[Biscuitz]

  Still loving the 5LE, even with the HE-6 next to it...

Yeah...does anyone want to sell me their HE-5LE? I had to choose between selling my computer and my HE-5LE to pay off some taxes...I chose poorly.

 

[tuna47]

Really anxious to get the 560s,but would rather a little late and a trouble free phone

 

[Xenophon]

I know many people are gung-ho for these but imo it's best not to be an early adopter, certainly with HifiMan if history's anything to go by.  You always risk being confronted with some unexpected new 'tweaked' version after a couple of months.  Don't get me wrong, I like continuous improvement...but it should be kept out of the regular product cycle as much as possible.  Who want to pay full price for being a tester and ending up with the 'not optimal' version 2 or 3 months down the road?
 
Anyway, best of luck and enjoy them when they arrive.

 

[grizzlybeast]

^makes sense

 

[tigon_ridge]

  I know many people are gung-ho for these but imo it's best not to be an early adopter, certainly with HifiMan if history's anything to go by.  You always risk being confronted with some unexpected new 'tweaked' version after a couple of months.  Don't get me wrong, I like continuous improvement...but it should be kept out of the regular product cycle as much as possible.  Who want to pay full price for being a tester and ending up with the 'not optimal' version 2 or 3 months down the road?
 
Anyway, best of luck and enjoy them when they arrive.

And what if you enjoy this "not optimal" product more than itscompeting products? Will you be willing to deprive yourself of that enjoyment, due to your bias? As you see, with your approach there is both pro and con. And then, there is also the case that the revision may not necessarily be better than the previous version, according to your subjective listening... which has happened in the past with the LCD-2, for many listeners.

 

[jerg]

Again, there has been a (small) beta testing that occurred over the last month or two, a la myself and about 4-5 other head-fiers.
 
Whether or not that's sufficient for smooth production and release, I don't know, but it's certainly better than just winging it like they've done in the past.

 

[Xenophon]

  And what if you enjoy this "not optimal" product more than itscompeting products? Will you be willing to deprive yourself of that enjoyment, due to your bias? As you see, with your approach there is both pro and con. And then, there is also the case that the revision may not necessarily be better than the previous version, according to your subjective listening... which has happened in the past with the LCD-2, for many listeners.

 
Hey, it's your dime...spend it as you wish.  I know what I'd do but really couldn't care less about how others spend their cash, other than to say that should there be a revision in a couple of months the griping and complaining will inevitably happen.  
 
For me the 'deprivation of enjoyment' (make that *potential* deprivation, a strange term to use in the country where I am now in a headphone context btw) is a good tradeoff for extra stability a couple of months down the line.  And let's face it:  revisions quickly after introduction most of the time mean a less than optimal product, LCD-2 (alleged) example notwithstanding.  But no use arguing about this, as I said, it's your dime...

 

[conquerator2]

Again, there has been a (small) beta testing that occurred over the last month or two, a la myself and about 4-5 other head-fiers.

Whether or not that's sufficient for smooth production and release, I don't know, but it's certainly better than just winging it like they've done in the past.

This.
You have to keep in mind that the previous models were HFMs first attempt.
I think it's in their best interest to get it right and tight the first time around.
I think they know it's not cheap to make repeatedly and not good from a reputation standpoint as well.
That's also why they're taking the time to get it fine.

 

[kothganesh]

   
Hey, it's your dime...spend it as you wish.  I know what I'd do but really couldn't care less about how others spend their cash, other than to say that should there be a revision in a couple of months the griping and complaining will inevitably happen.  
 
For me the 'deprivation of enjoyment' (make that *potential* deprivation, a strange term to use in the country where I am now in a headphone context btw) is a good tradeoff for extra stability a couple of months down the line.  And let's face it:  revisions quickly after introduction most of the time mean a less than optimal product, LCD-2 (alleged) example notwithstanding.  But no use arguing about this, as I said, it's your dime...

Living in the same country as you do full time, its truly strange in a larger context, isn't it?  While its really each to his/her own as to how the proverbial dime is spent, I am going to wait this one out (constrained largely due to some willful spending earlier this year) to let the "transients die out" and some steady state attained. But Audez'e is a good example of how change can either really get one upset or emptying out the wallet more frequently than one would like.

 

[jerg]

By the way, here's what my more refined subjective perception of the HE560 FR is, superimposed over an actual FR measurement by ultrabike of Jergpad modded HE500s
 
 

 
Anyone who is even remotely familiar with reading frequency response plots should be able to imagine the sound signature. Really the main points of interest are the <50 Hz region, the 2kHz region, 4-6kHz region, 10kHz, and ~12kHz region.
 
Keep in mind ofc this is still purely subjective and by-ear (with some tone-sweep testing and comparisons), it's how it sounds to my ears, and the ups and downs are qualitative rather than quantitative.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

  By the way, here's what my more refined subjective perception of the HE560 FR is, superimposed over an actual FR measurement by ultrabike of Jergpad modded HE500s
 
 

And just for the sake of comparison here's Hifiman's first single ended ortho the HE-4. Some striking similarity to the perceived graph..

Graph is from Purrin and is a stock HE4.

I've yet to find someone to graph my modded HE4

 

[jerg]

 
And just for the sake of comparison here's Hifiman's first single ended ortho the HE-4. Graph is from Purrin and is a stock HE4.

I've yet to find someone to graph my modded HE4

 
Well the very same jergpadded HE500, measured with purrin's new setup, looks like this
 

 
So you have to extrapolate a little with the HE4 plot.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I can see now how you've explained that some will say the treble will be perceived as too much by some and less by others. That peak on the HE500 is very noticeable where as the same peak seems to occur on the HE4 according to graph but it's less obvious with 3-5k close to the peak. The HE500's peak just seems exaggerated with a more tamed 3-5k.

 

[jerg]

  I can see now how you've explained that some will say the treble will be perceived as too much by some and less by others. That peak on the HE500 is very noticeable where as the same peak seems to occur on the HE4 according to graph but it's less obvious with 3-5k close to the peak. The HE500's peak just seems exaggerated with a more tamed 3-5k.

And with HE560 it seems to retain the 3-5k energy of HE4 (at least relative to HE500), but without a peak at 10k, and instead it extends a shelf centered around 12kHz or so. Very peculiar. That's the case based on my listening tests.

 

[jerg]

I can't stress enough how dang good these render percussion / drums, it's like someone is tapping the real stuff right beside my ears, I feel all the fluttering changes in air pressure.