[HPiper]

So I am guessing a Burson Soloist SL with 2w per channel would do the job with a little overhead.

 

[Xenophon]

No sweat, soloist would be ample and is good quality. Or if you already have one that's not too powerful and has a low noise floor, run them from a speaker amp with some resistors attached to bring down the power. But be careful with that volume dial.

 

[Nimzerz]

This thread is dying down... RIP

 

[HPiper]

How does the sound of the HE-500 compare to the HD650, would it be a true upgrade or more of a sidegrade if you know what I mean. Or just tell me which you liked better and why for those of you who have owned both or currently own both.

 

[ThurstonX]

  How does the sound of the HE-500 compare to the HD650, would it be a true upgrade or more of a sidegrade if you know what I mean. Or just tell me which you liked better and why for those of you who have owned both or currently own both.

 
I briefly owned the HD 650s, and for my money they couldn't touch the HE-500s.  Just my opinion, of course, and I must be one of a distinct minority who finds the Senn pads really uncomfortable.

 

[RebelRising]

   
I briefly owned the HD 650s, and for my money they couldn't touch the HE-500s.  Just my opinion, of course, and I must be one of a distinct minority who finds the Senn pads really uncomfortable.

I'd have to agree with the 500s and arguably the 400s besting the Senn HD6XX line across the board. Both Hifimans have an effortless quality to their sound that is simply unmatched. 

 

[ben_r_]

I own both the HE-500 and the HD-650 and just take a look in the long running HD-650 thread for all that people love about the HD-650s: LINK
 
IMO for vocals, jazz and classical, Ill pick the HD-650 every time. BUT I only use my HD-650 with a Bottlehead Crack w/ Speedball as the HD-650 really shines with the warmth and naturalness that comes from it when driven by a good tube amp. And IMO the HD-650 is WORLDS more pleasurable to wear. I pretty much dislike everything about the HE-500's except their sound. The weight is too much, the cord is terrible, the headband is horrible, the fit and way it sits on the head feels awkward, etc. None of these issue plague the HD-650. They are also around $200 cheaper either new or used and that alone is very impressive.
 
For an all around headphone, the HE-500 is a better choice. I learned a long time ago however that just one set of headphones could never cover my extremely wide range of music genres.

 

[ThurstonX]

  I own both the HE-500 and the HD-650 and just take a look in the long running HD-650 thread for all that people love about the HD-650s: LINK
 
IMO for vocals, jazz and classical, Ill pick the HD-650 every time. BUT I only use my HD-650 with a Bottlehead Crack w/ Speedball as the HD-650 really shines with the warmth and naturalness that comes from it when driven by a good tube amp.
 
For an all around headphone, the HE-500 is a better choice. I learned a long time ago however that just one set of headphones could never cover my extremely wide range of music genres.

 
While I found the HD 650s a bit too laid back for my tastes, they do excel at vocals.  I'd almost forgotten.  They have a way of bringing them forward a bit while sounding perfectly natural.  They also took some pretty ragged indie rock (I'm talkin' things actually recorded in a home studio and basically self-produced) and made it sound far better than any other cans I've tried.  The Audezes would probably be good for that stuff.  With the HD 650s, I attribute that to the enhanced low end (seemed enhanced to me).  I'd love to hear them on a BHC, even if the comfort issue would probably creep in.  I drove them with my Lyr and still couldn't justify keeping them.  But I agree that one pair of cans is never enough!

 

[kamalz]

  I'd have to agree with the 500s and arguably the 400s besting the Senn HD6XX line across the board. Both Hifimans have an effortless quality to their sound that is simply unmatched. 

HD600 are in the market for decades even though with the influx of orthodynamic cans
i wonder how iong HE500 going to last

 

[HPiper]

  I'd have to agree with the 500s and arguably the 400s besting the Senn HD6XX line across the board. Both Hifimans have an effortless quality to their sound that is simply unmatched. 

Could I ask, what amp you were using with them?

 

[RebelRising]

 
Could I ask, what amp you were using with them?

Sure:
 
HE-400: FiiO E10 --> O2+ODAC --> Schiit Magni+Modi
 
HE-500: Schiit Magni+Modi --> Asgard 2 + Bifrost  --> Lyr + Uber Bifrost

 

[jaganeee]

  Sure:
 
HE-400: FiiO E10 --> O2+ODAC --> Schiit Magni+Modi
 
HE-500: Schiit Magni+Modi --> Asgard 2 + Bifrost  --> Lyr + Uber Bifrost

how would u rate out of 10
 
Schiit Magni+Modi --> Asgard 2 + Bifrost  --> Lyr + Uber Bifrost

 

[Okamoto]

Guys, have you ever experienced channel balance issues with the HE-500?

I was doing that Philips Golden Ears test other day and on the soundstage test (right/left balance) I noticed that right 2 and left 2 weren't quite equal in terms of volume and timbre. Right 2 was a bit quieter than left 2 and just sounded lower-fi. I tried switching the sides to see if it was my ears but the issue followed the driver. I'm still not sure if this is real or just a false impression, since I never realized it while listening to my music. Also, I tried with my other headphones and amps and to certain extent, the issue persisted. Could it be a DAC issue, maybe? Or is it just the recording? Any suggestions on how to test it better?

 

[Nimzerz]

  Guys, have you ever experienced channel balance issues with the HE-500?

I was doing that Philips Golden Ears test other day and on the soundstage test (right/left balance) I noticed that right 2 and left 2 weren't quite equal in terms of volume and timbre. Right 2 was a bit quieter than left 2 and just sounded lower-fi. I tried switching the sides to see if it was my ears but the issue followed the driver. I'm still not sure if this is real or just a false impression, since I never realized it while listening to my music. Also, I tried with my other headphones and amps and to certain extent, the issue persisted. Could it be a DAC issue, maybe? Or is it just the recording? Any suggestions on how to test it better?

Use a mono setting within foobar, that is the best way I know to judge imbalance.

 

[i019791]

  Guys, have you ever experienced channel balance issues with the HE-500?

I was doing that Philips Golden Ears test other day and on the soundstage test (right/left balance) I noticed that right 2 and left 2 weren't quite equal in terms of volume and timbre. Right 2 was a bit quieter than left 2 and just sounded lower-fi. I tried switching the sides to see if it was my ears but the issue followed the driver. I'm still not sure if this is real or just a false impression, since I never realized it while listening to my music. Also, I tried with my other headphones and amps and to certain extent, the issue persisted. Could it be a DAC issue, maybe? Or is it just the recording? Any suggestions on how to test it better?

For more than a year I had balance issues with HE500 specifically (so I knew there were no issues with the upstream gear), not solved at the first two service attempts. At the third service attempt I got replacement cans with matched drivers impedance and I had no problems since then.