HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) Proving to be an enjoyable experience in listening.

[Damien Grief]

Whenever I come back to my HE500 after listening to another headphone for a while, I'm always blown away all over again. Love these cans so much. Been going back and forth between them and my Grado Hemps a bunch the last few days. I love both headphones a lot. They're both fun and punchy without being fatiguing but have different sounds I can't really explain well.

 

[SilverEars]

Hi there,

Unfortunately the Velpads are still unavailable, so far we could not estimate when we will get them back in stock, maybe still need a couple of weeks. Sorry for the inconvenience.

April

Glad they will be in stock soon. I will need to stock up on it.

 

[KCXT]

Whenever I come back to my HE500 after listening to another headphone for a while, I'm always blown away all over again. Love these cans so much. Been going back and forth between them and my Grado Hemps a bunch the last few days. I love both headphones a lot. They're both fun and punchy without being fatiguing but have different sounds I can't really explain well.

Agree 100%. Been a couple of months now with my HE-500s listening for up to 30 hours a week and they're still my unquestioned favorites (still also own Elegias and DT-1990s). Even in their fully-stock condition as mine are I find them full-bodied and thick but still balanced and clear with wonderful overall presence. Bass can sound a bit 'one note' on certain tracks but those instances are few and far between. Who knows what the future holds but for my established taste these are pretty much my perfect headphones and a nigh-unbeatable value at their current used prices.

Had to take one more opportunity to gush. Maybe I'll get into modding these this year but I'm so pleased that I just don't really want to mess with success.

 

[bagwell359]

I think it's the shape of the pads being oval. The Hifiman pads have circle shape opening. Ori sounds like there is a tunnel through the pads and the bass sounds natrow through the tunnel.

Perhaps why I disliked the Auteur? The pads making the sound weird? Tried Auteur pads on HE500 and just sounded off.

Ether Angled are cut rectangular. They actually cover up some of the edge bits of the driver, which IMO is good because the sound coming off the edge is delayed. this way you get more direct, much less smudgey and much better soundstage - wider, deeper and more clear. Nothing else to explain the change of going to the ether angled vs the other 13 I've tried.

 

[bagwell359]

Agree 100%. Been a couple of months now with my HE-500s listening for up to 30 hours a week and they're still my unquestioned favorites (still also own Elegias and DT-1990s). Even in their fully-stock condition as mine are I find them full-bodied and thick but still balanced and clear with wonderful overall presence. Bass can sound a bit 'one note' on certain tracks but those instances are few and far between. Who knows what the future holds but for my established taste these are pretty much my perfect headphones and a nigh-unbeatable value at their current used prices.

Had to take one more opportunity to gush. Maybe I'll get into modding these this year but I'm so pleased that I just don't really want to mess with success.

The one note bass is easily beaten with Sorbothane, or my favorite (due to cost and long term stick-a-bility) Dynamat. I've given instructions before. You lose something - basically aMusical cruft. It can be over done.

 

[Damien Grief]

Agree 100%. Been a couple of months now with my HE-500s listening for up to 30 hours a week and they're still my unquestioned favorites (still also own Elegias and DT-1990s). Even in their fully-stock condition as mine are I find them full-bodied and thick but still balanced and clear with wonderful overall presence. Bass can sound a bit 'one note' on certain tracks but those instances are few and far between. Who knows what the future holds but for my established taste these are pretty much my perfect headphones and a nigh-unbeatable value at their current used prices.

Had to take one more opportunity to gush. Maybe I'll get into modding these this year but I'm so pleased that I just don't really want to mess with success.

I have no need to mod. When I bought them a few years ago, I bought a 3rd party cable, new pads, and (later) a set of Dekoni nuggets for the headband and they're basically perfect now. Comfort is way improved and I didn't really want to mess with the sound anyway.

 

[bagwell359]

I have no need to mod. When I bought them a few years ago, I bought a 3rd party cable, new pads, and (later) a set of Dekoni nuggets for the headband and they're basically perfect now. Comfort is way improved and I didn't really want to mess with the sound anyway.

fuzzor mod, backs off, ether angled pads, and dynamat all do more for the sound than your mods (nuggets excluded) - from one 500 fan to another.

 

[Damien Grief]

fuzzor mod, backs off, ether angled pads, and dynamat all do more for the sound than your mods (nuggets excluded) - from one 500 fan to another.

I'm sure there's plenty more I could do to change or improve the sound of the 500's. But I don't really feel a need to mess with the existing sound. It's great as is. The changes I made were mostly for comfort.

 

[SilverEars]

I'm sure there's plenty more I could do to change or improve the sound of the 500's. But I don't really feel a need to mess with the existing sound. It's great as is. The changes I made were mostly for comfort.

Well, it's matter of taste if you prefer the warmth of the 500 as it is, but I think it could be improved if warmth can be reduced so that clarity can be increased. But, that's me though. I'm big into clarity.

I can generally see Sennheiser fans would go for 500 with velpads. The velour seems to bring out the mids. I've said this about HE-6 with velpads recently. That HE-6 sounds mids focused, and it's velpads causing to a degree. I feel like my velpads are compressing and need a newer stiffer set, similary like when Senny pads compress.

 

[bagwell359]

I'm sure there's plenty more I could do to change or improve the sound of the 500's. But I don't really feel a need to mess with the existing sound. It's great as is. The changes I made were mostly for comfort.

What do you drive them with? Does amp have balanced and SE? If so, which do you use?

@SilverEars has heard my 500's which he says have more clarity then stock 500's.

Read the whole thread sometime if you can find the time, lots of interesting ideas/opinions.

 

[Damien Grief]

What do you drive them with? Does amp have balanced and SE? If so, which do you use?

@SilverEars has heard my 500's which he says have more clarity then stock 500's.

Read the whole thread sometime if you can find the time, lots of interesting ideas/opinions.

Nah. No balanced output. I'm running them on a Schiit stack - Magni 2U/Modi 2U. It's been all I've needed so far. Whenever I upgrade, I'll be looking for one with a balanced out though.

 

[illyria]

Liquid platinum arrived and got my balanced cable as well.

The bass feels a lot cleaner and presant than before and the mids sound a little crisper?

Almost sounds like a different headphone (in a good way) haha.


Now just waiting on my angled Ether pads and going to search for a set of those tubes.

 

[SilverEars]

Liquid platinum arrived and got my balanced cable as well.

The bass feels a lot cleaner and presant than before and the mids sound a little crisper?

Almost sounds like a different headphone (in a good way) haha.


Now just waiting on my angled Ether pads and going to search for a set of those tubes.

I looked at your profile and it says "Music library is 99% female vocals." Does this mean 500 is good for mids or it's mids focused?

 

[illyria]

I looked at your profile and it says "Music library is 99% female vocals." Does this mean 500 is good for mids or it's mids focused?

I really enjoy the mids on the 500. They're rich and intimate, especially with the right tracks and artists.

Out of the cans that I have tried (admittedly a fairly small number) the 500 fit my preferences the closest.

Haha, I'm definitely not as experienced as a lot of people on here.

 

[bagwell359]

Nah. No balanced output. I'm running them on a Schiit stack - Magni 2U/Modi 2U. It's been all I've needed so far. Whenever I upgrade, I'll be looking for one with a balanced out though.

That amp is a tad short for the 500. Usually considered 2W min, 4W or + ideal. I run mine on a Rag 1, but I also like them a lot on the Lyr3. They like current and the bass tightens nicely with watts and damping factor on a SS amp, a hybrid, or full tube designed to run low impedance loads - if you have the coin.