[GREQ]

Quote:

 

Thanks for the quick responses. Any advice on bending the headband, at the lowest setting they are still hangin too low. I tried just using my thumbs to apply pressure but it didnt deform much, a little hesitant to keep pushing on it haha

Just bend the part that's hidden by the leather.
You can actually be quite rough with it, just bend it out bit by bit - you won't break it. Just stop before it's too loose.

 

[Grendelrt]

Quote:

Just bend the part that's hidden by the leather.
You can actually be quite rough with it, just bend it out bit by bit - you won't break it. Just stop before it's too loose.

I got a couple beers in me and they were much more pliable

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

I got a couple beers in me and they were much more pliable

Nothing quite like a bit of Dutch courage.

 

[jsaliga]

My HiFiman HE-500s came yesterday.  Mind you, these are very early impressions.  For now I am using them with my Woo Audio WA2, but I have an Emotiva Mini-X A-100 on the way.  The cable that comes with the phones is terrible.  I would have preferred that HiFiman include the same cable that comes with the HE-400 instead of the microphonic piece of junk that comes with the HE-500.  So anyone buying these should factor in the cost of good after market cable when planning your purchase.  I ordered mine from BGT Audio this morning.
 
Now that my cable rant is out of the way.  I listened to three albums last night: one jazz, one classical, and one rock.
 
The jazz LP was Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson on a minty Verve stereo LP.  The bass was a little pronounced, but overall the sound quality was fantastic.  It was easily the best this LP has sounded on a set of headphones (and I have tried a lot).  The classical LP was a recording of some outtakes of Bizet's Carmen with Ruggerio Ricci as the featured soloist on a Decca SXL wideband stereo LP.  I  was left with the impression that the HE-500 is not particularly good for classical music, at least for large ensemble and orchestral works.  Powerful passages with the orchestra fully engaged seems to lack body and heft.  I swapped out the HE-500 for my Sennheiser HD598s and the latter yielded a much more satisfying listen on this LP.  I will have to do more listening with classical so the jury is still out.  Next up was the Peter Gabriel album So, on 200g vinyl reissued by Classic Records.  Like jazz, the sound was pretty lively and engaging.  Loved it.
 
 
For the most part, I think the HE-500s are deserving of all of the praise they get.  My first exposure to them suggest they are outstanding for jazz and rock, and less so for classical music.  I bought mine after a pretty disappointing experience with the HE-400s, which to my ears sounded very dark, muddy, and closed in with awful treble response.  So my suggestion to someone considering the HE-400 would be to save your pennies and get the HE-500 instead.  You'll be glad you did.
 
--Jerome

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

My HiFiman HE-500s came yesterday.  Mind you, these are very early impressions.  For now I am using them with my Woo Audio WA2, but I have an Emotiva Mini-X A-100 on the way.  The cable that comes with the phones is terrible.  I would have preferred that HiFiman include the same cable that comes with the HE-400 instead of the microphonic piece of junk that comes with the HE-500.  So anyone buying these should factor in the cost of good after market cable when planning your purchase.  I ordered mine from BGT Audio this morning.
 
Now that my cable rant is out of the way.  I listened to three albums last night: one jazz, one classical, and one rock.
 
The jazz LP was Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson on a minty Verve stereo LP.  The bass was a little pronounced, but overall the sound quality was fantastic.  It was easily the best this LP has sounded on a set of headphones (and I have tried a lot).  The classical LP was a recording of some outtakes of Bizet's Carmen with Ruggerio Ricci as the featured soloist on a Decca SXL wideband stereo LP.  I  was left with the impression that the HE-500 is not particularly good for classical music, at least for large ensemble and orchestral works.  Powerful passages with the orchestra fully engaged seems to lack body and heft.  I swapped out the HE-500 for my Sennheiser HD598s and the latter yielded a much more satisfying listen on this LP.  I will have to do more listening with classical so the jury is still out.  Next up was the Peter Gabriel album So, on 200g vinyl reissued by Classic Records.  Like jazz, the sound was pretty lively and engaging.  Loved it.
 
 
For the most part, I think the HE-500s are deserving of all of the praise they get.  My first exposure to them suggest they are outstanding for jazz and rock, and less so for classical music.  I bought mine after a pretty disappointing experience with the HE-400s, which to my ears sounded very dark, muddy, and closed in with awful treble response.  So my suggestion to someone considering the HE-400 would be to save your pennies and get the HE-500 instead.  You'll be glad you did.
 
--Jerome

 
Thanks for the feedback.
 
I would also describe the HE-400 as dark with "awful" treble response, but closed-in? No way 

Were you using the pleather pads?

 

[Flognuts]

The cable annoys me too, but if an aftermarket cable doesn't improve the sound quality, it is a huge waste of money.......Has anyone upgraded the cable on got better sound from the HE-500's 

 

[jsaliga]

Quote:

 
Thanks for the feedback.
 
I would also describe the HE-400 as dark with "awful" treble response, but closed-in? No way 

Were you using the pleather pads?

Nope.  That was with the velour pads.  I thought the HE-400s were unlistenable with the pleather pads. 
 
It could have been a problem with my pair of headphones, but I didn't like the HE-400 enough to exchange it for another pair to find out.
 
--Jerome

 

[jsaliga]

Quote:

The cable annoys me too, but if an aftermarket cable doesn't improve the sound quality, it is a huge waste of money.......Has anyone upgraded the cable on got better sound from the HE-500's 

 
The stock cable is microphonic junk IMO, and appears so fragile that it will fall apart if you look at it the wrong way.  So for me it is a question of cable quality and my confidence in it.  I paid a little over $200 for a braided 8-strand cable from BGT-Audio .  Yes, I agree that it is a lot of money, especially since I don't believe that cables do squat other than carry the signal from A to B.  I am not expecting the new cable to do anything to improve the sound.  I bought it because the stock cable is unacceptable to me, but I like the HE-500 and won't return them because of an issue I have with the quality of the included cable.
 
I believe that the HE-500 originally sold for $899.  To me that seems a fair price for a pair with a really nice after-market cable, which is about what I paid.

 
--Jerome

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

My HiFiman HE-500s came yesterday.  Mind you, these are very early impressions.  For now I am using them with my Woo Audio WA2, but I have an Emotiva Mini-X A-100 on the way.  The cable that comes with the phones is terrible.  I would have preferred that HiFiman include the same cable that comes with the HE-400 instead of the microphonic piece of junk that comes with the HE-500.  So anyone buying these should factor in the cost of good after market cable when planning your purchase.  I ordered mine from BGT Audio this morning.
 
Now that my cable rant is out of the way.  I listened to three albums last night: one jazz, one classical, and one rock.
 
The jazz LP was Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson on a minty Verve stereo LP.  The bass was a little pronounced, but overall the sound quality was fantastic.  It was easily the best this LP has sounded on a set of headphones (and I have tried a lot).  The classical LP was a recording of some outtakes of Bizet's Carmen with Ruggerio Ricci as the featured soloist on a Decca SXL wideband stereo LP.  I  was left with the impression that the HE-500 is not particularly good for classical music, at least for large ensemble and orchestral works.  Powerful passages with the orchestra fully engaged seems to lack body and heft.  I swapped out the HE-500 for my Sennheiser HD598s and the latter yielded a much more satisfying listen on this LP.  I will have to do more listening with classical so the jury is still out.  Next up was the Peter Gabriel album So, on 200g vinyl reissued by Classic Records.  Like jazz, the sound was pretty lively and engaging.  Loved it.
 
 
For the most part, I think the HE-500s are deserving of all of the praise they get.  My first exposure to them suggest they are outstanding for jazz and rock, and less so for classical music.  I bought mine after a pretty disappointing experience with the HE-400s, which to my ears sounded very dark, muddy, and closed in with awful treble response.  So my suggestion to someone considering the HE-400 would be to save your pennies and get the HE-500 instead.  You'll be glad you did.
 
--Jerome

Nice you had the guts to try the HE-500 instead. An yes, the treble response is awful, indeed. I don't understand how the HE-500 can lack body, can you please define what you mean by that? Sure it is not because of the amp? 

 

[tuna47]

The 400 had great sound stage terrible on female vocals he500 are great with the lyr as smooth as butter

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

 
The stock cable is microphonic junk IMO, and appears so fragile that it will fall apart if you look at it the wrong way. 

 
totally agree, the stock cable is an absolute piece of ****. i ended up getting a Norse Audio Skuld cable instead. 
 
the stock cable is really fragile, microphonic, bends awkwardly, and is super thin, feels like if it gets stuck on something or pulled, it'll break. 

 

[h4mm3r 0f th0r]

Quote:

 
totally agree, the stock cable is an absolute piece of ****. i ended up getting a Norse Audio Skuld cable instead. 
 
the stock cable is really fragile, microphonic, bends awkwardly, and is super thin, feels like if it gets stuck on something or pulled, it'll break. 

so how is the "better" norse cable doing??

 

[Dubstep Girl]

umm one of the connectors got loose so i sent it in to get repaired.
 
but besides that, its much better than stock, absolutely no microphonics, the cable is much more durable yet very flexible, and it actually sounds a little better. small difference, but theres just a bit more control and smoothness in the sound. 
 
hmmm, i wouldn't say its "better", but umm...."superior"? 

 

[jsaliga]

Quote:

Nice you had the guts to try the HE-500 instead. An yes, the treble response is awful, indeed. I don't understand how the HE-500 can lack body, can you please define what you mean by that? Sure it is not because of the amp? 

 
I would prefer to withhold any further comment for now.  After all, these are just my initial impressions after listening to only three albums.  That is not enough of a sampling of music IMO; certainly not enough to spend any appreciable amount of time trying to figure out what is "wrong."
 
For now, suffice it to say that so far I really like the HE-500 for jazz and rock.  And if that is all they do really well for me then it will be money well spent as far as I'm concerned.
 
--Jerome

 

[h4mm3r 0f th0r]

Quote:

umm one of the connectors got loose so i sent it in to get repaired.
 
but besides that, its much better than stock, absolutely no microphonics, the cable is much more durable yet very flexible, and it actually sounds a little better. small difference, but theres just a bit more control and smoothness in the sound. 
 
hmmm, i wouldn't say its "better", but umm...."superior"? 

okay so is it the best cable out there for the he500?? i think i might have to buy one too when the stock one breaks... or should i get a balanced cable and banana taps for a speaker amp... i don't want to spend more than 200$