Looks -
Smell - What, Smell? Yes you hear it right. . Well I don't know why, but you open the box and it smells cheap. I don't know. This is the smell that I associate with cheap toys and other cheap packaging. May be it is the foam pads. Not sure. The leather box looks tacky too.
Appearance - Well, this won't be China's official entry to beauty pageants. Still the headphone is more than presentable. Seem to be well made, but don't fancy the cable connections much.
Comfort -
Initial response was, well these are heavy but they are not uncomfortable. I wear glasses and it is not posing me any problems. At the end of my 4 hours listening, I feel the clamping to be a problem and the glasses do cause a problem. I need to something about the clamping.
Sound -
Well my current system is a speaker based system. I have Focal 826W and PSB Image T2 driven by a Denon 3312 and fed off PS3 and Dune HD D1. My audio sources are BD movies/concerts mainly followed by WAV/FLAC HD music etc. I am using the headphone jack on the Denon receiver, which may not be the ideal way to listen to this cns. I have no problem attaining high volumes though, but I have to dial up the volume more than I do for the speakers.
I listened to the first BD disk and I am disappointed. Well, my Focals can really sing. HE-500 is no slouch, but it sound less involving. I start going through my concert disks which ranges from rock concerts, Jazz, Musicals, classicals, Bollywood musicals, Flamego, Vocals etc.
Bass.....The bass is not going to touch the 12" SVS woofer. I was not expecting it either. There is something to the visceral feeling of the bass from woofer compared to the honest imitations from a headphone. Unrealistic expectations, really. Subjectively, the mid bass has the slam that I have not heard in other headphones. So realistically speaking these phones make the bass sound, but they cannot do the bass feel the woofers are capable of. Again no one expects them to, right? LFE channel is going to show any headphone is poor light. I accept it. Still as the listening sessions progressed, I am amazed by the bass. The Focal sans the woofer might still still trump the HE-500 for bass, but HE-500 looks quite capable and has better separation and is more resolving.
The treble...well these seems sibilant than the speakers on source bordering on sibilant. Often harshly so. Need to see how they fare with a matching amp. The Focal themselves get the tag or being bright, but their brightness is something I have come to accept and enjoy. They make some really nice tweeters. These cans perhaps need a warm amp.
Mids - I was expecting to be blown off by the mids. Nothing wrong there. Nothing exciting there either. The speakers in full volume still sound a lot better.
So whats good? Well the separation is really excellent. I can hear each and every instrument more clearly than I can with the speakers. With the classical music on 24/192 sources, the HE-500 clearly shows the advantage. In fact with classical BD, HE-500 is the clear winner. So not all is lost. HE-500 also conveys the atmosphere (concert hall etc.) far better than the speakers.
I give the BDs a break now. Probably the 2.1/5.1/7.1 sources are never mastered with a headphone in mind. I go to stereo sources now. I start listening the WAV/FLAC music inventory that has some 24/192 files. Wow, the music that I could barely listen for more than 5 minutes now seems more intimate and immensely listenable. The bass is tight, mids flows like honey and treble so nice. Hmm. It is nearly 4 hours since I began and I am coming to like the sound. I wont call it that the cans have broken in, just that I am getting used to the cans. On the downside, the can feels uncomfortable now. The glass has started to pain and the vice like grip of the headphone clamping is getting a bit suffocating. I need to adjust the cans somehow. May be tomorrow.
So all in all a mixed feeling review that ended in a positive note.
I do wonder if the Denon can drive them loud enough, a dedicated DAC/AMP like Audio GD is going to sound hugely better.
More comments later.