[GoKart]

Hek have been in my cross hairs for a while now. But, having never heard one, and being very happy with my HE-500, I’m nervous about taking the leap...

I understand what I’d gain by upgrading, but, my OG HE-500 is a beast! They have certainly beaten out every other can I’ve owned. So, I guess my reticence is more, what (if anything) would I be losing by upgrading? Can anyone speak to this?

 

[Fegefeuer]

No HEK will give you the HE-500 experience. Technical superiority in many areas, yes, no doubt, but not the same tone, character, timbre. The HE500 has no substitute.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Good day! maybe someone had such an experience and faced such an effect! I have a Hifiman he 500, a week ago such an effect as "light sound without strong bass" appeared in the sound, that is, there is bass, but it has lost its volume and it sounds as if the power of the amplifier is not enough and the sound picture itself is without volume as in front of your face, but before that there were no problems, amplifier schiit Jotunheim due to balance, tried other sources the sound is the same with the same unpleasant effect, what could be the matter? the ear pads are native, maybe my 500 has come to an end? Could I have ear problems?

Where are you located?

 

[r343]

Hek have been in my cross hairs for a while now. But, having never heard one, and being very happy with my HE-500, I’m nervous about taking the leap...

I understand what I’d gain by upgrading, but, my OG HE-500 is a beast! They have certainly beaten out every other can I’ve owned. So, I guess my reticence is more, what (if anything) would I be losing by upgrading? Can anyone speak to this?

Tried HE6Sev2, Arya V1 and Stealth but overall still preferred HE-500, they had better clarity and separation but were bit limp sounding next to HE-500, also i think HE-500 had preferable vocals, timbre and smoothness.

Doing grill mod clears up HE-500 treble and vocals to some degree.

 

[Phenom24]

Where are you located?

Ukraine

 

[Dramlin]

Tried HE6Sev2, Arya V1 and Stealth but overall still preferred HE-500, they had better clarity and separation but were bit limp sounding next to HE-500, also i think HE-500 had preferable vocals, timbre and smoothness.

Doing grill mod clears up HE-500 treble and vocals to some degree.

Agreed on everything. I came to the same conclusion with the same headphone comparisons and the grill mods. Pad swapping also helps to further refine the sound as well, but that's going to be dependent on your entire audio chain. On all my sources I've found great success using the Hifiman VelPad for HE400S pads worn backwards (thick forward, thin behind the ears). That combined with a high quality cable has been great for me. Just throwing that out there in case anyone is going through their pad swapping phase. Pad and cable recommendations are tough though, as they really do have to synergize with the amp to work.

 

[GoKart]

Thanks for the input.

Yeh, I love my 500 with the DCA Angled Lamb Skin. Got a decent OFC cable from AliExpress that I rate. My chain in my signature is up to date.

I am only looking to have one primary headphone. I do/did not intend to keep the HE-500 with whatever may replace it; but damn, I knew it was going to be tough. At this rate, I may end up keeping it! I think a side by side comparison is the only way to go. Now to find somewhere in the North of England that stocks Hek...

 

[Phenom24]

I dripped an antiseptic drop by drop into the sockets and waited a little, the alcohol in the middle was dirty, I must have eaten the mud, and I will tell you that these headphones started playing very cool, the volume appeared and they are very lively, the bass is also there, but I think that it needs a little more what to clean them with, I am so glad that the child was small

 

[bagwell359]

No long cup HFM has the bass timbre/impact of any HE-6, and too a lesser extent the HE-500. No HFM can handles the mids with the same liquid warmth as the 500 does - female vocals being to me the most notable of all.

I could live with the 500 as my only headphone, but only with these changes, listed hierarchically:

1. fuzzor mod - quiets cancellations/reflections in the mid/highs. no EQ or other mod can do this. It makes instrument focus cleaner, and cuts treble hash.
2. parametric EQ - start with crinicle, but don't end up there. I've listed my preferences previously. Makes for better mid timbre, more low bass.
3. pads: The two stocks are not near ideal - my runaway pick out of 14 pads tried is the DCA Ether Angled Lambskin. The change of the back screen to no screen, or a more open design goes hand in hand with the pads. The stock screen increases reverb too much.

4. stock silver plated cable is microphonic & sonically not accurate (cymbal decay far too long). A DYI O2 free cable is fine. I use Custom Cans on most of my cans.
5. dynamat - The driver/cup bass vibrations are too loud and long in the mid/upper bass area to my taste. Judicious use of dynamat is my cure. Cheap & effective.

Not sure if the OG HFM HEK v2 is available on closeout anymore at $1300 US, but its the only one that has enough qualitative advantages over the 500, at a sane price that I might consider it.

I have my HE-6 SE v1 done up with the same mods as my 500 (fuzzor mod less important as the stators are thinner), and obviously diff EQ settings. Its quite close to the 500 with better bass, more definition, but only 8.5/10 of the magic mids tone of the 500. That's my replacement for when the 500 cashes it in.

 

[Philimon]

I would describe HE6se as one step forward and one step back but otherwise pretty similar to HE500. HE500 is just a little sweeter / smoother sounding and is my choice but your preferences might dictate otherwise.

 

[TWerk]

They're both exceptional to my ears. The 500 is deff sweeter with more forward midrange - it's a uniquely pleasing H/P.

I consider both as some of my favorites.

The 6SE V2 is really a refined reference class headphone - it is exceptionally clear and beautifully detailed (to me it is one of the very best for a perfectly clean and engaging listen) but the 500 does add that extra bit of character and is no slacker in dynamics and punch depending on how you run them.

They can be more beautiful and sweet / warm or give them more power like my FA-10 and they get aggressively dynamic and exciting.

You really can't go wrong with either and for me it's both.

 

[bagwell359]

They're both exceptional to my ears. The 500 is deff sweeter with more forward midrange - it's a uniquely pleasing H/P.

I consider both as some of my favorites.

The 6SE V2 is really a refined reference class headphone - it is exceptionally clear and beautifully detailed (to me it is one of the very best for a perfectly clean and engaging listen) but the 500 does add that extra bit of character and is no slacker in dynamics and punch depending on how you run them.

They can be more beautiful and sweet / warm or give them more power like my FA-10 and they get aggressively dynamic and exciting.

You really can't go wrong with either and for me it's both.

The 500's just don't have the bass impact/dynamics under 60 Hz of either SE. If you just listen to the 500's only, its not a thing. But head to head there is a tighter no nonsense directness of the SE (Yggy) - whereas the 500 submerges that a bit in favor of a more liquid slightly warm mid focus that does remind me of a really good hybrid pre-amp or the A1 Gumby.

 

[Philimon]

The 6SE V2 is really a refined reference class headphone - it is exceptionally clear and beautifully detailed (to me it is one of the very best for a perfectly clean and engaging listen) but the 500 does add that extra bit of character and is no slacker in dynamics and punch depending on how you run them.

They can be more beautiful and sweet / warm or give them more power like my FA-10 and they get aggressively dynamic and exciting.

Many factors for differences in impressions while perception of highs especially seem to be the quality that varies the most from person to person imo. Besides differences in personal factors, most of us appear to be running different earpads than stock which makes a 500 vs 6se consensus difficult. et cetera

500 is a tad sweeter in terms of dynamics (meaning less dynamic) but 500 is also a tad sweeter in terms of tone (meaning smoother frequency response). imo

 

[Philimon]

Ill revisit 500 vs 6se comparison later but next time with EQ and same pads so as to reduce variables. I notice that higher harmonics have an effect on perception of the fundamentals’ dynamics so removing differences in frequency response helps with attempts to compare potential technical quality.

 

[bagwell359]

500 vs 6 SE, some more thoughts:

My parametric EQ settings aim at the places in the treble where there is ringing, and if not ringing per se, then behavior that does not make that threshold, but the membrane has not stopped moving. 3-3.5k, 9k for sure. 6k a bit. It has to be parametric, and the Q has to be high (narrow), and the db cut enough to cut the ringing, but not so much as to hurt the music. Plus there are adjacent areas in the treble that need to be boosted too, so narrow, and please don't try fine tuning this w/o a regular fixed freq EQ - even a 31 band on both channels won't do the job, never mind the newly popular ones with 4 or 6.

Over time, HFM has tuned their leading round cup headphones to have less and less of that ringing. The 5LE > OG 6 6 screw > 500 > 6 SE > 6 SE v2 (by ear). The unit to unit variation was higher earlier, but becoming less due to improvements in manufacturing (the driver, let's leave all the other bits outside of that). On my set-up of the past few years, with some EQ of those hotter spots of the 500 and 6 SE along with basically the same mods, they sound more alike to each other than stock, but not the same, and never will be. Someone said that if you take the extra glue off of the driver edges of the SE's, they do bass impact like the 6 screw - and would doubtless ring more.

Of all the technologies I know to create sound, planars have the biggest issues with the stopping of the membrane. Ribbons and estats have the least (and move the least, so thats why intense impactful bass isn't usually a strong suit with them). Planars have an excellent leading edge and that's what catches the ear. And the true ribbon Maggies, with the Maggie or other subs hide their issues pretty well, but full range headphones? Not so much. Horns and folded ribbons are good at stopping too. Dynamics have a lot of years and money put into them, so some of the good ones behave well too. However, make the Q too high, and put backs on them, and you have the bass cannons - usually with V shapes that bear little consideration as accurate transducers (yep another cheap shot at rotten fidelity).