I just got a Claire HPC Mk2, and while I can't compare it to others in the line, I can say it has lifted the slight veil I was hearing with the $20 cable I got from Amazon for my HE-560 after the stock cable broke. The Claire is a beautifully made cable, I got the transparent black and it's so...

I'm using a Garage 1217 Project Polaris and in my opinion it's ideal for these headphones. The Polaris is capable of significant power output. I have mine set to low gain and HE-560s are handled easily, with never any hint of strain. Here is the thread discussing that amp...

I can't make it today also due to weather. I live 100 miles east on I-40. I have been waiting all year for this and I am so disappointed!

I will attend and I will bring a Project Polaris Amp and HE-560 headphones. Also Grado original SR-225.

I built the kit version of the Project Polaris a couple of months ago and I'm extremely happy with it. I hadn't built a kit since about 10 years ago but I have a decent soldering station so I went for it. The kit is very well designed and with a little bit of care it's possible to build one that...

A very enjoyable day but frustrating in that I didn't get to listen to half of the things there, as there was way more gear than I was expecting! Special thanks to Benjamin Zwickel from Mojo Audio for showing his amazing prototypes. At one point they did a 3-way cable shootout with 3 sets of...

I will attend and I will bring the following:   HiFiMan HE-560 Grado SR-225 (original)   FiiO X5ii, FiiO X5 (for sale) PA2V2 amp A mystery pocket amp   I have never been to one of these. Is it customary to prepare a playlist of tracks known to bring out the best in the equipment? I was...

I was able to reproduce the issue of "losing" most of the content of a card. The X5ii was in deep sleep and I plugged it into the computer to load some new files. I loaded a new folder onto card 2, then disconnected. After that when I switched to listen to something on the first card and most of...

Nothing fancy here for sources I'm afraid. X5, X5ii, and a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 for DACs, amps are a PA2V2 and something called a mini-head which consists of 2 OPA227 op amps + 2 BUF634 and some resistors and 2 caps. ;) Puts out a quite a bit of very clean power though with the 24v power supply.

Never mind, I am dumb. I am hearing normal performance sounds I have never heard before and/or defects in the original recordings. I had been comparing the "suspect" sounds between the 560's and my Grado's. When I listened to the same sounds on my KRK VXT room monitors they sound the same as...

Also, when using with a Mac, it doesn't seem to be possible to delete ".Trashes" on either card, using any utility I have used so far.

Well it took 3 tries but I finally got a "good" pair. I've been burning them in and also listening and I'm having trouble coming to grips with how resolving they are. Either that or they are misbehaving and I'm wondering if it's the nature of planar headphones. I love hearing the performance...

A couple of serious issues with 1.21. I had an instance of waking it up and going back to the SD card choice screen, chose the second card and scrolled through and only 2 screens worth of artists were shown as if all the rest were no longer on the card. Shut down and restart fixed it.   While...

Further testing and there is definitely something wrong with the left element, the high frequencies are attenuated and I'm guessing a voice coil trace is not attached properly. So back they will go. I got them from Amazon if that makes any difference.

I took advantage of the year-end sale and got a pair of HE-560. Not a happy camper here. For one thing I got some old stock, the original wooden box and the coax style connectors. I didn't care about that but as soon as I listened to them I could hear something scratching in the left side. I...

It doesn't seem like anyone has noticed but both the HE-560 and HE-400i are on sale for $200 off on HiFIman's website through Jan. 2, 2016.

So you prefer vinyl over digital. Good on you. But the basic sound of a stylus riding in a groove is a significant noise source by itself and thus to me makes it a non-starter. Add to that the permanent clicks and pops that come with the first and every subsequent playing. And I won't even get...

I sent mine back to China to have the wheel fixed and a relay issue. It cost me $60 for postage on my end but it was returned to me with no charge for the postage or the repair (it was slightly beyond warranty). It took nearly a month each way. I had an X5ii to keep me company so I didn't really...

Mac users can either use Dapper from the App store or just drag and drop files in an Artist folder>Album folder on the X5ii. Dapper can clean the Spotlight index files from the cards in the X5 automatically. If using drag and drop you can use any of the free apps on the App store that clean off...

I wish I had not ever mentioned recessed vocals with regard to the ES60. After living with them for a year I would revise my wording to say the ES60 is extremely revealing of compromises made in mixing complex recordings. I have many files with outstanding, up-close-and-personal-sounding vocals...

I had to send my X5 back to China for a repair so I bought an X5ii to keep me company while it's gone.   I'm enjoying it's slightly smaller size and much better screen. It's hard to judge the difference in sound quality without having both units to test.   The only problem I've found is that...

Inter-sample clipping is a HUGE problem.   Apple gives away software that lets you demonstrate this for yourself. It's called AU Lab and includes an AU AAC RoundTrip plugin you can use with any DAW that can use AU plugins and it is all free.  ...

  I really like this theme. Thank you for making it.

The difference in isolation will be a non-issue if the CIEM is well fitted. Emphasis on well fitted. If it is truly well fitted you won't be able to hear anything going on around you when the music is playing even at a low volume. Mine are acrylic and I've been surprised by cars coming up right...

The "mouth open" impressions are necessary for singers to use on stage. If a closed-mouth, relaxed impression was used, they would be too loose to use while singing. The bite block is rectangular and in some of the recent pictures on here I see people biting on them the "long way." I had my...