[daerron]

Quote:

 
Thanks for the update. Btw, how was the built in headphone amplifier?
 
NAD M51 - That's the one I'm saving up for too! 

 
I was thinking M-DAC for awhile but have pretty much decided to get the NAD after saving up.

 
You're welsome! The headphone output is certainly good enough for most headphones, it sounded great with my Westone 4s, but didn't have enough grunt for the HE-500, though it sounded very similarly to the Lehmann BCL (perhaps slightly less bright and energetic) and much better than the Essence STX. The NAD seems to be a good step up and give a lot of high end DACs a good run for the money so I'm quite excited about getting one eventually. The digital preamp sounds like a very good implementation as well.

 

[zigy626]

Had a very bad experience with Hifiman HE-500 the first pair that I ordered has a channel imbalance where the left driver was considerably louder than the right. Ordered a second one and had the same issue but not as bad as the first one. I think Hifiman has some quality control issues that they need to sort out. I found the Sennheiser HD650 a much better headphone than the HE500. And you cant even compare it to the HD800, for me HD800's are speaker replacement headphones.

 

[alota]

Quote:

 
This is the one I have been using for the past 6+ months: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Headband-Cushion-Pad-fit-BEYER-HiFiMAN-DENON-SONY-KOSS-BOSE-BEATS-DRE-Headphones-/200799150982
 
You somewhat have to snap the buttons on a bit forcefully. Totally worth the comfort.

i bought this. the price is good and arrived from us to europe in only 4 days

 

[Kendoji]

I've had my HE-500s about six months now, and they're still regularly giving me 'wow' moments.  I have to admit the dreaded upgraditis / GAS has been coming up for me again, leading me to order a Taboo and contemplate some Audezes, but I still absolutely love these Hifimans - they are just fantastic through my Violectric stack.  This rig is one of the best purchases I've ever made.  

 
Most of the music I listen to these days is 70s / retro hard-rock, which for some reason always sounds amazing on the HE-500.  Mamont, Abramis Brama, Asteroid, November, Asteroid, all sound amazing on them.

 

[tuna47]

Really love the schiit lyr with the 500s puts a smile on my face at $450 near your price range

 

[nicholars]

Argh my hifiman potential purchase is suddenly looking a lot more expensive...
 
Initially I was going to get a HE-400 and run it from my Xonar STX....
 
Now I have found out that the HE-400 is actually pretty bright / sibilant and this leaves the HE-500 which will probably not work very well with the STX(?) so this is now from £395 for a HE-400 to £695 for a HE-500 + £300 for an amp! = £1000 Stupid head-fi!

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

I've had my HE-500s about six months now, and they're still regularly giving me 'wow' moments.  I have to admit the dreaded upgraditis / GAS has been coming up for me again, leading me to order a Taboo and contemplate some Audezes, but I still absolutely love these Hifimans - they are just fantastic through my Violectric stack.  This rig is one of the best purchases I've ever made.  

 
Most of the music I listen to these days is 70s / retro hard-rock, which for some reason always sounds amazing on the HE-500.  Mamont, Abramis Brama, Asteroid, November, Asteroid, all sound amazing on them.

 
It's about time the upgradititis hit you

. It took me about 4/5 months to start contemplating another phone. I liked them, but it wasn't fully satisfying. They were missing on a few things. I would say go for the Audeze and give them a week to get adjusted to the sound. The Audeze will give you a more 3D soundstage, thicker mids and better bass control as well as impact.

 

[nicholars]

Do the Audeze LCD2 NEED an amp as well? Or can they run from something like a Xonar stx?
 
I think if someone said to me to draw the perfect frequency response of a headphone it would be pretty much exactly what the LCD2 rev 2 looks like.
 
Which has the bigger soundstage and best imaging out of the LCD2 and HE-500? I rememeber readinf the LCD2 have a small / bad soundstage? Although maybe this was compared to the HD800 I cannot remember. Which out of the HE-500 and LCD2 r2 have the most open soundstage?

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

Do the Audeze LCD2 NEED an amp as well? Or can they run from something like a Xonar stx?
 
I think if someone said to me to draw the perfect frequency response of a headphone it would be pretty much exactly what the LCD2 rev 2 looks like.
 
Which has the bigger soundstage and best imaging out of the LCD2 and HE-500? I rememeber readinf the LCD2 have a small / bad soundstage? Although maybe this was compared to the HD800 I cannot remember. Which out of the HE-500 and LCD2 r2 have the most open soundstage?

HE-500 has the most open soundstage, but the lcd the deepest and most 3d-ish. That is the consensus. The lcd has more forward vocals, and better center imaging in general, so vocals sound more direct and up-front.
For me the HE-500 has that toe-tapping factor, that I haven't found with the lcd. But I havn't heard the lcd for long, though.
 
They need amping as much as the HE-500 (or almost). The cheapest you can do is a speaker amp if you want something that sounds great (consensus). You could definitely also find a cheap vintage receiver. Else, the possibility is to buy your headphone and look for alternative solutions in the used marked. Like some 3-8 yr old amplifiers. I got a x-can v8 for a very good price for example. I think it does a good job with the HE-500...
 
If you want to spend the money, the Lyr should have very good synergy with the hd650 too.
 
Deciding between the 2 headphones would take me weeks...

 

[nicholars]

Ah yes I keep forgetting that I have my NAD 326Bee with speaker taps.... So actually I would probably not need a headphone amp.... Is running the HE500 / LCD2 from the speaker taps actually better than a headphone amp? I like the sound signature and quality of my NAD 326Bee so maybe that would be a good idea because it gets a lot more expensive when you need to add an amplfiier.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

Do the Audeze LCD2 NEED an amp as well? Or can they run from something like a Xonar stx?
 
I think if someone said to me to draw the perfect frequency response of a headphone it would be pretty much exactly what the LCD2 rev 2 looks like.
 
Which has the bigger soundstage and best imaging out of the LCD2 and HE-500? I rememeber readinf the LCD2 have a small / bad soundstage? Although maybe this was compared to the HD800 I cannot remember. Which out of the HE-500 and LCD2 r2 have the most open soundstage?

 

Yea the LCD-2's need an amp for sure. Don't bother running them off of computer jack. Even the O2 was crap with them.
 
I've found that the LCD-2s need less power than HE-500, however HE-500 gets along with other amps much better than LCD-2 does. I hate using the word "synergy," but all I am going to say is to do your research with amping and LCD-2 for the signature you want. Also, audition if you can.

 
Regarding soundstage, HE-500 is wide with little depth and basically no/insignificant height. LCD-2 is more spherical. It's less wide than HE-500. Just a tiny bit bigger than your average closed headphone. However it has more depth than HE-500 as well as height. The depth is the key factor here.
 
The LCD-2 are definitely not claustrophobic. You just have to give them time to get adjusted to. HE-500 is more of a plug n play type.
 
"Which of these have the most open soundstage" - I would say the HE-500. Also they have more air and out of LCD-2 and HE-500, the Hifiman resembles speaker a bit more.
 
Best to get them both 

 (It will happen sooner or later)

 

[nicholars]

Thanks, I like the sound of the LCD2 because of the soundstage depth....I like the 3D effect if this is what you mean.

 

[dryvadeum]

Thanks, I like the sound of the LCD2 because of the soundstage depth....I like the 3D effect if this is what you mean.

The LCD's would easily run off an o2. They really don't improve a whole lot with more current. Driving them balanced off my NFB- 10 opens up the sound stage and gives them a bit more body but I actually prefer then with my AHA 120.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

The LCD's would easily run off an o2. They really don't improve a whole lot with more current. Driving them balanced off my NFB- 10 opens up the sound stage and gives them a bit more body but I actually prefer then with my AHA 120.

 
I'm not going to get into the current thing, but have you tried the O2 with LCD-2?

 

[dryvadeum]

Quote:

 
I'm not going to get into the current thing, but have you tried the O2 with LCD-2?

I've tried them with my Quickstep I used to have and that easily drove them well. I have used the O2 with other headphones and it was definitely more powerful than the Quickstep so I am extrapolating.