[MattTCG]

  From the first few impressions of the 560s, it seems their signature is leaning towards the HE-5LE: less warm, more treble extension.
 
That's a great thing if it is the case!

 
Not for me. I like darker treble and a warmer signature with lush mids. Hopefully the 400i will delivers that. 

 

[Angelbelow]

  When you say better clarity vs the 500s, do you mean the velour 500s or pleather 500s?
 
If the pleather 560s give more clarity than velour 500s, it's some great news!

 I use the velour with my HE500s at home. The pleather 560s sounded more transparent compared to my velour he500s.

 

[Clemmaster]

   
Not for me. I like darker treble and a warmer signature with lush mids. Hopefully the 400i will delivers that. 

 
Get those heavy-as-hell LCDs, if you're into darkness 

 

[koiloco]

   
Get those heavy-as-hell LCDs, if you're into darkness 

Luke... I am your father.

 

[MattTCG]

   
Get those heavy-as-hell LCDs, if you're into darkness 

 
True, the lcd2 has my end game signature. But it just weighs too much. For me, comfort #1...sound #2

 

[TMRaven]

Forsake the darkness and become a warrior of light, Cecil.

 

[Clemmaster]

   
True, the lcd2 has my end game signature. But it just weighs too much. For me, comfort #1...sound #2

 
Then you're fated to wait for Audeze to come back to reason and go towards making lighter headphones... Not gonna happen anytime soon, if the LCD-X is any indication...

 

[MattTCG]

I've given up on Audeze. I do have high hopes for the he400i though. 

 

[Makiah S]

   
Then you're fated to wait for Audeze to come back to reason and go towards making lighter headphones... Not gonna happen anytime soon, if the LCD-X is any indication...

I need to wear an Azudeze and feel it for my self 

 

[Clemmaster]

  I've given up on Audeze. I do have high hopes for the he400i though. 

 
You know that the HE-5LE is more intimate/darker in the mids than the HE-500, right? Add the Alpha pads on top of that to smooth the treble and you're good to go.
 
The fact you like the HE-400 (which I disliked) despite its non existent upper mid and piercing treble makes me believe treble is not your concern, upper-mid darkness (or lack thereof) is what you want. The 5LE has less upper mid emphasis and is still in the warm category. It is less lush than the 500s, that's a fact, though (but cleaner sounding, as a result).

 

[Terja]

 

 
Really digging the aesthetics of the HE-560s. I think that metal band is for adjusting ear cup pressure since they look like they are made to bend - another cool addition by Hifiman. As for pads, I took to angling my stock Hifiman pads a long time ago (by sticking a half-disc piece of hard form under the lip). Glad the new stock pads are angled. Cool!
 
Now the hard part -- waiting for real world impressions to start trickling in. It will be interesting to see just what SQ differences there are between the HE-560 and the HE-400i, and if so what. At $899 vs $499, that's a significant amount of change for what seems to be essentially the same design (other than the wood). If the 400i performs anywhere near where I think it will perform, it's going to carve out a big chuck of that price range market and possibly dethrone the Sennheiser HD6X0s as the champs of mid-fi HPs. (Just looking for a good excuse to trade-in my HD650s).
 
Kudos to Hifiman for really making serious efforts to address the concerns coming in from their users. As far as connectors are concerned, they are actually pretty decent, i.e. if you're attaching them only once and leaving them on. I've had mine for close to two years without a problem. They become a real pain in the wazoo if you keep having to swap cables. BUT SERIOUSLY >>> HIFIMAN -- please put sleeves on those cables. All in all -- a resounding round of applause -- well done Fang!

 

[Makiah S]

   
Really digging the aesthetics of the HE-560s. I think that metal band is for adjusting ear cup pressure since they look like they are made to bend - another cool addition by Hifiman. As for pads, I took to angling my stock Hifiman pads a long time ago (by sticking a half-disc piece of hard form under the lip). Glad the new stock pads are angled. Cool!
 
Now the hard part -- waiting to real world impresssions to start trickling in. It will be interesting to see just what SQ differences there are between the HE-560 and the HE-400i, and if so what. At $899 vs $499, that's a significant amount of change for what seems to be essentially the same design (other than the wood). If the 400i performs anywhere near where I think it will perform, it's going to carve out a big chuck of that price range market and possibly dethrone the Sennheiser HD6X0s as the champs of mid-fi HPs. (Just looking for a good excuse to trade-in my HD650s).
 
Kudos to Hifiman for really making serious efforts to address the concerns coming in from their users. As far as connectors are concerned, they are actually pretty decent, i.e. if you're attaching them only once and leaving them on. I've had mine for close to two years without a problem. They become a real pain in the wazoo if you keep having to swap cables. BUT SERIOUSLY >>> HIFIMAN -- please put sleeves on those cables. All in all -- a resounding round of applause -- well done Fang!

Oh man there's more wood on there than I though >.> super Crap <.< 
 
so much gear to get this spring >.> and nothing to sell... crud muffins 

 

[daerron]

  I'm sorry but, if anyone here is relying on one or two brief impressions to form a concrete opinion, then that is very foolish.  I'll probably still pre-order once it's available, but that's just because I'd like to hear for myself.  It's still far too early to draw any reasonable conclusions about the sound.  They do look like they have the potential to be promising though.

 
I was being sarcastic with my post, but since we are all on the hype train, why not? Hifiman normally take their sweet time to sort out QC issues. If the reviews and measurements look good I might order one when the X-mas period comes around, should be safe then.
 
I'm definitely not looking for a brighter headphone, but a more airier treble definitely would be nice as well as a better sound stage. The poor sound stage on the HE-500 is one of the things that kills the enjoyment with classical music.

 

[Zuckfun]

Someone wrote- I never went to a concert and complained about the treble. One of the more frequent criticisms of HiFiMan seems to be the treble presentation. HE4/HE400/HE6 all share this criticism. It seems the consensus is the HE500 is their most rewarding effort yet, in terms of treble. The bass presentation, well, they're masters at this art. My hope for the new lineup, and for the HE560 specifically- is to erase the previous criticisms. A headphone that masters the treble presentation as well as they have with the bass. Anything less will be disappointing to me.

 

[catcherfly]

I'm really happy to see the angled pad design and the quality of the pads looks great as well. I hope they fit on previous Hifiman headphones. I also couldn't be happier about the lighter weight and wooden cups on the HE-560 but I think the headband assembly couldn't be uglier! And the new logo and its prominence, is really ugly as well.
 
I switch my cables up all the time so seeing the same connectors is a big disappointment - I have Audeze connectors on my HE-400s. If I buy new Hifiman headphones I'll be sending them off to Martin Custom Audio for a serious modification.