[Sonido]

I'm spending tonight listening to the ESP950, now that I've got both the HE-500 and HD800 sound internalized. I take back the notion of recessed mids. It's not recessed, and the vocals are actually forwards enough. It lacks the refinement that the HE-500 and HD800 has because as mentioned before, I find it a step below those two on transparency. Also, after listening to the HD800 for a week, going to the ESP950, I can definitely notice the difference in soundstage and detailing. I would more so than the HE-500. The ESP950 is probably the weakest in these two areas of the three cans.
 
Still I'm enjoying these, especially the treble and strummed instruments. It has a very clean sound as stated before that does not create extra resonance or reverberations that's especially apparent with these strummed instruments. It's also very laid back sounding.

 

[daerron]

  Comparing new headphones to Stats is so old. It was done with HD600 back in the 90s. So... it literally means nothing to me. Anytime something new comes out people say it's as good as Stax. LOL. Same thing happened with the HE-5 and LCD-2. Whatevers, Stax is Stax, nothing really sounds like it, and it's not everyone's cup of tea. Steve is not helping his image as the overhyper with these kind of comments.
 
Anyway. I'm not really fan of the new headband because I never had comfort issues, but I guess it's great for some people. The reduced weight means there are magnets on only one side (IMO) a la HE-4/Abyss. The efficiency numbers makes me think the Emotiva is still in play. Definitely for the 560 and maybe even the 400i (for smaller improvements of course).
 
Can't wait for comparative reviews. I'm wondering where the HE600 is though? I guess that's coming later in the year...

 
Agree with your points, however, that Google doc floating around about what constitutes a flagship headphone does clearly illustrate the advantage of stats, which is a very low noise floor. Dynamic headphones had to jump through hoops to pass the noise test, I think only the HD800 did. The planars from Hifiman and Audeze seem to be bridging this gap between dynamic and stats quite nicely, moving closer into stats territory. Its also what separates these two manufacturers currently from other orthodynamic headphone producers.
 
The HE-4 still does seem to have its supporters here on Head-fi, some who still like them more than the HE-500 as they seem to have more open sound with the magnets only on one side.
 
Likewise I'm more excited about a potential HE-600 release, but the HE-560 definitely seem worth trying and then I was thinking of the LCD-X and the Koss ESP950...
 
I see 2014 clearly now, too many headphones, too little money... 

 

 

[koiloco]

   
Agree with your points, however, that Google doc floating around about what constitutes a flagship headphone does clearly illustrate the advantage of stats, which is a very low noise floor. Dynamic headphones had to jump through hoops to pass the noise test, I think only the HD800 did. The planars from Hifiman and Audeze seem to be bridging this gap between dynamic and stats quite nicely, moving closer into stats territory. Its also what separates these two manufacturers currently from other orthodynamic headphone producers.
 
The HE-4 still does seem to have its supporters here on Head-fi, some who still like them more than the HE-500 as they seem to have more open sound with the magnets only on one side.
 
Likewise I'm more excited about a potential HE-600 release, but the HE-560 definitely seem worth trying and then I was thinking of the LCD-X and the Koss ESP950...
 
I see 2014 clearly now, too many headphones, too little money... 

 

Not me!  I will just wait to scoop up a super deal on a pair of HE-6 when the used market is flooded with them.  Put the HE-6 on the Mini-X and call it a day.  

 

[spurxiii]

I just received my Denon D5000 and I'm kind of digging them. Just wish they would isolate a bit better. They also sound more open then I expected.

Still I like the HE-500 best but for when I need a closed can these are great. Now I must resist the urge to buy the Alpha Dogs. :tongue_smile:  D5000 works well with the Lyr too. I expected a noise floor but they are dead silent. 

I got the TH600s for my closed cans. They sound great with EDM. Mine also doesn't isolate that well but much better than the HE500s which are like speakers almost. Enjoy your Denons I heard they are also similar to mine

 

[daerron]

I got the TH600s for my closed cans. They sound great with EDM. Mine also doesn't isolate that well but much better than the HE500s which are like speakers almost. Enjoy your Denons I heard they are also similar to mine

 
The TH600 is an updated D5000. 

 

[Chris_Himself]

  Not me!  I will just wait to scoop up a super deal on a pair of HE-6 when the used market is flooded with them.  Put the HE-6 on the Mini-X and call it a day.  

 
Oh man thats exactly my gameplan too, and to just pick up the HE-560 as well to try the wonkmaster 5000 headband

 

[Contrails]

  I will just wait to scoop up a super deal on a pair of HE-6 when the used market is flooded with them

 Oh man thats exactly my gameplan too

 
Damn you both! Haha, me plan three!

 

[Georgo94]

Hey Guys,
Quite a while ago I bought  HE-500's along with Nuforce Icon HDP. The sound was pretty nice but i felt that cans of that caliber could do better. After reading over 200 pages of this thread I knew that they should and the best I could go for was the Schiit Lyr, since Emotiva was too big to fit on my desk. I went to my local music shop to buy something more powerful.
Guy in the shop hooked my HE-500's to Oppo BDP83SE CD player and Lyr.  I was listening to Dire Straits first album, Queen - The Game and Norah Jones -  Come Away With Me albums. All of them were CD's. I waited 15 minutes until tubes will get warm. "Sultans Of Swing" track was my first choice. It is a very fast song and frankly I think that Lyr couldn't keep up the pace. It was sluggish and bit muddy to my ears. It had this powerful base but the mids and higs were blurred, also the soundstage was smaller than on my HDP which was extremely weird to me. "Water Of Love" was 2nd on my song queue (I love it because of this epic intro

). Unfortunately I found the situation to be the same as in previous track. It was muddy and lacking details. I listened to few other songs from that album and after that I listened to Norah Jones.
This kind of music was clearly a better choice than anything else. Norah's voice was beautify melting and flooding whole scene, but things like guitar and piano were little a bit too muddy. After another 4-5 tracks I decided not to buy the Lyr. 
The guy from the shop was really surprised of my decision, but before I've reached an exit doors he asked me to try one more thing. He swapped out the Lyr with the Asgard 2. I've listened to the same songs again and I came to conclusion that it was like 20-25 times better. The clarity came back, so did the separation, details, soundstage and the smile of the shop owner .

 I've never heard "Water Of Love" reproduced like that. It was a night and day difference. The only thing that Lyr did better was the base. It was "bigger" and heavier, but after all I decided to buy the Asgard. 
 
I'am using it along with my HDP as a DAC connected to my computer via USB for half a year now and I decided to find something better. Funny thing is that I am still thinking about getting Lyr because I don't remember which tubes it had when I was listening to it last time. I know for sure that they were stock but i don't know whether they were JJ tubes or GE.  I also heard that HiFiMan's EF-5 could be a better choice over Lyr. Anyone can comment on that ? Maybe some other amp would do better than EF-5 in similar price range ?

 

[Fearless1]

  Hey Guys,
Quite a while ago I bought  HE-500's along with Nuforce Icon HDP. The sound was pretty nice but i felt that cans of that caliber could do better. After reading over 200 pages of this thread I knew that they should and the best I could go for was the Schiit Lyr, since Emotiva was too big to fit on my desk. I went to my local music shop to buy something more powerful.
Guy in the shop hooked my HE-500's to Oppo BDP83SE CD player and Lyr.  I was listening to Dire Straits first album, Queen - The Game and Norah Jones -  Come Away With Me albums. All of them were CD's. I waited 15 minutes until tubes will get warm. "Sultans Of Swing" track was my first choice. It is a very fast song and frankly I think that Lyr couldn't keep up the pace. It was sluggish and bit muddy to my ears. It had this powerful base but the mids and higs were blurred, also the soundstage was smaller than on my HDP which was extremely weird to me. "Water Of Love" was 2nd on my song queue (I love it because of this epic intro

). Unfortunately I found the situation to be the same as in previous track. It was muddy and lacking details. I listened to few other songs from that album and after that I listened to Norah Jones.
This kind of music was clearly a better choice than anything else. Norah's voice was beautify melting and flooding whole scene, but things like guitar and piano were little a bit too muddy. After another 4-5 tracks I decided not to buy the Lyr. 
The guy from the shop was really surprised of my decision, but before I've reached an exit doors he asked me to try one more thing. He swapped out the Lyr with the Asgard 2. I've listened to the same songs again and I came to conclusion that it was like 20-25 times better. The clarity came back, so did the separation, details, soundstage and the smile of the shop owner .

 I've never heard "Water Of Love" reproduced like that. It was a night and day difference. The only thing that Lyr did better was the base. It was "bigger" and heavier, but after all I decided to buy the Asgard. 
 
I'am using it along with my HDP as a DAC connected to my computer via USB for half a year now and I decided to find something better. Funny thing is that I am still thinking about getting Lyr because I don't remember which tubes it had when I was listening to it last time. I know for sure that they were stock but i don't know whether they were JJ tubes or GE.  I also heard that HiFiMan's EF-5 could be a better choice over Lyr. Anyone can comment on that ? Maybe some other amp would do better than EF-5 in similar price range ?

I own both.

The Lyr is as good as the tubes in it, the stock tubes are terrible sounding to my ears. If you are not looking to spend some cash and  roll some better tubes in it go for the EF-5.  The Lyr (with some upgraded tubes) is much better with the HE-500 then the EF-5 . The EF-5 is not as responsive to tube rolling as the Lyr, it improves the sound a bit, but it still sounds primarily the same.

 

[jexby]

  . He swapped out the Lyr with the Asgard 2. I've listened to the same songs again and I came to conclusion that it was like 20-25 times better. The clarity came back, so did the separation, details, soundstage and the smile of the shop owner .

 I've never heard "Water Of Love" reproduced like that. It was a night and day difference. The only thing that Lyr did better was the base. It was "bigger" and heavier, but after all I decided to buy the Asgard. 
 
 

 
Sorry I can't answer your direct question, but having had the A2 for awhile (now sold) with my HE-500 and now (keeping) the Lyr I understand your dilemma.
A2 was a real good amp IMHO and if the Lyr had only "stock tubes" I can see how A2 may come out on top.
 
it does take some "quality tube $" in the Lyr, decent burn in and good DAC to make it all sound worthwhile.
 
funny thing is, A2 was so good it's the one amp I may "re-buy" someday to save $ and void a small tube collection.

 

[jibzilla]

   
The TH600 is an updated D5000. 

 

[hifimanrookie]

Hey Guys,
Quite a while ago I bought  HE-500's along with Nuforce Icon HDP. The sound was pretty nice but i felt that cans of that caliber could do better. After reading over 200 pages of this thread I knew that they should and the best I could go for was the Schiit Lyr, since Emotiva was too big to fit on my desk. I went to my local music shop to buy something more powerful.
Guy in the shop hooked my HE-500's to Oppo BDP83SE CD player and Lyr.  I was listening to Dire Straits first album, Queen - The Game and Norah Jones -  Come Away With Me albums. All of them were CD's. I waited 15 minutes until tubes will get warm. "Sultans Of Swing" track was my first choice. It is a very fast song and frankly I think that Lyr couldn't keep up the pace. It was sluggish and bit muddy to my ears. It had this powerful base but the mids and higs were blurred, also the soundstage was smaller than on my HDP which was extremely weird to me. "Water Of Love" was 2nd on my song queue (I love it because of this epic intro ). Unfortunately I found the situation to be the same as in previous track. It was muddy and lacking details. I listened to few other songs from that album and after that I listened to Norah Jones.
This kind of music was clearly a better choice than anything else. Norah's voice was beautify melting and flooding whole scene, but things like guitar and piano were little a bit too muddy. After another 4-5 tracks I decided not to buy the Lyr. 
The guy from the shop was really surprised of my decision, but before I've reached an exit doors he asked me to try one more thing. He swapped out the Lyr with the Asgard 2. I've listened to the same songs again and I came to conclusion that it was like 20-25 times better. The clarity came back, so did the separation, details, soundstage and the smile of the shop owner .  I've never heard "Water Of Love" reproduced like that. It was a night and day difference. The only thing that Lyr did better was the base. It was "bigger" and heavier, but after all I decided to buy the Asgard. 

I'am using it along with my HDP as a DAC connected to my computer via USB for half a year now and I decided to find something better. Funny thing is that I am still thinking about getting Lyr because I don't remember which tubes it had when I was listening to it last time. I know for sure that they were stock but i don't know whether they were JJ tubes or GE.  I also heard that HiFiMan's EF-5 could be a better choice over Lyr. Anyone can comment on that ? Maybe some other amp would do better than EF-5 in similar price range ?

Cough darkvoice cough 337.. For sure it isnt sluggish or muddy..i owned one for more then a year..and i loved the pairing with the he500... Actually The new owner (also headfi'er) pm'ed me that he loves his he500 and his hd800 better on the 337 that he recently bought from me then his own violectric v200 (not the least amp as we all know).. Only his he6 didnt do well on the 337.. Well thats not new to me..as ,for that beast u need LOTS of current and power.

But then again..if the emotiva is to big already then this more then 20lbs heavy monster is also to big..

But the emotiva is SMALL!! How can u say its to big? But U can always put it on the floor i saw recently on a pic of a fellow member.

 

[Sonido]

^ Nah blue circle all the way. Go big or go home.

Seriously though in retrospect it's overall cheaper to just get the best, than go through upgrade cycles. Of course that's the assumption that upgrade cycles has an ending.

 

[Georgo94]

But the emotiva is SMALL!! How can u say its to big? But U can always put it on the floor i saw recently on a pic of a fellow member.

It is too big for me because I'am an civil engineering student and I need plenty of space when doing my projects and sketches. Maybe in the future I will find some space for it, or even 337.  

 

[hifimanrookie]

It is too big for me because I'am an civil engineering student and I need plenty of space when doing my projects and sketches. Maybe in the future I will find some space for it, or even 337.  :wink_face:

I understand ur situation...but u can stack an emotiva on a dac.. As it has a more or less standard measurements... Imho ofcourse
The 337 needs its own (audio) furniture, preferably isolated from any vibrations..as i found out the 337 is very sensitive to vibrations...so i found a more or less 'dead' audio rack to minimize the vibrations goin into the amp..a SS amp is less sensitive to vibrations.