[ieee754]

   
If it sounds fine then you're probably ok.

They do. But if there was a real damage then it could come out after some time. This theory about pressure changes seems to bit improbable to me. Maybe these holes were drilled by Hong Kong police searching for drugs in packages, and Fang made up this story?

 

[krumme]

  It worked quite well on the Hugo, too.
Is not really portable portable, but it's worth mentioning 

 
Absolutely. On my Samsung Note 3 it can actually play with many details and fairly lively. The bass is a completely different sound, but you get all frequencies. I absolutely cant get the nessesary level for my preferences, so its a no go for me, but it goes to show that on this hp you dont have to drag details, speed and engagement out of it. Thats a contrast to many HP with far higher sensitivity i have tried on portable devices - eg the shure srh840.
 
We have to add that the hp is probably a benchmark for perfectly leaking and transparent to noise from outside - add a strong portable amp, and you can become the most hated commuter

 

 

[mlxx]

  They do. But if there was a real damage then it could come out after some time. This theory about pressure changes seems to bit improbable to me. Maybe these holes were drilled by Hong Kong police searching for drugs in packages, and Fang made up this story?

 
Wouldn't they just take the lid off and look inside? It's not locked.

 

[ieee754]

   
Wouldn't they just take the lid off and look inside? It's not locked.

They did! But then they noticed foam glued to the bottom, and decided that drilling a hole would be less intrusive way to check this than detaching the foam... ok, that's stupid theory . Balancing air pressure makes more sense.
 
Anyway, I love how they sound. Bass in electronic music sound really good. It's not over-bloated like in cheaper closed headphones and yet present and super-tight. It's probably because they have a very balanced FR, and presence of bass upper harmonics gives it impression of quick disappearance. Also it could be caused by planar magnetic technology and open back combined, which gives it very fast decay in low frequencies. I'd really like to see how they measure, then I would know if there is something to ever improve. Tyll from InnerFidelity is going to review them soon then we should see.

 

[fengwei007]

Just got mine yesterday, loving it:

 

[fengwei007]

Had a quick comparison between these, I think so far I love the 800 and 560 the best:




The 560 work well w portable players like 901 (with minibox card) and DX100, but no where near how they are capable of w a desktop setup (even just a Merier CC). AK120 can make them loud enough, that's about it, I won't listen to music w these two together unless stuck another amp in between.

 

[.Sup]

Yep. The 4s were my first introduction to the planar world and BOY did I love them!
I offered them to my dad to keep them around (well, he's in France, I'm in L.A. now, but still ).

When I got the HE-500, I was using NFB-3.1 + Matrix M-Stage. The sound was so resolving, bigger and (much) lusher with the 500s that I decided to leave the 4s on the side.
Few months later I got the SA-31 amp and, out of curiosity, tried the HE-4 back on them. They scaled so nicely with power that they were not so far off the 500s anymore. Different tonality and overall take in the sound (clean vs lush) for sure, but soundstage and details were not behind the 500 anymore!

The 560 are everything I wished a more refined - and easier to drive - HE-4 would be. Fang and his crew listened to my wishes . 

Would you then say HE-560 is a replacement for HE-4 and is closest to it than to every other Hifiman phone?

 

[kothganesh]

Would you then say HE-560 is a replacement for HE-4 and is closest to it than to every other Hifiman phone?

^This. I am looking for comparisons between these two. I have the 4 (I got rid of the 400 and 500). If the 560 is better, then I need to look at this with more intent. Or, wait for the 400i ? Decisions, decisions...

 

[MattTCG]

I've opted for the later. Although I may have to get the 560 just to compare. 

 

[stjj89]

Any chance that Fang will be changing the cable with the latest "version" of the HE-560? I noticed that quite a few people (myself included) are not totally satisfied with the rubber casing of the cables (it isn't very flexible and feels quite cheap), and I wonder if that is also being taken into account as changes are being made to the headphones themselves.

 

[TMRaven]

I much rather rubber than fabric or translucent plastic that all of these aftermarket audiophile jewelry cables have.  Looks way better too.

 

[Ultracer]

Anyone know if the silver plated wire is better than the Canare wire that Hifiman sells? On head direct the Canare is more expensive, intriguing 

 

 

[7ryder]

Speaking of cables, has anyone tried running these with a balanced cable instead of single ended? 

 

[Keithpgdrb]

Speaking of cables, has anyone tried running these with a balanced cable instead of single ended? 

I think headphone addict ran it from the balanced lightening?

 

[akarise]

Just got mine yesterday, loving it:
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 
Wow that darker wood finish looks really great! I hope the pair I receive look like that.