A headphone shoot-out from a speaker listener - Testing eleven headphones from £ 80 to £ 1,200

[Andolink]

Sounds to me like you got a defective pair of HE-500's if things are falling apart in normal usage.  Mine are built like a tank and the pads never begin to separate from the phones.  Overall build quality on my HE-500's I'd rate 4.5/5.

 

[davidsh]

Nice review. Like that you are critical, and did not expect that much. Make it seem more reliable than some of the fanatics here...
 
I own the HE-500, and personally I would not say the build is that bad, and the comfort is just mediocre. They don't annoy me at all, and I am coming from the beyer dt-880 which is considered as one of the most comfortable headphones.
 
What in your chain produce the x-bass and 3d effect?

 

[nicholars]

Yes I like the critical reviewing style as well because reviews where the whole thing sounds like an advert for the headphones get very tedious on here....
 
I do think you are being a bit overly critical of the build maybe you did get a faulty pair? I have been looking at the HE400 for a while now and usually i see complaints they are heavy but nothing about poor build quality?

 

[asdfghjkzxcvbnm]

.

 

[bedlam inside]

Hi,
 
Quote:

I do think you are being a bit overly critical of the build maybe you did get a faulty pair? I have been looking at the HE400 for a while now and usually i see complaints they are heavy but nothing about poor build quality?

I made it clear in my review that all units were used, well used. They belong to Gary (aka Gazza) from Accounts, except the Audio Technica.

I also noted that the HE-500 I had were pretty early. If anyone has some good close-up photos of a very recent samples, please let me have a look if they are now better put together.

The earpads in the HE-500 I had are clip-in and the fit poor, causing the separation of the earpads from the drivers, literally at the slightest provocation.

If I can edit I will add some remarks at the scores for the HE-500.

Cheerio Rich

 

[bedlam inside]

Hi,
 
Quote:

What in your chain produce the x-bass and 3d effect?

These are build into the headphone amplifier:

http://ifi-audio.com/en/iCAN.html



Someone with more experience in headphone things than I have posted some comments in another thread:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/641262/ifi-idac-has-anyone-purchased-one-looking-for-under-300-dac/30#post_9110830

Cheerio Rich
 

 

[davidsh]

I'm just thinking whether the iCAN delivers the juice the HE-500 would need.. Maybe it struggles a bit too much with the hd800 too

 

[bedlam inside]

Hi,
 
Quote:

I'm just thinking whether the iCAN delivers the juice the HE-500 would need.. Maybe it struggles a bit too much with the hd800 too

I don't know. I guess with juice you mean current? How would I know if this is so?

According to specification the iCAN draws 4 Watt in idle and up to 10 Watt when playing music, it gets quite warm for such a wee thing, not hot, hot, hot, but very comfortably warm. On cold days I love warming my hands on the case... 

Cheers Rich

 

[davidsh]

It only puts out some 350 mW at the 38 ohms, right? Of course if they can go full out with not distortion and still being able to deliver the appropriate current, then it shouldn't matter that much...

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

What is so bad about the build quality of the HE500?

 
Build quality of HiFiMan HE headphones is utterly atrocious. I owned three and they all broke or fell apart.

 

[vaed]

Thank you for your reviews. I don't usually comment on review threads, but I found your critical but realistic tone very refreshing,

 

[nicholars]

Quote:

 
Build quality of HiFiMan HE headphones is utterly atrocious. I owned three and they all broke or fell apart.

 
Hmm maybe I will give them a miss then... Was that the newer revision or the old ones?

 

[bedlam inside]

Hi,
Quote:

It only puts out some 350 mW at the 38 ohms, right? Of course if they can go full out with not distortion and still being able to deliver the appropriate current, then it shouldn't matter that much...

 

I did not feel that there was any lack of going loud or control with either HD-800 or HE-500. They both went well loud enough and without audible overloading. Gary who's headphones these where did not complain...

And normally it's bass that goes first and there is no sign of this, especially the HE-500 has killer bass.
 
I am not sure if this is right, but I think as the HE-500 are 89dB/1mW this is kind of like my speakers being 89dB/1W right?
 
So the 350mW for the Headphones would be like 350 Watt Amplifiers for my Speakers, innit?
 
I drive my speakers only with 50 Watt and they seem to do fine. I don't think I could handle anything five times as loud as these go now, even if the Speakers could).
 
Cheers Rich

 

[bedlam inside]

Hi,
 
Quote:

Build quality of HiFiMan HE headphones is utterly atrocious. I owned three and they all broke or fell apart.

Sorry to hear of your trouble. At least you confirm I'm not quite as mad as a bag of ferrets or the only one with a dud.

I guess the lesson again is, buy stuff in person and make sure it's pukka. Or if buying on line, make sure you got brilliant backup from the seller in case of troubles like, even if its a bit dearer...

I hope you got sorted in the end or your wedge back...

Cheers Rich

 

 

[pp312]

Quote:

The earpads in the HE-500 I had are clip-in and the fit poor, causing the separation of the earpads from the drivers, literally at the slightest provocation.

 

 
This is certainly true and can hardly be denied. Awful fitting system that promotes no confidence at all that the earpads aren't going to unclip at any moment. The fact that they move slightly with every head movement doesn't inspire confidence either.