[hifimanrookie]

I would upgrade the source first. IMO the Hifiman 601 is the bottleneck of your current setup, it is limited to playing 16/44kHz files and roll off heavily in treble. Your Fidelio X1 and Arrow 4g are not being driven at their full potential. With the Hugo, you can start enjoying a much larger variety of media (e.g. native DVD audio when using it to watch movies), and allows you to better judge the next headphones upgrade.

Sorry to say it..but i had the hm602, and it was in no way a bottleneck..i had one for 4 years and used it last two years as source WITH A GOOD (TOXIC) CABLE into the rca's of my dual mono modded darkvoice 337 into my modded he500 again by a toxic cable.... And it blew away rigs which were much more expensive...
BUT I always plugged the cable towards my amp into the (UNAMPED) LINE-OUT, Not the (AMPED) headphone out! And always played it on batteries...only used wall socket to charge it.. It was dead silent!!

and 16/44 is enough quality..as long u use lossless material.... Hell..even on the high end rig i have now i use 16/44 khz files (capable of 24/192) ..and they sound wonderful on it... I also have 24bit and they indeed introduce a better experience....but those files only are good on really good systems..on ur regular mid-fi tier rig u wont hear much of a difference,,,imho ofcourse..

And this is coming from someone who believes that investing in ur rig contributes to better the audio experience (as many of u know) ..so normally i would agree with u.....but this little player i loved a lot! Only one minus..battery went empty rather fast and it took a REALLY long time to charge it again...and charger got redhot!

But ur right on one thing..it had a bit of a rolled off treble...but i liked that..my ears are very sensitive to agressive treble...so it did fine with my more neutral sounding 337..ofcourse u can get better stuff..i did as u all know....but for money (and on batteries=very silent!!) it was good..dont let anyone tell u differently..

 

[rwelles]

I also found the production 560s to clamp too strongly (for my tastes and swelled head). Much tighter than the pre-production version.
 
I'm too much of a coward to try and "spring" them out using my hands. Here's my solution:
 

 

 
I placed a standard size plastic DVD case just above the gimbals. This props them open to almost the size of my head. I leave them like this when I'm not using them. After about 10 days, they felt more comfortable (Yes, it could be a variation on "brain-burn"). The other advantage is that the ear pads are not compressed while they are being stretched open.

 

[wmedrz]

IMO the he560 is neutral enough that your chain will effect its sound greatly. For me the difference between the Polaris (ss) and Ember (Hybrid Tube) is most audible on the 560 out of all my HPs.

Can you do a comparison between the two with 560?

 

[398698]

Looking at amps in general. Budget is 1000 but if I can spend less I'd be a happy man. Besides woo audio, schiit, audio gd, little dot, violectric, you guys have suggestions on other companies? Also anyone use the Beyer a 20 on the he560? Something with a good bass would be preferable. Looking at the violectric v200 but if I can spend less I'd be happy. Thanks

 

[conquerator2]

Looking at amps in general. Budget is 1000 but if I can spend less I'd be a happy man. Besides woo audio, schiit, audio gd, little dot, violectric, you guys have suggestions on other companies? Also anyone use the Beyer a 20 on the he560? Something with a good bass would be preferable. Looking at the violectric v200 but if I can spend less I'd be happy. Thanks

You can add Yulong  as a solid choice I believe.

 

[hifimanrookie]

Looking at amps in general. Budget is 1000 but if I can spend less I'd be a happy man. Besides woo audio, schiit, audio gd, little dot, violectric, you guys have suggestions on other companies? Also anyone use the Beyer a 20 on the he560? Something with a good bass would be preferable. Looking at the violectric v200 but if I can spend less I'd be happy. Thanks

As i said a couple of times... But no one reads..so i try again:

Good pair with he500 and so also for the he560: darkvoice 337(new model) and the lafigaro 339
And for a few pennies more u can get a blue circle audio headphone amp. Or their headphone amp in a tube..same insides..cheaper exterior..(but more sturdier!) and so much cheaper.

Blue circle audio doesnt have any threads here except for a few higher end headphone amps that were reviewed by their owners..but darkvoice and lafigaro do have a rather large thread.

 

[398698]

Forgot to add la figaro to the list my bad... Woops... But where do people buy those la figaro 339? I saw the website was down. How much would the tubes cost to change up too? Isn't it typically t to three years?

 

[Wildcatsare1]

^I didn't know that the Blue Circle and Darkvoice were in hi >$1,000 range....have to check them out .

 

[hifimanrookie]

Forgot to add la figaro to the list my bad... Woops... But where do people buy those la figaro 339? I saw the website was down. How much would the tubes cost to change up too? Isn't it typically t to three years?

i was kidding a bit..lolz...better ask about that site problem and availability on their thread..those amps have very loyal followers..and if i am not mistaken one owner is selling his...for a good price..so check their thread out..lolz
Tubes can be as expensive as u wanna..for me the best sounding were TS5998 as powertubes and TS sj7gt mesh plates/ or rca 5698 red hots.as drivertubes.. perfect for he500...but yeah tubes degrade..but it depends on usage..some tubes can run for 10.000hrs.

 

[borrego]

Sorry to say it..but i had the hm602, and it was in no way a bottleneck..i had one for 4 years and used it last two years as source WITH A GOOD (TOXIC) CABLE into the rca's of my dual mono modded darkvoice 337 into my modded he500 again by a toxic cable.... And it blew away rigs which were much more expensive...
BUT I always plugged the cable towards my amp into the (UNAMPED) LINE-OUT, Not the (AMPED) headphone out! And always played it on batteries...only used wall socket to charge it.. It was dead silent!!

and 16/44 is enough quality..as long u use lossless material.... Hell..even on the high end rig i have now i use 16/44 khz files (capable of 24/192) ..and they sound wonderful on it... I also have 24bit and they indeed introduce a better experience....but those files only are good on really good systems..on ur regular mid-fi tier rig u wont hear much of a difference,,,imho ofcourse..

And this is coming from someone who believes that investing in ur rig contributes to better the audio experience (as many of u know) ..so normally i would agree with u.....but this little player i loved a lot! Only one minus..battery went empty rather fast and it took a REALLY long time to charge it again...and charger got redhot!

But ur right on one thing..it had a bit of a rolled off treble...but i liked that..my ears are very sensitive to agressive treble...so it did fine with my more neutral sounding 337..ofcourse u can get better stuff..i did as u all know....but for money (and on batteries=very silent!!) it was good..dont let anyone tell u differently..

What I meant was not just 16/44, 24/192 quality debate (there is another thread) for that. I meant from media/file type support perspective.

I also own the Arrow 4G and HE-500, while it is a good amp, I do not think it can drive the HE-560/500/400/400i to their full potential. I think money can be better spent somewhere else. And adding a USB DAC will open up a new way if music enjoyment experience.

 

[Asr]

I just got HeadAmp's West demo HE-560 in yesterday (although originally slated to be last on the list, I got moved to first).
 
HOLY INEFFICIENCY BATMAN! These are by far one of the most inefficient headphones that I've ever used, and I'm genuinely surprised at how far I have to turn up the volume pot to get them to sound moderately loud. It's at nearly 2 o'clock on my HeadAmp Gilmore Lite amp which has a gain of 6X / 15dB, which is also the highest I've ever pushed the Gilmore Lite to drive headphones that are still on my head.

 
Further comment to come after I spend some more time but I'll just say that preliminary listening is extremely promising. I wasn't expecting much after previous disappointment with the HE-400, but I've already been won over and might very well end up buying my own HE-560 for further investigation with a Garage1217 Project Polaris review unit that I have coming in shortly.

 

[Jussi]

Originally Posted by petezjunior 

Looking at amps in general. Budget is 1000 but if I can spend less I'd be a happy man. Besides woo audio, schiit, audio gd, little dot, violectric, you guys have suggestions on other companies? Also anyone use the Beyer a 20 on the he560? Something with a good bass would be preferable. Looking at the violectric v200 but if I can spend less I'd be happy. Thanks

-IMO, Burson's soloist suits quite well with my HE-560s

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Asr
Unless Jeremy lets that Polaris run first before shipping, give it 100hrs of run time before making an impression. I found the sound to change and settle in that time, particularly the treble with the 560.

 

[songmic]

It seems HiFiMAN really hit the nail with this one. I can't wait for mine to arrive... why is it not coming...

 

[Maxx134]

I whish that instead of being shocked with amazing spurts of impressive bass on only some passages..

To sound amazing all the time on bass passages..

But then the bass would not be accurate or reference. .
oh well, can't have it all,
Then again I can always eq..