[Sonic Defender]

  It's an upgrade without doubt.  I'm realising I need better amplification now though.  My old Arcam Alpha 8 integrated amp runs them with great sound, but at 50% volume and over, there is some distortion creeping in on louder/bassier material.  It is at a good and loud listening volume there but I'd like to be able to crank it a little higher every now and again, especially with sound THIS good and THIS non-fatiguing.  I do not know how it manages such detail without niggling treble.  I have never heard such realistic sounds from a headphone before.  I've only had about an hour with them and have to go out for a while now.  I will chime in with more impressions when I've spent more time with them.  For now though, I'll just say that I understand what high end sounds like now.  The way these headphones are imaging/separating/placing/layering sounds is beyond anything I've heard up to now.  I am hearing right into my recordings now in a way I never have done and apart from possibly a slight something in the treble, I can't find anything negative to say about their presentation or tonality straight out of the box, which for me is a very good sign because I'm used to initial disappointment and a need to go through some brain burn-in when I get a new headphone.  Truly revelatory for me.  Possibly the end of my search (once I've found more suitable amplification).
 
Any quick ideas to throw at me regarding amping?  I had the Lake People G109 in mind some time back, or the Violectric V100?  I presently have this Arcam Alpha 8 integrated amp, Fiio E11 and Bravo Audio Ocean tube amp.
 
Happy listening, kids!

Shameless plug here, but the Yulong A18 is a fantastic pairing with the 560 and mine is going up for sale soon. I have an interest check posting in the for sale forum. Check it out and if the A18 intrigues you who knows? I have been asked before why I am selling an amp that I say is so good with my headphones. Simply because I have a very nice integrated amp that I want to use (one box instead of two) and I have recently commissioned a speaker tap cable to be made and unless the sound from this approach falls flat on it's face, frankly I just can't really afford to keep the A18 and as my main music listening is with my integrated and speakers, just makes sense for me to find a way to use it with my 560s. Anyway, shameless plug done. Cheers.

 

[Bill-P]

Seems like there's some definite change or variance with the HE-560?
I like my own pair very much

I just wonder.

As for soundstage comments, I think it is very good in terms of depth and height, the width is ok. The overall size is definitely on the smaller and intimate 'planar' side, especially compared to AKG, Phillips or other large soundstage open HPs.

 
Do Step 1 of Jerg mod. It'll improve soundstage width and depth even more so than the grill mod.
 
Skip Step 2 if you don't want to lose midrange warmth and body.
 
But yeah, I think there is some change with the HE-560 either to the metal ring or some other changes that we may not be aware of.
 
I mean... the metal ring has been around for a long time, but people didn't notice until it was brought up way later.
 

  What was so bad in your experience with the Crack? Sort of sad as I was wondering if this combination had potential.

 
Crack doesn't have the current output, so at higher volumes, it distorts very badly.
 
Also the Crack inherently doesn't have a lot of soundstage width (though depth is pretty good), so soundstage can be quite claustrophobic with some recordings. Though it does awesome with hard-panned stereo recordings (Beatles)

 

[money4me247]

anyone knows if the he-560's wide headband fits on this Woo Audio HPS-H stand?
 
http://www.wooaudio.com/products/wahps.html

 

[Mike In Bama]

I hate problems. I REALLY hate problems that I can't overcome. For those of you considering the 560's, here's the problem. There is no easy way to tighten the cable connectors on the earcups.


There just isn't room for any wrench I own or have seen. I have attempted to use a piece of 1/4" copper tubing. After cutting a section out down the length, I grabbed a 4-40 screw and several nuts. In the vise, I crimped the tube around the nuts to form a hexagonal area.



Unfortunately, this idea didn't quite work as copper is too soft to remove half of its 6 sides and maintain any strength. I'm hoping to inspire an idea to someone on here to solve this problem.

 

[money4me247]

I hate problems. I REALLY hate problems that I can't overcome. For those of you considering the 560's, here's the problem. There is no easy way to tighten the cable connectors on the earcups.


There just isn't room for any wrench I own or have seen. I have attempted to use a piece of 1/4" copper tubing. After cutting a section out down the length, I grabbed a 4-40 screw and several nuts. In the vise, I crimped the tube around the nuts to form a hexagonal area.



Unfortunately, this idea didn't quite work as copper is too soft to remove half of its 6 sides and maintain any strength. I'm hoping to inspire an idea to someone on here to solve this problem.

 
 
lol seriously? just find someone with smaller fingers. or you can pretwist the cable the wrong way 1.5 rotations & then just twist the cable into place.
 
while the connectors are a bit of a hassle to initially attach, it really isn't thattttt hard to connect hahah.

 

[TMRaven]

After you've screwed the threads halfway or the majority of the way on, apply torque to the entire termination so it tightens in place.
 
Some guy once said that's hypothetically bad for the cables, but, do you know what?  I've done the same with the HE-400 for two years and never had any problems.  Same as the 560.
 
Close to 3 years of HE series ownership now and never had a problem with the cable terminations.

 

[MattTCG]

I never liked the smc connectors. Mini xlr would have been the way to go.

 

[Bill-P]

The contact on the left side of my stock cable on the last HE-560 I had actually broke that way after 3-4 times of twisting it "the other way".
 
So I haven't taken the cable off of my replacement HE-560 ever since it arrived.
 
It's not just potentially bad. The connector of the HE-560 is very flimsy inside (because it broke clean off and the golden connector part came off so I knew it was flimsy).
 
Of all of the nice things I can say about the HE-560, I must agree that the connectors going into the headphone is a very very very bad idea.

 

[cute]

I never liked the smc connectors. Mini xlr would have been the way to go.

Mini xlr's would be too easy for the Chineese!

 

[mandrake50]

Missed the quote... try again..

 

[Mike In Bama]

Just today I had the left connector unscrew itself slightly twice at work. Moving around torqued the connector enough to loosen it.

I've invented tools before to fix problems and I'm determined to do it again. Ford is still mad at me for the letter I sent on how to fix the poorly designed AC vent on Rangers/Mazda trucks/Explorer Sport Tracs.

I will find a simple solution.

 

[mandrake50]

I hate problems. I REALLY hate problems that I can't overcome. For those of you considering the 560's, here's the problem. There is no easy way to tighten the cable connectors on the earcups.


There just isn't room for any wrench I own or have seen. I have attempted to use a piece of 1/4" copper tubing. After cutting a section out down the length, I grabbed a 4-40 screw and several nuts. In the vise, I crimped the tube around the nuts to form a hexagonal area.



Unfortunately, this idea didn't quite work as copper is too soft to remove half of its 6 sides and maintain any strength. I'm hoping to inspire an idea to someone on here to solve this problem.

 They just need to be snug. They are not wheel lug bolts.  Inch/ pounds... not foot /pounds is all that is required. The tool you built could work fine. You can easily tighten them sufficiently without exceeding the yield strength of even soft copper.
 
I use something similar to money. I unwind the cable a turn or so, then turn the nut while holding the cable part, then when the connector needs about the same amount to get tight as the cable needs  to wind up... to keep twists out of the cable between the connector an the Y junction, I turn the entire connector  until everything is snug. That is it, they really do not need to be tightened much at all... finger tight, or just snug is fine. As long as they do not come loose in use, you are fine.
 
I don't like these connectors much at all... but once you get used to using them, they are OK.

 

[Mike In Bama]

I'm not faulting the connector at all. I have used and built thousands of them on Air Force communication equipment.

I have just never seen such a poor application as this one for them. There is no way to finger tighten them. I certainly know not to torque them whatsoever. It's a poorly thought out design. My movement was enough to loosen the connector twice today - and I'd like to think I know what I'm doing here.

I like a challenge, but this one is going to be huge. I'm already tossing Plan B around in my head. Stay tuned!

 

[jerg]

I'm not faulting the connector at all. I have used and built thousands of them on Air Force communication equipment.

I have just never seen such a poor application as this one for them. There is no way to finger tighten them. I certainly know not to torque them whatsoever. It's a poorly thought out design. My movement was enough to loosen the connector twice today - and I'd like to think I know what I'm doing here.

I like a challenge, but this one is going to be huge. I'm already tossing Plan B around in my head. Stay tuned!

Well there is a way to finger-tighten them, that's how people have been doing it for years lol. Just tighten as much as you can with the upper "loose" half of the connector (WITHOUT twisting the rotating half of the cable connector at all), then twist the last half-turn to full tightness gripping the lower half of the connector.

 

[Za Warudo]

I've heard that there are smc to mini xlr adaptors some cable companies sell.  Maybe someone with lots of diy experience can make them.