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

[alota]

next week he-500 vs. he-6 vs. he-5le
 battle of family

 

[[OverDrive]]

 
VS... ?
 
 

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

After playing with the eq for a while I think I finally found 
 
a setting which sounds good to me. Any further advice from anyone?

I'd think the upper mids should be filled out a little extra. whatever.
 
You should get another EQ for foobar, maybe the 30 band, because it will automatically lower the pre-amp to avoid clipping. EQ'ing down isn't really good enough, because say you EQ all bands down, the actual EQ response would look like a sine-ish wave because the bands are only approximations of the actual eq curve.

 

[Happy Camper]

next week he-500 vs. he-6 vs. he-5le
 battle of family

I look forward to it. I've done this with preproman.


As for the effort on the amps for driving the 6s?

....yes they are worth the effort. We have Dr. Roberts running his on a 55 watt BAT tube amp, Wuwhere is also using tube amps. I used one for a while but moved to the monoblocks because of the better performance. I was using a tube DAC and the SS amps did a better job of opening up the soundstage and put more control and impact to the bass. If you had the soldering skills and some cash, the Audionote EL-84 amp is a tube/transformer (50ohm) coupled 9 watts of class A power. And they do offer it with lessor transformers and parts for half the price of their upgraded unit. I'd love to hear the 500s on it.

The hybrid amp offers tube color with SS performance. I like the design concept.

 

[spurxiii]

I'd think the upper mids should be filled out a little extra. whatever.

You should get another EQ for foobar, maybe the 30 band, because it will automatically lower the pre-amp to avoid clipping. EQ'ing down isn't really good enough, because say you EQ all bands down, the actual EQ response would look like a sine-ish wave because the bands are only approximations of the actual eq curve.

Thanks for the tip. I'll grab a different EQ and give it a go.

 

[modulor]

Quote:

Thanks GREQ, should I just bring everything down 2-3dB?

Just move every band down so that the highest point (which appears to be 55Hz) is at 0dB and you should be good!

 

[spurxiii]

Just move every band down so that the highest point (which appears to be 55Hz) is at 0dB and you should be good!

Just did that and it seems to sound clearer. THANKS!

 

[alota]

Quote:

I look forward to it. I've done this with preproman.


As for the effort on the amps for driving the 6s?

....yes they are worth the effort. We have Dr. Roberts running his on a 55 watt BAT tube amp, Wuwhere is also using tube amps. I used one for a while but moved to the monoblocks because of the better performance. I was using a tube DAC and the SS amps did a better job of opening up the soundstage and put more control and impact to the bass. If you had the soldering skills and some cash, the Audionote EL-84 amp is a tube/transformer (50ohm) coupled 9 watts of class A power. And they do offer it with lessor transformers and parts for half the price of their upgraded unit. I'd love to hear the 500s on it.

The hybrid amp offers tube color with SS performance. I like the design concept.

my amp is always the same

 

[Smoke Signals]

I'm looking to add another pair of headphones to my collection (currently have a HD650 and HM5 Brainwavz clone) and it looks like I've come down to the LCD2 and HE-500 as my two options.  I'd like a neutral sound and I've generally heard good things about both, but I can't seem to pull the trigger on either one.  Any suggestions?
 
My main concern besides sonic characteristics is the weight, given that my current headphones are pretty light.
 
I'm aware I will probably get biased feedback given the thread I'm posting in.

 

[nk77]

Quote:

I'm looking to add another pair of headphones to my collection (currently have a HD650 and HM5 Brainwavz clone) and it looks like I've come down to the LCD2 and HE-500 as my two options.  I'd like a neutral sound and I've generally heard good things about both, but I can't seem to pull the trigger on either one.  Any suggestions?
 
My main concern besides sonic characteristics is the weight, given that my current headphones are pretty light.
 
I'm aware I will probably get biased feedback given the thread I'm posting in.

 
Some threads to read through whilst waiting for some fresh opinions on this thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/639785/he500-or-lcd2-or-both-please-share-your-impressions-mini-review-and-poll-please-vote
http://www.head-fi.org/t/562846/lcd-2-especially-the-rev2-driver-or-he-500
http://www.head-fi.org/t/639179/audeze-lcd-2-or-hifiman-he-500
http://www.head-fi.org/t/640469/hifiman-he-500-or-audeze-lcd-2 (for the last comment)
 
Keep in mind these things - some say HE-500 is darker, others say otherwise. Apparently clamp can be an issue with the LCD-2, and weight with the HE-500. Though I believe the LCD-2 has a significant weight to it also (don't own one but I'm sure you can find out). Some say the LCD-2 is hard to drive or there are synergy issues with amps - others say LCD-2s are fine off an Apple device. LCD-2s are more expensive, and may require an equally priced amplifier. That said, you can spend quite a bit for amplification on the HE-500 to make that 'sing' to your preferences meaning the initial price advantage the HE-500 has over the LCD-2s brand new is now meaningless....I will leave it to others to debate neutral sound sigs.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

I'm looking to add another pair of headphones to my collection (currently have a HD650 and HM5 Brainwavz clone) and it looks like I've come down to the LCD2 and HE-500 as my two options.  I'd like a neutral sound and I've generally heard good things about both, but I can't seem to pull the trigger on either one.  Any suggestions?
 
My main concern besides sonic characteristics is the weight, given that my current headphones are pretty light.
 
I'm aware I will probably get biased feedback given the thread I'm posting in.

 
What are you amping with or planning to amp with?
 
Also, if you get either of these, you'll end up getting the other one as well over time. I personally got the HE-500 first as I found a good deal on it for around $500ish. LCD-2 joined the club a few months later. 
 
I think HE-500 is more of a crowd pleaser than the LCD-2. It suits more genres than the LCD-2. HE-500 is love at first listen. It can be the same with LCD-2 for some, but for me it took a while to appreciate and love them. Neutrality wise, that's more HE-500. Although LCD-2 has amazing bass to mid coherency. Then some funky cool weird stuff starts to happen in upper mids/treble where it takes a dip, although a very pleasant soothing one at that.
 
Both are heavy but still liveable. HE-500 has less clamping force than HE-500, although I like the LCD-2 pads and fit better with the angled fit as opposed to the flat fit of HE-500.

 

[Llloyd]

Quote:

I'm looking to add another pair of headphones to my collection (currently have a HD650 and HM5 Brainwavz clone) and it looks like I've come down to the LCD2 and HE-500 as my two options.  I'd like a neutral sound and I've generally heard good things about both, but I can't seem to pull the trigger on either one.  Any suggestions?
 
My main concern besides sonic characteristics is the weight, given that my current headphones are pretty light.
 
I'm aware I will probably get biased feedback given the thread I'm posting in.

 
Well, I would not say either has a super neutral sound, at least not what people consider analytical. I bought the HE-500 for the price but also the LCD was a little too dark for me. I think most people can be happy with either headphone. I personally feel the HE-500 works best for me ofc, so that's the bias, it seems to represent the type of music that I like quite well. I always felt the LCD did really well with jazz for some reason though.

 

[roadcykler]

Quote:

I'm looking to add another pair of headphones to my collection (currently have a HD650 and HM5 Brainwavz clone) and it looks like I've come down to the LCD2 and HE-500 as my two options.  I'd like a neutral sound and I've generally heard good things about both, but I can't seem to pull the trigger on either one.  Any suggestions?
 
My main concern besides sonic characteristics is the weight, given that my current headphones are pretty light.
 
I'm aware I will probably get biased feedback given the thread I'm posting in.

I was able to audition both of these headphones at length and chose the HE-500's but not just because of the sound. I actually liked the LCD's ever so slightly better but wasn't able to find a position that didn't eventually hurt my head where the top of the headband touched. To my ears the 500's are definitely brighter but not overly so. The bass in the LCD's seemed to be ever so slightly deeper (sub-bass some call it) but the 500 seems tighter which appeals to me more. 
 
I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either but the money saved buying the HE-500's could be used on new/more music. Also, I have used a Clip+ as a source/amp with no issues other than it not getting loud enough. Amps make very little difference (but that's another forum).

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

I was able to audition both of these headphones at length and chose the HE-500's but not just because of the sound. I actually liked the LCD's ever so slightly better but wasn't able to find a position that didn't eventually hurt my head where the top of the headband touched. To my ears the 500's are definitely brighter but not overly so. The bass in the LCD's seemed to be ever so slightly deeper (sub-bass some call it) but the 500 seems tighter which appeals to me more. 
 
I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either but the money saved buying the HE-500's could be used on new/more music. Also, I have used a Clip+ as a source/amp with no issues other than it not getting loud enough. Amps make very little difference (but that's another forum).

 
I had a similar problem and fixed it by pulling the headband apart evenly throughout the whole band. No awkward concentrated clamping forces. You could give that at a shot in the future.

 

[jerg]

It's really close to impossible to bend spring steel headbands such that they mold perfectly against the cranium of a specific listener...bend it too wide and you get hotspot at top, bend it too narrow and you get awful clamping. And it's not just about the wideness of the headband either, but also its curvature (whether it's rounded, pointy, square-ish, domed), that determine the theoretical perfect fit.
 
Semi-suspended straps of somewhat yielding material i.e. leather is really the only way to go for ultimate adaptive headband comfort.