[Wildcatsare1]

I just received a replacement HE560 and it's fantastic! Cosmetically it's perfect like the first, but everything feels more high quality: The cups don't rotate as freely and are tight, the headband sliders are nice and tight and have a solid click, inside the felt material around the driver is perfectly flush - the previous one had snags. I think the finish is even nicer. It looks darker and sort of reddish. Best of all there's no rattling!

Packaging was very secure, the phones were protected by about 15 layers of bubble wrap lol and were wrapped in tape which said "checked." They even had plastic wrap around the plastic parts with logos: 




HiFiMAN is stepping up they're listening to you guys. 

Great news, glad to hear HiFiMan is stepping up, the sonic quality of the 560's are phenominal, improving QC is icing!

 

[jerg]

Shame that the vast majority of people are still going to take HE560s for its earlier reviews, in terms of packaging/finish QC.

 

[nicolo]

 
I went three years...controlling myself. In the last year, six sets of headphones, six amps, three DACs.. and plunked down a bunch of cash in pledges for a Geek Wave...
Time for a break... I hope.
Thanks for the well wishes!

 
Haah!! I too went through a period like this last year, buying about 4 pairs of HPs, 3 amps and 4 DACs in an 8 month period, i think. Sold them all off except for my HE-500, HE-560 and iBasso DX100.
Luckily got good prices for those. Now eagerly waiting on the Geek Pulse Xfi+LPS, Wave and Source now!!

 

[altrunox]

So some guys say that the HE-560 sounds like their TOTL ortho and the HE-400i sound like the older HE-500...any chance that the HE-300i
(if it`s going to be released) may sound like the older HE-400, I bet they would sell a lot!

 

[M-13]

I wonder if HifiMan will release a 560 with better grills in the future? I wish they had mini-xlr connectors too while they're at it, not because I had a lot of trouble with the current connector style, but I subjectively find the mini-xlr more secure feeling and has the added benefit that I can share cables between Hifiman and Audeze. I wish it was the industry standard for all highend cans but then I guess cable makers will starve to death so...

 

[Kamakahah]

As someone who makes his own cables and just finished up a 560 cable with three adapters, I second the idea of mini xlrs as a standard.

The SMC connectors aren't that difficult to work with, but certain options are difficult. It takes more work to get a clean look. The time to connect and disconnect seems longer than necessary considering the alternatives. It also isn't quite as secure.

The only reason I can see for wanting it is the price. Perhaps the small form as well.

 

[Ony38]

  errrr. french?!?!? lol. why not englishhhhhhhh?

Because it's my native langage and I'm too busy right now for writing a nice translation (review of Lau, ZX1, DX90 and SE5)

 

[saxelrod92]

So I got an HE-560 today to try out. I will wait till the end of the week or so to give a confident impression on the sound, but I wanted to mention that I bought these new off amazon but they are not as well packaged as that poster a page or so back has, according to his pictures. For example the box was missing one screw, and the headphones did not have the plastic over the sliders, and the gimbles have a minor scratch here or there. also one of the pads has the end of a stitch sticking out slightly (but doesnt touch your face so doesnt really matter), but otherwise they are good. The cord is a little stiff and as a result was bent in weird ways, but still its all good. the connectors were fine, and are secure, not too bad to put on, maybe like 20-30 seconds. The main reason for my post right now, is to mention that the ear pad openings are way smaller than I thought they were. Like I dont at all have large ears, if anything I have a smaller head, and smaller features, but my ears touch everything inside the ear cups. Thankfully the inner dust cover is soft, but its stretched tightly, which is kinda odd because if you poke it you realize theres a good quarter inch to half inch of space between it and driver assembly. If it was flat against that driver assembly part, it would not at all touch your ear. Still that snot really the issue, the main thing is they just barely fit around my ears, like if they were any smaller then this would be getting into on ear territory. Its a very snug fit. also it feels like the dust liner on the right pad is looser, and doesnt touch my ear, compared to the left pad where the liner in tighter and does touch my ear. Its a shame because even initial sound impressions are pretty awesome, definitely good enough sounding to make me think hard about how much I value ear comfort. Its like if they just made the opening ever so slightly larger in diameter, and moved the dust fabric deeper, this would not be an issue AT ALL. Especially since comfort in other areas are fantastic, the headband system works wonders, and lower weight if amazing, the clamp is just right, they fit tightly but softly on the head and sorta feel like they are just glued to your head. its just the ear pads though. I haven't seen anybody really mention this before, so I wanted to make sure this is known, for those considering these. The headphone in general is just smaller than I thought it was overall. Like I was ok with how the denon d5000 pads are, and they really touch your ear on those, but they were tall enough so your ear at least fit fully inside. with the he-560 pads it feels cramped and I'm pretty sure the top and bottom of my ears are being slightly squished. its not bad enough to warrant annoyance, but its not comfy enough to ignore it either. I think in general if I choose to keep these, i'm gonna return them and get a different pair, on the info inside the box it shows this pair was made at the end of June. Also I'm comparing these against an Audeze lcd 2 pre fazor (meaning if I like the he-560 more, I keep it, if I dont I return it and stay with my lcd 2. if I keep the he-560 I sell the lcd 2).

 

[jerg]

  So I got an HE-560 today to try out. I will wait till the end of the week or so to give a confident impression on the sound, but I wanted to mention that I bought these new off amazon but they are not as well packaged as that poster a page or so back has, according to his pictures. For example the box was missing one screw, and the headphones did not have the plastic over the sliders, and the gimbles have a minor scratch here or there. also one of the pads has the end of a stitch sticking out slightly (but doesnt touch your face so doesnt really matter), but otherwise they are good. The cord is a little stiff and as a result was bent in weird ways, but still its all good. the connectors were fine, and are secure, not too bad to put on, maybe like 20-30 seconds. The main reason for my post right now, is to mention that the ear pad openings are way smaller than I thought they were. Like I dont at all have large ears, if anything I have a smaller head, and smaller features, but my ears touch everything inside the ear cups. Thankfully the inner dust cover is soft, but its stretched tightly, which is kinda odd because if you poke it you realize theres a good quarter inch to half inch of space between it and driver assembly. If it was flat against that driver assembly part, it would not at all touch your ear. Still that snot really the issue, the main thing is they just barely fit around my ears, like if they were any smaller then this would be getting into on ear territory. Its a very snug fit. also it feels like the dust liner on the right pad is looser, and doesnt touch my ear, compared to the left pad where the liner in tighter and does touch my ear. Its a shame because even initial sound impressions are pretty awesome, definitely good enough sounding to make me think hard about how much I value ear comfort. Its like if they just made the opening ever so slightly larger in diameter, and moved the dust fabric deeper, this would not be an issue AT ALL. Especially since comfort in other areas are fantastic, the headband system works wonders, and lower weight if amazing, the clamp is just right, they fit tightly but softly on the head and sorta feel like they are just glued to your head. its just the ear pads though. I haven't seen anybody really mention this before, so I wanted to make sure this is known, for those considering these. The headphone in general is just smaller than I thought it was overall. Like I was ok with how the denon d5000 pads are, and they really touch your ear on those, but they were tall enough so your ear at least fit fully inside. with the he-560 pads it feels cramped and I'm pretty sure the top and bottom of my ears are being slightly squished. its not bad enough to warrant annoyance, but its not comfy enough to ignore it either. I think in general if I choose to keep these, i'm gonna return them and get a different pair, on the info inside the box it shows this pair was made at the end of June. Also I'm comparing these against an Audeze lcd 2 pre fazor (meaning if I like the he-560 more, I keep it, if I dont I return it and stay with my lcd 2. if I keep the he-560 I sell the lcd 2).

A quick fix if the pads aren't deep enough is to cut out of half-circle ring of foam and wedge that in under the back half of the earpads (where your ears would tuck in).

 

[Wildcatsare1]

So I got an HE-560 today to try out. I will wait till the end of the week or so to give a confident impression on the sound, but I wanted to mention that I bought these new off amazon but they are not as well packaged as that poster a page or so back has, according to his pictures. For example the box was missing one screw, and the headphones did not have the plastic over the sliders, and the gimbles have a minor scratch here or there. also one of the pads has the end of a stitch sticking out slightly (but doesnt touch your face so doesnt really matter), but otherwise they are good. The cord is a little stiff and as a result was bent in weird ways, but still its all good. the connectors were fine, and are secure, not too bad to put on, maybe like 20-30 seconds. The main reason for my post right now, is to mention that the ear pad openings are way smaller than I thought they were. Like I dont at all have large ears, if anything I have a smaller head, and smaller features, but my ears touch everything inside the ear cups. Thankfully the inner dust cover is soft, but its stretched tightly, which is kinda odd because if you poke it you realize theres a good quarter inch to half inch of space between it and driver assembly. If it was flat against that driver assembly part, it would not at all touch your ear. Still that snot really the issue, the main thing is they just barely fit around my ears, like if they were any smaller then this would be getting into on ear territory. Its a very snug fit. also it feels like the dust liner on the right pad is looser, and doesnt touch my ear, compared to the left pad where the liner in tighter and does touch my ear. Its a shame because even initial sound impressions are pretty awesome, definitely good enough sounding to make me think hard about how much I value ear comfort. Its like if they just made the opening ever so slightly larger in diameter, and moved the dust fabric deeper, this would not be an issue AT ALL. Especially since comfort in other areas are fantastic, the headband system works wonders, and lower weight if amazing, the clamp is just right, they fit tightly but softly on the head and sorta feel like they are just glued to your head. its just the ear pads though. I haven't seen anybody really mention this before, so I wanted to make sure this is known, for those considering these. The headphone in general is just smaller than I thought it was overall. Like I was ok with how the denon d5000 pads are, and they really touch your ear on those, but they were tall enough so your ear at least fit fully inside. with the he-560 pads it feels cramped and I'm pretty sure the top and bottom of my ears are being slightly squished. its not bad enough to warrant annoyance, but its not comfy enough to ignore it either. I think in general if I choose to keep these, i'm gonna return them and get a different pair, on the info inside the box it shows this pair was made at the end of June. Also I'm comparing these against an Audeze lcd 2 pre fazor (meaning if I like the he-560 more, I keep it, if I dont I return it and stay with my lcd 2. if I keep the he-560 I sell the lcd 2).

Is your pair new? It sounds like you are describing the Focus A Pads, in fit at least, versus the production pads. The Focus A's have smaller ear space and one of the mods is removing the dust screen, literally removes a veil,improves clarity, tone and bass, carrying degree reported by different listeners. I bought mine from Cute and they came with both Production and Focus A Pads, and I ordered a second set of the later so I could mod them.

 

[saxelrod92]

Is your pair new? It sounds like you are describing the Focus A Pads, in fit at least, versus the production pads. The Focus A's have smaller ear space and one of the mods is removing the dust screen, literally removes a veil,improves clarity, tone and bass, carrying degree reported by different listeners. I bought mine from Cute and they came with both Production and Focus A Pads, and I ordered a second set of the later so I could mod them.

Well it says that it was made on June 29th (if I am understanding the piece of paper written in chinese right, assuming that date refers to when it was made). Then yea it is brand new. But you are right in saying it sounds like focus A pads, which is why I am kinda confused. They aren't focus A pads though, these pads have the perforations on the inner lining. Unless there was a version of the focus pads that used the focus A size? Either way if I do decide to stick with these I'll just order a new pair of pads and hope that fixes everything. Since just going off the differences in the dust cover between pads, causing the left to touch my ear and the right to not touch, its obvious these specific pads had a qc issue.

 

[Chodi]

 
Well it says that it was made on June 29th (if I am understanding the piece of paper written in chinese right, assuming that date refers to when it was made). Then yea it is brand new. But you are right in saying it sounds like focus A pads, which is why I am kinda confused. They aren't focus A pads though, these pads have the perforations on the inner lining. Unless there was a version of the focus pads that used the focus A size? Either way if I do decide to stick with these I'll just order a new pair of pads and hope that fixes everything. Since just going off the differences in the dust cover between pads, causing the left to touch my ear and the right to not touch, its obvious these specific pads had a qc issue.

It is just this sort of experience that has kept me from buying the 560. If I buy them locally where I could try them on I would pay a large premium as local cost here are much higher than standard retail. If I order from overseas as I normally do, who knows what I will get? From all the reports I read about the manufacturing variations I am a bit put off on just ordering online as I would normally do. I am going to give it a couple of months to let them iron out their manufacturing then buy. I really want to add an ortho to my collection but I have big ears and the reports on consistency are just too risky. Comfort is real important to me.

 

[conquerator2]

Well it says that it was made on June 29th (if I am understanding the piece of paper written in chinese right, assuming that date refers to when it was made). Then yea it is brand new. But you are right in saying it sounds like focus A pads, which is why I am kinda confused. They aren't focus A pads though, these pads have the perforations on the inner lining. Unless there was a version of the focus pads that used the focus A size? Either way if I do decide to stick with these I'll just order a new pair of pads and hope that fixes everything. Since just going off the differences in the dust cover between pads, causing the left to touch my ear and the right to not touch, its obvious these specific pads had a qc issue.

This is my experience too.
The Focus pads that came with my headphone (early July) were relatively thin and certainly not matched size and dimension wise...
Then I ordered another pair a month later and this one was in much better shape - more foam, thicker, bigger openings, etc.
Now, a week ago, I ordered my third pair and this is by far the most consistent and matched looking pair - foam split evenly, same thickness and ear openings average at 5.7 cm (close to the desired 6)
My understanding is that much like with the headphone, hifiman is getting better and more consistent with each new month of production.

My advice would be to order another of Focus pads directly from head-direct. I ordered my first pair at around the same time when yours were and the quality is inferior to the pads produced now, it seems.

 

[Ron12]

My understanding is that much like with the headphone, hifiman is getting better and more consistent with each new month of production.

My advice would be to order another of Focus pads directly from head-direct. I ordered my first pair at around the same time when yours were and the quality is inferior to the pads produced now, it seems.

 
And what about the month after? You will also advise to order another pair of Focus pads then? And what about the HE-560? You will also advise to order another pair after a year? Ridiculous if you ask me to find excuses for such inconsistency and poor QC...

 

[conquerator2]

And what about the month after? You will also advise to order another pair of Focus pads then? And what about the HE-560? You will also advise to order another pair after a year? Ridiculous if you ask me to find excuses for such inconsistency and poor QC...

Where did I say it's an excuse?!
I am merely pointing out that the pads are pretty much great now...
I imagine the headphone is better as well.
In no way is it an excuse, I think it's sad actually...