Audeze LCD 2 or Hifiman HE-500

[ComradeDylie]

Sohow would your comparison go post mods?

 

[tiabyuzhou88]

whats the difference between la figaro 339 and dark voice 337

 

[MikoLayer]

Some interesting dicussion here! I don't mean to threadjack, but I am on a similar boat torn between the exact two cans so here goes my shameless plug.
 
HD650 to my ears sounds near-perfect as is, the only areas I wish to improve is some graininess and bloat in bass - would be great if it extends a few notes deeper and was more textured. 
 
One thing I do know is I seem to be easily irked any signs of mild sibilance, and generally don't like phones termed "bright". Tried to like CD3000s for the longest time and failed, even the HE5-LE is a bit to hot at times. While I can appreciate the superior transients and better micro detail (texture?) on the hifiman unit, senns simply are more fun and engaging to me. Not sure if it has more to do with tonality or pet peeves (treble peaks), but it is what it is. Despite my high hopes, I see my HE5-LE as just another deviation still falling short of outright replacing HD650 as the go-to phones for general use. So my quest for the ideal headphones continues, possibly with a bit more budget this time around. 
 
When it comes to music, I don't find myself listening to much orchestra or anything overly busy - mostly female vocals (jpop), acoustic, trans, jazz and such, but I am not tied to any specific genre really.
 
All this points to LCD2 (rev 2 most likely) should be my next stop; the more I think about it, the more I think my needs are more aligned with the Audeze strengths. Then again there is this talk of HE500 having more prominent mids and being non-fatiguing. I did like HE5LE quite a bit barring its brightness, and HE500s are known to be much warmer sounding. Not sure if I should take another gamble with Hifiman, or just go with common sense and reason so to speak. For amping duty, I have Schiit Lyr (forgot which tubes) and SP PPX3-6CG7 (didn't work for HE5LE, probably won't for any orthos for that matter).

 

[matthewh133]

  Some interesting dicussion here! I don't mean to threadjack, but I am on a similar boat torn between the exact two cans so here goes my shameless plug.
 
HD650 to my ears sounds near-perfect as is, the only areas I wish to improve is some graininess and bloat in bass - would be great if it extends a few notes deeper and was more textured. 
 
One thing I do know is I seem to be easily irked any signs of mild sibilance, and generally don't like phones termed "bright". Tried to like CD3000s for the longest time and failed, even the HE5-LE is a bit to hot at times. While I can appreciate the superior transients and better micro detail (texture?) on the hifiman unit, senns simply are more fun and engaging to me. Not sure if it has more to do with tonality or pet peeves (treble peaks), but it is what it is. Despite my high hopes, I see my HE5-LE as just another deviation still falling short of outright replacing HD650 as the go-to phones for general use. So my quest for the ideal headphones continues, possibly with a bit more budget this time around. 
 
When it comes to music, I don't find myself listening to much orchestra or anything overly busy - mostly female vocals (jpop), acoustic, trans, jazz and such, but I am not tied to any specific genre really.
 
All this points to LCD2 (rev 2 most likely) should be my next stop; the more I think about it, the more I think my needs are more aligned with the Audeze strengths. Then again there is this talk of HE500 having more prominent mids and being non-fatiguing. I did like HE5LE quite a bit barring its brightness, and HE500s are known to be much warmer sounding. Not sure if I should take another gamble with Hifiman, or just go with common sense and reason so to speak. For amping duty, I have Schiit Lyr (forgot which tubes) and SP PPX3-6CG7 (didn't work for HE5LE, probably won't for any orthos for that matter).

TBH I'd go for the LCD-2. If you love the HD650, the LCD-2 is a similar sound but MUCH better. The bass is way tighter, and punches way lower and it livens up the mids a bit while still keeping a smooth presence to it.

 

[MikoLayer]

Since I live in a country where people have an aversion for used gear (=high depreciation or low demand), I am not too optimistic about ditching the new cans if I don't find them to my liking. Whichever I happen to choose is most likely be the one to keep by default. Should I take my time modding the unadelterated pair of fostrex T50RP I already have to get an idea of what LCD-2 may sound like? Again, I am mostly concerned with tonality first and foremost. Or better yet, just stick with HD650 and play around with source/amp some more? I am not itching to go in either direction any time soon, just trying to get a better idea which camp I belong to.
 
As it stands, my priorities at the moment are a new DAC (NFB-1.32 or DA8) and a possibly a beta22 to complete a balanced setup if I can find one locally. Would either Lyr or Beta 22 be adequate to bring out the best of the LCD-2? 
 
Soemthing tells me by the time I am ready to pull the trigger, there will be another latest and greatest from them or some other obscure company
 
 
EDIT: new in the sense that it would be a new addition to my arsenal. personally I would prefer used gear from the FS section so I figure LCD2 rev2 @$800ish would be great if I could somehow unload my D7000...

 

[KetchupNinja]

 
TBH I'd go for the LCD-2. If you love the HD650, the LCD-2 is a similar sound but MUCH better. The bass is way tighter, and punches way lower and it livens up the mids a bit while still keeping a smooth presence to it.

+1
 
Totally agree with this.  I liked the HE-500 for its airiness though.

 

[Chris_Himself]

HE-500 is a good chunk less expensive, keep in mind they were reviewed as being close together at one point in time. It'd free funds up for source/amp too.