[jmsaxon69]

Quote:

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I've been listening to some songs from Ludovico Einaudi, and I can see where people are getting the impression that they are in the actual studio listening to the song playing, the quality is pretty crisp, and while it was what I wanted for my songs, it didn't really seem to bring out anything special from the Anime songs I tried playing.

What have you been listening to before the HE-500? What sources are you using? 

 

[Nimzerz]

From what I've heard anime is a lot like electronic music, where the quality of the song and headphone don't play a huge part in the sound of it. It'll sound half decent out of most headphones. However things like jazz and most other genres have more layering and lifelike sounds, which is what the he500 is amazing at recreating. With the jergpad mod, lifelike sounds are stunningly realistic.

 

[jmsaxon69]

What is Anime Music anyway? Cartoons/drawings depicting music? It's just music people, maybe call it soundtrack music?  Is it all electronic? Is some of it rock and roll? Is some of it classical?  Don't think "Anime Music" is a genre....

 

[jerg]

Examples of "anime music" 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
...and then there are the typical Japanese pop / rock which I'm suspecting is what most people refer to as "anime music".

 

[Novaeangliae]

Sorry for making it unclear, here are a few examples of the anime music I'm looking at:
 
Previous headphones: V-Moda Crossfade LPs
For source I've been using my laptop but I have the NFB 11.32 and paired with Foobar it supposedly bypasses the soundcard on the laptop (but the laptop itself has an SP/DIF connector which I've also tried using)
 
The reason why I called it anime music is because IMO it covers a lot more than just one genre, I can understand where it becomes ambiguous there though.
 
Here are the songs I was referring to (Just a few examples of course...):
 
ED for 'Gintama' (I'd consider this Rock):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRQ8NxYcoPo
 
a piece of the OST (Piano/Guitar instrumental):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjpWKE8vNrI
 
Welcome to the NHK OST (Country...ish?):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ei2izPLpHc
 
Umineko OP (Don't even know what to consider this one):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_vGeHAM4gM
 
And lastly... from the Monogatari series: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4O8YI9-nNk

 
Please note that I do have these in FLAC, so bitrate is not the issue. 
 
I suppose Nimzerz has a point with the realism here. Most of these songs didn't translate too well from the Crossfades to the HE-500 for me, but Ludovico's music was particularly enjoyable as I stated (especially his live albums, usually you can tell it's live but when I was listening to them yesterday it was a very seamless experience.)

 

[Nimzerz]

Well realism is the thing that orthos seem to target. And if you leave that out, then you're missing a large impressive area of the headphone

 

[M-13]

Edit:
 
Both the HE-500 and LCD-2 blew my socks off on first listen.
 
My 2 cents for people who don't like their HE-500
 
-I think you should check source (make sure you're playing good enough quality music from various genres, hopefully lossless)
-Try burning them in for a 100~150 hours to see if that helps (just use normal music at maybe 50% louder than normal listening level)
-Try speaker taps (I find the HE-500 to sound a little lifeless/boring from normal headphone amps)
-Have you tried the velours?
-Source, I've also found the HE-500 to be very responsive to source upgrades. Feed it from a good DAC and the HE-500 will reward your efforts.
 
If you don't like it just sell it back at $550. I think it'll be sold in less than 24 hours if it's in good condition.

 

[Nimzerz]

I tend to enjoy the jergpads more than velours currently. Gives a more natural midrange.

 

[DMax99]

Where can the jerg pad be purchased?

 

[Nimzerz]

Where can the jerg pad be purchased?

You can find info on the jergpad thread. Google should let you find it. If not, jerg has posted In this thread (the creator of the jergpad mod) and he began that thread. Pm him if you'd like.

 

[Chris_Himself]

HE-400 if you use your headphones to have fun.
 
HE-500 if you're a Head-Fi'er.
 
HE-400s are a wonderfully energetic experience compared to even LCD-2's and you do not need much more than a decent source or a portable amp to bring out like 95% of the signature that the 400's have to offer. The 500's have that extra layer of depth to them that you can bring out with more equipment, so my statement about being a Head-Fi'er was referring to our love of shopping for amps and sources LOL.
 
400 is out of the box ready to go. 500's require a little investment and you can get subjectively better sound. 

Side note, I know the 300's are supposedly the entry into ortholand but I much prefer 400's to be the entry level and they represent the most fun per dollar at this point in time to me.

 

[Stalker81598]

Side note, I know the 300's are supposedly the entry into ortholand but I much prefer 400's to be the entry level and they represent the most fun per dollar at this point in time to me.

HE-300 isn't a planar, its a standard dynamic headphone.

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

HE-300 isn't a planar, its a standard dynamic headphone.

 
Crap I should have said ortho sound. I forget they are dynamic from time to time and I was playing it by ear when I said that. They really do sound similar to the 5's though. 
 
HE-5LE is great too if you have medium-size amp money.

 

[jmsaxon69]

Quote:

For source I've been using my laptop but I have the NFB 11.32 and paired with Foobar it supposedly bypasses the soundcard on the laptop (but the laptop itself has an SP/DIF connector which I've also tried using)
 

So what exactly does this mean? When you are suing Foobar and "supposedly bypassing the soundcard" how are you hooked up to the NFB? I assume it's USB? Because then you talk about hooking up SPDIF?

 

[Novaeangliae]

Quote:

So what exactly does this mean? When you are suing Foobar and "supposedly bypassing the soundcard" how are you hooked up to the NFB? I assume it's USB? Because then you talk about hooking up SPDIF?

I guess soundcard can sound misleading, but the NFB 11.32 is both an Amp/DAC, and connecting it through the USB allows it to bypass the built-in DAC for the computer (or soundcard if there is one), and my laptop has the option of SPDIF so that is also an option if I wanted to connect the NFB 11.32 through that instead.