[cs098]

  Beg to differ. To my ears HE560s have plenty of texture in its detail, yet isn't the smoothest compared to say HD800. Quite a few people have noted some treble abrasiveness with stock HE560s, and I've experienced it too.

 
Yup the treble is what I call dry. I like how it crisps up certain instruments, but it can just be a tad too steely for others. I'm also sure that's what's making the sound fatiguing at louder volumes.

 

[jerg]

   
Yup the treble is what I call dry. I like how it crisps up certain instruments, but it can just be a tad too steely for others. I'm also sure that's what's making the sound fatiguing at louder volumes.

It's a double-whammy when it comes to HE560s and loudness fatigue for most owners I think.
 
One being the "steely" treble, the other being that HE560s come stock with Focus pads which are repeatedly measured by different sources to introduce an upper midrange hump. Upper midrange emphasis gives music an aggressive edginess...think Grados.
 
 
 
All the more reason to explore HE560 modding 

, because it does so many things right.

 

[cs098]

  It's a double-whammy when it comes to HE560s and loudness fatigue for most owners I think.
 
One being the "steely" treble, the other being that HE560s come stock with Focus pads which are repeatedly measured by different sources to introduce an upper midrange hump. Upper midrange emphasis gives music an aggressive edginess...think Grados.
 
 
 
All the more reason to explore HE560 modding 

, because it does so many things right.

 
 
Hehe due to university and what not I'm probably not going to mod mine until this summer. Unless Bill's mod really takes 5 minutes and fixes the aforementioned problems.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Beg to differ. To my ears HE560s have plenty of texture in its detail, yet isn't the smoothest compared to say HD800. Quite a few people have noted some treble abrasiveness with stock HE560s, and I've experienced it too.

Gonna have to pile on and agree here Bill. I can't even begin to imagine where the 560 could be called warm, but opinions do vary I guess. I might differ here from Jerg a bit in that I think the edgy treble is virtually completely in the domain of the recording and ascribing it to the headphone isn't necessarily fair. 

 

[jerg]

   
 
Hehe due to university and what not I'm probably not going to mod mine until this summer. Unless Bill's mod really takes 5 minutes and fixes the aforementioned problems.

I'm looking forward to seeing Bill's modding write-up for HE560 too.
 
The guide I posted about HE560 modding is all about tightening up HE560's sound (bass, clarity, extensions) without changing its signature much. Bill told me he is doing a different approach and instead  he focuses on retuning HE560's sound signature.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  I'm looking forward to seeing Bill's modding write-up for HE560 too.
 
The guide I posted about HE560 modding is all about tightening up HE560's sound (bass, clarity, extensions) without changing its signature much. Bill told me he is doing a different approach and instead  he focuses on retuning HE560's sound signature.

That will be interesting. The 560 is indeed fertile soil to till. Head-fi is lucky to have several talented, and brave people willing to delve into the possible where most of us are content within the realized.

 

[money4me247]

  Beg to differ. To my ears HE560s have plenty of texture in its detail, yet isn't the smoothest compared to say HD800. Quite a few people have noted some treble abrasiveness with stock HE560s, and I've experienced it too.

i agree with jerg's impressions, completely disagree with you bill (sowwie). don't think the he560 can be called warm at all. they are not smooth and silky either.
 
they seem more crisp & airy & textured over smooth & silky. Smooth, silky, and warm is what the Oppo PM-1s sound like. Very obvious the sonic differences during a direct comparison. The HE560 has a lot more texture and detail in comparison. The LCD-2s are darker/warmer than the HE-560 as well with more bass impact. I think the Audeze headphones are much "smoother" than the Hifiman headphones in general. You listen to both next to each other, Audeze has notes rolling together without as sharp a break in between (not saying notes actually blend together but sorta that kinda perceived effect). The HE-560 is much crispier and tighter in comparison. More air & more spacing between notes. The breaks are more audible (decay is much shorter) and it is easier to pick out small micro-details within complex passages. Audeze sounds much smoother in comparison and the texture sounds different.
 
i do think the he-560 can use a bit more bass impact, but that is more a personal preference coming into this hobby as a basshead.
 
edit: these impressions are all from direct comparisons.

 

[Bill-P]

Well, my modded LCD-2 would sound very very very different from how you remember any Audeze headphone at all then. Perhaps that's also why I'm biased into thinking the HE-560 could be more textured.
 
But anyway, will probably post the HE-560 guide soon. I put an emphasis in the following:
- Tame the 4KHz peak/weirdness. Orthodynamic headphones typically have an issue around this region, but I think the HE-560 has something "more" here that makes it "weirder" than other headphones with the same peak.
- Push the 10KHz+ region up. Mostly for air and clarity, but without making the HE-560 any more peaky than it is already.
- More bass impact, achieved by breaking the ear pad seal with the drivers. I think sub bass may be lost in the transition, but it's a trade-off that I'd happily live with for some tight impactfulness.
- Hopefully make the soundstage a bit bigger. Stock HE-560 has good air, but is still a bit too intimate to my ears.

 

[ThurstonX]

You want a silky pair of HE-560s?  Listen to the Q701s for 30 minutes or so, then switch.  And do some of jerg's enhancements, too 

 

[JahJahBinks]

I used to have a pair of K701 ten years ago, I still remember the big soundstage it offered, how does the HE-560 compare?

 

[Liu Junyuan]

You want a silky pair of HE-560s?  Listen to the Q701s for 30 minutes or so, then switch.  And do some of jerg's enhancements, too 

Lol.

 

[cs098]

Quite large for a planar, but not akg 7xx or hd 800 large. 
 
Still quite sizable.

 

[cs098]

  I used to have a pair of K701 ten years ago, I still remember the big soundstage it offered, how does the HE-560 compare?

Quite large for a planar, but not akg 7xx or hd 800 large. 

 

[TMRaven]

It still has the soundstage of your typical planar, in other words it will be deeper than the average dynamic but not as wide.  It's about as large as the LCD series and the HE-400, however more open sounding than those said headphones.  LCD-X just might take the cake for having the deepest sounding soundstage (disclaimer: mostly a psychoacoustic effect depending upon mood and recording.)  The HE-400i and Oppo PM-1 had the smallest soundstages, which the 560 handily beats.

 

[JahJahBinks]

So the soundstage is between HD600 and HD800?