HE-5..initial musings

[tintin47]

Anyone? I know that some have built cables for this phone:

I am making a cable using the connectors supplied by head direct, and I just want to make sure I am not crazy. The whole housing seems to be the ground according to my DMM, so I solder the R/L to the pin in the center and the ground to??? There is no tab for the ground, so where is the ground wire intended to be secured?

 

[MikePio]

Hey Wower,

I may not have that much experience as the others you mentioned, but I do own the HE-5 and as much as I praise it, it does have some negative points, which could turn some people off... Here is what I think their negative points are:

- Soundstage is not that expansive, very closed,
- Balance is not optimal, some could complain about this,
- Detailed but not super detailed...
- Bass is adequate for me, but others may want more punch,
- Sometimes sound may seem congested,
- Sibilance may be an issue, not for my pair though...
- Some sharpness has been noted

I am not sure what else is there to fault, and this is truly nitpicking! Since some of these come down to personal preference, like the bass, soundstage etc... I am not sure what else to say, since this headphone easily has the goods to stand with best, considering the price at 600, find me something better? cheers and good luck...

 

[not_sure]

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/too...o-amps-464354/

I beleive you Mikepio if your source is only iMac + amp, honestly you will hear this with almost every headphones

 

[tim3320070]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyone? I know that some have built cables for this phone: I am making a cable using the connectors supplied by head direct, and I just want to make sure I am not crazy. The whole housing seems to be the ground according to my DMM, so I solder the R/L to the pin in the center and the ground to??? There is no tab for the ground, so where is the ground wire intended to be secured?

The scored outer post at the bottom is what I used for the ground but it made it hard to put the sleeve over it, but it worked fine that way.

 

[MikePio]

Actually "not_sure" you are right I do not have an optimal source, though it is still not going to change the headphones basic characteristics. The reality is a good dac cleans up the sound, gets rid of distortions, and does not change the headphones basic capabilities of sound. This holds true with amps as well, it amplifies the sound, giving general flavor depending on the amp, though the headphone still sets the pace. My question to you is this, if I bought a benchmark dac 1 tomorrow, would the HE-5 have a dramatically increased soundstage or superb balance? The probable answer would be no. Since the basic principle of the amp and dac is supposed to strengthen the already given acoustic properties of the phones, thereby emphasizing and fully realizing the potential of the can.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikePio /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually "not_sure" you are right I do not have an optimal source, though it is still not going to change the headphones basic characteristics. The reality is a good dac cleans up the sound, gets rid of distortions, and does not change the headphones basic capabilities of sound. This holds true with amps as well, it amplifies the sound, giving general flavor depending on the amp, though the headphone still sets the pace. My question to you is this, if I bought a benchmark dac 1 tomorrow, would the HE-5 have a dramatically increased soundstage or superb balance? The probable answer would be no. Since the basic principle of the amp and dac is supposed to strengthen the already given acoustic properties of the phones, thereby emphasizing and fully realizing the potential of the can.

You'd be surprised. All of the things you mentioned in your list could more or less be a by-product of the source (and some of the amp).

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wower /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've read a good chunk of the two big HE-5 threads and the amp matching thread. A couple of fan boys dilute the helpfulness of the threads but I'm glad to see old skool headfiers like Asr, Currawong, Skylab, Biker, mrarroyo etc etc ets so I will ask here: I know from Asr's posts the HE-5 will probably be a good contrast to my AD2000. I really like the AD2000 but now that my system is nearly totally tweaked (great source, good connects, power conditioning etc) the AT phones are starting to show their peakiness in the high-mids and highs. Plus, I am looking for something with more soundstage which presents a radically different sound than the AD2000. Not many criteria other than that. And lets not forget; this price point really is attractive. If I'm not looking at this phone, my other options are the $HD800 or $PS1000. Ouch. I forget who said it in another thread but I totally agreed. Their argument was basically negative reviews of a product are more helpful. And it makes a lot of sense when I'm investigating this phone. I want to know if I can live with its weak points. Can someone give a breakdown of the negatives of this phone in regard to SQ? (The workmanship is an understandable risk with this type of product and I can live with it.) Be ruthless! GO!

They can be a little aggressive and bright in the mid-treble, and they have a tendency to get a little congested when the music gets complex. They also lack truly deep bass capability (the last octave is almost completely missing).

 

[wower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif They can be a little aggressive and bright in the mid-treble, and they have a tendency to get a little congested when the music gets complex. They also lack truly deep bass capability (the last octave is almost completely missing).

GRRRAAAAAHHHH!!

Sometimes I hate this hobby. Where is my perfect phone? I'm so happy with my currect single ended rig. I CAN/COULD be happy with it for years to come as I save up for the next big big big upgrade to 'stats. However, I really want a phone with a different sound sig than my AD2000 to spice it up in the interm. The HE-5 looks so promising because it uses another technology. I think it will have realistic weight and more soundstage than the AD2000 when I want to switch it up but I wanted warmer bass. Maybe I should reinvestigate the D7000 which has loads of bass and clean highs but sucked out mids. The exact opposite of AD2000s beautiful mids. Both the D7000 and HE-5 have the benifit of not breaking the bank while saving. Ack! Where is my perfect homephone? Thanks all.

 

[Zoide]

The key to happiness lies in not visiting this forum. I didn't visit much in the past two years and was pretty happy with my Ed9. Then I started reading about the HE-5 and I'm waiting to get them next week

And now I'm reading about their defects so who knows what will happen :S

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wower /img/forum/go_quote.gif GRRRAAAAAHHHH!! Sometimes I hate this hobby. Where is my perfect phone? I'm so happy with my currect single ended rig. I CAN/COULD be happy with it for years to come as I save up for the next big big big upgrade to 'stats. However, I really want a phone with a different sound sig than my AD2000 to spice it up in the interm. The HE-5 looks so promising because it uses another technology. I think it will have realistic weight and more soundstage than the AD2000 when I want to switch it up but I wanted warmer bass. Maybe I should reinvestigate the D7000 which has loads of bass and clean highs but sucked out mids. The exact opposite of AD2000s beautiful mids. Both the D7000 and HE-5 have the benifit of not breaking the bank while saving. Ack! Where is my perfect homephone? Thanks all.

It's over there. Just outside of your pice range.

 

[not_sure]

I didnt mean it bad MikePio

one day sure you will have acceptable source at home so you will convince personally about it.
My experience is good cd player or good soundcard or good soundcard as transport for dac via digital is base for good sound. I have iMac at home so I can tell you it is far from good sound.

 

[wower]

lol. Kind of lost it there. Thanks for the commiseration all. I'm better now.

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif They can be a little aggressive and bright in the mid-treble, and they have a tendency to get a little congested when the music gets complex. They also lack truly deep bass capability (the last octave is almost completely missing).

Rob, did you get a chance to amp the HE5 w/ the Solo SRGII? I find that the warm nature of the SRGII goes very well w/ the HE5, better than the EF5 w/ the stock tube. I found that both the bass is deeper/thicker plus it tamed the energetic top.

Now I am looking for the right tube to use in the EF5, I have over ten 12AU7 to test.

 

[Skylab]

It was a good combo, indeed.

Don't get me wrong - I think the HE-5 are terrific cans. But Wower asked for the negatives, however slight, and so that is what I described.

 

[wower]

No no. And it's much appreciated. My indecision at the lack of the perfect can is probably saving me money.