[LugBug1]

Quote:

 
Another mississauga person 

 
Yeah...head-fi can do that to your wallet. HE-500 is easily one of those headphones that if you like them, you won't really need to get something else. Unless you just want to try different stuff. This headphone still can surprise me from time to time. A good DAC is also needed with the HE-500 IMO. The E10 that I used to use it with before doesn't do justice. ou should be fine with your Bifrost though. Good luck.

Very true. They respond well to a quality source, soundstage, depth, control etc depend on it.

 

[joeyjojo]

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Agreed. Hifiman has great customer support. It cost me around $15 to ship it to USA from Canada and I got a replacement one in 2-3 weeks. They also declared the item value as $10, so no extra COD fees to surprise you. Audeze on the other hand will get you, same thing with Schiit. American companies aren't that flexible to do so because of the laws.
 
So a new LCD-2 would be $995 + shipping + tax + customs/COD
 
HE-500 - $699 + less than $20 for shipping.

 
Hifiman and Audeze are both American companies. Hifiman have factories in China, Audeze assemble everything in the USA. This is probably why Audeze have fewer quality issues.

 

[3rdear]

Does anyone know how the HE-500 compares to the LCD2 with regard to transparency or being revealing?  Is one headphone more forgiving than the other?  I've heard that both have some degree of forgiveness or smoothness to the sound, but is it a big or small difference?

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

Does anyone know how the HE-500 compares to the LCD2 with regard to transparency or being revealing?  Is one headphone more forgiving than the other?  I've heard that both have some degree of forgiveness or smoothness to the sound, but is it a big or small difference?

I would say that they are both very forgiving in regards to bad recordings. Pretty much equal, only the hifimans will always give more treble annoyance if the recording is bright/harsh on account of their higher  peaks in the upper FR. Even then its never bad or equal to any of the usual treble- centric phones out there. But in regards to transparency, I'd give the nod to the LCD2's as they aren't as coloured as the hifimans. The control of complicated passages in say.. Jazz, or small ensemble classical is more defined and shaped in the mids with the Audeze. The HE500's may very well sound the more detailed on first listen, but  if you take a look at a freq chart you can see why. The upper mids take a bit of a slumber while there is a clear jump to a peak in the treble. This then gives the impression that more detail is being uncovered. When in fact some detail from the mids is lessened while some lower treble (very important part for clicks, snaps, cymbals etc) is highlighted.
 
Jerg. Graph please

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

Does anyone know how the HE-500 compares to the LCD2 with regard to transparency or being revealing?  Is one headphone more forgiving than the other?  I've heard that both have some degree of forgiveness or smoothness to the sound, but is it a big or small difference?

 
They are both a bit forgiving, although I'd have to go with LCD-2 with being more forgiving by a bit
 
The HE-500 is more transparent overall, even when adjusting for HE-500's treble response which can make give you the perception of more detail. HE-500 on pleather are still more transparent.
 
Either one you'll enjoy after listening for 10 minutes and letting your brain adjust. Although HE-500 is the easiest to get used to by far. 

 

[pp312]

Quote:

 
Hifiman and Audeze are both American companies. Hifiman have factories in China, Audeze assemble everything in the USA. This is probably why Audeze have fewer quality issues.

 
They do? As they say in Wikipedia: (citation needed)

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

 
Hifiman and Audeze are both American companies. Hifiman have factories in China, Audeze assemble everything in the USA. This is probably why Audeze have fewer quality issues.

 
Not true at all. Both companies have had their fair share of problems. If I actually had to pick the company that had more quality quality problems, it would be Audeze. Audeze has had a lot of problems with cracked wood (me included), failed drivers etc. Hifiman hasn't really had problems with housing material since they use metal alloy designs.
 
Regardless, both companies offer excellent customer service, so no need to worry at the end of the day.  

 

[Zoom25]

Oh and in response to OP's question: BOTH!!!
 
Each have their differences, weaknesses, strength but the bottom line is that both are very fun to listen to.

 

[paradoxper]

Really both companies have had to deal with some QC. Some wood cracking on the LCD-2's, some veiling issue with the LCD-3.
The HE-400 has had problems with different iterations. 
 
Both companies offer up outstanding Customer Service, and both companies have resolved their QC issues.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

seems like the LCD-2/LCD-3 problems have been mostly fixed though
 
only thing that keeps me from buying HE-500 is those build quality issues.
 
seems like theres problems with the drivers failing, pads getting damaged, headband part being loose, cable connectors breaking, cables breaking/having issues (my friend has a pair of HE-500 but he had to get new cable cause first one broke), i really want an HE-500 because i feel like it will have a sound i will enjoy, but im scared mine will have problems. almost makes me feel like im better off buying used since those shouldn't have those problems
 
not trying to make the he-500 look bad either or anything, since i know alot of other headphones aren't perfect either (grados, beyers, and denons come to mind), but it just seems like i see HE-500s having more problems than other headphones (for some reason, seems like no1s had any problems with HE-400s yet, even though they're the cheaper headphone)

 

[pp312]

"pads getting damaged"
 
One thing I don't like about the HE-500 (and probably 400) is that if the cup is swung backwards the earpad scrapes against the metal arms, which must surely cause damage sooner or later.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

seems like the LCD-2/LCD-3 problems have been mostly fixed though
 
only thing that keeps me from buying HE-500 is those build quality issues.
 
seems like theres problems with the drivers failing, pads getting damaged, headband part being loose, cable connectors breaking, cables breaking/having issues (my friend has a pair of HE-500 but he had to get new cable cause first one broke), i really want an HE-500 because i feel like it will have a sound i will enjoy, but im scared mine will have problems. almost makes me feel like im better off buying used since those shouldn't have those problems

 
Yep, seems like you can read about HE failures more often these days. Audeze is using wood vs. plastic on HE and substantial percentage of reported LCD failures are related to rosewood cracking, glad they've started using composite bamboo.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Originally Posted by pp312 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
"pads getting damaged"
One thing I don't like about the HE-500 (and probably 400) is that if the cup is swung backwards the earpad scrapes against the metal arms, which must surely cause damage sooner or later.

 
kinda like the LCD-2 where the leather headband is worn out where it touches the metal adjustment rod, though its not really a huge issue since u can't see it much
 

Yep, seems like you can read about HE failures more often these days. Audeze is using wood vs. plastic on HE and substantial percentage of reported LCD failures are related to rosewood cracking, glad they've started using composite bamboo.

yup. and LCD-2 still have better build than most headphones. ( for example with my headphones right now, the D7000 has the thin pleather headband, and flimsy metal with the squeaky screw that swings the cups, the HD 800 while decent, are still unfortunately plastic (though its of a good quality) and they have a cheap paint job that chips easily, and the Beyer T1, while having really good overall build, has the cheap adjusters it uses on the lower end beyers, with the same problems that it doesn't click nicely 
 
 
 
of course i might be nitpicking now, but its true

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

 
 
kinda like the LCD-2 where the leather headband is worn out where it touches the metal adjustment rod, though its not really a huge issue since u can't see it much
 

 
yup. and LCD-2 still have better build than most headphones. ( for example with my headphones right now, the D7000 has the thin pleather headband, and flimsy metal with the squeaky screw that swings the cups, the HD 800 while decent, are still unfortunately plastic (though its of a good quality) and they have a cheap paint job that chips easily, and the Beyer T1, while having really good overall build, has the cheap adjusters it uses on the lower end beyers, with the same problems that it doesn't click nicely 
 
 
 
of course i might be nitpicking now, but its true

Funny you mentioned that as most ex flagships (mid-fi now) like HD650, MDR-SA5000 have superior to new offerings build and didn't cost an arm and a leg to boot.
I like Beyers build though, too bad that not much up to their signature.

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

Funny you mentioned that as most ex flagships (mid-fi now) like HD650, MDR-SA5000 have superior to new offerings build and didn't cost an arm and a leg to boot.
I like Beyers build though, too bad that not much up to their signature.

That's actually rather sad.