[arny73]

  ...
 
3. You've forgotten my second motto: IF IT DON'T SOUND GOOD WITH WHAT I'VE GOT, IT DON'T SOUND GOOD.
 
Lovely place, Rome. I'm hoping to get back there this year.

 

following your motto, you could judge Ferrari or Lambo a bad car if you try them on a farm or a small medieval village!
My opinion is that everything have to judge in a right context.
 
You consider lovely place Rome because you don't live there

, i'll be in Florida on 15/03 .... my dream is live in USA, your country is beautifull but very far, i hope a travel in the future...

 

[Tobes]

  Just to share my experience on this, I degrilled mine and although I do hear a notable improvement in the soundstage and upper treble, it's still not as open as I'd like. I'm hoping the focus pads will help with this though since they're not so deep.

 
I wouldn't rely on it.
I bought the focus pads and think they actually narrow the stage and make the headphone sound far less engaging.
On the other hand, using a better amp - particularly balanced - had a profound effect on soundstage openness. YMMV

 

[Magick Man]

1. I'm happy with the DT880.

I commend you, if all head-fiers were so easily pleased this forum would be much more peaceful (but a lot less populated).


(and I agree, in terms of value for money, the DT880 is one of the best.)

 

[HotIce]

And who are those people? Point them out so they can be whipped.

 
Since about 2000 years ago, some people used to say:

"De gustibus non est disputandum"

 

[goropeza]

   
my experience,
i bought the HE 500 first time one year ago, driving it in unbalanced mode, sound was dark and without heart, no impression in no way. (Trafomatic Head One and Naim CD5X)
a few month ago, in a trade i took again he500 with all balanced cable because now i have a 300b Amp with speaker-to-headphone adapter, now sound is very different, great control, airiness between instruments, very particular way to reproduce fast transient.
a right rigs could be the difference

The HE 500 "without heart"? I cant even imagine! To me that's actually the biggest strength of this headphone. It's by far the smoothest, most natural sounding, sound signature out of every phone I have heard. IMO, if you want detail or soundstage, you are better off looking else where, but if you want music that SOUNDS LIKE MUSIC, then you want the HE 500. I drive them currently from the Burson Conductor SL 1793, but they were great out of HA 160d as well. 

 

[gauchotodd]

   
I wouldn't rely on it.
I bought the focus pads and think they actually narrow the stage and make the headphone sound far less engaging.
On the other hand, using a better amp - particularly balanced - had a profound effect on soundstage openness. YMMV

I'm actually extremely impressed with the focus pads. I finally feel happy with these headphones and no longer feel like I'm missing the clarity and texture that was missing from their stock performance.
 
So for anyone who feels like OP (and myself), I strongly suggest 1) adding felt dampening, 2) regrilling, and 3) switching to the focus pads. I see it as ~$50 of upgrades for at least $500 worth of better sound.

 

[Tobes]

  I'm actually extremely impressed with the focus pads. I finally feel happy with these headphones and no longer feel like I'm missing the clarity and texture that was missing from their stock performance.
 
So for anyone who feels like OP (and myself), I strongly suggest 1) adding felt dampening, 2) regrilling, and 3) switching to the focus pads. I see it as ~$50 of upgrades for at least $500 worth of better sound.

 
As I've also stated in the main he-500 thread, I find it baffling that people like the sound of the Focus pads. To me they ruin the natural balance of the he-500 and make acoustic instruments and voices sound much less real. What they do to piano sound would be enough to rule them straight out for me - balance is all wrong, what happened to the weight of the left hand and the tonal minutiae that make it sound like a piano?
Obviously you hear this differently - which is fine - and I guess your frame of reference is different since you've made other modifications.
I suppose the take home message is that the focus won't be to everyone's taste.

 

[genclaymore]

Does the focus 2 pads do the same thing as the first focus, change the sound signature. If they do then what other pads that will work on the HE-500 that doesn't req you to mod any thing to get them on that doesn't change the sound signature.

 

[pp312]

 

  And who are those people? Point them out so they can be whipped.

 
Since about 2000 years ago, some people used to say:

"De gustibus non est disputandum"

 
I don't speak French.

 

[gauchotodd]

I didn't hear the focus pads until I had already done the dampening and grill modifications, so I shouldn't guess as to how they'd sound on an otherwise unmodified stock product. But in conjunction with the mods I did, they sound amazing. Prior to these changes, I was very close to selling them at a significantly lower value than I should have, and I'm so happy that I chose not to let them go. To me, their stock sound signature is terribly unrealistic, but these mods make them the best-sounding cans I've had the pleasure of hearing. I can't wait to get my hands on the 400i and 560 and do similar work with them

 

[Tobes]

   ……..To me, their stock sound signature is terribly unrealistic……..

 
I guess we hear differently.
When I look at the professional reviews for the he-500 (in stock form of course) they are completely at odds with your assessment.
I wish you could hear how my stock pair sound with the Violectric v281 in my setup. I'm 100% confident you would change your mind.
Tonal realism is important to me. I find the he-500's sound quite consistent with the sound of my Harbeth broadcast monitors - not the same of course - but I can go from one to the other without major re-adjustment.

 

[pp312]

To me, their stock sound signature is terribly unrealistic,

 
 
Could you elaborate on that? I'd like someone to convince me that my hearing isn't totally whacked.
 
As I've said before, I'm happy to believe that a few small mods put these phones in a different class. I just don't accept that mods of any kind should be necessary to get a $500+ phone to perform at its peak. 

 

[Shazb0t]

Why this thread is still open is a mystery.  This is trolling at its finest with a click bait thread title.  Lock it already mods.

 

[HotIce]

 
I don't speak French.

 
That would be fine, because that's Latin

 

[gauchotodd]

This is trolling at its finest with a click bait thread title.

I completely disagree and think that we have a great conversation going.
 

Could you elaborate on that? I'd like someone to convince me that my hearing isn't totally whacked.
 
As I've said before, I'm happy to believe that a few small mods put these phones in a different class. I just don't accept that mods of any kind should be necessary to get a $500+ phone to perform at its peak. 

To my ears it significantly lacks detail/clarity and a natural amount of texture. I should note that with my mods it's still not perfect, but it's so much better than it's totally enjoyable, whereas in stock form I couldn't get past the disappointing feeling that I was missing music (which was 100% true) and that it was *trying* to sound natural, but just falling short, making it that much more disappointing. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but it's early, and that's the best I've got right now haha
As far as modding to make it perform at its peak, you may consider the analogy of overclocking processors. Out of the box, it's "good enough" for most people, but you have those who want to get more performance out of it. Same thing with adding dampening to these headphones; for many, the stock sound is totally sufficient, but some are unhappy with it not performing at its peak, as you said, and I think it's pretty amazing how much of an improvement it made.
 

I guess we hear differently. Tonal realism is important to me.

I'm sure between natural physical perceptions and setups we are hearing it differently I would be curious to hear them with other equipment, but I'm skeptical that they would be more detailed or significantly more textured in their stock form.
 

That would be fine, because that's Latin

I think they got that, but either way, still really funny