[prez]

  My original Magni does a very good job of powering the HiFiMans. I've never been able to get past 9:00 on the volume knob, so I can tell it has a crapton of juice. Needless to say, I haven't heard em out of anything else, but I have no qualms about the pairing.

Great to hear.  I am thrilled with the quality of audio.  Geez.  I just finished a song, and for the first time, heard a quiet shaker being played in the background.  At first I was like "What is that noise?", since i've heard the song a million times. then I realized what it was.  Crazy.

 

[Pirakaphile]

 
Great to hear.  I am thrilled with the quality of audio.  Geez.  I just finished a song, and for the first time, heard a quiet shaker being played in the background.  At first I was like "What is that noise?", since i've heard the song a million times. then I realized what it was.  Crazy.

My favorite part is listening to members of jazz bands mumbling to eachother while someone is soloing. But yeah, the HE-500 is all about the little details, as well as impressive big sounds. I'm a huge band geek, so I'm always listening not just to the notes, but to the tone of the notes, and the personality of the notes. Every instrument has a person behind it, and that person puts a little bit of themselves into the music. If I can't hear that, I don't like it. 

 

[prez]

  My favorite part is listening to members of jazz bands mumbling to eachother while someone is soloing. But yeah, the HE-500 is all about the little details, as well as impressive big sounds. I'm a huge band geek, so I'm always listening not just to the notes, but to the tone of the notes, and the personality of the notes. Every instrument has a person behind it, and that person puts a little bit of themselves into the music. If I can't hear that, I don't like it. 

 
I will say, I am beginning to notice a lot of noise coming from these weird silver headphone cables.

 

[Pirakaphile]

   
I will say, I am beginning to notice a lot of noise coming from these weird silver headphone cables.

Yup, I've made it a habit of holding them at the split with my thumb so they don't run into eachother. The microphonics are almost unbearable, especially since I tend to nod my head and move around a lot when I get into my music. I'm thinking of finding some good cables, but I'm on a budget, so I've been waiting to save up. I've got so many things to get that I've got a list of products I'm going to get laid out for the next few years.

 

[prez]

  Yup, I've made it a habit of holding them at the split with my thumb so they don't run into eachother. The microphonics are almost unbearable, especially since I tend to nod my head and move around a lot when I get into my music. I'm thinking of finding some good cables, but I'm on a budget, so I've been waiting to save up. I've got so many things to get that I've got a list of products I'm going to get laid out for the next few years.

what are the good cables?

 

[Pirakaphile]

 
what are the good cables?

There are a whole bunch of aftermarket ones sold by various companies all over the place. The one I was looking at is made by a dude on ebay. 
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-HiFiMAN-HE-5-HE-6-HE-300-HE-400-HE-500-HE-560-Headphone-Neutrik-Canare-Cable-/171502941211

 

[Liu Junyuan]

There are a whole bunch of aftermarket ones sold by various companies all over the place. The one I was looking at is made by a dude on ebay. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-HiFiMAN-HE-5-HE-6-HE-300-HE-400-HE-500-HE-560-Headphone-Neutrik-Canare-Cable-/171502941211

Nice cable and dealer. I use his cable for my HD-650s.

 

[Rockcoon]

And no one wants to discuss Oppo's amp- dac :mad:. It is great deal for planar with balanced headphone output. But there always is this "but". Or thing, that cost about 1,5k $ can't fail?

 

[whatup69]

And no one wants to discuss Oppo's amp- dac

. It is great deal for planar with balanced headphone output. But there always is this "but". Or thing, that costs about 1,5k $ can't fail?

I've auditioned the HA-1 with my HE500, and the performance was absolutely stellar to my ears. Better separation and 3D space as well as a more detailed, yet smoother sound (which sounds contradictory, i know). However, if i was in the market for something like the HA-1 and didnt need some of the excess features (Which the Oppo has plenty) and going balanced, I'd take a serious look at the Audio GD NFB-28. NFB-29 if you CBF re-terminating all your cans

 

[elwappo99]

And no one wants to discuss Oppo's amp- dac

. It is great deal for planar with balanced headphone output. But there always is this "but". Or thing, that cost about 1,5k $ can't fail?

 
The HA-1 is still kinda new, and not a lot of people have it. There's a dedicated thread, but it doesn't have a ton of impressions. 

 

[Rockcoon]

Audio GD NFB-28. NFB-29

Yep, i dont need any apple devices suport or else. Just fine usb dac with build in balance amp for reasonable price.

Re-termination is not a problem. I allready sold my m50. And hifiman is still on the way from a store. So at that moment i have ho cans at all

 

[Chik0240]

Just noticed, my new ordered focus pad seemed to be the focus A ones, since the inner ring is velour instead of perforated pleather, anyone have idea of what pads sounds most neutral with the HE-500?

 

[Hansotek]

Just noticed, my new ordered focus pad seemed to be the focus A ones, since the inner ring is velour instead of perforated pleather, anyone have idea of what pads sounds most neutral with the HE-500?

You're in luck, the Focus-A is more neutral sounding relative to the HE500 sound.

The perforated inner ring in the production FocusPad causes a boost in the 2-4 khz region and a slight decrease in the bass region. The "A" version is a little more laid back, sounding more like the stock HE500, but with better technical performance out of the pad.

 

[Llloyd]

I personally didn't find the focus pads to change the sound all that much.  They were more comfy however.  I can't remember but I think they were the A pads.

 

[intlsubband]

I have the one with perforated pleather + velour, and it is very comfortable! I can't say I noticed a huge change in sound, but definitely in comfort compared to the stock velours.