[reeltime]

Broke these down. Short answer: It's complicated.

 

[SilverEars]

Good response, may take me a bit to run them both, just took on a new puppy....

I want to exchange my 500 for yoyr puppy. Let me know, thanks.

I feel it's a bit warmer, not by miles, but side by side it has the advantage.

I don't feel its bloom since drums seem well defined and I can simulate bloom with my Loki enabled and jack up the sub-bass.

Some other tracks tested that emphasize the strengths of these cans:

Masters of Reality - moon in your pocket
Masters of Reality - 100 years (of tears on the wind)
Gorillaz - momentary bliss (around 2:57 I found myself looking around the room for the source of the synths since the soundstage is well presented.)

It should also be noted that I have Dekoni Hybrid Elite pads on my HE-500.

And the disparity I'm seeing between my impressions and reviews and I did not touch the volume knob on my lry2 when switching back and forth. The HE-500 is less sensitive and needs about an increase from 10 am to 12 pm on the know to volume-match.

You drive your planars with Lyr2? That maybe the issue. Try to drive both out of low output impedance, high power amp. The 500 is inefficient, 87db, so it needs a high power amp.

 

[bagwell359]

I want to exchange my 500 for yoyr puppy. Let me know, thanks.

SilverEars:

He's waking up at 11, 1, 3, 5. He's a chewer, and he won't be house trained for some period of time... but no, he's part of the family now. Better pics soon.

All:

Good point on power for the 500. You tend to forget its an issue when you have a muscle amp. Lyr2 looks to have enough juice. If the damping factor is low that wouldn't be good for the 500 bass.

I tend to forget that stock I had issues with the 500 bass, parts of the upper mids and treble. It's a salute to the original designer "H.E." that the driver is so good that tuning via mods is so successful and easy that it can be made to sound well superior to the LCD-2, Ananda, etc. Along with the HE-6 the HE-500 is one of the most mod'd cans of all time and has a fervent and long running fans all over the globe.

 

[SilverEars]

SilverEars:

He's waking up at 11, 1, 3, 5. He's a chewer, and he won't be house trained for some period of time... but no, he's part of the family now. Better pics soon.

All:

Good point on power for the 500. You tend to forget its an issue when you have a muscle amp. Lyr2 looks to have enough juice. If the damping factor is low that wouldn't be good for the 500 bass.

I tend to forget that stock I had problems with the 500 bass, parts of the upper mids and treble. It's a salute to the original designer "H.E." that the driver is so good that tuning via mods is so successful and easy that it can be made to sound well superior to the LCD-2, Ananda, etc. Along with the HE-6 the HE-500 is one of the most mod'd cans of all time and has a fervent and long running fans all over the globe.

Actually, I spoke too soon. I assumed low damping factor, low current since it's tube, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Output impedance is only 2.6 ohms with main power of whopping 2.3W with high gain! It's funny how many of these small Schiit amps put out so much power. This must be a tube hybrid. If it was purely tube, it would be a different story.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...he LYR 2 flexes its,488 milliwatts at 300 ohm.

 

[bagwell359]

Actually, I spoke too soon. I assumed low damping factor, low current since it's tube, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Output impedance is only 2.6 ohms with main power of whopping 2.3W with high gain! It's funny how many of these small Schiit amps put out so much power. This must be a tube hybrid. If it was purely tube, it would be a different story.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-schiit-lyr-2-amplifier.8256/#:~:text=The LYR 2 flexes its,488 milliwatts at 300 ohm.

Yeah they tend to put tubes in for just one stage. Never heard the Lyr2 but I have heard the Lyr3 and it has to be one of the really good budget amps for cheap. They have a hybrid OTL (Valhalla) and the one under the Rag (Mjolnir) which I believe do more than one stage each. I know the Mjolnir 1, never heard the Valhalla. They make some good DAC's too.

 

[mab1376]

I want to exchange my 500 for yoyr puppy. Let me know, thanks.You drive your planars with Lyr2? That maybe the issue. Try to drive both out of low output impedance, high power amp. The 500 is inefficient, 87db, so it needs a high power amp.

Any specific amp you recommend? I see your other reply, yes it's definitely a hybrid, not all-tube like my little dot.

 

[bagwell359]

Yeah they tend to put tubes in for just one stage. Never heard the Lyr2 but I have heard the Lyr3 and it has to be one of the really good budget amps for cheap. They have a hybrid OTL (Valhalla) and the one under the Rag (Mjolnir) which I believe do more than one stage each. I know the Mjolnir 1, never heard the Valhalla. They make some good DAC's

500 likes power, and its revealing so Bryston, Violectric, big Schiits would all be nice.

 

[griga]

I would be really curious how all these HE-5xx and Amp combinations compare with Hifiman Deva and its Bluemini module using usb...

 

[SilverEars]

Any specific amp you recommend? I see your other reply, yes it's definitely a hybrid, not all-tube like my little dot.

Did you read my previous comment? I think Lyr is fine, but fully solid-state with the sufficient wattage is generally reliable for planars.

So, I've been going back and forth between 500 and 5XX. I find 5XX cleaner sounding, and I think it's due less weight in the notes. Both do not have top notch resolution of course, but the timbre on the 500 seems to be better supported by mids sounds. 500 has that warm bloom to the sound, especially when bass hits. I can't say I like this bloom particularly. I know @bagwell359 modded it to reduce that warm bloom to the sound. I think that would add more clarity to the sound, and 5XX already has the clarity, but of course not the same level of clarity.

So, this warm bloom arises when bass hits, and it hits with more thickness than the 5XX, and you feel this aura of warm bloom, which I'm not particularly fond of with the 500. So, 5XX comes off cleaner on the bass, but also being lean feeling as well. 500 of course has more weight in the bass impact, and the bass presence is felt, not so with the 5XX. On the 5XX, bass presence is part of the sound, not standout part. So, since the bass is lean, the bass hits, and disappears quickly with the 5XX.

When it comes to imaging distance, the 5XX comes off with perception of being more distant than the 500. Interestingly, 500 seems more forward with mids in terms of distance (with my velpads, which is known to bring upper-mids up), like more in your face type of mids, which I can see people preferring. Which is quite odd, and doesn't make sense to be given the 5XX's measurements. I would expect mids to pop forward with such response. So, the 5XX can come off more spacious sounding.

I like the clarity of the 5XX, and also the impact of the 500. 500, you will feel the more presence of the bass when it hits and blooms around. 5XX, on the other hand will be more of a clear response, and not much thickness to the timbre. 5XX seems clean without the much weight of the timbre.

I think the 500's forward mids does seems to cause impression of better definition. I would definitely go with 500 for vocals. Forward mids do causes impression of imaging being better visible. 5XX just provided me with the relative level of how forward the 500's mids really is, and how the vocals seem to be fairly well defined. Or conversely how 5XX sounds distant. And also, clearer sounding as well, which I find it's positive trait.

This maybe a stretch, but 500 sounds like 'that planar 650' with the mid like that. Just my opinion.

IMO, 500's bass be improved by tightening it, with less warm bloom release from it. Which maybe the HE-6?

 

[Majestyk]

Did you read my previous comment? I think Lyr is fine, but fully solid-state with the sufficient wattage is generally reliable for solid-states.

So, I've been going back and forth between 500 and 5XX. I find 5XX cleaner sounding, and I think it's due less weight in the notes. Both do not have top notch resolution of course, but the timbre on the 500 seems to be better supported by mids sounds. 500 has that warm bloom to the sound, especially when bass hits. I can't say I like this bloom particularly. I know @bagwell359 modded it to reduce that warm bloom to the sound. I think that would add more clarity to the sound, and 5XX already has the clarity, but of course not the same level of clarity.

So, this warm bloom arises when bass hits, and it hits with more thickness than the 5XX, and you feel this aura of warm bloom, which I'm not particularly fond of with the 500. So, 5XX comes off cleaner on the bass, but also being lean feeling as well. 500 of course has more weight in the bass impact, and the bass presence is felt, not so with the 5XX. On the 5XX, bass presence is part of the sound, not standout part. So, since the bass is lean, the bass hits, and disappears quickly with the 5XX.

When it comes to imaging distance, the 5XX comes off with perception of being more distant than the 500. Interestingly, 500 seems more forward with mids in terms of distance (with my velpads, which is known to bring upper-mids up), like more in your face type of mids, which I can see people preferring. Which is quite odd, and doesn't make sense to be given the 5XX's measurements. I would expect mids to pop forward with such response. So, the 5XX can come off more spacious sounding.

I like the clarity of the 5XX, and also the impact of the 500. 500, you will feel the more presence of the bass when it hits and blooms around. 5XX, on the other hand will be more of a clear response, and not much thickness to the timbre. 5XX seems clean without the much weight of the timbre.

I think the 500's forward mids does seems to cause impression of better definition. I would definitely go with 500 for vocals. Forward mids do causes impression of imaging being better visible. 5XX just provided me with the relative level of how forward the 500's mids really is, and how the vocals seem to be fairly well defined. Or conversely how 5XX sounds distant. And also, clearer sounding as well, which I find it's positive trait.

This maybe a stretch, but 500 sounds like 'that planar 650' with the mid like that. Just my opinion.

IMO, 500's bass be improved by tightening it, with less warm bloom release from it. Which maybe the HE-6?

I sold my 500's for pretty much the same reason. I may try another pair some day and apply the grill and fuzzor mod.

 

[SilverEars]

I sold my 500's for pretty much the same reason. I may try another pair some day and apply the grill and fuzzor mod.

For what reason? The warmth?

 

[Majestyk]

For what reason? The warmth?

Yup, too warm sounding with my amp.

 

[reeltime]

Celebrating Thanksgiving with a shootout!

 

[SilverEars]

Yup, too warm sounding with my amp.

I'm listening to my HE6 now and the difference from HE500 is obvious. HE6 has better resolution, not warm, and generally clear, and imaging has better definition and depth. Imaging seem more spacious due to HE6 having an interesting way of sound to decay into the space (maybe due to blacker space from lack of warmth), but I think both HE6 and HD500 same distance of intimacy. Bass is generally tighter as well. Due to not being so warm, bass definition is recognizable. I don't think I'm giving enough power to the HE6 right now however. I'm not getting enough bass impact. When driven well, it will slam.

 

[bagwell359]

he-500 was the younger and cheaper cousin of the HE-6 6 screw - meant to be a close relative. I've heard both tuned better than stock via mods and EQ. The amount of work done was similar, and I'm using those sessions to write this. The main physical difference is aluminum traces vs gold, and cables, headband, and I think the material used for the body itself is a bit lighter in the 500. HFM said the tuning was meant to favor mids in the 500, and they are warmer, with better headstage width, and yes IMO bigger image size. Also its interesting how strong the emphasis is on bass and treble with the 500 - yet its still clearly a mid centric sound. I find the 500 to have less ringing in the treble than the 4 screw by a lot. I find the unmodified 4 screw quite hot, needs EQ IMO. The 6 has this out of reality bass slam that shuts my eyes often, never once the 500 has done that. 500 when you tighten it up has great timbre for blues/rock (stock Q* I estimate is about .85 - .9), but also does well with audiophile jazz, half speed master rock stuff (modified Q ~.75) and not lay too many eggs with classical - although not true unmodified. Then you must turn to HD-600 or 800 type sound.

Too me the 500 is amazing in that it has a sort of "lay around the shanty mama, and put a good buzz on" nature, then you put on some of the most precise recordings known - esp female vocals and the detail and decay is really superb. I guess in summation, it's sort of a Janus - looking two ways sound. Lots of cans top it: Susvara, HEKse, LCD-4, Voce, HE6 (se and 6 screw, 4 only with EQ), etc. Yet every 2 weeks or so when I pick them up for 3-5 days of sessions they just do not fail to satisfy.