[dimensiid]

HE-500 with ZMF Ori Lambskin Pads.
 

 

 

 

 

[ColossalKiwi]

  HE-500 with ZMF Ori Lambskin Pads.

Looks nice. What pads did you have on them before? How do you feel the Ori pads have changed the sound?

 

[socks mk2]

Zach Mehrbach himself uses (or used) Ori pads on his personal pair of HE500's. At the minimum he used to back when it was still referred to as the Omni. I'm not sure if he still has an HE500 these days.

 

[ColossalKiwi]

 
Interesting. I recently got a pair of HE-500 drivers that have been transplanted into an HE-560 body, which came equipped with Alpha Pads. I didn't really like the Alpha Pads at all. They were comfy, but the complete seal on the ear side + the headphones being completely open-backed was a weird combo. It gave the sound a cave-ish quality, and made male vocals in particular sound a bit hollow. The treble was also just too harsh for my liking, which I think was emphasised by the dip in the upper midrange. Bass was great, though. Deep, linear subbass extension and no overbearing midbass presence.
 

 
After changing to HM5 Hybrid pads, I actually found them both more comfortable and better-sounding. Bass extension didn't really change but it did become slightly more impactful, the midrange sounds more natural now, the treble somehow doesn't sound as offensive, and the cave-ish quality is pretty much gone. Sounds slight more "open".
 

 
I'm gonna get some Focus Pads and Hifiman Velours soon. I'm sure the Ori and Eikon pads would work better than the Alphas, but I'm thinking velour or hybrid-style pads are the way to go.

 

[dimensiid]

  Looks nice. What pads did you have on them before? How do you feel the Ori pads have changed the sound?

Previously I used Brainwavz angled pleather...the stock pads sucks!
Compared to the angled Brainwavs, more impact and bass punch with the Ori pads, better clarity too. Sound stage has also improved slightly because the stiffer foam on the pads are keeping the drivers a bit further from your ears.
Comfort also increased twice fold...awesome!
Dare I say...the Ori Pads give you a slightly more Audeze-like presentation to the HE-500.
 
HE-400 and HE-500 on the right with the Brainwavz angled pleathers.

 

[ColossalKiwi]

  Previously I used Brainwavz angled pleather...the stock pads sucks!
Compared to the angled Brainwavs, more impact and bass punch with the Ori pads, better clarity too. Sound stage has also improved slightly because the stiffer foam on the pads are keeping the drivers a bit further from your ears.
Comfort also increased twice fold...awesome!
Dare I say...the Ori Pads give you a slightly more Audeze-like presentation to the HE-500.

Thanks for replying with your impressions! I'd like to get my hands on some Ori and Eikon pads at some point. I've definitely heard a lot of negative opinions about the stock pleather pads, but I've heard good things about the velours sound-wise; I'm looking forward to trying them. The downside is that both the pleather and the velour pads aren't very comfortable, especially when combined with the weight of the HE-500. Luckily for me, the HE-560's chassis is much lighter and more comfy, so comfort shouldn't be an issue 

 

[TWerk]

The velour pads are comfortable enough for me and they sound simply fantastic. I would not want to mess with pads on mine since the velours sound so good.
 
(Although I do like bass impact and punch... might be interesting just to try Ori if it's that much better in impact.)

 

[cskippy]

If you can get your hands on Jerg pads, they were perfect for the HE-500.  Bass was insane, yet there was still excellent clarity.  

 

[dimensiid]

  The velour pads are comfortable enough for me and they sound simply fantastic. I would not want to mess with pads on mine since the velours sound so good.
 
(Although I do like bass impact and punch... might be interesting just to try them if it's that much better.)

 
IMO...the stock Hifiman HE-500 pads don't do justice to the headphone's true potential...they're more of a downgrade in sound quality.
Before trying on angled pads on the HE-400...and of course the HE-500...I always thought that the Audeze sound of LCD2 and LCD3 to be way superior to the HE-500.
With angled pads the HE-500 aren't too far removed from the Audeze gods...and now with lambskin Ori pads they sound even better!

  Thanks for replying with your impressions! I'd like to get my hands on some Ori and Eikon pads at some point. I've definitely heard a lot of negative opinions about the stock pleather pads, but I've heard good things about the velours sound-wise; I'm looking forward to trying them. The downside is that both the pleather and the velour pads aren't very comfortable, especially when combined with the weight of the HE-500. Luckily for me, the HE-560's chassis is much lighter and more comfy, so comfort shouldn't be an issue 

 
Get the Ori...it's the perfect fit for HE-500 cups. The Eikon pads fits the slighly larger Audeze cups.

 

[TWerk]

   
IMO...the stock Hifiman HE-500 pads don't do justice to the headphone's true potential...they're more of a downgrade in sound quality.
Before trying on angled pads on the HE-400...and of course the HE-500...I always thought that the Audeze sound of LCD2 and LCD3 to be way superior to the HE-500.
With angled pads the HE-500 aren't too far removed from the Audeze gods...and now with lambskin Ori pads they sound even better!
 
Get the Ori...it's the perfect fit for HE-500 cups. The Eikon pads fits the slighly larger Audeze cups.

 
 
I prefer the 500's with stock velour pads to the LCD2...
 
Are you saying you had them with velours or the pleather pads? I'm talking about stock velours here.

 

[TWerk]

  If you can get your hands on Jerg pads, they were perfect for the HE-500.  Bass was insane, yet there was still excellent clarity.  

 
HE500 with Jerg pads, does it even approach HE-6 bass?

 

[elwappo99]

 

It's very low gauge and few strands. That's the issue.

Measure the resistance, it is very low. Since the HE-500's are planars they do not have an impedance curve to affect FR. Do the math the loss in dB due to the resistance of the stock cable is negligible. The aesthetics are nothing to write home about and I do find them mechanically microphonic if I move and it rubs on something, however, I do not think they are a factor when it comes down to SQ.

 
Yea, uhhh I don't understand the point about low gauge and strands? Was there ever an issue there?
 
 
The problem I think everyone had was it was stiff, and incredibly microphonic. I honestly think the HE-500 stock cable is the worst stock cable I've ever had.

 

[dimensiid]

   
 
I prefer the 500's with stock velour pads to the LCD2...
 
Are you saying you had them with velours or the pleather pads? I'm talking about stock velours here.

Stock velours...not much comfort...and sound wise they sound too soft with flat soundstage for me.
The LCD2F blows it away on dynamics, impact and 3D soundstage.
Have you tried angled pads on your HE-500, or focus pads? The Hifiman stock pads are a waste on such quality planar drivers IMO

 

[TWerk]

  Stock velours...not much comfort...and sound wise they sound too soft with flat soundstage for me.
The LCD2F blows it away on dynamics, impact and 3D soundstage.
Have you tried angled pads on your HE-500, or focus pads? The Hifiman stock pads are a waste on such quality planar drivers IMO

 
I disagree on all 3 areas you bring up vs the LCD2 using stock velour pads. They are very dynamic, have incredible midrange and soundstage ability. Impact is not the end all greatest, but neither is Audeze IMO. The HE-500 (yes, with stock velours) is one of the best headphones I've had the privilege to own... its midrange is just fantastic.
 
I tried focus pads but ended up switching back to stock velours since it sounded better to me.
 
On the battle of the flagship thread, the guy rated them an A+, highest possible rating as well as saying they were the favorite of the headphones he awarded the A+. Yes, that was with stock pads too, vs. all other flagships. Not too shabby a headphone, I'd say.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-compared#user_HE500

 

[socks mk2]

Yea, uhhh I don't understand the point about low gauge and strands? Was there ever an issue there?


The problem I think everyone had was it was stiff, and incredibly microphonic. I honestly think the HE-500 stock cable is the worst stock cable I've ever had.

The HE1000 V1 stock cable sucks too and it's not stiff or microphonic. Basically any third party cable is an improvement. There's a reason that the V2 offers an improved stock cable. What did they change? I'll let you look it up.