[bmichels]

  Ah: I gotcha...
 
YES  - the UI was very clean and a sincere pleasure to navigate! I didn't need any help or explanations from the A&K guys to find some tunes I liked and start listening!
I didn't have my Audeze LCD-XCs with me that time in the A&K room at the Venetian (of course - just my luck, I had em every other time I was in that room!! -

) - when I got to play w/ the 500N. I had my Beyerdynamic T51is with me - VERY easy to drive. Though, even though they don't need alot of juice to drive em, they are happier with a fair amount of headroom (as with most Beyers I find) and the 500Ns musical performance was surprisingly addictive! When I played with this component at T.H.E Show Newport last year, it was part of an in-room, two-channel system (with a fantastic 300B tube amp as well - VERY COOL) so if there was a headphone output at that stage they weren't focusing on it!

THIS is how I experienced the 500N the FIRST time at Newport!
 
So that was a nice feature to mess with. As for it's sonics in comparison to the AK240 - I'll have to get back to you on that to give you an honest account - but I will say that I enjoyed its sound very much. The highs were crisp and extended, the mids were lush and colorful/vivid (NOT colored) while the bass was tight and controlled - but not so linear that it didn't excite me. I was drawn-in. When I say this was a surprise - I don't mean to imply that being impressed by the sound surprised me - after all, I'm an A&K fan! 
 
I just meant that I was pleasantly surprised to see how much attention they paid to the headphone amp section. With the 500N being a server, the last time I experienced it I thought it was aimed more at the two-channel audiophile demographic - so when I heard my Beyers sing it was nice to see that A&K chose NOT to limit themselves! I was admittedly a lil' concerned about that at Newport when I first experienced it.
 
I don't think I would need to add anything to it in order to enjoy its sound. MAYBE a headphone amp for harder-to-drive cans - but, again, I can't be sure as I didn't have any power-hungry headphones with me! And: The 500N dripped with soul - as I played back everything from Adele to Earth Wind & Fire without a hiccup! 

 
I am super happy to hear all this.
 
It seems a very viable solution : Transportable from room to rooms (battery operated and still relatively small) but also desktop with full connections for bigger DAC or AMPS !  I just think that they should have used a standard XLR for the balanced headphone output rather than their 'fragile' 2,5 mm super mini jack.  This is a desktop gear !
 
Last thing :  It is not clear if with the AK500N it is possible to CD-Quality stream from QOBUZ (like with a AK240) and also to purchase/download music files from Qobuz... WITHOUT A PC.

 

[deuter]

Build your own personal computer using sotm USB card and fanless windows 8.1

Trust me it's cheaper and more fun to listen to something you build.

 

[complin]

   
As I mentioned int he HE-1000 thread, there are two big hype trains going right now:  the EL-8 and the HE-1000.  One of them has been unanimously praised and the other has seem both praise and criticism.  
 
If you dig through the hype for the meat, you'll see that there's a difference between the two "hype trains".  Sure, more people need to hear it before there's a consensus; after all, nobody is going to believe how good the HE-1000 is without hearing it for themselves.  But once they do, I predict that you'll find that this hype has some merit.
 
For the record, I heard it at CES and it's phenomenal.  I'm already plotting to decide what I have to sell to be able to afford one (and an amp that will do it justice).

 
 

Oh I was serious lol, this is the new legendary headphone I can sense it. The next question is if the headphone going to be sold separately from the amp.. I have a hunch it will but fingers crossed!

 
I have feelings of Déjà vu here, the new is always the latest and greatest
I would reserve judgement for 6 months or a year after all the dust has settled

 

[complin]

  Plus: It's one of those components that I can imagine on-display at the Guggenheim Museum in a show about the evolution of home audio - yeah, may sound silly, but it's how I felt when I was playing around with it...

OH: because I didn't get a chance to snap a shot of it there,
this is a pic I took while auditioning the unit at T.H.E Show Newport last year

 
Hmmmm hardly Guggenheim material or a design classic I would say just a stack of ugly boxes.
B&O would have done a done a much better job. but as they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder 

 

[quadkiller]

Deleted

 

[kramer5150]

So awesome.... thanks for the report Jude.
 
Fang and his company in my eyes have always been about innovation, out of box thinking, pushing the envelope and breaking down barriers and consensus boundaries that define consumer audio.
 
Looks like a great show, and they are on their way to a truly flagship product.
 
Good Luck Fang!!  I hope it all works out for the best.

 

[SilentFrequency]

OMG

ok

Welcome to hf

 

[Jalo]

Jude, "Next, I'll discuss one of the most amazing technology demonstrations at CES 2015 (specific to the Head-Fi world) that I think will have a huge impact on how we buy custom IEMs (in-ear monitors) very soon."

When will you do this Jude? Don't keep us hanging for too long please.

 

[cas77]

Hello Jude,
could you one day try them with Meridian Prime and compare them in this set with the HE-560, please !!!

 

[SilentFrequency]

Hello Jude,
could you one day try them with Meridian Prime and compare them in this set with the HE-560, please !!!

Unsure Jude takes requests, but good luck and welcome to HF

 

[Frank I]

 
Drew Baird from Moon Audio and Eric form hifiman at the Hifiman booth

Briana from Hifiman lighting up the booth a usual

 
 
The Hifiman 400I with portable players and IEM's
 
 

 
 
The Abyss Light at a  more affordable $4400

 
 
 The Abyss sound very explosive with deep and extended bass . Very impressive and looking forward to spending moetime listening to this headphone.

Hifiman EF1000  prototype was making awesome music at CES with the new HE1000 planar coming soon.
Paired with the Woo WA5 is sounded excellent.
 
 

 

 
 
The Higo TT price at $4795.00 was a much bigger and improved version of the popular Hugo form Chord

Peter Hoagland from Hifiman was holding Fang new masterpiece HE1000. This is a special statement product coming soon.

 

[Gilly87]

Man, the price tag on that Hugo is way more than I could ever convince myself to spend, but it sure is sexy ;-;
 
Quote:

 
 
 
The Avyss Light at a  more affordable $4400

 
 
 The Abyss sound very explosive with deep and extended bass . Very impressive and looking forward to spending moetime listening to this headphone.

Hifiman EF1000  prototype was making awesome music at CES with the new HE1000 planar coming soon.
 
 

 

 
 
The Higo TT price at $4795.00 was a much bigger and improved version of the popular Hugo form Chord

Peter Hoagland from Hifiman was holding Fang new masterpiece HE1000. This is a special statement product coming soon.

 

[SilentFrequency]

I was right, the he-1000 is going to be a statement hp!

And the price of the Abyss headphones :eek: which I think is the most expensive planar magnetic hp in the world totally by a far stretch so I guess sorry for your wallet/purse is the case?

Seriously hope the he-1000 does not end up costing as much though as I think an "elitist" market could begin but who can say right?

 

[deafanddumb]

Need more comments and impressions on both the open and closed EL8's from Audeze....surely a very important headphone to a wider audience!?

 

[Frank I]

 
Tyll Hersten colorful as ever listening to the EL8
 

 
Tony from   Audeze is always helpful  and very knowledgable.
 

  The Deckard amp from Audeze above Tony .

 

 

 

 

 

 Sankar,Tyll and Jeff  at the Audeze booth in South hall.

 

 

 

 The Audeze headphones were designed by BMW and were exciting and built well.  The sound is very promising form the display prototypes and am looking forward to hearing both the open and closed versions.
Lot of headphone for $699.00