2 better. They liked Wish You Were Here better, but the sound stage was small.
Soundstage: is short - but with good width. Seems to highlight instruments well in space, but recording cues, pages turned, bow dropped, back of hall? Reduced/missing.
In some cases with the volume low, there can be a very hot treble. It seems like turning the volume up can drown it out (80 db -> 95 db). There are other indications that seem to point to these liking to be played loud. Loud with low instrument count. Try something crowded like Stravinsky or Beethoven, and things get more crowded than I expect the recording to be. All of this is enough for me to declare that there is some IM problem - like lack of damping and ringing at specific frequencies that excite some other area. I had a Mavrovskis MC cartridge and a VTL tubed pre-amp that both did this sort of thing. Ohm Walsh's did the same sort of thing, but they had to be played soft. A very bad group to be in, or even considered for nomination to. Almost Angelic at best, nasty at worst.
Most here at the time said this was a better can then the HE-500. In comparison, the 500 can lack dynamics, doesn't have that bass thrust on high rise time notes. On well recorded music with lots of black/empty space the 500 isn't quite as black.
OTOH, the 500 is much more coherent from top to bottom, isn't as HOT in the treble although at times it can be hot. Is sweeter and kinder with the music, well easier to drive. Soundstage at least 2x taller - and perhaps 220% bigger overall. 500 simply sounds much better with more kinds of music. Recording space cues much better on the 500. Imaging closer to a being speaker like. The 500 also has a much better sense of depth. The HE-500 sounds a lot like a speaker. ProAc, Dynaudio, Maggies.
The HE-5LE sounds like a branch of an earlier product (HE5 -> HE-LE5) compared to the HE-6 -> HE-500. The HE-6 is still well respected here as one of the best cans ever made, and still holds as a top 2-3 with a number of Sr. Members. The HE-500 is still seen as one of the best used cans available under $500.
Of cans mentioned here I rank them:
HE6 >> HE500 > HD600 > HD650 | LCD2 2C > HE-5LE > HE-400*
I hear the LFF mod is supposed to do a heck of a job on these. Anyone got one for sale?
The HE-5LE, if you have them, can be very good and have some fine strengths. But its not easy to get the most out of it. HFM made the right choice going with the HE-500 over the 5LE when they did.
The 560 - ehh Ananda - boring...
HFM has made some odd steps since the release of the HE-6. OTOH the HEX v2, HEK v2/Arya - not so bad. HE-6se - good, but the price?
Just bought a pair of the 2nd version (black plastic) that had been damaged (positive lead near membrane cut) and put aside for years. I broke them in and estimate they had less then 50 hours on them. The new HE5se appears to be a version that is similar to these and the original HE5. Given the reviews on the HE5se and what these sound like - I'd say it's a new creation, or closer to the HE-5 and not the 5LE.
In this thread mostly written in 2011-2013, power was an oft cited issue (as in they need a lot - not the legendary amount of the HE-6, but more than the HE-500). I've got a Ragnarok - so no issue. There were also lots of comparisons with the HD-650, HD-600, LCD2, HE-5, HE-400, HE-6, HE-500. Never heard the HE-5, heard all the rest.
I am using the HE-500 and HD-600 as the prime comparison units in the now. I'm using the same cables (500 stock SPC, Black Dragons) with each HFM, Custom Cans cable with the 600; 600's no mods, HFM pads (Mr Speaker Angled C, stock 560, stock 500). fuzzor on 500, not HE-5LE. Running both HFM's with and w/o back. It seems to make a bit less difference for the 5LE's but that annoying mid range echo and closed down sound? Better to be w/o them IMO. Bass better on the HE-5LE's w/ screens as one could guess.
So what does it sound like? Difficult to characterize, as they are quite the chimera. In fact, they are the most difficult I've tried to review.
Bass: Somewhere in the 60-150 Hz area with really fast hard hitting bass they can sound quite menacing, hinting a bit in the direction of the HE-6, and less diffuse than the HE-500. They do not extend into the sub bass. With sustained bass they are pretty well damped - also, a nice plus. They show very well with well recorded jazz quartet/quintets that have a lot of empty space. Drums, bass, piano, etc. all lay out nicely.
Mids: Low mids bias. The emphasis/weight of these cans goes from 50-1500Hz. Again quiet well recorded music - it eats that stuff for breakfast. But female vocals, violins - the upper 1/3 of pianos? Sometimes relaxed, sometimes reticent and sometimes really missing something. Reminds me overly much of the LCD2-2C (in the 1.5-6 kHz area) which my regular readers know I do not care for. However, the treble from 6kHz-12kHz is a bit hot, and there are some artifacts I'm trying to ID in the 5-8 kHz range - ringing perhaps that also helps add emphasis so the mid/lower treble dip isn't so obvious.
Treble: Cymbals and high hats have a lovely, but, overdone sheen/decay (more than the HE-500 - which also has too much). Sometimes its not hot, but 70% of the time - it is hot. Its not as extended as the HE-6, I don't think there is much over 13k.
I found that it was way too hot with the 'normal' pads, Mr. Speakers Angled C really did the job. The SPC cable really added extra tizz in the highs, but the upper mids somehow seemed better then the Black Dragon did, so I kept switching those as the Dragons muted the hot treble.
Specific recordings:
Likes Diana Kralls music, but her vocals are a tad pinched, HE-500 much more well rounded and sweet (too much? Sure)
Likes Mapleshade records (jazz), Patricia Barber (but again her voice isn't quite right - both HD600 and HE500 agree)
Police - Percussion again very notable and over the top. Guitar in 'Couldn't Stand Another Hour of Daylight' wrong size and character.
REM - 'Camera' nice. A lot of their recordings are thick, but HE5LE able to resolve pretty well
Who - 'Sea and and Sand'. Drums and bass a bit more spongy then expected. Image sizes again small vs HE500 and HD600
Staid - Bass and vocals potent; Red Hots - acoustic earlier stuff nice, treble hot a few times.
DSOTM - Whoa. These cans hate that - smearing of instruments, lost details, hot. As a guy that sold stereo equipment from '75-'82, plus saw Floyd twice before its release I've heard it thousands of times. I cannot name a can that did a worse job... MD-4XX better, LCD2 better. They liked Wish You Were Here better, but the sound stage was small.
Soundstage: is short - but with good width. Seems to highlight instruments well in space, but recording cues, pages turned, bow dropped, back of hall? Reduced/missing.
In some cases with the volume low, there can be a very hot treble. It seems like turning the volume up can drown it out (80 db -> 95 db). There are other indications that seem to point to these liking to be played loud. Loud with low instrument count. Try something crowded like Stravinsky or Beethoven, and things get more crowded than I expect the recording to be. All of this is enough for me to declare that there is some IM problem - like lack of damping and ringing at specific frequencies that excite some other area. I had a Mavrovskis MC cartridge and a VTL tubed pre-amp that both did this sort of thing. Ohm Walsh's did the same sort of thing, but they had to be played soft. A very bad group to be in, or even considered for nomination to. Almost Angelic at best, nasty at worst.
Most here at the time said this was a better can then the HE-500. In comparison, the 500 can lack dynamics, doesn't have that bass thrust on high rise time notes. On well recorded music with lots of black/empty space the 500 isn't quite as black.
OTOH, the 500 is much more coherent from top to bottom, isn't as HOT in the treble although at times it can be hot. Is sweeter and kinder with the music, well easier to drive. Soundstage at least 2x taller - and perhaps 220% bigger overall. 500 simply sounds much better with more kinds of music. Recording space cues much better on the 500. Imaging closer to a being speaker like. The 500 also has a much better sense of depth. The HE-500 sounds a lot like a speaker. ProAc, Dynaudio, Maggies.
The HE-5LE sounds like a branch of an earlier product (HE5 -> HE-LE5) compared to the HE-6 -> HE-500. The HE-6 is still well respected here as one of the best cans ever made, and still holds as a top 2-3 with a number of Sr. Members. The HE-500 is still seen as one of the best used cans available under $500.
Of cans mentioned here I rank them:
HE6 >> HE500 > HD600 > HD650 | LCD2 2C > HE-5LE > HE-400*
I hear the LFF mod is supposed to do a heck of a job on these. Anyone got one for sale?
The HE-5LE, if you have them, can be very good and have some fine strengths. But its not easy to get the most out of it. HFM made the right choice going with the HE-500 over the 5LE when they did.
The 560 - ehh Ananda - boring...
HFM has made some odd steps since the release of the HE-6. OTOH the HEX v2, HEK v2/Arya - not so bad. HE-6se - good, but the price?
Last edited:
I found HE5LE has two types of driver, the mesh grill one has more bass which I don't like.
Fegefeuer
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2011
- Posts
- 3,500
- Likes
- 2,644
I have a pair of HE-5LE and I'm a bit surprised by the clamping force. It's quite stronger than any other Hifiman HE (oldschool series) can I own. My HE-500 is probably of the last batch of all HE-500s that were created and is in sublime condition. Neither did the HE-4
ever show this kind of clamp, however that guy fell apart and will soon be under surgery. Yeah, those screws that went into the headband cracked through the plastic.
Anyway, the clamp of both headphones still means I have to hold the cups a bit apart when changing earpads, it's just that with the HE-5LE it's noticably harder to do. They are less comfortable that way but it's nothing hurtful
Anyone else remember this?
Oh and yeah, I dread the screws in the plastic connectors to the headband as well. With the HE-500 not at all.
ever show this kind of clamp, however that guy fell apart and will soon be under surgery. Yeah, those screws that went into the headband cracked through the plastic.
Anyway, the clamp of both headphones still means I have to hold the cups a bit apart when changing earpads, it's just that with the HE-5LE it's noticably harder to do. They are less comfortable that way but it's nothing hurtful
Anyone else remember this?
Oh and yeah, I dread the screws in the plastic connectors to the headband as well. With the HE-500 not at all.
Users who are viewing this thread
