I was lucky enough to get my HE-5s on Boxing Day (there are no Christmas holidays in Japan or China) -- a Christmas present to myself. Out of the box, plugged single-ended into my Phoenix, they were rather peaky in the bass and treble, but with beautiful mids that may rival the Stax 4070, Sony R-10s and HD-800s as the best on my list. Certainly more "full" sounding than my HD-800s, which sound mid-forward after listening with the HE-5s, and I hardly consider them mid-forward as I do Audio Technicas for example. I was wishing and hoping that they'd tame a bit, something I managed to induce by re-cabling them balanced. Now they are just about perfect tonally for me, with a Stax-like clarity, something that makes them a great bargain at $600.
Downsides are: They are rather heavy and the pads are similar to Sennheiser pads new, that is, rather stiff. The worst part is the annoying coaxial connector used for the cable which, despite getting spare plugs to make my own cable, will need serious modification to get anything other than 26 AWG or smaller wire into. The stock cable is also far too short, which, while not a problem on my own rig, which I sit next to, will be a big problem for many people.
From what I've read of them, they are, rather like the HD-800s, very different performers with different amps. Since they changed quite noticeably just going balanced on the Phoenix, this doesn't surprise me. HeadphoneAddict, who has a serious collection of amps and other gear, posted a huge summary of all his impressions posts, which I'm sure people will find useful.
Downsides are: They are rather heavy and the pads are similar to Sennheiser pads new, that is, rather stiff. The worst part is the annoying coaxial connector used for the cable which, despite getting spare plugs to make my own cable, will need serious modification to get anything other than 26 AWG or smaller wire into. The stock cable is also far too short, which, while not a problem on my own rig, which I sit next to, will be a big problem for many people.
From what I've read of them, they are, rather like the HD-800s, very different performers with different amps. Since they changed quite noticeably just going balanced on the Phoenix, this doesn't surprise me. HeadphoneAddict, who has a serious collection of amps and other gear, posted a huge summary of all his impressions posts, which I'm sure people will find useful.
