[beaver316]

  Question: are the connectors straight down or angled? Sorry if this is covers already.
 
I'll be honest here, I don't see myself not buying this right out of the gate. It incorporates so many of the things that I'd been hoping for. I am a moth drawn to the hifiman flame. 

 
 
Please let these have some decent mids and they will hit all my checkboxes. 

 
I too am a moth drawn to the Hifiman flame. I was planning on sticking with the HE-400 for years to come but Hifiman seemed to address almost all problems of the HE-400 (bar sound which we don't know about yet). I see a HE-400i in my future, HE-560 is a little out my price range and I'm not too much of a fan of wood headphones anyway. And yes they are angled.

 

[MattTCG]

The 560 will have to bring a lot more to the table than those wood cups to get me to spend almost double the money. If the sound is very similar I'll take the 400i all day. 
 
Now where is the pre-order with the early bird discount?

 

[AxelCloris]

 
Now where is the pre-order with the early bird discount?

 
I'm all over some pre-order action.

 

[Zuckfun]

So torn about what to upgrade to from HE400/HD650. Is the HE500 the answer- will LCD2 be too dark. What if both are too heavy. Part of me just wants to roll the dice and gamble on the HE560- they did premiere in Vegas after all. Hopefully some impressions from CES will be coming soon.

 

[modulor]

The author of that article posted a reply about the discrepancy of the pictures for those that haven't see it yet:
 
"These were labeled the HE 560 at the hotel. After our demo and visit, we triple checked the specs and features with HiFiMan CEO Fang Bian before publish. It's possible that the pre-production unit was meant for audio demo purposes and had a different casing, which happens often with new headphone models. Note the lack of model name on the band, for instance.

In any case, the guts under the hood are impressive, no matter the casing.

The CNET piece had the HE 560 in wood, so it's also possible some minor details are still being decided, and the intended final version will have the teakwood (the latest specs we were given seem to indicate this). It wouldn't be the first time I've seen that happen, in any case—it's very common with first-run models, especially when they have as much effort poured into them as this unit obviously has.

With any luck, we'll be able to get a unit in for testing this year, and in that event there will be pictures of the final production model.

Thanks for reading!"
 
It could go either way with the cups, but I honestly like the look of them without the wood cups paired with the new headband design.  I doubt the sound will change much if at all between the two...maybe it will be optional?  I suspect they are gauging impressions with the two cup types.  The new pads look very nice too...definitely excited to at least get my hands on those first off for my HE-500, but eager for some more in depth impressions and comparisons.

 

[TMRaven]

Kinda like how that model of LCD-X jude got before canjam was a beautiful looking brown, and the production was is ugly black or gunmetal gray.  

 

[davidsh]

Lol, I can't believe how someone can dislike the wooden cups.. Sooo gorgeus, love wood 

 

[modulor]

  Lol, I can't believe how someone can dislike the wooden cups.. Sooo gorgeus, love wood 

Don't get me wrong, they look nice and I like the aesthetics of woodies...but better with, say, the classic HiFiMan headband or Audeze headbands.  I'm sure my option will change once I see it in person, but I still think the glossy black cups look best with the black plastic styling of the new headband design.

 

[beaver316]

  Lol, I can't believe how someone can dislike the wooden cups.. Sooo gorgeus, love wood 

 
Wood works well on things like tables, doors, etc... headphones not so much imo 

 

[john57]

My Fisher FA-003 has all wood cups custom made!

 

[AsianBatman]

  My Fisher FA-003 has all wood cups custom made!

 
Just checked out what you have since I wanted to get wood cups for my SPT100, but 150$ price tag is kinda hefty. I'm all for wooden cups for the hifiman, but how is the maintenance for wood cups?

 

[dahoo]

 
The headband reminds me of our leader.

 

[MattTCG]

For a headphone like the lcd xc, the wood cups would mean something to the signature of the hp. AFAIK the wood on the 560 is just for show. If there is an option for a wood cup or painted metal, I'll take the metal especially for less money. Too many potential problems with the wood. 

 

[akarise]

Some video coverage!
 
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/2014/01/10/4411045/

 

[Nimzerz]

  Some video coverage!
 
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/2014/01/10/4411045/

Wow! good find!
 
The angled connector seems really nice, and the clamp seems much less on those. I still really hate those plastic yokes/gimbals...