[Makiah S]

  I would have happily paid $899 for my HE-500s. A lot of reviewers have mentioned that if it wasn't for the HE-6, the HE-500 would easily have qualified as a flagship headphone. And pricing doesn't count for much, there are more expensive headphones out there that definitely do not live up to their price tags (I'm looking at you HD-700). I can happily live with the HE-500s in the long term as they are such good all rounders. The Hifiman's do require proper amplification though to fully appreciate their sound. I definitely ran mine for too long on underpowered amps, not realising how great they really were.

 
good point, I do love a bargin but I can only afford so much at one time... sadly the Spring is my next big purchase date an that will include a T90 most likely and a balanced tube amp q.q the tube is gonna be one hell of a fun thing to find for uhh around $600

 

[jerg]

   
NOPE making that call based on price. I group headphones in to tiers well based on Price
 
if it's priced at around $1000 I shove it into Hi Fi Tier, under $1000 Mid Fi, well mid fi kinda ends at like $600 ish imo anything in the 700-999 range is kinda iffy.
 
And I make those groupings to simplifie my own purchase plans 

 
Tsk tsk, that's a terrible method FYI. For instance, KSC75s ($15) sound better than most $100 headphones, bam, your little system is busted.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Hmmm I always found the HE-500 to scale higher than LCD-2, but even off a Sansa Fuze, HE-500 kicked ass. The LCD-2 on the other hand I found to be much more pickier.

oh it does no doubt about that, but depending on amping, since he-500 are harder to drive, they may sound worse on cheaper setups

 

[hifimanrookie]

Yeah compared to sub 500 dollar headphones and mid fi, yes the he-500 blows them away, here we talking about vs high ends and flagships

Dubstep girl..i cant agree with u in this..for me the he500 goes head to head to sub 1000usd headphones..even the lcd2.2..but i agree on one thing..the he500 needs the right amp...and the complete jerg pads mod 2.0 helps... Try it...the he500 improves on the things he is not to good at..

 

[Pianist]

Yeah compared to sub 500 dollar headphones and mid fi, yes the he-500 blows them away, here we talking about vs high ends and flagships

 
Most of them, but not all. Actually, I often feel like selling HE-500, because I have headphones that sometimes perform nearly as well and even better in some ways while costing a fraction of HE-500's price. Specifically, I am not even sure if HE-500 is better overall than my ER4S, that can found for under $200 quite easily. Also, my RE-400, PFE and HF5 IEMs all come quite close to HE-500 at times and all three can be bought used for well under $100. For my experience, the sweet spot for price/performance in headphones is around $100 these days, mostly as a result of brilliant IEMs sold around that price, such as HF5 or RE-400, which offer reference or near reference class performance to my ears. For $150-$250, you can find the ER4S, which I honestly think is one of the best headphones regardless of price.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Yeah ill disagree here,,,,

 

[i019791]

   
Most of them, but not all. Actually, I often feel like selling HE-500, because I have headphones that sometimes perform nearly as well and even better in some ways while costing a fraction of HE-500's price. Specifically, I am not even sure if HE-500 is better overall than my ER4S, that can found for under $200 quite easily. Also, my RE-400, PFE and HF5 IEMs all come quite close to HE-500 at times and all three can be bought used for well under $100. For my experience, the sweet spot for price/performance in headphones is around $100 these days, mostly as a result of brilliant IEMs sold around that price, such as HF5 or RE-400, which offer reference or near reference class performance to my ears. For $150-$250, you can find the ER4S, which I honestly think is one of the best headphones regardless of price.

Could it be that your upstream gear is ok for IEMs but relatively inadequate for HE500 ?

 

[koiloco]

   
NOPE making that call based on price. I group headphones in to tiers well based on Price
 
if it's priced at around $1000 I shove it into Hi Fi Tier, under $1000 Mid Fi, well mid fi kinda ends at like $600 ish imo anything in the 700-999 range is kinda iffy.
 
And I make those groupings to simplifie my own purchase plans 

Wow, just wow...I am indeed speechless. 

 

[elwappo99]

 

   
Have you had a chance to compare all these high end headphones? 

 
NOPE making that call based on price. I group headphones in to tiers well based on Price
 
if it's priced at around $1000 I shove it into Hi Fi Tier, under $1000 Mid Fi, well mid fi kinda ends at like $600 ish imo anything in the 700-999 range is kinda iffy.
 
And I make those groupings to simplifie my own purchase plans 

 

 

[daerron]

   
Most of them, but not all. Actually, I often feel like selling HE-500, because I have headphones that sometimes perform nearly as well and even better in some ways while costing a fraction of HE-500's price. Specifically, I am not even sure if HE-500 is better overall than my ER4S, that can found for under $200 quite easily. Also, my RE-400, PFE and HF5 IEMs all come quite close to HE-500 at times and all three can be bought used for well under $100. For my experience, the sweet spot for price/performance in headphones is around $100 these days, mostly as a result of brilliant IEMs sold around that price, such as HF5 or RE-400, which offer reference or near reference class performance to my ears. For $150-$250, you can find the ER4S, which I honestly think is one of the best headphones regardless of price.

 
I definitely liked the HE-500s more than I did my Westone 4s. I thought, while the W4s sounded very good, they were expensive compared to the performance I got out of other sub $150 IEMs, so I didn't mind selling them recently when I needed a bit of cash. With headphones I have seldom come across that same situation. What gear are you using with your HE-500s?

 

[Pianist]

  Could it be that your upstream gear is ok for IEMs but relatively inadequate for HE500 ?

 
Maybe, but the need for a better source surely doesn't make a headphone better than the one that doesn't require a better source, does it? Especially, when we are talking about very different designs. I think that it is easier to design an efficient IEM, than an equally efficient full sized headphone of the same sound quality, because full sized cans have larger drivers that require more power to work properly. In the same way speakers need more power than headphones, because they are bigger.

 

[jerg]

All I know is my HE500 sounded like poop out of FiiO E17, back before I got a real amp.

 

[tuna47]

I tell none crazy friends that i have expensive headphone equipment and they thing I bought a Bose for $250 I have about 2500 in headphone equipment and another $1000 getting here please realize this is hifi to normal people He500 lyr bifrost urber upgraded cables and tubes etc and we say it's May make midfi I think we all need help like headphones anonymous HA

 

[Zoom25]

  All I know is my HE500 sounded like poop out of FiiO E17, back before I got a real amp.

 
Congrats on the Emotiva 

 

[Zoom25]

   
NOPE making that call based on price. I group headphones in to tiers well based on Price
 
if it's priced at around $1000 I shove it into Hi Fi Tier, under $1000 Mid Fi, well mid fi kinda ends at like $600 ish imo anything in the 700-999 range is kinda iffy.
 
And I make those groupings to simplifie my own purchase plans 

 
Yup. Checks out.