[Badfish5446]

Oh I'm not easily offended, no hard feelings here.  I am not saying power is the sole factor , my intention was to assess the regularly posted comment that "Obective 2 is all you need for [insert any headphone in the world here]" ...for myself.  I really think that little guy is awesome for a vast majority of my collection, it's just not the magic bullet some people make it out to be.  I could have speculated on damping factor, capacitance and slew rate but it was already a fairly long winded post and the vast majority of head-fiers wouldn't get any benefit out of it.  In an effort to take tube coloration out of the equation as much as possible, I popped the LISST's in and my prior comments ring true with those as well.  "Loud enough" and "properly driven" are not one and the same.  On paper the O2 will reach your desired volume, to my ears it will not properly drive the HE-500.  [mic drop]
 
 

 

 

[roadcykler]

  Oh I'm not easily offended, no hard feelings here.  I am not saying power is the sole factor , my intention was to assess the regularly posted comment that "Obective 2 is all you need for [insert any headphone in the world here]" ...for myself.  I really think that little guy is awesome for a vast majority of my collection, it's just not the magic bullet some people make it out to be.  I could have speculated on damping factor, capacitance and slew rate but it was already a fairly long winded post and the vast majority of head-fiers wouldn't get any benefit out of it.  In an effort to take tube coloration out of the equation as much as possible, I popped the LISST's in and my prior comments ring true with those as well.  "Loud enough" and "properly driven" are not one and the same.  On paper the O2 will reach your desired volume, to my ears it will not properly drive the HE-500.  [mic drop]
 
 

 

Those three words are the crux of almost every point/counterpoint discussion. Joe says amp so and so, this cable, those pads, etc make a very noticeable difference. Bill says, no, my amp so and so, that cable, this insulation, etc make a very noticeable difference. And on it goes, ad nauseam. But as long as it remains civil, it's sometimes interesting to read what some people believe. 

 

[Alessandro1]

   "Loud enough" and "properly driven" are not one and the same. 
 

 

Yes. HE500 needs a good and powerful amp to sound as good as it can.

 

[SearchOfSub]

Nope.

It's a slight jab at the folks who think that power is the only thing that matters.  

This isn't pointed at badfish or anyone in particular...the call for POWER above all else just gets a little tired after a while.  

"Oh, you think that headphone and amp pairing sounds good!?!?   You've lost your mind.  Nothing short of a nuclear reactor is sufficient to drove THOSE headphones".

hahahaa., yeah I agree.

 

[bracko]

  Yes. HE500 needs a good and powerful amp to sound as good as it can.

Honestly I don't think this excludes O2 for example. O2 gives lots of power at 40 Ohm (0,6 W) and is a well-designed amp. Same goes to Matrix M-Stage/Lehmann BCL. I am talking from my own experience and comparison with more powerful amps like Violectric V200 and Project Ember for instance. I have also been using my HE-500 recently connected to loudspeaker taps of my loudspeaker amplifier and, yeah, I don't know .... 

 

[bracko]

  Oh I'm not easily offended, no hard feelings here.  I am not saying power is the sole factor , my intention was to assess the regularly posted comment that "Obective 2 is all you need for [insert any headphone in the world here]" ...for myself.  I really think that little guy is awesome for a vast majority of my collection, it's just not the magic bullet some people make it out to be.  I could have speculated on damping factor, capacitance and slew rate but it was already a fairly long winded post and the vast majority of head-fiers wouldn't get any benefit out of it.  In an effort to take tube coloration out of the equation as much as possible, I popped the LISST's in and my prior comments ring true with those as well.  "Loud enough" and "properly driven" are not one and the same.  On paper the O2 will reach your desired volume, to my ears it will not properly drive the HE-500.  [mic drop]
 
 

 

 
I really appreciate your opinion but I still cannot see how the difference you're experiencing between the O2 and the Lyr can be explained as a difference in power. Could it be something else? I just wonder 

 

[Badfish5446]

   
I really appreciate your opinion but I still cannot see how the difference you're experiencing between the O2 and the Lyr can be explained as a difference in power. Could it be something else? I just wonder 

If I HAD to attribute each difference to a category/stat I would associate the impact with lower overall available power for peak demand (probably the transformer) and tizz/treble issues with a lack of driver control (combination of slew rate and damping factor).  I pulled the O2 out of the bedroom for the test so everything else upstream is the same as I use daily with the HE-500. In addition an amps RMS performance is only one measurement of the ability of that amp to properly drive any given headphone.  These other factors are what some attribute to "synergy" .  Given that the manufacturer of the HE-500 has stated it recommends an amp with 1-2 watts at rated impedance and my own anecdotal evidence is in agreement I don't see the struggle in the correlation.  
 
I will fully admit historical bias here as I noticed similar improvements when I upgraded the chain in my home theater/HiFi:
 
Stock Receiver power amp (110 watts/channel in stereo, both driven) TO Separate stereo amp (185 watts/channel, 4 ohms, both driven) TO Mono Blocks (400 watts/channel, 4ohms. (Denon 2808 to UPA-2 to XPA-100s)
 
Another way to state it is that I often find a correlation (not causation) between higher power and a better listening experience.  I can't find the article at the moment but years ago I read a study that took upscale consumer audio speakers and combined them with some righteous Levinson Mono Blocks.  They wanted to see just how dramatic the power swing was between baseline listening volume and a dynamic peak.  The wattage drawn from the amp cruised right along typically below 40 watts but exceeded 7,000 watts in a dynamic peak.  No piece of electronics can be evaluated solely on one spec, in general a lot of specs are down right useless unless validated by an outside party due to differing methods of measurement.
 
TLDR:  wattage is not the sole factor of driveability, O2 is great, just not optimal for some planars... 

 

[genclaymore]

I switched from those cheap velour earpads that came with my HE-500 that i had got used earlier this year to the velpads. Much more comfortable on my ears. Also the headband doesn't hurt my head any more even tho i had padded headband snap on. This time I hope these earpads last long then the focus pads non A that i used to have that ripped within a couple of months. They went on easier this time around since i used to putting the ear pads onto the headphones.

 

[joespride]

Listening to the Audeze lambskins on my 500's they do seem to create a larger sense of stage, I also noticed they seem to pressurize the cups as I definitely experienced some sound pressure discomfort that I have never experienced with the 500 B-4
 
I have them attached basically sealed using 2 side tape.......................1 other issue is HEAT the pads are warmer on the face
 
Comfort is no contest, the larger ear holes are great, the softer pads are much more comfortable....................I am thinking the Vegan pads would solve the heat issue and possibly the pressurization as the vegans would breath a bit
 
while a bit of give and take the added SQ/staging may well make it worth the slight other issues 

 

[joespride]

Audeze adds a definite rumble to the bass, the whole can seems to vibrate on my cheeks with Steve Earl, Washington Square Serenade, Down here Below, (certainly not a track I would have ever equated with Deep Bass)  
 
The aforementioned pressurization and discomfort was also a result of Bass on the bass heavy track from Limp Bizkit, Chocolate Starfish, Keep rollin

 

[bracko]

  Listening to the Audeze lambskins on my 500's they do seem to create a larger sense of stage, I also noticed they seem to pressurize the cups as I definitely experienced some sound pressure discomfort that I have never experienced with the 500 B-4
 
I have them attached basically sealed using 2 side tape.......................1 other issue is HEAT the pads are warmer on the face
 
Comfort is no contest, the larger ear holes are great, the softer pads are much more comfortable....................I am thinking the Vegan pads would solve the heat issue and possibly the pressurization as the vegans would breath a bit
 
while a bit of give and take the added SQ/staging may well make it worth the slight other issues 

Wouldn't Alpha pads give similar results? 

 

[joespride]

No they dont, I had the alpha pads b-4 and while better than stock I did not hear near the differences.  

 

[Ultramus]

I'm still convinced the best pads for the HE-500 are Lawton Audio d2000 ones, that's what I run on mine and I've had very positive feedback, granted my 500 has gotten weirdly high praise amongst those who were former owners, not sure if it's my headphone, the pads, or the gear(audio gd+mjolnir).

I would like an HD800 for comfort factor alone to have something that doesn't tire my head out after numerous hours, but having had the chance to directly compare my 500 against them, I certainly don't feel like I'm missing out on anything audio wise, my preference swund depending on track. For that matter the Sr-009s didn't instill in me much lust when I heard them either.

The HE-500 is such a stellar headphone, I can't believe just how well it has stood up, plenty of headphones have come out that are so inferior, arguably the newer HFM don't drastically improve upon it either. I've been getting that itch to upgrade but nothing has captured me like the 500 has.

 

[bracko]

I'm still convinced the best pads for the HE-500 are Lawton Audio d2000 ones, that's what I run on mine and I've had very positive feedback, granted my 500 has gotten weirdly high praise amongst those who were former owners, not sure if it's my headphone, the pads, or the gear(audio gd+mjolnir).

I would like an HD800 for comfort factor alone to have something that doesn't tire my head out after numerous hours, but having had the chance to directly compare my 500 against them, I certainly don't feel like I'm missing out on anything audio wise, my preference swund depending on track. For that matter the Sr-009s didn't instill in me much lust when I heard them either.

The HE-500 is such a stellar headphone, I can't believe just how well it has stood up, plenty of headphones have come out that are so inferior, arguably the newer HFM don't drastically improve upon it either. I've been getting that itch to upgrade but nothing has captured me like the 500 has.

Agreed. HE-500 is a highest class stellar headphone comparable to the top headphones available. I had HD800 and HE-500 at the same time and I confirm, nothing is missed audiowise by not having HD800. HE-560 is not an obvious improvement upon HE-500.  

 

[joespride]

While I agree HE500 is very good, it is not up to par with the HD800.........I have both and find myself drawn to the HD800 for all Acoustic, Jazz, Classical, Easy Listening, and most classic rock aka.........America, Cat Stevens, Steve Earl, Eagles,Clapton ETC...... Now with anything harder I do prefer the HE500  aka..............zeppelin, floyd, queen, stones, nazereth ETC...
 
Bottom line is both are great and if 1 were on a budget you could do a lot worse than the HE500,  Especially at the used price they are a steal