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From my experience comparing the HE-560 and HE-6, it all boils down to this:
HE-6 is the "faster" headphone overall, so that means... tighter bass, cleaner background, which leads to deeper soundstage (though may not be necessarily that wide). This can make the HE-6 sound a bit too aggressive when paired with an aggressive amplifier. So that's the criteria for "properly driving" the HE-6 in my books. Notice Hifiman's top-end amplifiers are typically the relaxing/smooth types rather than aggressive/ballsy types like Schiit Audio Lyr 2 and so on...
In contrast, the HE-560 at stock can sound relaxed/smooth, since it's the slower sounding headphone. This means more decay, which leads to a smoother sound, with more "body" to bass and everything else, but impact would be lacking, and also the utmost clarity, since the HE-560 is lacking that last bit of "speed" required to present this clarity. Modding does alleviate this a little bit, but ultimately the modded HE-6 will be able to get just that much as well, so it'll still be ahead of the HE-560 by that tiny little bit, still.
Personally, I'd enjoy the "slower" and gentler sound of the HE-560 more than the aggressive sound of the HE-6. The difference between the two is ultimately like riding a car for me. The HE-6 is "stomp the gas, get to the next destination as fast as physically possible", while the HE-560 is "under speed limit, get there slower, but take the time to enjoy the ride".
Oh, and for perspective, other top-end headphones also get the same "feeling" for me.
SR-009 is like... "0 to max speed at acceleration a couple of G's, then gradually and gracefully step on the brake so that we stop at exactly the right destination".
Abyss is like "0 to 60 at higher acceleration than SR-009, then sustain and then stop at the same acceleration as started, even if physics is somewhat ignored".
LCD-2/3 is pretty much like Abyss, but they accelerate and decelerate at a rate slightly slower than the SR-009.
That's the best I can explain "speed", as I don't think we can show "speed" on measurements just yet. In fact, it's misleading, because what it really is is how fast something can "accelerate", and not how fast something "moves". All diaphragms of top-end headphones move at about the same "speed", but they differ in how they start and stop, and ultimately, that's the deciding factor here.
If you want to "hear" this, the best way to hear it would be with some bass track. Drums would be great. Fast drumming even better.
Other than "speed", I think the tonal balance and frequency response of both the HE-560 and HE-6 are close enough. When both are driven out of the right amp, both would actually sound almost indistinguishable, except for the 4KHz peak on the HE-560.
HE-6 is the "faster" headphone overall, so that means... tighter bass, cleaner background, which leads to deeper soundstage (though may not be necessarily that wide). This can make the HE-6 sound a bit too aggressive when paired with an aggressive amplifier. So that's the criteria for "properly driving" the HE-6 in my books. Notice Hifiman's top-end amplifiers are typically the relaxing/smooth types rather than aggressive/ballsy types like Schiit Audio Lyr 2 and so on...
In contrast, the HE-560 at stock can sound relaxed/smooth, since it's the slower sounding headphone. This means more decay, which leads to a smoother sound, with more "body" to bass and everything else, but impact would be lacking, and also the utmost clarity, since the HE-560 is lacking that last bit of "speed" required to present this clarity. Modding does alleviate this a little bit, but ultimately the modded HE-6 will be able to get just that much as well, so it'll still be ahead of the HE-560 by that tiny little bit, still.
Personally, I'd enjoy the "slower" and gentler sound of the HE-560 more than the aggressive sound of the HE-6. The difference between the two is ultimately like riding a car for me. The HE-6 is "stomp the gas, get to the next destination as fast as physically possible", while the HE-560 is "under speed limit, get there slower, but take the time to enjoy the ride".
Oh, and for perspective, other top-end headphones also get the same "feeling" for me.
SR-009 is like... "0 to max speed at acceleration a couple of G's, then gradually and gracefully step on the brake so that we stop at exactly the right destination".
Abyss is like "0 to 60 at higher acceleration than SR-009, then sustain and then stop at the same acceleration as started, even if physics is somewhat ignored".
LCD-2/3 is pretty much like Abyss, but they accelerate and decelerate at a rate slightly slower than the SR-009.
That's the best I can explain "speed", as I don't think we can show "speed" on measurements just yet. In fact, it's misleading, because what it really is is how fast something can "accelerate", and not how fast something "moves". All diaphragms of top-end headphones move at about the same "speed", but they differ in how they start and stop, and ultimately, that's the deciding factor here.
If you want to "hear" this, the best way to hear it would be with some bass track. Drums would be great. Fast drumming even better.
Other than "speed", I think the tonal balance and frequency response of both the HE-560 and HE-6 are close enough. When both are driven out of the right amp, both would actually sound almost indistinguishable, except for the 4KHz peak on the HE-560.
