[Zoom25]

Quote:

I put up my he-500 for trade, basically I could not justify the cost of buying an additional amp just to power these. I also want that bass from the he-400 back, overall I didn't notice a huge difference from the 400 to the 500 except for basically a lack of distortion and a forward mid range.

 
What were you currently powering them with? The bass on these are sensitive to amps.
 
Also how long have you had the HE-500's for?

 

[zeinharis]

Quote:

I put up my he-500 for trade, basically I could not justify the cost of buying an additional amp just to power these. I also want that bass from the he-400 back, overall I didn't notice a huge difference from the 400 to the 500 except for basically a lack of distortion and a forward mid range.

 
Try to upgrade your source and your amps, because the HE-500 have a pretty good scalability

 

[TheWuss]

i heard the HE-400 (Justin W./Headamps's) for the first time this past weekend at Canlanta.
and was pleasantly surprised by it.
couldn't really hear a huge difference between it and the HE-500 off the gear that Justin had on hand.
 
his source was an Oppo BDP-95.  i think the HE-500 might warrant a slightly better source before you can start to parse them from the HE-400...
 
all in all, Fang has really done some terrific work with these cans.

 

[hifimanrookie]

1. 
   

Try to upgrade your source and your amps, because the HE-500 have a pretty good scalability

And u dont need to invest a fortune to make the he500 shine..like a lyr or (until now my favorite) the darkvoice 337 or lafigaro 339 both are around 600 usd...its affordable..and allthree are able to do wonderfull things with the he500 when u also get urself the right tubes..if uwanna go solid state..v200 is ur man then..allthough a bit more expensive.. If u spendmore ofcourse sound can get better..most important is to get that special synergy with the he500..get that right then the he500 can be ur endgame.

 

[Llloyd]

I mean if you dont want to spend the money, then you dont want to spend it and that's a fair argument for realizing you dont want the he-500.  If you are using gear that likely bottlenecks the he-400, then your gear will bottleneck the he-500 just the same, it'll just be a different signature.

 

[nicholars]

Are the HE400 and HE500 similar in terms of sound quality eg. distortion and measured specs? But have different frequency response signatures?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Are the HE400 and HE500 similar in terms of sound quality eg. distortion and measured specs? But have different frequency response signatures?

Nope, they are very different in measurements.

 

[dryvadeum]

Are the HE400 and HE500 similar in terms of sound quality eg. distortion and measured specs? But have different frequency response signatures?

The HE 500's are more refined and natural sounding. Definitely worth the extra cost IMO.

 

[Spiderman]

Quote:

The HE 500's are more refined and natural sounding. Definitely worth the extra cost IMO.

Well that could be argued, I mean in the end you are paying not only an extra cost in terms of the headphone itself but then depending on your situation you may need to buy a high powered amp to get the most out of these.

 

[Limniscate]

Quote:

The HE 500's are more refined and natural sounding. Definitely worth the extra cost IMO.

I've only had the HE500s for a couple of days, but even with the pleathers, I think they sound significantly better than the HE400s.  I'm listening on the ODAC/O2, which supposedly isn't even ideal.  I'm interested to see how the sound signature changes once I switch to the velours.  
 
I agree with another poster who said he didn't see how someone could like the HE400s better.  The only thing that the HE400s do better is bass (and that's arguable), but the improvement in mids/highs on the HE500 greatly outweigh the supposed inferiority of the HE500's bass.

 

[M-13]

I have a little pile of schiit on my desk right now, (next to my 50W per channel Emotiva) and I can tell you these little schiits can drive the HE-500 surprisingly well. Not to 100% but definitely a enjoyeable listen. Bass is there and overall doesn't sound thin like the Fiio E09K. The Modi is no Concero, but it's close to the Bifrost (very close, like 90% as good, going off memory), so one doesn't need to spend a lot of cash to get good enough sound from the HE-500.

 

[nicholars]

I think you could have fit a few more schiit puns in there.

 

[dryvadeum]

Well that could be argued, I mean in the end you are paying not only an extra cost in terms of the headphone itself but then depending on your situation you may need to buy a high powered amp to get the most out of these.

You need a "high powered amp" to get the most out of the HE 400'S as well...

 

[hifimanrookie]

Well that could be argued, I mean in the end you are paying not only an extra cost in terms of the headphone itself but then depending on your situation you may need to buy a high powered amp to get the most out of these.

Its all about choices..if ur willing to spend 699 on a phone its no more then normal u spend also good money on ur rig...u wouldnt put lowbudget kwikfit tyres on ur porsche also right?

As i said a couple of times before..i still dont understand why people buy expensive headphones ( and i consider 700 expensive) and then drive them by what i consider budget amps..in my opinion its better to buy a less expensive headphone and get the right amp to pair with it....imho ofcourse!!!!! If u get a very good headphone i would say: get an amp in same price league or higher...some of those higher priced amps SOMETIMES get u better listening experience then the cheaper ones...

 

[Limniscate]

Quote:

Its all about choices..if ur willing to spend 699 on a phone its no more then normal u spend also good money on ur rig...u wouldnt put lowbudget kwikfit tyres on ur porsche also right?

As i said a couple of times before..i still dont understand why people buy expensive headphones ( and i consider 700 expensive) and then drive them by what i consider budget amps..in my opinion its better to buy a less expensive headphone and get the right amp to pair with it....imho ofcourse!!!!! If u get a very good headphone i would say: get an amp in same price league or higher...some of those higher priced amps SOMETIMES get u better listening experience then the cheaper ones...

I think it's better to buy a nicer headphone with a cheaper amp than a good amp and a cheaper headphone (within reason of course).  The reason is that the biggest difference in quality seems to correlate with the headphone.  I noticed a difference between my Total BitHead and O2/ODAC, but it wasn't nearly as big of a difference from going from a DT770 LE to the DT880 or the DT880 to the AKG K702 65th Annies/HE400, etc..