[GREQ]

Quote:

This looks very nice but I am concerned about placing the entire weight of the headphone directly on the plastic adjustors. They seem to be a weak point in the headphone's design. I have never experienced problems with them but I have heard others say they have.

I would like to see (photographs) what problems others have experienced with this. 
I wouldn't be happy to sell a headband that breaks headphones 

 

[Stalker81598]

Quote:

I would like to see (photographs) what problems others have experienced with this. 
I wouldn't be happy to sell a headband that breaks headphones 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/608254/he-500-broken-right-speaker-earcup-came-off-of-headband
 
also
 

 
It's an HE-6 but same issue. I guess the screws that hold the whole thing together just screw right into plastic. Not sure if it would cause a problem with your headband but I'd think any extra strain on this part would be a bad thing.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

^ they really need to fix that. being around here for 2 years now, i think i've seen just about everything in a hifiman break at least once... 

 

[rapzoo]

Quote:

That or speaker amp. Be aware that you cannot necessarily hook the 500 directly to a tube amp

What exactly is the problem with the HE-500 and a tube amp? I have been running the 500 out of a Raptor and to my ears it sounds absolutely fantastic.

 

[davidsh]

They should really fix those (?) joints and also make some mini xlr connectors instead of those slightly fragile connectors.

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

What exactly is the problem with the HE-500 and a tube amp? I have been running the 500 out of a Raptor and to my ears it sounds absolutely fantastic.

Not necessarily anything. Many tube amps are designed for high impedance cans and can't deliver the needed current. That's it AFAIK

 

[krussster]

Hi guys, im an amateur audiophile and i recently received a new pair of hifiman he 500 and the sound that came through my asus essence stx sound card is pretty disappointing. It sounds rather weak and 'anemic' if that makes sense which is way different from what i auditioned.

I read through some posts in the forum that he500 really needs a synergistic amp to get the most out of the cans and i have no qualms about getting a new desktop amp and getting rid of my essence stx.

My budget would be around 300-400 hundred dollars and please share some ideas/ suggestions so that im not making a mistake with my well earned money

I know this might ve posted numerous times already but time is not a luxury that i could have. Thanks in advance!

 

[Flognuts]

The STX amp will be severly under powering these cans, use it as a dac and upgrade your amp first. 
 
I am Impressed with the corda classic @ $699.....expensive yes, but also a bargain in terms of performance to price ratio. 
 
maybe the schiit lyr @ $449 which gets rave reviews around here......but not sure how it powers these cans. 

 

[modulor]

The HE-500 can (arguably) be driven well with low current like an OTL tube amp, it's more efficient than it's siblings the HE-6, HE-5LE and HE-4... but more power really brings all planars to life.

 

[i019791]

Quote:

Hi guys, im an amateur audiophile and i recently received a new pair of hifiman he 500 and the sound that came through my asus essence stx sound card is pretty disappointing. It sounds rather weak and 'anemic' if that makes sense which is way different from what i auditioned.

I read through some posts in the forum that he500 really needs a synergistic amp to get the most out of the cans and i have no qualms about getting a new desktop amp and getting rid of my essence stx.

My budget would be around 300-400 hundred dollars and please share some ideas/ suggestions so that im not making a mistake with my well earned money

I know this might ve posted numerous times already but time is not a luxury that i could have. Thanks in advance!

If you can consider dac+amp combos, you are unlikely to make a mistake by getting a budget Audio gd, i.e.
NFB-15.32 or
NFB-11.32 or
Compass 2 (384)

 

[alota]

and the 10.32 is good combination?

 

[kenshinhimura]

Quote:

Hi guys, im an amateur audiophile and i recently received a new pair of hifiman he 500 and the sound that came through my asus essence stx sound card is pretty disappointing. It sounds rather weak and 'anemic' if that makes sense which is way different from what i auditioned.

I read through some posts in the forum that he500 really needs a synergistic amp to get the most out of the cans and i have no qualms about getting a new desktop amp and getting rid of my essence stx.

My budget would be around 300-400 hundred dollars and please share some ideas/ suggestions so that im not making a mistake with my well earned money

I know this might ve posted numerous times already but time is not a luxury that i could have. Thanks in advance!

 
if you dont mind getting a home theather system, the yamaha rx-v371 is pretty good with it. strong enough to power with headphone input but better with speaker taps. it has plenty of inputs so i use it with console gaming, movies, and music. it has surround sound out of headphone jack too. got it on amazon like new for $98 3-4 weeks back so it was a great buy.

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

It's an HE-6 but same issue. I guess the screws that hold the whole thing together just screw right into plastic. Not sure if it would cause a problem with your headband but I'd think any extra strain on this part would be a bad thing.

From what I can see, the headband relies strongly and solely on 4 plastic self-taped holes... which in my opinion is ridiculous. 
From my observations I think my headband puts a lot more strain on the metal rods than the plastic block - which if anything may increase the longevity of the plastic parts. 

Although more realistically it probably takes a simple failure in quality control or production for this part to break - someone putting these together over-screws slightly, and the plastic is cracked and waiting for a small push or pull to break apart. 
Or indeed overly rough treatment by the owner. 
 
The entire weight of the headphones is supported by these 4 screws, and I doubt the slight upwards pressure of my headband would have any real effect on their wear and tear.

 

[hifimanrookie]

What exactly is the problem with the HE-500 and a tube amp? I have been running the 500 out of a Raptor and to my ears it sounds absolutely fantastic.

My 337 sound absolutely out of this world with my he500... But it does pumps out a bit more then 1 watt per channel...some otl tube amps just dont have enoigh drive for a he500. Imho ofcourse

 

[bourbonhoova]

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can give me any advice with regard to choosing between the Schiit Lyr and the Audio-GD SA-31 to pair with my HE-500.
I am currently using an M-stage, and while I am enjoying my 500s out of that I'm pretty keen on getting myself some of this 'bigger sound' / better bass etc that apparently is to be gained by moving up to a 2W+ amp. I have done HEAPS of reading of the relevant threads but I just wondered whether someone might have a preference given what I'm specifically hoping to get out of it.
While I was shopping for my headphones, I got an opportunity to listen to the Audeze LCD-2s... and I loved these headphones. But I started off not wanting to spend more than $400, and although it ended up kreeping up to $700 for the HE-500 .. I had to draw the line somewhere unfortunately. I really enjoy impressive bass. I also love gorgeous vocals, and I've come accross several posts where people have spoken emotively about how much they enjoy female vocals through a tube or hybrid amp ... but now I'm getting into this audiophile headphone thing, I don't really want to be sacrificing any detail / instrument separation in order to achieve some kind of 'dreamy' smoothness of sound. The genres I listen to are: a lot of electronic music, pretty or down-tempo alternative electro, dub, EDM (fairly picky about what dance music I'll listen to though), the more 'musical' end of alternative, occasionally rock and I'm trying to get into the habit of listening to a bit of classical every so often as well. I was keen on going for the Lyr for a while - I really like the look of it and the 5 year warranty sounds good. But I don't know... is it really going to offer any kind of edge over the SA-31? Maybe I should just stick with solid state. I definitely don't have any intention of making a hobby of tube rolling. I would probably do a heap of reading, make say a $120 max purchase on replacement tubes, and then that would be me done (...until they died of course). I have heard about what an excellent choice that Emotiva speaker amp is, but it's a heavy little unit and shipping it to Australia is going to be prohibitive. Maybe the answer is that, coming from the Matrix, I'm likely to be very impressed and content with either one of them. But anyway any advice would be much appreciated. I haven't yet invested in a DAC, but will buy something fairly entry-level such as the ODAC as my next purchase after changing my amp.