[Stonephace]

  I just got me a pair of Hifiman HE500, and coming from a pair of modified t50rp's my first impressions are the treble's a little shrill, and somewhat overpowers the rest of the frequency range, actually it's pretty annoying, will this change after burn in? But I have to say on a good note, the bass is really well textured; well layered is a better word. I would praise the mids, if it weren't for the shrillness of the treble. I could say the treble's a little too sparkly; a dip at 5000-6000 hz decreases the intimacy of the treble making the vocals sound very smooth and very unaggressive, and a peak at 10k boost overall resolution but makes everything sound thin and grainy.I guess Fang Bian  was trying to aim for a more resolute and natural sound; and it would've succeeded if not for the the major boost at 10K. Please tell these cans get smoother with burn in, I've got about 20 hours on them so far.

 
Ah, you're going through exactly the process I went through just a couple of weeks ago
 
You mentioned in another post that you're using a JDS O2? That was one of the first amps I tried and I heard exactly what you're hearing (you can read my OMGWTF meltdown post somewhere in this thread).
 
Since then, I've been listening to and burning in my 500s for more than 120 hours. This hasn't changed the sound at all through the O2.
 
About 20 hours in, I went out and bought a Lake People G109, which has done a heck of a lot to improve the quality of the bass and has done something to control the treble. But even with the 109 I'm finding it's still all just a bit too shrill.
 
I've also listened to them through an Audio-Gd SA31SE, which, for me, is somewhere in between the O2 and the 109 in terms of sound quality. Basically, I'm finding that, no matter what the amp, in order to get the amount of bass I like I need to crank up the volume to the point where the treble moves from shrill to piercing.
 
Unfortunately, I can't/won't buy an Emotiva and I've got no interest in valve amps, which means that my 500s are probably going up for sale.
 
I really hope your experience with your 500s is a lot more positive than mine. If you do find some way of controlling the treble (or you just get used to it), I think they are very, very, very good phones. The bass is truly lovely.

 

[daerron]

Looks like we're going to have to kick you into the Audeze LCD-2 thread! 

 

[Stonephace]

  Looks like we're going to have to kick you into the Audeze LCD-2 thread! 

 
I'm thinking I shouldn't have left the LCD-X thread
 
Or I should be in the Beyerdynamic T1 thread. Or I should have stuck with my HD600s and never come back to head-fi at all
 
"A fool and his money are soon parted" - that's me since I got back into head-fi, that is. And it really doesn't make me feel any good about myself.

 

[M-13]

 Now that I find the HD800 to be on par with the HE-500 in the HE-500 best areas such as bass and tactility, I may end up selling the HE-500 to fund the BeePre and Mainline later this year!

OMG, you're such a traitor. We hate you now. Leave this thread and never comeback.
 
ROFL

 
(Rejoin us in the darkside when the HE-560 comes out)

 

[Sonido]

OMG, you're such a traitor. We hate you now. Leave this thread and never comeback.

ROFL :veryevil:

(Rejoin us in the darkside when the HE-560 comes out)

I can tell there's still more bass impact and slam on the HE-500, but the HD800 with my chain has reached a threshold that gives the same amount of tactility and body so the enjoyment of the bass is on par for me.

I'll make a final judgment call in a month after this new upgrades for my amps bias/syndrome dies down.

 

[M-13]

I can tell there's still more bass impact and slam on the HE-500, but the HD800 with my chain has reached a threshold that gives the same amount of tactility and body so the enjoyment of the bass is on par for me.

I'll make a final judgment call in a month after this new upgrades for my amps bias/syndrome dies down.

I think you are discovering what the people in the HD800 thread keep talking about: If you invest time energy into building a system around the HD800, it will ultimately show itself to be the best headphone, and even in the bass.
 
I keep hearing this, and I'm seeing a conversion process before my eyes as we lose you from the HE-500 thread. Haha. It's like a friend being converted into a cult.

 

[headphonatic]

Removed the grill cloth, and they sound noticeably better. The 10000 K region was calmed down a bit, vocals became a bit brighter and upfront (the beauty of 5000 hz). Sound stage also became a lot less claustrophobic and airy. Imaging is also a lot better now that the sound stage has spread out a bit. Upper mid range straightened out a bit and altogether sounds more life like. I'm really liking these things, they do electric guitars. Who hasn't removed the cloth on the grills yet. Worst case scenario your drivers get dusty.

 

[jerg]

  Removed the grill cloth, and they sound noticeably better. The 10000 K region was calmed down a bit, vocals became a bit brighter and upfront (the beauty of 5000 hz). Sound stage also became a lot less claustrophobic and airy. Imaging is also a lot better now that the sound stage has spread out a bit. Upper mid range straightened out a bit and altogether sounds more life like. I'm really liking these things, they do electric guitars. Who hasn't removed the cloth on the grills yet. Worst case scenario your drivers get dusty.

I've gotten into a habit of storing my HE500s into drawers, and only taking them out when I want to listen to them. With that I effectively cut out 80-95% of dust accumulation on these puppies a.k.a. virtually no need for maintenance, with the fully open grills still.

 

[ThurstonX]

  Removed the grill cloth, and they sound noticeably better. The 10000 K region was calmed down a bit, vocals became a bit brighter and upfront (the beauty of 5000 hz). Sound stage also became a lot less claustrophobic and airy. Imaging is also a lot better now that the sound stage has spread out a bit. Upper mid range straightened out a bit and altogether sounds more life like. I'm really liking these things, they do electric guitars. Who hasn't removed the cloth on the grills yet. Worst case scenario your drivers get dusty.

 
Are you using the stock grills, or did you do the re-grilling mod in some form?  I ask because I made a couple new grills, each wider than the stock openings, and one wider than the other.  I used very thin organza fabric for dust protection, and it was a PITA to get it on and not be a gluey mess.  My thought is that if you're using the stock grills sans fabric, then my wider grills with fabric may be close to the effect you've achieved.  I really love the sound I'm getting from the modded HE-500s, and the AKG Q701 pads fit my ears perfectly with these cans.
 
Depending on your answer, however, I may remove the fabric from one of my custom grills to see if I can hear a difference.
 
Thanks, and 

 

 

[hifimanrookie]

I've gotten into a habit of storing my HE500s into drawers, and only taking them out when I want to listen to them. With that I effectively cut out 80-95% of dust accumulation on these puppies a.k.a. virtually no need for maintenance, with the fully open grills still.

I was one of the few who had a very extreme grill mod (just like jerg did, only more extreme) so no dustscreen and the holes in my custommade grill were huge! What i did to keep dust out was:

- listening in a dustfree room - check..
- no moisture - check
- ventilating the room for an hour before listening - check
- lots of vacuuming - check
- brush my hair rigoursly before listening! - check
- Check my comfy chair for dust - check

MOST IMPORTANT!!!!! when not used i immediately put them in a air tight plastic bag...that was best way!!! Just put them air and dustfree in a closable plastic bag..its cheap and most effective way to keep ur open grills dust AND HAIR free....

I did that for 7months..and no dust accumilated on my phones...even the dust magnets, the velours top of my modulor pads were mostly dust and hair free...

Try it..it maybe wont win a beauty contest..but i did better job then the hifiman case..to much work to put the phones in and dust got in easily!

 

[headphonatic]

   
Are you using the stock grills, or did you do the re-grilling mod in some form?  I ask because I made a couple new grills, each wider than the stock openings, and one wider than the other.  I used very thin organza fabric for dust protection, and it was a PITA to get it on and not be a gluey mess.  My thought is that if you're using the stock grills sans fabric, then my wider grills with fabric may be close to the effect you've achieved.  I really love the sound I'm getting from the modded HE-500s, and the AKG Q701 pads fit my ears perfectly with these cans.
 
Depending on your answer, however, I may remove the fabric from one of my custom grills to see if I can hear a difference.
 
Thanks, and 

I think you should remove the fabric altogether, I've noticed these headphone are very sensitive so any sort of obstacles place in front of the cups, even placing a finger in front of the grills congests and darkens the sound. I'd can imagine why, planer magnetic drivers push out a lot of air from the back end too. As of right now, they sound absolutely wonderful, I can drive them very well at high gain with my O2 amp (props to NwAvGuy), and the sparkle-y treble isn't even an issue anymore (though it needs a little tweaking I can't see it being a problem as of right now).

 

[M-13]

You guys are such mod amateurs.
 
Professionals like me take out the HE-500 driver all together and throw away the uselss pads, grills, cups and headband and then mount the planar driver directly onto the ears. I've soldered them to my ears now. There was a little bleeding, but the sound is well worth it. It sounds way more open now.
 
I also keep my head inside a drawer to prevent dusting, but it's hard to close the drawer all the way because of my neck.

 

[jerg]

I was one of the few who had a very extreme grill mod (just like jerg did, only more extreme) so no dustscreen and the holes in my custommade grill were huge! What i did to keep dust out was:

- listening in a dustfree room - check..
- no moisture - check
- ventilating the room for an hour before listening - check
- lots of vacuuming - check
- brush my hair rigoursly before listening! - check
- Check my comfy chair for dust - check

MOST IMPORTANT!!!!! when not used i immediately put them in a air tight plastic bag...that was best way!!! Just put them air and dustfree in a closable plastic bag..its cheap and most effective way to keep ur open grills dust AND HAIR free....

I did that for 7months..and no dust accumilated on my phones...even the dust magnets, the velours top of my modulor pads were mostly dust and hair free...

Try it..it maybe wont win a beauty contest..but i did better job then the hifiman case..to much work to put the phones in

and dust got in easily!

Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[hifimanrookie]

You guys are such mod amateurs.

Professionals like me take out the HE-500 driver all together and throw away the uselss pads, grills, cups and headband and then mount the planar driver directly onto the ears. I've soldered them to my ears now. There was a little bleeding, but the sound is well worth it. It sounds way more open now.

I also keep my head inside a drawer to prevent dusting, but it's hard to close the drawer all the way because of my neck.

Lolz ur crazy...

 

[hifimanrookie]

Ain't nobody got time for that.

first steps is a daily routine by my wife
The only thing i do is a good brushing and keep the headphones in a plastic bag..but i do help with the ventilating