[Philimon]

I don't think this has been posted yet on here.

Pre-order announcement from Head-Direct:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f87/he...eorder-480344/

"HE-5LE headphones will be released between April 15th to 20th. Retail price will be $699. We are doing preorder right now at $649. Preorder price will be The first batch HE-5LE will be only 20 pcs. Price will raise to $699 on April 20th. HE-5LE will be plastic casing with beautiful black paint. HE-5LE headphones have different drivers from HE-5, with better balance and slightly higher efficiency. Will provide pictures on early April."

 

[dannie01]

Ooh, thanks for the up-date, Philimon.

 

[gbacic]

So are they going to discontinue the HE-5? Or are these for a different demographic?

Excited for pictures

 

[apatN]

How could I have missed this!? Must be those damn tests. Damn you tests... Can't wait to see any pictures. The HE-5 is simply a great pair of phones.

 

[prone2phone]

60khz means one could hear 4 clear cymbals of 15khz at a time, i think so

 

[john57]

"HE-5LE will be plastic casing with beautiful black paint" at $649

 

[agbassano]

Very curious to hear the LEs... I'm quite happy with the HE-5/EF-5 combo. The amp (and of course source - in my opinion to a lesser degree - with these phones) makes a huge difference. I think it's smart to go to plastic, as wood is such a headache to manufacture etc. Glad I got the original "woody" HE-5 and look forward to auditioning the easier to drive HE-5LE.

Unlike a number of posts railing (regretting) their JH-13 purchase against (the obviously superior - according to those who have heard them - JH-16s)... I think it's fantastic to advance the hobby and have no problem "financing" it by being an early adopter... the HE-5s are VERY amp dependent and having more amp options with the more efficient HE-5LE are welcome!

Bass and soundstage are superb with right source and good amplification with these phones...

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K3cT /img/forum/go_quote.gif If Fang can fix the treble glare and the one-note bass response with the LE version, that would be great. I would also desire for more uniformity across the cans so I will not have a fellow Head-Fier asking me "what do you mean that the HE-5 is sibilant?!".

My HE-5s were quite "bright" until after the 250-300 hour mark, now they are quite smooth, no "treble glare" at all now, if that is what you meant. The highs are more detailed, and smoother, than my HD600s, and much smoother than from my 325is.

As far as "one note bass response", you must have had a defective pair. These are not "basshead" headphones, but they do have incredible low frequency extension when called upon, with excellent timbre and tonal variation. They remind me of a large (15-18") subwoofer that has good speed and great musicality, but is tuned not to color or otherwise interfere the rest of the frequency spectrum, while moving quite a bit of air. Some like their low-end more "present" in the overall sound spectrum, but to me that is distracting.


Quote:

Originally Posted by MikePio /img/forum/go_quote.gif there will always be newer and supposedly "better" cans, but I wouldn't sweat it over the LE's, they are just a refinement over the HE-5's, same specs, same driver etc... I would say this release is for those who initially found the HE-5's to sharp, sibilant and lacking lower extension, one dimensional bass as some would say... Though for me, I have found no such issues with my pair, and I absolutely love the sound of my HE-5's and wouldn't want anything changed

Quote:

Originally Posted by apatN /img/forum/go_quote.gif The HE-5 is simply a great pair of phones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif very curious what improvements were made.

If any...


Quote:

Originally Posted by thehadi /img/forum/go_quote.gif is it really good choise udac-ef5-he5? do i satisfied? it'll be my first personal rig

Yes, I think so

Quote:

Originally Posted by foaming at the ears /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dont have much experience with soundstage and its definition, ie I dont fully understand the difference between soundstage and headstage. The dimensionality that you speak of, however, I may be familiar with. Of the modest HPs I own, the HE-5 is excellent at telling you where on a 2d vertical plane a sound is coming from. I guess I was thinking of soundstage in the sense of how the HE-5 makes you feel like you're in an auditorium, which I dont think it does. But you put it well with "dimensionality"...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beagle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, the HE-5 does "have" a big soundstage. It's different but it's as big as any.

The soundstage to my ears is quite wide, but not as deep as it could be. I don't know how this would relate to "dimensionality", or "headstage", but I think that it does.


Quote:

Originally Posted by gbacic /img/forum/go_quote.gif So are they going to discontinue the HE-5?

My guess is yes; they need to release a "plastic" version to make a decent profit in its place, hence the LE.


Quote:

Originally Posted by prone2phone /img/forum/go_quote.gif 60khz means one could hear 4 clear cymbals of 15khz at a time, i think so

Good one, I hope!


Quote:

Originally Posted by john57 /img/forum/go_quote.gif "HE-5LE will be plastic casing with beautiful black paint" at $649

Does anyone remember that the HE-5 was supposed to sell for $999 originally? I think that the new LE version will be less picky about amplification, and will probably lead to the original wooden HE-5s being highly-sought after as the true gem, dare I say even a collector's item once it is discontinued. I predict that the HE-5s will even be hailed as the superior headphones if they are sourced and amped properly, a big "if". The LE version will be their "made for the masses" plastic counterpart, a very fine set of headphones that makes a lot more $ for HiFiMAN as they have found some savings in their manufacturing costs, primarily by going to molded plastic instead of the beautiful collector's quality hand-turned wood. I will not be surprised if we find more cost-cutting refinements that do not affect SQ on the LE version when it is released, just as I will not be surprised if the original HE-5s price goes up to where it should have been all along if they are not discontinued.

Of course I could be completely wrong about this, as I am only guessing.

But you heard it here first

!

 

[Xcalibur255]

So they are moving to plastic enclosures.... I guess that is one way to eliminate the manufacturing issues with wood. Slightly higher efficiency sounds good, but somehow 87db and 25ohm is going to be too much for either of my amps so I think I'll stick to saving my pennies for a T1 for now.

 

[FrankCooter]

I'm still hoping for a "statement" level ortho at some point down the road. Potential is there to rival or surpass the curent "state-of-the-art". Meanwhile, I'll have to be content with my "vintage" HE-5's.

 

[vcoheda]

definitely looks like it is replacing the HE5.

 

[sachu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankCooter /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm still hoping for a "statement" level ortho at some point down the road. Potential is there to rival or surpass the curent "state-of-the-art". Meanwhile, I'll have to be content with my "vintage" HE-5's.

Really look forward to the day a mainstream company revisits this tech.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sachu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Really look forward to the day a mainstream company revisits this tech.

You don't like the new vintage orthos (The HE5 and the LCD1) ?

 

[sachu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DefectiveAudioComponent /img/forum/go_quote.gif You don't like the new vintage orthos (The HE5 and the LCD1) ?

I like them fine, just not good enough to own...bought the HE-5 twice and even tried some damping schemes on the second one ( sounded better than stock), but still good enough to own.

The LCD-1 i didn't own for too long, but from what i could gather, needed proper damping (mine had none) and sealing of the baffles among other things.

 

[DavidMahler]

Hmmm.....I'm a bit baffled as to what to do regarding my situation.

I'm currently on my second pair of HE-5, but this pair is, like the first I own, defective and needs to be replaced.

I have some concerns about the replacement......One if it is shown that the new version HE-5LE is NOT defective and doesn't have the quality control issues of the first model and either sounds the same or better than the first model I would like to have the HE-5 replaced for the HE-5LE.....as this has been an aggravating and expensive experience. I purchased my first pair back in December and havent had more than 5 hours to audition the headphone since then.

The other obstacle I have is that I bought an aftermarket cable for it and skipped out on the original stock cable, if this cable becomes useless given the possibility of new HE-5LE interconnect parts I don't think I should have to eat that cost.

Just to clarify about what was defective within my pairs:

first pair: driver blew after about 2 hours of use
second pair: the interconnect section will not get tight and allow for usage in the right earcup, and the left earcup fell off a few times and seems unstable.

I have had several thoughts about returning the headphone for a refund, but I do like the sound. It IS as some people have mentioned a tad on the bright side, but I feel like if this is numbed too much it's going to lose some of what makes it so special......for classical music, the limited time I have had with it has proven it to be one of the best headphones on the market. It's really ashame more time wasn't taken out to make sure of the absence of quality control related defects. Really a shame......this headphone will be plagued for a long time by that legacy.....had it been a little better designed, I think it would be considered on par with any in-production headphone. I just can't give it a recommendation yet because of the terrible experience.