[bracko]

  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

 
While HE500 is probably not technically up to par with HD800 it certainly is up there musically. I definitely prefered my HE500 to my HD800 for allround listening and thus sold my HD800. 

 

[elwappo99]

Made a brief comment in the deals thread that seemed to either:
a. Intrigue
b. Spontaneously cause one's panties to bundle
 
So I thought I'd post my lingering impressions of a HE-500 HE-560 comparison I did a week ago. Nothing too exact.
 
 
Gear:
He500 (modded)
He560 (stock)
 
Amps
Schiit Mjolnir2
Violectric V181
 
DAC:
Audio-GD Reference 1
 
 
Gear used as reference:
HD800
Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor
 
 
 
 
Thoughts:
HE560 a bit harder to drive. Thought it sounded a bit more closed in (SS wise) but within that more closed in area it had a bit better imaging (still pretty far behind the HD800). It didn't seem to grab the subtle details as well as the HE500. The reference one DAC really pulls out some fine details in recordings, especially in the reverberation of stringed instruments. The HE560 didn't seem to pull those vibrations out as clearly. Also, the HE560 had a weird treble spike. It really stood out to me for some reason, which I can't explain. The HE500 had more treble, but it seemed to be much more even. 
 
 
He560 was insanely comfortable. I wish I could get that headband on the HE-6. Loved it. Pads also incredibly comfy. I will be grabbing a pair of Focus or Focus-A pads for the HE500. 
 
That's it. If I was buying a pair of new headphones and had neither the HE560 nor the HE500, I might pick up the HE560. I think with some modding the sound stage could improve and maybe someone's got a way to resolve that treble.

 

[kehorton]

Interesting. You prefer the Parasound over the Schiit Multibit Bifrost?
 
Just curious

 

[Guidostrunk]

Absolutely. I prefer the warm holographic, nature, of the Parasound. To my ears , it's more dimensional, and engaging.
Cheers

Interesting. You prefer the Parasound over the Schiit Multibit Bifrost?

Just curious

 

[bracko]

   
 
Thoughts:
HE560 a bit harder to drive. Thought it sounded a bit more closed in (SS wise) but within that more closed in area it had a bit better imaging (still pretty far behind the HD800). It didn't seem to grab the subtle details as well as the HE500. The reference one DAC really pulls out some fine details in recordings, especially in the reverberation of stringed instruments. The HE560 didn't seem to pull those vibrations out as clearly. Also, the HE560 had a weird treble spike. It really stood out to me for some reason, which I can't explain. The HE500 had more treble, but it seemed to be much more even. 
 
 
He560 was insanely comfortable. I wish I could get that headband on the HE-6. Loved it. Pads also incredibly comfy. I will be grabbing a pair of Focus or Focus-A pads for the HE500. 
 
That's it. If I was buying a pair of new headphones and had neither the HE560 nor the HE500, I might pick up the HE560. I think with some modding the sound stage could improve and maybe someone's got a way to resolve that treble.

 
Nice thoughts 

 
 
Judging by your impressions you think that HE-500 sounds better (better subtle details, better treble, better soundstage) and that the only advantage of the HE-560 is its comfort. You would still pick HE-560 if you were buying a pair of new headphones (inspite that they sound inferior and are actually more expensive). May I ask why? 

 

[elwappo99]

   
Nice thoughts 

 
 
Judging by your impressions you think that HE-500 sounds better (better subtle details, better treble, better soundstage) and that the only advantage of the HE-560 is its comfort. You would still pick HE-560 if you were buying a pair of new headphones (inspite that they sound inferior and are actually more expensive). May I ask why? 

 
I don't necessarily think the HE560 is a totally inferior phone. If I were picking a new pair up, I would probably pick up the HE560. I think there's some potential there with mods to improve it quite a bit. I think it would make a great compliment to something like the HD800 or HE-6 (which I now plan on buying, or possibly the HEX). It's got a great slightly darker sounding tonality, in some ways like the LCD-2, but I wouldn't go as far as to call it the Audeze house sound. Almost like a refined HE-5LE. 
 
My decision to return it was mostly the fact I was planning on upgrading from the HE-500 to a better headphone, and I thought the HE-560 was such a small step on the way to the HE-6 I should really refocus myself to a higher bracket. 
 
Loved the pads though. Has anyone done a comparison of the Hifiman Focus VS Hifiman Focus-A pads with the HE-500? 

 

[Suguru103]

  This might be crazy, but i felt like this is the thread that could help me:
 
About 1 week ago, i was reading a thread (can't remember where, this is the part that sucks) about HE-500 mods and improving comfort. I remember reading a post from some guy where he said he was going to remove the the screws that hold together the HE-500 and replace them with lightweight screws? He sounded confident about it and mentioned it would potentially reduce the weight by 50g. 
 
Is this common? Has anybody thought/done this? What kind of lightweight screws was he talking about?
 
Any ways, hopefully this wasn't just a crazy guy posting bs on a thread. 50g would be a substantial reduction and would make this headphone (along with HM5 Hybrid pads and HD558 headband) comfortable.
 
Thanks.

^ So nobody has heard about this then?

 

[kid vic]

 
^ So nobody has heard about this then?

I haven't but in theory it would work, not neccasairly sure if it would make it that much more comfortable but you could give it a shot 

 

[Suguru103]

  I haven't but in theory it would work, not neccasairly sure if it would make it that much more comfortable but you could give it a shot 

I know it should work, but i have no idea which lightweight screws would be the ones to get or which size fits the HE500's. As far as comfort, coupled with the HM5 angled velour pads i'm getting, a 40-50 grams reduction would go a long ways towards making this headphone at least more tolerable. Right now, even if i'm really enjoying a lot how it sounds coming from HD600's, after about half an hour i do start to feel the pressure. Maybe the pads' help with weight distribution has a bigger effect than a slight weight reduction, but it can't hurt trying. It is 10% less weight after all if the guy was right.
 
Thanks for responding!

 

[MusicJunky]

I don't necessarily think the HE560 is a totally inferior phone. If I were picking a new pair up, I would probably pick up the HE560. I think there's some potential there with mods to improve it quite a bit. I think it would make a great compliment to something like the HD800 or HE-6 (which I now plan on buying, or possibly the HEX). It's got a great slightly darker sounding tonality, in some ways like the LCD-2, but I wouldn't go as far as to call it the Audeze house sound. Almost like a refined HE-5LE. 

My decision to return it was mostly the fact I was planning on upgrading from the HE-500 to a better headphone, and I thought the HE-560 was such a small step on the way to the HE-6 I should really refocus myself to a higher bracket. 

Loved the pads though. Has anyone done a comparison of the Hifiman Focus VS Hifiman Focus-A pads with the HE-500? 

https://m.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/2f5zjk/whats_the_difference_between_the_hifiman_focuspad/ in case u havent read that. Seems like peoples opnions differ on the pads. I went for the focas pad in the end (production) and they are quite comfortable. The drivers do touch my ears sometimes tho. As for sound they seem to be a bit bassier than the stock velour but not as bassy as the stock leather.

 

[genclaymore]

I had the focus pads productions as well and they did do a good job other then the same issue you had with them musicjunky but 3 months down the line they started to rip little by little. so i had to go back to the cheap velour ones. a month ago i bought the velpads and put them on my HE-500 and i find those to be much more comfortable then the focus pads and look like they wont rip that fast.Plus they was 15 dollars, i wasn't about to spend 31 dollars again only to have the focus pad rip on my again.

 

[Fearless1]

Audeze vegan pads are incredible on the 500, comfort and sound wise. They are just a bit costly (62 dollars @B&H). I have them on the 6, 400i and 400 as well, they sound great on all of them.

 

[vlach]

Audeze vegan pads are incredible on the 500, comfort and sound wise. They are just a bit costly (62 dollars @B&H). I have them on the 6, 400i and 400 as well, they sound great on all of them.

I'm considering the Audeze vegan pads purely for comfort reasons, however I am hesitant since I'm very happy with the SQ of the original velour pads.
Would you mind briefly describing the difference on the HE-500 soundwise?

 

[Fearless1]

I'm considering the Audeze vegan pads purely for comfort reasons, however I am hesitant since I'm very happy with the SQ of the original velour pads.
Would you mind briefly describing the difference on the HE-500 soundwise?

A bit of a bigger soundstage and a bit more bass impact, they sound fairly close to the velour pads.

 

[vlach]

A bit of a bigger soundstage and a bit more bass impact, they sound fairly close to the velour pads.

A bit more bass impact? My experience is usually a decrease in bass whenever the distance between ears & drivers is increased. Also, a slight increase in bass would cause a shift in tonal balance. That said, your feedback seems positive therefore I might still give it a shot, thank you.