[gmazz]

David - thank you so much for the review.  I wish I had found this about a year ago.  Really felt you were fair and objective.  Thanks again!

 

[preproman]

   
The HE-560 is a slight upgrade to the HE-500; bigger sound stage than both the HE-500 and HE-6, more airy sound, a little bit more detailed, but also a little bit brighter in my opinion (swapping pads might change this according to the HE-560 thread).  The HE-6 however is more of a direct upgrade to the HE-500, but you need a powerhouse of an amplifier to go along with it obviously.  Better bass, speed, detail, clarity and separation than both the HE-560 and HE-500, and tonally it is very similar to the HE-500.

 
The HE-6 and HE-500 does not sound similar.  The HE-500 stands out on its own.  The HE-6, HE-5LE, HE-4 are more tonally alike.

 

[Rhamnetin]

   
The HE-6 and HE-500 does not sound similar.  The HE-500 stands out on its own.  The HE-6, HE-5LE, HE-4 are more tonally alike.

 
Never heard the HE5-LE or HE-4 but isn't the HE-4 more V-shaped?  Both the HE-500 and HE-6 have a neutral frequency balance, the HE-6 is just more aggressive.

 

[preproman]

The HE-500 is more forgiving and has a warmer tone compared to the HE-6.  The bass on the 500s is not as tight compared to the HE-6.  I owned all these headphones at the same time.  I sold off the 5LE and the 4 and kept the 500 and the HE-6 because they where more different than alike.  I later sold the 500 because the HE-6 got all the head time.
 
The HE-4 V shape? Yeah but that's the FR not the tone.  
 
The HE-6 and all the HE-X has a brighter, airy tone.  The HE-XXX has a more warmer tone.  Excluding the new 560.
 
What amps have you heard the HE-500 and the HE-6 on?

 

[Rhamnetin]

  The HE-500 is more forgiving and has a warmer tone compared to the HE-6.  The bass on the 500s is not as tight compared to the HE-6.  I owned all these headphones at the same time.  I sold off the 5LE and the 4 and kept the 500 and the HE-6 because they where more different than alike.  I later sold the 500 because the HE-6 got all the head time.
 
The HE-4 V shape? Yeah but that's the FR not the tone.  
 
The HE-6 and all the HE-X has a brighter, airy tone.  The HE-XXX has a more warmer tone.  Excluding the new 560.
 
What amps have you heard the HE-500 and the HE-6 on?

 
I think the lack of bass tightness of the HE-500 compared to the HE-6 is more of an example of the HE-6 being an upgrade.  Maybe that applies to the greater amount of airiness in the HE-6 too, but that's more personal preference I guess.  I also said the HE-500 is more forgiving (partially due to being a bit more laid back in the treble), so that is a difference between them, but personally I didn't find the differences here to be drastic (the HD 650 would be a much more drastic example of this).  For what it's worth I found the HE-560 to be brighter than both of them.
 
I heard both the HE-500 and HE-6 on the HeadAmp GS-X Mk2.  If I recall correctly the HE-500 was single ended while the HE-6 was balanced.

 

[preproman]

The GS-X mk2 is a pretty darn good amp.  I sold mine and kept the First Watt F1J.  
 
Well it's not really a personal preference that it has more air - it's personal preference if you like it or not.  You would hear more a difference if you could hear the others ie. HE-4 and the HE-5LE.  All have the same tone as the HE-6.  Where the 500 has a warmer tone.  That's all I'm saying.  

 

[Rhamnetin]

  The GS-X mk2 is a pretty darn good amp.  I sold mine and kept the First Watt F1J.  
 
Well it's not really a personal preference that it has more air - it's personal preference if you like it or not.  You would hear more a difference if you could hear the others ie. HE-4 and the HE-5LE.  All have the same tone as the HE-6.  Where the 500 has a warmer tone.  That's all I'm saying.  

 
Whoops, I meant to say that finding the added airiness of the HE-6 to be beneficial is personal preference.  I would love to hear the HE-5LE, though I doubt I ever will.  I like that the HE-6 and HE-500 are ranked very highly in the original posts though, I have to agree.  The HE-6 is my favorite non-electrostatic headphone. 

 

[preproman]

 

[Silent One]

 

[AndroidVageta]

Any IEM bias in the review? I mean, personal preference sure...but the fact that most of the IEM's seem to be on the bottom of the list seems a tad worrying. Especially in the actual sound department. I've owned a LOT of the stuff listed (both fullsize and IEM) and something seems off. To say the HE-400's rank better than the JH16? Way above the W4? How in the hell does that even happen??? It has weaker bass with way weaker extension, the mids and highs don't even compare, detail and separation are no where near...sound stage and airiness are the only two things that I would say are "better" but not by that much. 
 
I dunno...in the end it doesn't matter to me (as this hardly matches my experiences) but many of the IEM's he listed, to me, objectively sound much better in every way than the fullsized cans he reviewed. The ONLY reason I could see some of the lesser fullsizers (and a lot of the higher ends) being better than the IEM's is maybe sound stage...other than that...lows, mids, highs, separation, etc is far better on a majority of these IEM's then most of the fullsized cans.
 
Just...hmm...the ranking doesn't match up at all to where I would list most of these.
 
Whatever I guess...just seems a tad biased is all. Like I said, his decision I know I know... 

 

[jay567]

  Any IEM bias in the review? I mean, personal preference sure...but the fact that most of the IEM's seem to be on the bottom of the list seems a tad worrying. Especially in the actual sound department. I've owned a LOT of the stuff listed (both fullsize and IEM) and something seems off. To say the HE-400's rank better than the JH16? Way above the W4? How in the hell does that even happen??? It has weaker bass with way weaker extension, the mids and highs don't even compare, detail and separation are no where near...sound stage and airiness are the only two things that I would say are "better" but not by that much. 
 
I dunno...in the end it doesn't matter to me (as this hardly matches my experiences) but many of the IEM's he listed, to me, objectively sound much better in every way than the fullsized cans he reviewed. The ONLY reason I could see some of the lesser fullsizers (and a lot of the higher ends) being better than the IEM's is maybe sound stage...other than that...lows, mids, highs, separation, etc is far better on a majority of these IEM's then most of the fullsized cans.
 
Just...hmm...the ranking doesn't match up at all to where I would list most of these.
 
Whatever I guess...just seems a tad biased is all. Like I said, his decision I know I know... 

I once was in your shoes- a person that never really appreciated the differences between a full sized can and an IEM. Over the years, you come to realise the subtle differences between a full sized can and an IEM. But to truly understand the difference in their capabilities, you need to feed both with high quality source, amp, files etc to hear the real differences. Also, brain burn in plays a massive role in biased opinions.

 

[AndroidVageta]

What? Where are you getting that I haven't listened to fullsized headphones enough to realize their worth or something? Something like the HE-400 is noticeably worse then something like the JH16 (I mean come on!). Doesn't take an expert to know this.

I only listened to fullsized headphones for years and years. it wasn't until a couple years ago that I got into buds and was BLOWN AWAY by what I was missing.

Its all opinion, sure, but lets not act like half these headphones are better than half the IEMs on this list. Lets keep assumptions about my experience out of it as well please.

I'm not saying I dislike cans or anything at all but this list just seems biased to IEMs. You can't have some of the best IEMs ever made and say they aren't as good as $200 headphones. That's like...not possible. 0r am I in some fantasy world where the AD900 is better than the JH16?

My point is that if the author is biased (which I think he is whether he knows it or not) then this isn't a fair and balanced comparison and thus makes it somewhat moot.

 

[davidsh]

Who isn't biased?

 

[jay567]

What? Where are you getting that I haven't listened to fullsized headphones enough to realize their worth or something? Something like the HE-400 is noticeably worse then something like the JH16 (I mean come on!). Doesn't take an expert to know this.

I only listened to fullsized headphones for years and years. it wasn't until a couple years ago that I got into buds and was BLOWN AWAY by what I was missing.

Its all opinion, sure, but lets not act like half these headphones are better than half the IEMs on this list. Lets keep assumptions about my experience out of it as well please.

I'm not saying I dislike cans or anything at all but this list just seems biased to IEMs. You can't have some of the best IEMs ever made and say they aren't as good as $200 headphones. That's like...not possible. 0r am I in some fantasy world where the AD900 is better than the JH16?

My point is that if the author is biased (which I think he is whether he knows it or not) then this isn't a fair and balanced comparison and thus makes it somewhat moot.

 
I think it comes down to what one's looking for in their HIFI system I guess.
 
I believe OP mentioned before that he values transparency over everything and possibly with IEM's smaller soundstage etc having a negative impact on transparency and realism, it does not rank high on his list.
 
I do apologise if you were offended by my assumptions however. Didn't mean it that way at all lol.
 
On the HE400 note though, I personally think there's a HUGE technical difference between it and a W4 although I don't know compared to the JH16. I would love to own an IEM that does all the things HE400 does for me but I haven't had the luck of finding the pair that does that yet. Are the CIEMs seriously good enough to challenge the transparency of planar cans? Lastly, regarding the $200 headphone quote, you should know that price does not equal sound quality.

 

[wink]

Quote:Mach3

 I just don't think many people truly appreciate how good the HD800 until they listen to a decent pair of speaker and realise what good sound stage does to music. It like you've discovered a missing dimension. Please note, I have not audition the SR-009 or HE-90.

The HD800 is the best dynamic headphone I have owned. I still have it.
The best headphone I have heard is still the Senn Orpheus.
 
The best headphone I own is the Stax SR-009 followed by the Stax SR-007 MK1.
 
As usual YMMV
 
p.s. I have not heard the Abyss, Sony MDR-R10 nor the Sony Qualia O-10.