[Fearless1]

Quote:

 
but ru sure using a cloth over the grille doesnt affect the sound?

I bought some better ones (on the advice of the pantyhose expert.....my wife) and stretched them very tight across as so they are paper thin. I hear the same sound with and with out, but really can't A/B because of the time it takes to do the mod. If pick up some that do not run you can stretch them so tight across that they are very open but still provide a thin layer of dust protection. I live in an absurdly clean house(wife and I are both work so we have a cleaning company) and still had a ton of dust build up on my drivers, it did nothing to effect the sound, but it can't be good.

 

[jerg]

In terms of fabric choice if dust protection IS necessary, AFAIK a fine tulle netting is the least obstructive material that still has a tight weave.

 

[hifimanrookie]

Hey guys..its me again..first impression after around 30min listening with tubes completely warmed up

1. Most curious: i can listen to the music much louder without having my ears ringing (have sensitive earing) Normally with volume on 10 o'clock my ears almost pop out listening on my rig. Its unbearable then..But now i listened to it on 10 without any problems..and i think because the volume is a bit higher the lower octaves got more powerful..but that can also be in my head! Or that the tubeys are doing their job better on that volume
2. On mp3 (even 320) coded tracks the sound is same..i even put the orginal grills on top of the new ones..not a change in any soundsignature..and i found that very very strange!!

But when i started to get disapointed about what all that work gave me, a high definition FLAC decoded track started of a live concert.... And i did same thing..old grill on top of new one and then off..and oh my god..the sound changed!!! As if the music got wider!! More natural..i checked it many times now..with different flacs of different artists..but what i found out is this...the better the imaging in thesound and recording and the better the quality of the codec (flac/wav) the bigger the change in sound... its as if ur listening to a orkest playing in another room with the glass door closed in between first but now they opened it completely.

For the rest..well...treble got a bit more clearer, mids ...i cant really explain...its less dark i guess.. Maybe its because of the elevated treble? More natural?? Bass was a bit deeper..more impactful ...but as i said..i can listen to the music louder (does that mean there is less distortion in the music to hurt ur ears?) So the bass got stronger..but thats probably a thingie of my tube amp...more juice to the he500

In total its not a day and night difference..but hey..the little differences are the ones sometimes that we overlook and are worth finding to get that perfect endresult.

Did u guys have same experience? Does it have to do with the huge openings in my new grills??

 

[LCfiner]

I just paid for a new Audio GD NFB-10SE2. Should get it by early August (ships July 25).

Price seemed pretty good and I’m very curious to see what will happen when i go from feeding it around 250 mW from the Burson 160D to around 6 Watts from the NFB (plus the move to the ESS Sabre DAC). My HE-500, which I got used, were hardwired with some Norse cable and a 4 pin balanced connection.

I know power isn’t everything but I couldn’t help but want to listen to the difference between the mid-powered Burson (which I actually REALLY like with the HE-500) and something providing well over 1W into the orthos.

Anyway, one of those all in one boxes will be going up for sale here when I’m done making my comparisons. Only question is how difficult my choice will be.

 

[koiloco]

Quote:

Did u guys have same experience? Does it have to do with the huge openings in my new grills??

I think so.  When I removed the cloth of the stock grill, I did try listening without grill at all.  This = 100% open driver, pretty much.  The sound changed significantly without the grill.  Your modded grill is so close to "nothing there".  Have you tried removing the cloth from stock grills yet?  maybe, try that first and see how you like it.  I did.

 

[koiloco]

Quote:

I need something to replace the K340s I grew up with, and I don't know whether I should make a pit stop at the HD600s or just jump straight to these.
 
Could you tell me what do you think are the flaws of the HE-500? All I see is praise, but I'm more interested in potential issues.
 
What's scaring me is how GoldenEars' measures them somewhat similar to the Momentums (!!), which I have and am not very pleased with. The dip at 4-5KHz leads to a quite notorious lack of presence and the HE-500 seems to have dip at around the same place...

Maybe because of this dip in FR you mentioned, HE500 doesn't have the same "air" or "presence" as HPs such as Q701 but the HE500 still has great details, clarity in the high. The other thing to remember is that this dip is probably what enables the HE500 to be a good overall HPs for different music genres and contributes to its smooth sound, especially in the mid-high range.  The other potential flaw (not IMO but others often point this out) is that the power required to bring out the best of the HE500.  I personally moved from Fiio E17 to Fiio E9K and now Emotiva Mini-X.  While I agree that there was improvements at each amp upgrade, the HE500 is still very good and enjoyable even with cheap portable amp like the E17.  Also, I have a strong neck but on days that I am tired from exercising, I can feel the HE500's weight a bit (this is when i lay down 

 )  Like you, I love "air" and "presence" in vocal and string instruments.  That's why I still keep my Q701 for a fix when needed 

.  I also strongly recommend the HE500 not because I own one but because indeed it's a great pair of HPs for the price.  Overall, very fun with great technicality.

 

[hifimanrookie]

I think so.  When I removed the cloth of the stock grill, I did try listening without grill at all.  This = 100% open driver, pretty much.  The sound changed significantly without the grill.  Your modded grill is so close to "nothing there".  Have you tried removing the cloth from stock grills yet?  maybe, try that first and see how you like it.  I did.

Removing the cloth was first thing idid a few days ago before i could get my hands on the right grill metal..so the comparing i did was was with the clothless original grills...but i agrre with u..when i took of the dust shield from the original grills the sound got clearer..more trebly...to my ears the sound opened up a bit..the treble went a few octaves upwarts..but for the rest i couldnt hear much of a difference...but now with this open grill.. It really helps soundstage..but only on high quality flacs and wavs..somehow with mp3 coded tracks it didnt do much..

But thing i still dont understand...why can i listen to higher volumes now then before???? Anyone has an explanation?

Is it maybe because my amp is now in its sweetspot?being 10:00-11:00? And therefore now pumps out less harmonic distortion or something? As i normally i can only listen to max 10:00 and that only for short while before my ears hurt..normally 21:00 is max when listening for longer sessions.

Point is..this mod really changes the sound on high quality coded material. Cant wait to get the jerg modded pads in my hands

 

[koiloco]

Quote:

Removing the cloth was first thing idid a few days ago before i could get my hands on the right grill metal..so the comparing i did was was with the clothless original grills...but i agrre with u..when i took of the dust shield from the original grills the sound got clearer..more trebly...to my ears the sound opened up a bit..the treble went a few octaves upwarts..but for the rest i couldnt hear much of a difference...but now with this open grill.. It really helps soundstage..but only on high quality flacs and wavs..somehow with mp3 coded tracks it didnt do much..

But thing i still dont understand...why can i listen to higher volumes now then before???? Anyone has an explanation?

Is it maybe because my amp is now in its sweetspot?being 10:00-11:00? And therefore now pumps out less harmonic distortion or something? As i normally i can only listen to max 10:00 and that only for short while before my ears hurt..normally 21:00 is max when listening for longer sessions.

Point is..this mod really changes the sound on high quality coded material. Cant wait to get the jerg modded pads in my hands

IMO,physically, your new grill results in less "back pressure" to your ears.  This allows you to up the volume a notch.  This will also result in slightly different sound signature over all.  You might have hit that balanced spot.

 

[hifimanrookie]

IMO,physically, your new grill results in less "back pressure" to your ears.  This allows you to up the volume a notch.  This will also result in slightly different sound signature over all.  You might have hit that balanced spot.

Thanks for ur explanation..i think ur right..it sounds reasonble and because of that less pressure i can higher the volume and maybe therefor let my amp get into his sweet spot around 10ish...as i have high gain 5998 tubes in it....i love my amp andmy even more wonderful he500 even more now..oops..

 

[DanPluck]

I have had my HE500 for a few weeks now and have been extremely happy with them.  They are a clear step above the HE400’s which I came from. 
 
The stock HE500 cable drove me mad and I simply couldn’t live with it.  I just got a Forza Audio Works Noir cable for my HE500’s and could not be happier.  The build quality and finish is second to none, you really do get the whole package from Forza, the branding and packaging screams of a premium product.  It arrived a mere 2 weeks after placing my order.  Matthew at Forza Audio Works is a joy to deal with and I would not hesitate to order from him in the future.

 
 
 
Please excuse the crappy picture.

 

[koiloco]

Quote:

I just paid for a new Audio GD NFB-10SE2. Should get it by early August (ships July 25).

Price seemed pretty good and I’m very curious to see what will happen when i go from feeding it around 250 mW from the Burson 160D to around 6 Watts from the NFB (plus the move to the ESS Sabre DAC). My HE-500, which I got used, were hardwired with some Norse cable and a 4 pin balanced connection.

I know power isn’t everything but I couldn’t help but want to listen to the difference between the mid-powered Burson (which I actually REALLY like with the HE-500) and something providing well over 1W into the orthos.

Anyway, one of those all in one boxes will be going up for sale here when I’m done making my comparisons. Only question is how difficult my choice will be.

I had a chance to test my HE500 on a smaller Audio GD recently.  While the SQ did not impress me, not because it was bad in anyway but nothing special either, the power was definitely there and was very clean.  Your 10SE2 should have even more power to drive the HE500 for sure.
In my case, going from Fiio E9K to Emotiva mini-X, there were improvements but not tremendous so don't expect too much nite/day differences.

 

[modulor]

All this talk of grill mods has me searching for materials.  I'm going to try some aluminum modeling mesh and also cannibalize a wire mesh basket (already have both of these) and keep an eye out for more open options like hifimanrookie tried (I'm sure the hardware or hobby store will have something similar).  Thanks for the pointer on the Tulle fabric, jerg...I've known of this material, but never knew the official name 

  I think that or pantyhose nylon will also be a good option.  Tulle is fairly stiff and holds it shape, so it may even be good to use on the pad side too for those using Beyer or j$ pads...time to experiment!

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

I had a chance to test my HE500 on a smaller Audio GD recently.  While the SQ did not impress me, not because it was bad in anyway but nothing special either, the power was definitely there and was very clean.  Your 10SE2 should have even more power to drive the HE500 for sure.
In my case, going from Fiio E9K to Emotiva mini-X, there were improvements but not tremendous so don't expect too much nite/day differences.

to be honest..in my case...if the improvement from my matrix mstage (very good SS budget amp also!!!) compared to the 337 wasnt so huge (and trust me..that was a HUGE surprise to me also to find that out) on my he500 i wouldnt even bother to upgrade and spend 400 euros extra.

  if the improvement was only a bit i would say no thanks!
and if my new amp isnt again a big step upwards compared to my 337 it wil be on sale for sure after two months or so! no matter how much more expensive it is or more sexy looking

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

All this talk of grill mods has me searching for materials.  I'm going to try some aluminum modeling mesh and also cannibalize a wire mesh basket (already have both of these) and keep an eye out for more open options like hifimanrookie tried (I'm sure the hardware or hobby store will have something similar).  Thanks for the pointer on the Tulle fabric, jerg...I've known of this material, but never knew the official name 

  I think that or pantyhose nylon will also be a good option.  Tulle is fairly stiff and holds it shape, so it may even be good to use on the pad side too for those using Beyer or j$ pads...time to experiment!

FYI - i found my grill material (aluminium i guess..as it doesnt rust))in a small DIY throw it away BBQ set (to be used once)....u know..a box with all the stuff inside..coal, the underside of the grill...the upperside (on which u put ur meat on) was the metal grill i used...it was only 1,5 euro if i remember it correctly...its strong and thin..but RAZOR SHARP...i was left with two bleeding fingers..so be carefull!!
u can buy it everywhere where they sell BBQ stuff or supermarkets. hope this info helps.

 

[koiloco]

Quote:

to be honest..in my case...if the improvement from my matrix mstage (very good SS budget amp also!!!) compared to the 337 wasnt so huge (and trust me..that was a HUGE surprise to me also to find that out) on my he500 i wouldnt even bother to upgrade and spend 400 euros extra.

  if the improvement was only a bit i would say no thanks!
and if my new amp isnt again a big step upwards compared to my 337 it wil be on sale for sure after two months or so! no matter how much more expensive it is or more sexy looking

@hifimanrookie,  In your case, going from SS to tube, of course the difference would be huge.  You are changing the entire sound signature.  Don't forget that fact.