[ericeng91]

  i agree. HE-500 is actually one of my favorite headphones. It will always have s special place in my heart. hehe...

Oh man.  Now that's really got me thinking of 500 vs 560.  Would I be asking too much for a more-or-less "unbiased" opinion on the two?  Sound quality & comfort vs the price difference.

 

[Keithpgdrb]

Oh man.  Now that's really got me thinking of 500 vs 560.  Would I be asking too much for a more-or-less "unbiased" opinion on the two?  Sound quality & comfort vs the price difference.

Dude. Why not just wait till they come out. Way too few people have heard these cans. And they arnt even done tweaking yet.

 

[ericeng91]

Dude. Why not just wait till they come out. Way too few people have heard these cans. And they arnt even done tweaking yet.

I'm not saying I'm buying right now.  But if the 500 is stopping production, that doesn't give me A LOT of time to sit and think over it.  I figure, why not ask the people at HiFiMan how they feel about the two products? 

 

[Ultramus]

Woah he-500 is being discontinued?! That is....really sad I love the 500, it is by far my favorite HP right now, compared to hd800and lcd2/3/X. I feel like keeping it at the 6-700 range was a nice position in the lineup.

I guess if the 400i is really close to the 500 it will be ok, but I can't help but think the 500 might be a hot commodity if the 560 signature is closer to he-6/hd800. Not that I won't love the 560 if that's the case though

 

[grizzlybeast]

I wonder if the better comparison is the he400i vs he500. the 560 is said to be better than the he-6 in some areas.
 
customer service told me the he-400i will be available around april....
 
I cant tell the color of the he400i... is it black?
 
all I know is that if I can get an he500 with he400 bass and improved drivability I will wet my pants with excitement and never buy a hp again. I just hope they are more dynamic as well. orthos never really get that part right for me.
 
hopefully the he500/he400 discontinuation is because they bested and perfected them so much that they are not worth keeping around.
 
the 5le got discontinued but a lot of people prefer it to the 500

 

[ericeng91]

Woah he-500 is being discontinued?! That is....really sad

I love the 500, it is by far my favorite HP right now, compared to hd800and lcd2/3/X. I feel like keeping it at the 6-700 range was a nice position in the lineup.

I guess if the 400i is really close to the 500 it will be ok, but I can't help but think the 500 might be a hot commodity if the 560 signature is closer to he-6/hd800. Not that I won't love the 560 if that's the case though

 
Don't quote me on the 500 being discontinued.  Earlier in the thread they mentioned the HE-4 was being discontinued, and to me, it doesn't make sense to continue the HE-500 if the 400i is so close in price and the 560 is considered the upgraded model.  So that's just my speculation.  Hifiman should hopefully confirm this though.

  I wonder if the better comparison is the he400i vs he500. the 560 is said to be better than the he-6 in some areas.
 
customer service told me the he-400i will be available around april....
 
I cant tell the color of the he400i... is it black?
 
all I know is that if I can get an he500 with he400 bass and improved drivability I will wet my pants with excitement and never buy a hp again. I just hope they are more dynamic as well. orthos never really get that part right for me.
 
hopefully the he500/he400 discontinuation is because they bested and perfected them so much that they are not worth keeping around.
 
the 5le got discontinued but a lot of people prefer it to the 500

That's why i asked about the 3 sets.  Price wise, the 400i and 500 are so close.  But from what the others say, the 400i still sounds closer to the 400 than the 500.  
 
As for color, at CES, the 400i was black.  
 
As for the 500 vs 560, I can't wait for some reviews on this forum of the 560.  Is that supposed to be coming out around march or april as well?  If the 560 really is as good as the HE-6 in a lot of areas, and is a great improvement over the 500, I might just shell out the extra $300 for the latest and greatest.  
 
As for the 400/500. it sounds like the 400i and 560 has bettered not only the sound performance, but also the comfort in every way (pads, headband,gimbals for rotation).  So maybe this will end in a similar way as the 500 vs 5le.  Thoughts?

 

[jerg]

   
Don't quote me on the 500 being discontinued.  Earlier in the thread they mentioned the HE-4 was being discontinued, and to me, it doesn't make sense to continue the HE-500 if the 400i is so close in price and the 560 is considered the upgraded model.  So that's just my speculation.  Hifiman should hopefully confirm this though.
That's why i asked about the 3 sets.  Price wise, the 400i and 500 are so close.  But from what the others say, the 400i still sounds closer to the 400 than the 500.  
 
As for color, at CES, the 400i was black.  
 
As for the 500 vs 560, I can't wait for some reviews on this forum of the 560.  Is that supposed to be coming out around march or april as well?  If the 560 really is as good as the HE-6 in a lot of areas, and is a great improvement over the 500, I might just shell out the extra $300 for the latest and greatest.  
 
As for the 400/500. it sounds like the 400i and 560 has bettered not only the sound performance, but also the comfort in every way (pads, headband,gimbals for rotation).  So maybe this will end in a similar way as the 500 vs 5le.  Thoughts?

Peter from Hifiman has already confirmed that HE500 will be discontinued, just not immediately at release of the new headphones.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/629253/head-direct-hifiman-customer-service-team/645#post_10213777

 

[AxelCloris]

  He mentioned earlier that hifiman doesn't want to do pre-orders unless it's very close to release date, because they don't want pre-orders to keep pushing shipping times back.
 
This is unrelated to what hifiman said, but look at the alpha dog, that thing has like a 2 month turnaround now because he allowed so much pre-orders.

 
The Alpha Dogs are now down to a 4 week turnaround time and the process is getting even quicker since they're moving everything in house today. They no longer have to outsource the paint so the whole process will be done by their team. I believe HiFiMan already does it this way, so we could see a better turnaround with the HE-400i and HE-560 than we did with the beginning of the Alpha Dog pre-order.

 

[Nimzerz]

  Peter from Hifiman has already confirmed that HE500 will be discontinued, just not immediately at release of the new headphones.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/629253/head-direct-hifiman-customer-service-team/645#post_10213777

Glad I already have my pair with your pads on them and the Emo driving them then

 

[M-13]

In my humble opinion: HE-500 being discontinued is a mistake. It doesn't matter how good the 560 and 400i are. Sennheiser kept the HD600 around till today. HifiMan should keep the HE-500 around even if the new units are "better".

 

[Nimzerz]

  In my humble opinion: HE-500 being discontinued is a mistake. It doesn't matter how good the 560 and 400i are. Sennheiser kept the HD600 around till today. HifiMan should keep the HE-500 around even if the new units are "better".

+1, many people prefer it already over the HE-6, why get rid of it when it's even still making sales?

 

[MattTCG]

I think that we will have more perspective once the new hp's are out. The new offerings may be just that good. 

 

[koiloco]

From a business perspective, why would a company gets rid of its successful products unless the company is absolutely sure that the new products will be at least as good or better?
I would never take such risk.  With that logic, I am pretty confident that the new HPs from HFM should be just as competent at the least.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Are both releases worldwide? I want to preorder now. 

 

[Greed]

Maybe they can't handle inventory for all new models as well as old. It isn't uncommon for such a small operation company.