[robm321]

I will join this club soon. After hearing these at the last meet, I can't seem to let it go

 

[Pianist]

Quote:

I will join this club soon. After hearing these at the last meet, I can't seem to let it go

 
It seems that you really like Etys too. I will be adding an HF5 to my collection soon as well. It will replace my Phonaks and JVCs.

 

[roadcykler]

Quote:

Just received my pair of HE500 from a user on here and I'm really disappointed by them

They are much darker than my HD600 which I was not expecting, I am running them through an M-Stage amp and Dacmagic. The bass has improved quite a bit and lower mids sound slightly better but that's about it. The upper mids are just so withdrawn/dull and the treble is pretty much the same, metal/rock sounds lifeless on them. It feels as if I have downgraded from the HD600..I thought the HE500 were going to be good upgrade over the HD600, What do you guys think? has anyone came from HD600 to these?

I've owned the HD600s and now own the HE-500s and how anyone could think the latter is much darker than the former is totally beyond me. But we all have different hearing so I guess that accounts for most of the differences people report. IMO, the Sennheisers would be like listening to the HiFiMANs (MEN?) with an extra layer of cloth between the driver and your ears. No comparison whatsoever and from reading almost every other report I've read, most agree that the 500s are "lively" "bright" or any other adjective you want to use to describe clear highs.

 

[disastermouse]

I've owned the HD600s and now own the HE-500s and how anyone could think the latter is much darker than the former is totally beyond me. But we all have different hearing so I guess that accounts for most of the differences people report. IMO, the Sennheisers would be like listening to the HiFiMANs (MEN?) with an extra layer of cloth between the driver and your ears. No comparison whatsoever and from reading almost every other report I've read, most agree that the 500s are "lively" "bright" or any other adjective you want to use to describe clear highs.

They're definitely brighter than the HD650s with my chain. Can't speak to the HD600.

Curiously, while the treble is there, it never glares. It's the mids that captivate, however.

 

[spark3]

Quote:

I've owned the HD600s and now own the HE-500s and how anyone could think the latter is much darker than the former is totally beyond me. But we all have different hearing so I guess that accounts for most of the differences people report. IMO, the Sennheisers would be like listening to the HiFiMANs (MEN?) with an extra layer of cloth between the driver and your ears. No comparison whatsoever and from reading almost every other report I've read, most agree that the 500s are "lively" "bright" or any other adjective you want to use to describe clear highs.

 
It's the upper mids that are brighter and more aggressive from what I can hear. Now I have spent more time with them and listened a lot closer, I find the treble is brighter than the HD600 and it is much more detailed. The bass and lower mids on the HE500 however is a different story, there is a quite a big difference compared to the HD600, HD600 cannot even compare to them. Still, just like everyone says the HD600 truly are amazing headphones for the price.

 

[disastermouse]

It's the upper mids that are brighter and more aggressive from what I can hear. Now I have spent more time with them and listened a lot closer, I find the treble is brighter than the HD600 and it is much more detailed. The bass and lower mids on the HE500 however is a different story, there is a quite a big difference compared to the HD600, HD600 cannot even compare to them. Still, just like everyone says the HD600 truly are amazing headphones for the price.

What's the rest of your chain? I'm on my phone and can't see signatures if your chain is detailed in it.

 

[spark3]

Quote:

What's the rest of your chain? I'm on my phone and can't see signatures if your chain is detailed in it.

 
My current setup that I am using is: Mobo coax out > Dacmagic > Matrix M-Stage.

 

[Clemmaster]

Many people hearing orthos for the first time are usually awed by the black background +ortho speed. When I still had the He-500, I usually think of them as HD600 on steroid - do everything the Hd600 does, with better speed. I do agree that with some metals the He500 sounds "dim" for a lack of a better word; but the speed made up for it.

Stock velour pad is 20 pounds I think. You can take the pad mounting disc and mount the Dt990 pad also - they fit. Not sure how that will affect the sound though. Other pads to try includes the Stax O2 Pad, Denon stockpad, J$ beyer pad, Lawton angle pad, jerg modded pleather pad.

Edit: and Audeze vegan/leather pad too

The hd-600 must be very slow then! The 500s are the slowest hifiman I heard (=owned) due to their smoothed treble. That don't include the 300s and 6s (the latter are faster too for sure. Prepoman and the other who heard both the 6s and 500s can say how much faster the former are).
For hard rock and metal, the 4s (and possibly the 6s) are kings!
If you want a faster 500s, get yourself the 5LEs (and a beefy amp!).
The m-stage is not fast either. The SA-31 amp is an excellent upgrade for the 500s!

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

The hd-600 must be very slow then! The 500s are the slowest hifiman I heard (=owned) due to their smoothed treble. That don't include the 300s and 6s (the latter are faster too for sure. Prepoman and the other who heard both the 6s and 500s can say how much faster the former are).
For hard rock and metal, the 4s (and possibly the 6s) are kings!
If you want a faster 500s, get yourself the 5LEs (and a beefy amp!).
The m-stage is not fast either. The SA-31 amp is an excellent upgrade for the 500s!

Yes - the sens 6xx is slow as snail. The only thing slower that I've heard is the JVC Dx1000 and D7k. I wasn't satisfied with the He500 for metal and other stuff (baroque/prog rock). Using He-6 for a while now

. I like the 4, but no reason to own one. Still looking to try a He-5 (the woodies) though.
 
I don't think the He-500 is the slowest hifiman. Just that the not-so-tight bass and the subdued treble gives the impression of being slow. Still faster than most dynamics (sans hd800) and slower than Staxes.

 

[disastermouse]

HE-500.

Subdued treble.

The mind reels.

 

[robm321]

It seems that you really like Etys too. I will be adding an HF5 to my collection soon as well. It will replace my Phonaks and JVCs.

Congrats on that. I'm sure you will enjoy them. They are very good. Interesting. I got mine after my Phonaks fell apart.

 

[MickeyVee]

The HE500 do seem slower than my HD700.  It really came as a surprise to me.
Quote:

 
I don't think the He-500 is the slowest hifiman. Just that the not-so-tight bass and the subdued treble gives the impression of being slow. Still faster than most dynamics (sans hd800) and slower than Staxes.

 

[Pianist]

I know graphs may tell a different story, but to hell with that. To my ears, HD650 is not slow sounding and actually sounds quite snappy with good PRaT. In fact, it often sounds snappier than HE-500 does. Maybe it's due to frequency response differences or something, but that's my experience. I just can't call HD650 slow based on my listening to them so far. And yes, I did try fast and complex music with them and they play it just fine. Also, I am sure Sennheiser wouldn't release what they call a "reference grade" headphone and it wouldn't become so popular among audiophiles, if it choked during complex music passages.

 

[Raptor34]

Quote:

HE-500.

Subdued treble.

The mind reels.

+1   

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

I know graphs may tell a different story, but to hell with that. To my ears, HD650 is not slow sounding and actually sounds quite snappy with good PRaT. In fact, it often sounds snappier than HE-500 does. Maybe it's due to frequency response differences or something, but that's my experience. I just can't call HD650 slow based on my listening to them so far. And yes, I did try fast and complex music with them and they play it just fine. Also, I am sure Sennheiser wouldn't release what they call a "reference grade" headphone and it wouldn't become so popular among audiophiles, if it choked during complex music passages.

Most "audiophiles" don't really listen to fast death metal/thrash/speed metal, just saying

. A can is slow doesn't mean it collapse under complex passages - it just means that well... it's slow. Once you try something fast, you'll notice how slow can is ... slow. It's quite apparent even with not so fast music. That's the danger of going to meets/auditions. I used to think my Dt990/600 handles fast metal just fine - until I listen to Staxes and Hd800 .
 
The Hd6xx do most thing fine, excellent even - speed just isn't one of their strengths.
 
Regarding the treble, I guess I could "6moons" it up and write something like "roll off" "effortlessness without subliminal fatigue and greater treble transparency didn’t involve any superficial and stressed analysis"  

- doesn't change the fact that the He500 treble is rolled off, contributing to its sweet sweet sound (that's not a bad thing!).