[daerron]

  I recently got the Toxic Cables Silver Poison cable from the For Sale forum, given the many great reviews for it. I was quite disappointed with it however, as there is a microphonics issue. 
 
I'm considering putting it for sale but I don't want other head-fiers to be as disappointed as me, so I might be stuck with it for the time being. I am however thinking of another cable, this time with a proper sleeve. I've had my eye out on Norne Cables for that reason.

 
I'm considering getting a CablePro Freedom cable due to its shielding. Construction looks very solid as well.
 
Btw, measured the inner diameter of the pads here as well, old velour pads 60mm, new hybrid pads are around 53/54mm so the inner diameter is definitely a little bit smaller.

 

[StanD]

   
I'm considering getting a CablePro Freedom cable due to its shielding. Construction looks very solid as well.
 
Btw, measured the inner diameter of the pads here as well, old velour pads 60mm, new hybrid pads are around 53/54mm so the inner diameter is definitely a little bit smaller.

Bad news for Ross Perot.

 

[MrDelicious]

Quote:

  Alright, it's definitely the cable that's faulty on my HE500.
 
Are there any good cables under $100? I'd hate to pay $60 on a crappy factory replacement that will just die again in under 2 more years.
 
Preferably one that's shorter?

 
Have not tried this guy myself, but he has several happy customers on Reddit: http://www.bestintheversecables.com/

 

[conquerator2]

  Quote:
 
Have not tried this guy myself, but he has several happy customers on Reddit: http://www.bestintheversecables.com/

They are certainly very reasonably priced!

 

[daerron]

  Quote:
 
Have not tried this guy myself, but he has several happy customers on Reddit: http://www.bestintheversecables.com/

 
Nice price, pity they ship to so few countries...

 

[MrDelicious]

   
Nice price, pity they ship to so few countries...

I think Zach does ship internationally, try mailing him.

 

[davidsh]

Ima ask this question in a thread that needs a bump and isn't as crowded as the HE-560 thread.
 
It seems to me that many of the planars varies quite a bit in impedance and even sensitivity/effectivity within the same model. Any ideas why that is so, at least the thing with impedance?
 
My HE-500 measures 27 and 38 ohms, 5LE measures 41 on both channels and 560 measures 50 on both. All of them out of spec, seen others that measured weird values too. Opinions?

 

[ThurstonX]

  Ima ask this question in a thread that needs a bump and isn't as crowded as the HE-560 thread.
 
It seems to me that many of the planars varies quite a bit in impedance and even sensitivity/effectivity within the same model. Any ideas why that is so, at least the thing with impedance?
 
My HE-500 measures 27 and 38 ohms, 5LE measures 41 on both channels and 560 measures 50 on both. All of them out of spec, seen others that measured weird values too. Opinions?

 
I was just thinking about this, and googled about how to measure the impedance, but all I have is a multi-meter, and didn't see a (fail-)safe way to measure my HE-500s.  Any tips?  Not interested in frying them (duuuuuuhhhhhh).

 

[davidsh]

Frying Them with a multi-meter? Good luck with that.
Just measure resistance on the connector between ring+ sleeve and tip+sleeve, very straight forward.

 

[ThurstonX]

Frying Them with a multi-meter? Good luck with that.
Just measure resistance on the connector between ring+ sleeve and tip+sleeve, very straight forward.

 
Yeah, I thought those warnings seemed a little strange, but what do I know.  So, it's as simple as probes on the TRS, eh?  Let's see...
 
Tip ~ 27.6
Ring ~ 34.5
 
with my shorter DIY cable and a never-before-attached stock cable (so stock I had to use pliers to loosen the SMC ends; marginally higher with my longer DIY cable: 27.9 & 34.7
 
Interesting.  MY Grado SR-225s measure ~ 33.0 & 32.9; AKG Q701s ~ 62.0 & 62.2 (custom cable)

 

[StanD]

   
Yeah, I thought those warnings seemed a little strange, but what do I know.  So, it's as simple as probes on the TRS, eh?  Let's see...
 
Tip ~ 27.6
Ring ~ 34.5
 
with my shorter DIY cable and a never-before-attached stock cable (so stock I had to use pliers to loosen the SMC ends; marginally higher with my longer DIY cable: 27.9 & 34.7
 
Interesting.  MY Grado SR-225s measure ~ 33.0 & 32.9; AKG Q701s ~ 62.0 & 62.2 (custom cable)

Orthos are resistive so using an ohm meter might be OK but I would still measure using a tone and a resistor. Dynamic drivers probably not a good idea to use an ohm meter as they are not simply resistive and many have uneven impedance curves.
Just look at the below curve for the Sennheiser HD558's  Nice spike just below 100 Hz.

 

[davidsh]

An ohm meter should be fine for planars.
 
Besides, the HE-560 I possess is approx as insensitive as my HE-5LE, the HE-500 more sensitive than both.

 

[i019791]

  Ima ask this question in a thread that needs a bump and isn't as crowded as the HE-560 thread.
 
It seems to me that many of the planars varies quite a bit in impedance and even sensitivity/effectivity within the same model. Any ideas why that is so, at least the thing with impedance?
 
My HE-500 measures 27 and 38 ohms, 5LE measures 41 on both channels and 560 measures 50 on both. All of them out of spec, seen others that measured weird values too. Opinions?

The HE500 I originally had measured similarly to yours and was louder at the driver with the smaller impedance

 

[ThurstonX]

  Orthos are resistive so using an ohm meter might be OK but I would still measure using a tone and a resistor. Dynamic drivers probably not a good idea to use an ohm meter as they are not simply resistive and many have uneven impedance curves.
Just look at the below curve for the Sennheiser HD558's  Nice spike just below 100 Hz.

 
Yeah, I read that about dynamic drivers, but I was having fun poking things with my DMM.  For example, my wife's resistance to me getting the HE-560s right now is off the charts!  Almost started a house fire trying to measure that 

 

[Aerocraft67]

I just bought an HE-500. I'm new to planar magnetic headphones. I feel a little silly piping music into them constantly for a week, trying not to form too much of an impression before the specified break-in time. First impressions are favorable nevertheless. I couldn't find an explanation handy—why do they need such a long break-in time?