[travis-bickle]

the rattling should be very noticeable when watching moviez with high volumes on very low frequencies isnt it?
the broken metal-headband was an isolated case?
 
even if the workmanship isnt on the same level as it is with the competitors. measurement- and presumably soundwise it should be my ideal headphone. but I'm very hesitant because of the reported errors. rattling, loose headband, broken metal-band, channel imbalances ...
oh my what should I do?

 

[Bill-P]

Just grab a pair, listen to it and forget it.

I'm the guy with the broken headband. But I haven't even bothered to replace it. Too much of a hassle, and not enough incentive for me to even try since the headphone is now far more comfortable.

And no, the rattling doesn't occur at high volumes with movies for me. I measured 98dB yesterday with a super tight fit on one of my friends who had some hearing loss after coming back from the army, and there was no rattle audible either to him or to us bystanders when we put our ears close to the opening.

The movie trailer was analyzed later and it contained rumbling as low as 40Hz. Is there even anything in exisfence with bass at 20Hz?

 

[travis-bickle]

Just grab a pair, listen to it and forget it.

I'm the guy with the broken headband. But I haven't even bothered to replace it. Too much of a hassle, and not enough incentive for me to even try since the headphone is now far more comfortable.

And no, the rattling doesn't occur at high volumes with movies for me. I measured 98dB yesterday with a super tight fit on one of my friends who had some hearing loss after coming back from the army, and there was no rattle audible either to him or to us bystanders when we put our ears close to the opening.

The movie trailer was analyzed later and it contained rumbling as low as 40Hz. Is there even anything in exisfence with bass at 20Hz?

 
I'm very picky with failures. I would complain in every case, because when spending that much money I expect a failure free product at least.
On some moviez theres even much going on below 20hz

 

[Sonic Defender]

I am also picky and expect quite a bit from the products I buy. All manufactures have issues, LCD, Sennheiser, AKG etc. With the very limited amount of reporting we can't know if the 560 design is anymore prone to technical issues than would be expected from any similar products. As for the 20hz information, I would think very few devices including headphones produce significant amplitude at that low a frequency without the volume being stupidly loud, dangerously loud. That is how I interpret the reality of the situation, but I could be wrong. 

 

[jerg]

   
I'm very picky with failures. I would complain in every case, because when spending that much money I expect a failure free product at least.
On some moviez theres even much going on below 20hz

The rattling is very specific: when you don't have a good seal + volume is really loud + very low frequency (<30 Hz or so). All three need to align for it to occur. Ultimately it comes down to how well the earpads fit around your ears, for most that is fine and thus this becomes a non-issue.

 

[pauldgroot]

I will get my replacement HE560 tomorrow, I expect this one to be good. My guess is that I just got unlucky.

 

[Articnoise]

I haven’t heard any rattling then playing music and I’m at times playing pretty loud. Never listening to test tracks thou

 
Sure Hifiman have some QC problems, as many other companies, but are very fast in correcting all the issues I have heard about. I obviously haven’t heard all headphone (far from it) but think that the 560’s SQ is hard to beat for the price they ask for it. I would also take in to consideration that it scale fine without being very picky on your other gear.

 

[money4me247]

  the rattling should be very noticeable when watching moviez with high volumes on very low frequencies isnt it?
the broken metal-headband was an isolated case?
 
even if the workmanship isnt on the same level as it is with the competitors. measurement- and presumably soundwise it should be my ideal headphone. but I'm very hesitant because of the reported errors. rattling, loose headband, broken metal-band, channel imbalances ...
oh my what should I do?

if you care primarily about workmanship, perhaps check out the oppo pm-1. extremely luxurious build quality. warmer sound signature compared to the he-560, but very enjoyable

 

[JGreen08]

My 560s came in the mail! First impressions were pretty bad. I thought the song sounded far too bright. Then I realized it was an old 128 kbps mp3. Once I played some of my newer music, wow does it sound good. The first thing I noticed was the bass was actually impactful. After that I had some similar moments to when I went from my UM1 to W4s as I finally could make out certain instruments clear as day. Moving onto movies and games, I'm surprised at the difference these headphones made. So, yeah, good stuff. I'm glad I finally upgraded my gear. I think I might try out those mods once I get an extra set of earpads just in case something goes wrong.

 

[Bill-P]

Brightness will work out once you have a dark DAC and dark amp combo to balance it out.
 
Also the re-grilling mod helps a bit with bass impact and more air/separation still.

 

[Eric_C]

  Isn't a planar design less affected by output impedance differences which I think made OTL amps less well suited to low Z loads?

 
I guess... I'm woefully inadequate at the real science of the stuff, but my layman's thought at the moment is that:
1) I've heard from more knowledgeable folks that full tube is generally bad for HE-560
2) I've tried my 560 out of a tube amp and there was actually distortion aplenty (it's a DIY amp called the Aikido; don't know much more than that, but I know it runs my dynamic headphones fine)
 
As I said, I'm sure there are exceptions. Many here seem quite happy with 560 + Project Garage amps, and those are full tube I think...?
(with the exception of Polaris)

 

[mandrake50]

   
I guess... I'm woefully inadequate at the real science of the stuff, but my layman's thought at the moment is that:
1) I've heard from more knowledgeable folks that full tube is generally bad for HE-560
2) I've tried my 560 out of a tube amp and there was actually distortion aplenty (it's a DIY amp called the Aikido; don't know much more than that, but I know it runs my dynamic headphones fine)
 
As I said, I'm sure there are exceptions. Many here seem quite happy with 560 + Project Garage amps, and those are full tube I think...?
(with the exception of Polaris)

Project amps are not full tube. None of them. They use a tube preamp/driver, a single dual triode, and  SS amps. They are called hybrid amps.
(except Polaris which is all SS)
Most also have output impedance selection. That seems to allow some folks to be even happier.
 
Anyway, while waiting for my 560... the Sunrise III and Polaris drive my 400i, and  anything else that I throw at them, just fine.
The thing that is talked about as a problem (?) with planars it the  OTL (Output Transformer Less) full tube amp with all glass tube output devices.
I think that it is claimed that an impedance mismatch causes less than desirable results. A bunch of the amps that people like with the 560 (lots of Schiit...Lyr)
are hybrid amps.
 
I guess I should look around, as maybe we all should. I keep hearing the hypothesis that planars don't work well with OTL tube amps... repeatedly.
I just can't remember anyone directly reporting on what the combination did wrong in real world listening.
Maybe it is one of those self replicating Headfi myths...

 

[olegausany]

I tried HE-560 with Decware CSP3 and surprisingly they sound really good cause it's usually considered that it doesn't have enough power to drive planar headphones

 

[hifimanrookie]

Project amps are not full tube. None of them. They use a tube preamp/driver, a single dual triode, and  SS amps. They are called hybrid amps.
(except Polaris which is all SS)
Most also have output impedance selection. That seems to allow some folks to be even happier.

Anyway, while waiting for my 560... the Sunrise III and Polaris drive my 400i, and  anything else that I throw at them, just fine.
The thing that is talked about as a problem (?) with planars it the  OTL (Output Transformer Less) full tube amp with all glass tube output devices.
I think that it is claimed that an impedance mismatch causes less than desirable results. A bunch of the amps that people like with the 560 (lots of Schiit...Lyr)
are hybrid amps.

I guess I should look around, as maybe we all should. I keep hearing the hypothesis that planars don't work well with OTL tube amps... repeatedly.
I just can't remember anyone directly reporting on what the combination did wrong in real world listening.
Maybe it is one of those self replicating Headfi myths...

I can assure u that at least one full tube amp i know of is perfect capable to make a planar sound heavenly for its price: the lafigaro 339/ darkvoice 337.
. I had a modded 337 and it drove my he500 easily and made it sound very good!..with enough power reserves! volume knobs were always under 22:00 o'clock position (could go to 18:00 position)... But u do have to get the right high gain (expensive and rare) power tubes, like the tungsol 5998 or bendix 6080wb graphite plates, and pair them with tung sol sj7gt meshplates or rca 5693 red hots driver tubes...if u wanna go full tubey on ur planar and dont have thousends to spend..try them out...they are worth the try.

 

[money4me247]

   
I guess... I'm woefully inadequate at the real science of the stuff, but my layman's thought at the moment is that:
1) I've heard from more knowledgeable folks that full tube is generally bad for HE-560
2) I've tried my 560 out of a tube amp and there was actually distortion aplenty (it's a DIY amp called the Aikido; don't know much more than that, but I know it runs my dynamic headphones fine)
 
As I said, I'm sure there are exceptions. Many here seem quite happy with 560 + Project Garage amps, and those are full tube I think...?
(with the exception of Polaris)

 
garage1217 amps are hybrid tube amps. polaris is solid-state.