[decur]

i wonder if the loaners are from the production batch or pre-production batch?
either way,i look forward to a listen

 

[decur]

x

 

[elnero]

If I'm not too late I would be interested in hearing these. I'm located in Prince Edward Island in Eastern Canada.

 

[tamahome77]

Count me in as well if I'm not too late.  I'm located in Edmonton, Canada.  Thanks

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

The Arrow is known to have a lot of punch, so should be able to drive them.
 
That said, I would think the biggest draw would be these can be driven by any desktop amp, not so much that it makes a big, heavy, open pair of phones like this "portable". There can be doubt in their design that these are very much home phones.
 
The HE-6 and to a lesser extent the HE-5LE need a meatier than average desktop amp to meet their requirements, whereas so long as you have an amp - these will sound great - that's a pretty strong selling point. Being able to drive them on a portable amp, for me, is more of a novelty I'd be less likely to take advantage that reguarly, if not just once to see that it could.

The HE-5 LE are driven very nicely with the balanced Protector and SR-71b, and not too badly from the 3MOVE and Stepdance either.  The only portable that can power the HE-6 is the balanced SR-71b, while the Protector that does great with the HE-5 LE struggles.  Some people will use these amps and phones with their laptop rigs.  And, in a laptop rig the DACport is not bad with the HE-5 LE either, although the iBasso D4 in 9v mode has better impact.
 

 

[nc8000]

Protector also struggles with the HE-4 while SR71-B does great. Might be time to consider that amp upgrade

 

[blankdisc]

Just wondering whether anyone has posted any early impression yet.

 

[nc8000]

The Euro loaner will not start circulating for at least another 4 weeks so a long time off yet

 

[tanilolli]

.

 

[fenom60]

I am debating whether to get LCD2 of HE 500, would like to try them out ^^ From Toronto

 

[Happy Camper]

The Midwest loaner pair showed up today. Sturdy build, gunmetal gray, new headphone smell.
 
I have put them on for burn in but initial impressions are that they are very much like the HE-6. Not quite as detailed in soundstage, bass or resolution of fine detail but that's straight out of the box. I am using the HE-6 cable as that's currently wired to an amp. I will run them in overnight and listen to what they sound like tomorrow. I'll say that if I had gotten these instead of the 6s, I'd still be a happy camper. As the week progresses, I'll post impressions on the ipod, ipod/Xin Macro IV, SP Extreme headphone amp and a tube and ss speaker amp.
 
It is a very good time for headphone design.

 

[Happy Camper]

I listened to them last night while working on my TV with the ipod/Xin portable. They work well with lesser powered amps but they do scale with better equipment. Today, I have them warming up the SP amp. Sound out of them is very close to the HE-6 on a speaker amp. The same minor differences as noted above is noticed with the SP. I'm not going to try tube rolling as time is short on a loaner program.
 
The 500s have a fuller bodied sound which matches well with SS amps. When on tubes, it adds to the lush sound. I'm sure changing my driver tubes would ease some of that.

 

[complex]

Is it too late to get in on this? I'm in Boulder, Colorado and would love to hear them. Currently have HD 800 with a Woo WA2 (and a WA5 on order).

 

[immtbiker]

I had the 500's for a couple of weeks. Except for the treble, I like them equal to or more than the HE-6s. Of course they get along with a lot more amp options.
Their biggest asset is their mids. They are probably one of the best mids I've ever heard. Definitely meets my tastes buds much more than the LCD-2's. They are extremely comfortable and can
easily be used with a portable setup with most modest to hi-end little portable amps. I really got a good synergy with my old Xin Reference and my Portaphile V2^2 Maxxed.
They mate very well with the HM-801 and 602 without an amp, but I think my favorite was flac files Rockboxed out of my iRiver H-120, fiber optic out into the iBasso D-10. That amp has some serious staying
power. 
Anyway, back to the mids. Listening to Vinnie's RWA Isabellina, Dead Can Dance, "Into the Labyrinth":. On song #1 the three gong hits surprised the heck out of me. Also Laurendo Almedia and Ray
Brown, when Ray uses the bow (which is the closest I've heard anything come down to 20 hz) on my speaker system, it put a crack in my wall, no joke, annihilated me with the HE-500's.
 
Definitely a top tier headphone. A tiny drop rolled off in the upper register, but I guess you equalizer guys can compensate for that. If I didn't already shell out the money for the sixes, and am supporting
4 people on one salary, I'd grab them in the first batch.
 
They're a keeper. Although, kind of weird using prototypes with the writing written in something that looks like white out. 

 
I think most people are really going to enjoy these.

 

[Ishcabible]

Hey, would it be a problem if I was moved to the end of the Midwest list? I'm supposed to be next, but my gear is breaking (Such as my reference headphones playing only mono, so I'll need to recable them, and I currently have no working source other than a laptop and N2...so I'll need to fix/buy stuff which won't be complete until about the end of my week with the HE500, so it's pointless for me to get it next, and the time after that happens to be final exams week if I assume a week for posting.

 
I'd hate to have to drop out though, since I'm seriously considering buying this if I can get a summer job.