[musiclife]

Quote:

Does anyone know if the LCD-2 headband and yoke fit the HE-500?
 
I was planning to mod them for aesthetic and comfort reasons. 
Thinking about Indian Rosewood and LCD-2 leather headbands.
 
Something like these for the cups.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
What do you guys think?

 
I wonder if the wood could have a positive acoustic effect just like in a violin or guitar

 

[BobJS]

Quote:

Quick question, what is recommended to check on the impedance of the drivers? I've been reading that sometimes the Ohms can be much higher than what Dr. Fang says (+/- 25%). Just curious what device I would need to test them properly once I receive them.

Someone was asking about this on another he-500 thread.   I just measured mine at 29 ohms (DC)

 

[WhiteCrow]

Lady's, gentlemen. I believe we have a new contender to test out with the HE-500.
http://schiit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=13
http://schiit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=14

1.2watts at 32 ohms would surely be enough to drive the HE-500 to a respectable level.

 

[moshen]

Quote:

Quick question, what is recommended to check on the impedance of the drivers? I've been reading that sometimes the Ohms can be much higher than what Dr. Fang says (+/- 25%). Just curious what device I would need to test them properly once I receive them.

Use a multimeter in 200ohm mode (or whatever the lowest setting is) and touch the outside of the headphone BNC connector with the inside pin. Or you can measure it from the cable end since the cable won't add much impedance. Please post your measurements when you get them, it seems the ones people have been measuring lately have been skewing on the lower side. Mine measure 33.9 ohm on each driver..

 

[Alexnova]

Thanks guys. I'll pick up a multimeter and see what the results are. Does anyone know the list of changes the HE-500 has been through since it first launched (like the silver cable, the box it was in, etc)?

 

[preproman]

Quote:

It's kind of generous for Hifiman to provide the alternative pads with the already bargain-priced HE500s, so thanks to Fang.
I really have to consider the HE500s Hifiman's flagship phone, because the HE6's need for a high-powered amp makes them a special-needs headphone.

 
 
Huh???
 
Just because the HE-6 need high powered amps doesn't mean it's not the Flagship.  I think Fang has made it very clear that it's their flagship.  Who are we to say it's not ???

 

[Stealer]

are you guys running your he500 with the silver cables that was provided?
 
I mod by silver cable to a 4 pin xlr connector and tested with the Mjolnir & Gungnir.
    it sounded bright and harsh as compared to the cu cable
was told that it was was shipped with he 500 too....
 
the cu cable has a more balanced sound, really much sweeter as compare to the silver.
Now I am looking for the cables...
 
not sure is it the same as the one on the Head-Direct website
http://www.head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=112
 
 
 
 
rgds

 

[wje]

Quote:

Anyone tried the lawton angled pads mod on ur he500?

 
The Lawton angle pads are quite close to the J$ leather Denon pads.  I installed a pair of J$ pads onto the rings for the HifiMAN pads.  I now have them installed on my HE=400 headphones.  I don't have any negative comments on them at the moment and it will probably be a few days before I can point out some of the positive benefits of them as opposed to the velour pads on the HE-400s.

 

[wje]

Quote:

Huh???
 
Just because the HE-6 need high powered amps doesn't mean it's not the Flagship.  I think Fang has made it very clear that it's their flagship.  Who are we to say it's not ???

 
Correct.  I can't imagine really any flagship headphone that doesn't require some sort of additional power to run right.  Maybe, the high end Skull Candy headphones will do OK with an iPod, but as to the others, most likely not.

 

[DougofTheAbaci]

Huh???

Just because the HE-6 need high powered amps doesn't mean it's not the Flagship.  I think Fang has made it very clear that it's their flagship.  Who are we to say it's not ???

Correct.  I can't imagine really any flagship headphone that doesn't require some sort of additional power to run right.  Maybe, the high end Skull Candy headphones will do OK with an iPod, but as to the others, most likely not.

Isn’t the Stax headphone supposed to be extremely difficult to drive? Are we to say the HE-500 is better because it’s easier? By that logic the iPod headphones are some of the best you could ever buy!

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

are you guys running your he500 with the silver cables that was provided?
 
I mod by silver cable to a 4 pin xlr connector and tested with the Mjolnir & Gungnir.
    it sounded bright and harsh as compared to the cu cable
was told that it was was shipped with he 500 too....
 
the cu cable has a more balanced sound, really much sweeter as compare to the silver.
Now I am looking for the cables...
 
not sure is it the same as the one on the Head-Direct website
http://www.head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=112
 
 
 
 
rgds

i only listened o the stck silver cable for 3 hours or so..was to bright and to hollow..so i went back to my DHC copper molecule cable..and soon i will get my Toxic Cables Black Widow 22AWG copper cable!

 

[DougofTheAbaci]

I went with a Norse cable. Sound is wonderful, it's drastically more flexible and it is much less noisy when moving over surfaces.

 

[wje]

Quote:

Isn’t the Stax headphone supposed to be extremely difficult to drive? Are we to say the HE-500 is better because it’s easier? By that logic the iPod headphones are some of the best you could ever buy!

 
Yes, the Stax are much harder to drive.  My quote didn't imply that the HE-500 would be the better one or the better choice because it was easier to drive.  The two are in very different price leagues.  If you figure, the Stax will cost $4,500 and then the same amount for a capable amp, and you are at $9,000.  
 
Quote:

I went with a Norse cable. Sound is wonderful, it's drastically more flexible and it is much less noisy when moving over surfaces.

 
You went with a top-end cable just so it wouldn't make noise when moving across a surface?  For about $5.00, one can get some nice sleeving for their headphone cables, which will basically perform the same aspect that you desired to achieve.

 

[DougofTheAbaci]

Yes, the Stax are much harder to drive.  My quote didn't imply that the HE-500 would be the better one or the better choice because it was easier to drive.  The two are in very different price leagues.  If you figure, the Stax will cost $4,500 and then the same amount for a capable amp, and you are at $9,000.  

But the HE-6 is nearly twice as much as the HE-500. Yet you made the comparison all the same. So, by what you said, price shouldn’t be the differentiator in “flagship”. But if you acknowledge the Stax is better than the HE-500 then you have to acknowledge that power-draw isn’t, either. It must be down to sound in which case I don’t think anyone has been saying that, properly driven, the HE-6 isn’t as good as the HE-500. I would be very surprised that was the case given, as I mentioned just moments ago, that it costs nearly double.

You went with a top-end cable just so it wouldn't make noise when moving across a surface?  For about $5.00, one can get some nice sleeving for their headphone cables, which will basically perform the same aspect that you desired to achieve.

I bought an after-market cable:

1. To have more than one in case something happened to my primary cable.
2. To see if a new cable could easily be moved, coiled and bent without feeling like I should be using pliers.
3. To see if I could eliminate the loud banging that would be audible in the headphone every time the cable hit anything.
4. To see if I could tell the audible difference between cables.
5. To get something that I thought visually looked nicer than the stock cable.

The result being that I now have two cables in case one breaks, my primary cable is significantly more flexible with no noise from hitting things, and that I can’t tell a major difference between cables. It also happens to look a lot nicer on my desk. So, in the end, I got a mid-range cable (it cost me around $200, I wouldn’t call it top-end) that drastically improved the ergonomics of my headphones but not necessarily the auditory characteristics, which I am satisfied with. Or, at least, what little change I could perceive I put down as much to imagination as actual audible difference.

Maybe I could have gotten some of that with a $5 cable sleeve, but the cable would still be horribly stiff and I’d still be wondering if I had ears good enough to tell one cable form another.

 

[wje]

Quote:

I bought an after-market cable:
1. To have more than one in case something happened to my primary cable.
2. To see if a new cable could easily be moved, coiled and bent without feeling like I should be using pliers.
3. To see if I could eliminate the loud banging that would be audible in the headphone every time the cable hit anything.
4. To see if I could tell the audible difference between cables.
5. To get something that I thought visually looked nicer than the stock cable.
The result being that I now have two cables in case one breaks, my primary cable is significantly more flexible with no noise from hitting things, and that I can’t tell a major difference between cables. It also happens to look a lot nicer on my desk. So, in the end, I got a mid-range cable (it cost me around $200, I wouldn’t call it top-end) that drastically improved the ergonomics of my headphones but not necessarily the auditory characteristics, which I am satisfied with. Or, at least, what little change I could perceive I put down as much to imagination as actual audible difference.
Maybe I could have gotten some of that with a $5 cable sleeve, but the cable would still be horribly stiff and I’d still be wondering if I had ears good enough to tell one cable form another.

 
Easy tiger, we got the message.