[weverb]

I want to thank David for all his hard work and very informative reviews. Made my recent purchase of Hifiman HE-500's easier.
 
I also want to thank all of those who have also added to this thread.
 
I have been listening to the HE-500's for many hours over the last few days. They are my first try at "real" headphones. Just love them!
 

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

I want to thank David for all his hard work and very informative reviews. Made my recent purchase of Hifiman HE-500's easier.
 
I also want to thank all of those who have also added to this thread.
 
I have been listening to the HE-500's for many hours over the last few days. They are my first try at "real" headphones. Just love them!
 

Thanks! I'm glad it made it easier.  They're great headphones!

 

[misc100]

Quote:

I think the HD800 is a step above the HE500. When I upgraded, I did not really want to go back to the HE500's so I sold them and got HE6. And now it's HE6/HD800 depending on music.
The HE500 is fantastic for it's laid back sound, and woman vocals are probably a bit more natural than on the HD800. That being said, I think the HD800 does much more rights compared to the HE500 on the whole. It's just not as intimate.
 
The HE500 are still my #1 headphone for value, but if you have the money and amping requirements for the Senns, it's probably better.

+1 on female vocals on HE-500. I was recently impressed by the texture of Tina Turner's voice that they conveyed.

 

[rgs9200m]

Vocals (female and otherwise) are really great, as in smooth, continuous, analog, but very detailed and full of character too, on the AT W3000Anv (search the appreciation thread for vocals).
ATs of course have a strange fit.

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Thanks! I'm glad it made it easier.  They're great headphones!

You've made it harder for me

 From memory I liked everything about the HD800 but wanted more impact on the low end. I loved the soundstage but I also love female vocals and that hair raising emotion from intimate vocal presentation where she is singing just for me. The SM3 v2 was very very good at this but it always seems to come at a cost which is why I'm so torn between the HD800 and HE500. Coming from the LCD-3 I'm concerned the HE500 would be more of a downgrade than I could handle but these things I read about vocal presentation may just save the day.... decisions. 

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

X2
 
From what I have read on here, there is quite a difference from earlier models of rev2's to the latest batches (with angled connectors) so the difference between Rev1's with different drivers must be quite a lot. I've only heard the new rev2's and they really sound balanced to me. The sound is laid back and warm, but balanced. I don't hear emphasized bass, I personally think people focus on the bass with LCD2's because they don't have peaky or exaggerated treble to take their focus from it, the bass is ruler flat. The HE500's have more bass quantity, this can be clearly heard when I a/b them, but it seems natural to not focus on this because of the treble peak that they also have that balances this out.

The difference is there but not great, as we all know all models of the same family or revision from Audeze are not 100% consistent. MacedonianHero has made a review/comparison between his LCD2 rev.1 and rev.2 before, the only difference you will be able to hear between rev.1 and rev.2 is the rev.1 are more darker, bass presence is slightly stronger, treble is slightly pulled back a bit, sounding bit shelved in a way this is due to the dark sound signature it is based on. The rev.2's are still the same but the dark tonality is slightly reduced, brings the treble out more, bass slightly less but in a more neutral way. For certain genre's and music the rev.1's embraces the user's ears and will not let go but the rev.2 is slightly more suited for all. The difference is not night and day but it is there if you listen very carefully. Both revisions are not bad, just different, but not that big of a difference to warrant a new model name from Audeze.

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

You've made it harder for me

 From memory I liked everything about the HD800 but wanted more impact on the low end. I loved the soundstage but I also love female vocals and that hair raising emotion from intimate vocal presentation where she is singing just for me. The SM3 v2 was very very good at this but it always seems to come at a cost which is why I'm so torn between the HD800 and HE500. Coming from the LCD-3 I'm concerned the HE500 would be more of a downgrade than I could handle but these things I read about vocal presentation may just save the day.... decisions. 

I hope not toooooo hard.  That wink has me concerned
hahaha
 
I don't think the HE-500 should be seen simply as a downgrade.  These two headphones are targeting different sound signatures and really don't share too many similarities.  
Quote:

The difference is there but not great, as we all know all models of the same family or revision from Audeze are not 100% consistent. MacedonianHero has made a review/comparison between his LCD2 rev.1 and rev.2 before, the only difference you will be able to hear between rev.1 and rev.2 is the rev.1 are more darker, bass presence is slightly stronger, treble is slightly pulled back a bit, sounding bit shelved in a way this is due to the dark sound signature it is based on. The rev.2's are still the same but the dark tonality is slightly reduced, brings the treble out more, bass slightly less but in a more neutral way. For certain genre's and music the rev.1's embraces the user's ears and will not let go but the rev.2 is slightly more suited for all. The difference is not night and day but it is there if you listen very carefully. Both revisions are not bad, just different, but not that big of a difference to warrant a new model name from Audeze.

 
It is my understanding through speaking with sankar in great detail that the sonic differences between the LCD-2 rev 1 and LCD 2 rev 2 are caused by the Rev 2's driver being slightly thinner.  The transient response is superior by a slight margin and the headphone ends up sounding just slightly airier.  
Other than this, the two headphones are sonically the same (more or less).  

 

[DavidMahler]

So, I'm around 35 hours listening to the HE-400 critically, and I must say, the sound has grown on me tremendously.  I'm excited to write this review because it was quite different from my expectations.  I don't want to give too much away, except that I really do like the HE-400's presentation with a lot of music.  It does sound better with the Velour, almost unequivocally to my ears.  I suspect the drivers are closer to the ear with the velour as well which adds greater impact.

 

[rezolver]

David, which amp are you using to power the HE-400's?
 
Regarding your colossal review, you state that you prefer the following amps with the HE-500's, which are both tube amps.
 
MY PREFERRED AMP: Woo Audio 5 / TTVJ Millett 307a
 
How would you describe the HE-500/Phonitor pairing?  How do you like it?
 
Thank you again for this grand review.

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

...sonic differences between the LCD-2 rev 1 and LCD 2 rev 2 are caused by the Rev 2's driver being slightly thinner.  The transient response is superior by a slight margin and the headphone ends up sounding just slightly airier.  
Other than this, the two headphones are sonically the same (more or less).
 

 
Yep, exactly right.

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

David, which amp are you using to power the HE-400's?
 
Regarding your colossal review, you state that you prefer the following amps with the HE-500's, which are both tube amps.
 
MY PREFERRED AMP: Woo Audio 5 / TTVJ Millett 307a
 
How would you describe the HE-500/Phonitor pairing?  How do you like it?
 
Thank you again for this grand review.

Thanks!
 
Right now, I have them plugged balanced into the 307a.  It sounds very good this way.  And it sounded good with the Woo5 as well.  

Right now, I don't recall my detailed impression of the HE-500 when paired with the Phonitor.  I recall being happy with it.  I tend to be more of a tube guy in the end, so its rare that I will prefer a solid state over tube (though it DOES happen more frequently than I'm probably aware of).  I recall feeling that the HE-500 were very spacious with the HE-500.  Once I picked the two amps I preferred most, I did the majority of my impressions using the two amps.  If you don't mind the wait, at some point in the next few weeks I could do some critical listening of the HE-500 with the Phonitor and give you more detailed impressions.  Just remind me 

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Thanks!
 
Right now, I have them plugged balanced into the 307a.  It sounds very good this way.  And it sounded good with the Woo5 as well.  

Right now, I don't recall my detailed impression of the HE-500 when paired with the Phonitor.  I recall being happy with it.  I tend to be more of a tube guy in the end, so its rare that I will prefer a solid state over tube (though it DOES happen more frequently than I'm probably aware of).  I recall feeling that the HE-500 were very spacious with the HE-500.  Once I picked the two amps I preferred most, I did the majority of my impressions using the two amps.  If you don't mind the wait, at some point in the next few weeks I could do some critical listening of the HE-500 with the Phonitor and give you more detailed impressions.  Just remind me 

 
HE500s driven off of HE500s are very well-regarded here 

 

[FuzzyD]

Hey if you can afford either of those amps, then surely you can afford to throw another HE500 in to drive your HE500. I can picture it now. One set of cans sitting on top of the other. Two cans on each ear!

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

 
HE500s driven off of HE500s are very well-regarded here 

Now I know what the latest craze on Head-fi is all about, driving headphones off headphones... lol   

 

[m8o]

You mean I'm not the 1st one to think of putting a big bassy closed phone over the outside of my DT-880's?  Denon D7100, or even D600 or even my Focals come to mind...   (too bad the Focals are too small and would break the dang plastic of the headband in 1/2 if I tried it)