HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) Proving to be an enjoyable experience in listening.

[BleaK]

It's in my sig.  PWD > S7.

Extension isn't the problem that bothers me, it's resolution and texture.  The three different HE500s I've heard lacks it against most every ToTL phone I've heard on every system I've heard including BA, Mjolnir, Dynahi, BHA-1, Woo, NAD M51, Eximus DP1, etc, etc.  Listen to a HE400 (a good one, I guess there are two variations) side by side and you should be able to pick out more information in the low end.  Other than that it's just a monotonous droning type of timbre my ears hear.  Other than that the HE500 is pretty good but I can't get over that part.

It's good that we all have different ears then :rolleyes:

 

[Darkbeat]

Quote:

Impressions?  The bass is one note, boomy, lacking resolution, detail and clarity in the low end.  The rest is pretty good but the bass presentation is too incoherent and distracting for my tastes.  The HE400 has better low end resolution which is astonishingly good for the price.  I prefer my modded HE5 and HD800 to either. 

Not sure where this came from as most reviews and user tests find them to have exceptional bass with good detail and plenty of impact. Easily on par with the LCD-2 bass in terms of quantity, but missing just a little bit of quality in the very very lowest end. Still "boomy" and "lacking resolution/detail/clarity" doesn't seem to fit at all.
 
Perhaps try an amp with a bit more power? The HE-500s really like at least 2000mW @ 38 ohms, which is really not so demanding or hard to obtain.

 

[LugBug1]

I've been going through a few old Massive Attack faves, this is bass heavy music that is brilliantly mixed and a great test to see if your hp's can not only handle the quantity but also how well they reproduce bass. And I'm surprised but pleased to say that my HE500's bettered my LCD2's in reproducing the over-emphasized bass. The LCD2's do natural bass better but struggle with definition when it is exaggerated. The deepest notes got lost on the audeze but with the hifimans it was clearer and tighter.
 
I don't listen to much electronic music but was pleasantly surprised with the HE500's.
 
Inertia Creeps
Mezzanine
Are great tracks to verify this if anyone else wants to do an A/B test 

 

[cyd2025]

Quote:

Impressions?  The bass is one note, boomy, lacking resolution, detail and clarity in the low end.  The rest is pretty good but the bass presentation is too incoherent and distracting for my tastes.  The HE400 has better low end resolution which is astonishingly good for the price.  I prefer my modded HE5 and HD800 to either. 

 
tough luck... you must have a lousy unit. both hifiman and audeze can't seem to get
the consistency thing down yet. i had 3 he500 and each sounded different from
top to bottom. the one i have now best my lcd2.1 and lcd2.2 units in regards to
bass resolution. the first one was boomy in the bass; as bad as the denon series.]
 
oops, forgot to mention that i'm using the akgk701 earpads on my he500 and
using a vintage reconditioned pioneer sa9100 putting out about 12w at 50ohms.
the pleather earpads may give the bass a boomy presentation as well.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

 
tough luck... you must have a lousy unit. both hifiman and audeze can't seem to get
the consistency thing down yet. i had 3 he500 and each sounded different from
top to bottom. the one i have now best my lcd2.1 and lcd2.2 units in regards to
bass resolution. the first one was boomy in the bass; as bad as the denon series.

 
That doesn't surprise me.  Looking at Tyll's impressions and measurements don't mesh at all with the three HE500's I heard either.  Glad you got a nice set and it seems like we've shared a similar experience.  I'd love to hear one beat my modded HE5.  Or maybe not.  

  

 

[Llloyd]

The first thing I notice when I switch from other headphones to my HE-500 is the bass extension and resolution.  It may not beat your modded HE5, or It may not beat a few things, but I'd say it warrants the money, and it surely does not leave me dissatisfied.  The quality of the low end is definitely in the upper tier of what there is available today in terms of headphones.  I do have to say though that it is unfortunate that there is so much variance in the hifiman phones in general.  I understand they somewhat recently re did their QA,so hopefully that will help.

 

[mike1127]

I only recently obtained a set of HE-500 (from Headroom). They are going back.
 
It wasn't until I read Anaxilus's statement about the bass that I took a close listen. I used my modded Woo WA6-SE, an amp with plenty of reserve power for the HE-500. My digital source has superb bass. I put on a CD of Prokofiev's 5th symphony which uses a variety of bass instruments (pitched instruments) and bass drums/timpani (less pitched or unpitched). And the boominess was obvious. The muddiness and total lack of resolution in the bass was very obvious. I previously didn't notice because I was so captivated by the treble of the HE-500.
 
Mike

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

I only recently obtained a set of HE-500 (from Headroom). They are going back.
 
It wasn't until I read Anaxilus's statement about the bass that I took a close listen. I used my modded Woo WA6-SE, an amp with plenty of reserve power for the HE-500. My digital source has superb bass. I put on a CD of Prokofiev's 5th symphony which uses a variety of bass instruments (pitched instruments) and bass drums/timpani (less pitched or unpitched). And the boominess was obvious. The muddiness and total lack of resolution in the bass was very obvious. I previously didn't notice because I was so captivated by the treble of the HE-500.
 
Mike

 
Keep us posted if your new pair works out better!  

 

[cyd2025]

Quote:

I only recently obtained a set of HE-500 (from Headroom). They are going back.
 
It wasn't until I read Anaxilus's statement about the bass that I took a close listen. I used my modded Woo WA6-SE, an amp with plenty of reserve power for the HE-500. My digital source has superb bass. I put on a CD of Prokofiev's 5th symphony which uses a variety of bass instruments (pitched instruments) and bass drums/timpani (less pitched or unpitched). And the boominess was obvious. The muddiness and total lack of resolution in the bass was very obvious. I previously didn't notice because I was so captivated by the treble of the HE-500.
 
Mike

the wa6se may not be optimal for orthos. it puts out almost 2w at 50 ohms but most
of it is voltage not current. i think there is some back emf/voltage issue going on
with these orthos due to the very strong magnets in there so using an amp with
zero output impedance should help with tightening/controlling the bass.

 

[mike1127]

you score one for the win..
 
using my Hifiman EF5 (also a modded amp, and in high gain mode capable of driving the headphones to ear-damaging lemels without strain), the bass is very nice.
 
The only problem is I like my Woo better, but you takes what you gets. I like treble on the Hifiman HE-500 and I'll take that any way I can get.

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

you score one for the win..
 
using my Hifiman EF5 (also a modded amp, and in high gain mode capable of driving the headphones to ear-damaging lemels without strain), the bass is very nice.
 
The only problem is I like my Woo better, but you takes what you gets. I like treble on the Hifiman HE-500 and I'll take that any way I can get.

I totally agree, its so sweet and natural, no nasty peaks and extends just right. I use the Audio gd C2.2 with upgraded opamps and it works very nice with the 500's giving them 3 watts into 40ohms. The soundstage opened up more when I started using this amp and its great for classical. Listening to Boulez's Debussy as I type this, simply wonderful!  

 

[cyd2025]

you may want to try other solid states or hybrid amps that can put out
a zero output impedance before you give up on the he500 you have.
and i agree about the highs on these newer he500; my first unit had
zingy highs that showed up on many recordings but these current
batch units have much much more refined and relatively shelved highs
much like the lcd2x.
 

 

[Happy Camper]

Power and soundstage go hand in hand with the HiFiMan orthos. A quality soundstage can be had by both using quality power with enough reserve current to maintain it in demanding passages. Otherwise you will hear an incomplete centerstage and one note bass with weak decay detail.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

Power and soundstage go hand in hand with the HiFiMan orthos. A quality soundstage can be had by both using quality power with enough reserve current to maintain it in demanding passages. Otherwise you will hear an incomplete centerstage and one note bass with weak decay detail.

 
Agreed. Just got a O2 recently, and the soundstage got bigger and more precise. Good depth as well as width. I won't give out my final verdict on the bass with O2 + HE-500...yet. I know the O2 has been getting polarizing reviews with HE-500, especially regarding the bass. I need to hear this for a week or two more to see how this combo does with wide range of genres. The one thing I can say for sure about the bass with O2 is that is has great extension all the way down in the 20 Hz region. <--- I don't think that's going to change for me. The bass so far has been very quick and detailed in all songs, definitely no one-note-bass issue.
 
Bass Impact. On Headfonia as well as here on some threads, people are talking that the O2 lacks impact. I don't think the O2 lacks impact at all. However, I still have to wait a while to figure out whether the bass impact of HE-500 is suitable for me or not. Although right now the bass impact of O2 is fitting well with the rest of the spectrum. I can somewhat see how people might find the O2 bass shy, especially if they are used to an overemphasized bass amp (tubes). However I don't think it can be argued, not even a bit, that the O2 lacks any extension. Bass impact is there as well, however this may differ from people to people.
 
Mids I still have to figure out, so no comment on that....except that it's super clear throughout for both male and female vocals. No doubt about that. Don't know if it'll turn out to be in my liking or not over time, but very clean and detailed nonetheless.
 
The soundstage, as I mentioned previously is quite good. Right now just using the E10 as dac. I'll test it out of my Marantz CD5004 later and report that as well. 

 

[Uncle00Jesse]

Anaxilus - just curious, how did you mod your HE-5? Is it difficult to do? I have a pair here sitting with me, beautiful phone and sound great but I cannot listen to them for long periods as they are rather shrill. i'm wondering if modding them would suit me better.