[disastermouse]

As a fellow M51 owner and former HE 560 owner I can tell you that the 560 is crazy good. Might not be warm enough for you though.

The HE-500 doesn't seem warm to me at all. The highs are all there and with my chain, bad recordings are definitely revealed.

How does it compare in sound stage?

 

[Sonic Defender]

The HE-500 doesn't seem warm to me at all. The highs are all there and with my chain, bad recordings are definitely revealed.

How does it compare in sound stage?

Sorry, I've not heard the 500 enough to comment, but based on the many impressions I have read it did seem to me that most find it going toward warm. Perhaps I've misunderstood? I thought going by memory that compared with the 560 the 500 is indeed warmer.

 

[willowbrook]

  Sorry, I've not heard the 500 enough to comment, but based on the many impressions I have read it did seem to me that most find it going toward warm. Perhaps I've misunderstood? I thought going by memory that compared with the 560 the 500 is indeed warmer.

That's what I've read everywhere. It seems to be the consensus. HE-500 having more warm and organic sound while HE-560 being more analytical, but not too analytical making it "fun" and immersing. I generally agree with the HE-560 reviews and I can imagine how HE-500 will sound just from comparisons.

 

[Sonic Defender]

^ Good, I'm not crazy then.

 

[disastermouse]

Well, the only headphones I have to compare are HD650 and X2. HD650 was my main headphone for 3 years and they are very warm. X2 is warm, bassy, and have some treble energy (sometimes hot). HE-500 has more instrument definition than either HD650 or X2, but X2 has much wider sound stage.

 

[legcramp]

I have recently re-discovered my HE-560 through a Chord Mojo -> Burson Soloist set-up. It is re-cabled with a Norne Draug V2 and the setup is just superb all-around. I have been picking it up a lot more than my TH-900 / LCD-3F lately because it is so good with Mojo as source and Soloist as amp. 

 

[Sil3nce]

   
I have recently rediscovered my old HE-500 and I am wondering about this as well.
 
I feel I am liking the HE-500 more than the LCD-X I have been using the last year.

 
Seeing how not many chimed in: It's a matter of preference in regards to the comparison.
 
If you absolutely adore the HE-500's signature, then I doubt you'll be happy with the HE-560 in comparison.
 
The HE-500 has a much pronounced treble response compared to the HE-560.
 
In terms of overall sound, the HE-500 tends to have more slam, impact, and bass quantity as opposed to the HE-560's softer and more laid-back signature. 
 
The HE-500 is like the HE-6's baby brother. While the HE-560 is closer to the HE-1000 in terms of tonality. 
 
Hope this helps!

 

[Usagi]

First day with the HE560 and they are slightly warmer with a tad less detail (softer) than the HE-5LE. Waiting for my Blue Dragon cable to arrive and how break-in will affect these phones. Very nice out of the box though. 

 

[SSL443]

  First day with the HE560 and they are slightly warmer with a tad less detail (softer) than the HE-5LE. Waiting for my Blue Dragon cable to arrive and how break-in will affect these phones. Very nice out of the box though. 

 
They get better, or at least my impression of them has improved with time. More impact and dynamics.
 
Also, Focus-A pad. You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least try them.

 

[Kalavere]

So I took off my ear pads again today to have a little clean - they sit on my Room's Audio stand and don't clasp together giving dust a chance to settle - when I noticed what I can only describe as a dent in my diaphragm.
 
 

 
 

I'm not sure what to do, if anything, about it. 

 It's been there since manufacture it seems.

 

[SSL443]

  So I took off my ear pads again today to have a little clean - they sit on my Room's Audio stand and don't clasp together giving dust a chance to settle - when I noticed what I can only describe as a dent in my diaphragm.

I'm not sure what to do, if anything, about it. 

 It's been there since manufacture it seems.

 
Hard to tell from the picture exactly what it is. Another possibility is a trace is not attached properly, although it doesn't really look like that.
 
I would do a bass shaker test to see if it causes a problem with bottoming out early on the magnets. Otherwise I doubt it will compromise the sound to any audible degree.
 
As always, your best bet is to contact the seller or manufacturer for an exchange if it's a problem or concern.

 

[rwscpa]

For those concerned about dust getting in or on your headphones while they are not being used and sitting on their stand, I bought some of these 13"X13" bubble pouches from Amazon to slip over my headphones as they rest on their headphone stand. They slip over both the headphone and the stand very easily and fit nicely while keeping the dust off of them. And they really don't look bad imo.   
 
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HTVBOA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

 

[jdriver]

Well it took 3 tries but I finally got a "good" pair. I've been burning them in and also listening and I'm having trouble coming to grips with how resolving they are. Either that or they are misbehaving and I'm wondering if it's the nature of planar headphones. I love hearing the performance sounds I've been missing. The issue is that certain tones like solo piano or banjo or any strongly percussive midrange tone, there is a kind of bloom at the end of the sound sometimes. On other "regular" headphones you can hear something is going on there, a kind of blur, but on the HE-560 it's audible as a kind of resonance, almost scratchy, but barely there. 99% of the time they sound amazing but then I hear these little details and I wonder what's going on and I worry, after my first pair was defective with a very noticeable rattle. I would estimate I have 80 hours on them so far. Is it a matter of how gracefully a headphone handles "problem" material, or like I said, is this their nature? Other than worrying about this I can go for hours in amazement of how great they sound.
 
Prior to these the best I have had is Grado SR-225 (original) and Westone ES60. I'd appreciate any guidance people have to offer regarding this.

 

[mandrake50]

I wouldn't call the 560 forgiving in the least. If you have problems with your source material, they will let you know that in no uncertain terms. I can't know whether yours have a problem. Perhaps sharing specifics of tracks and times where you believe that there may be a problem would be helpful.
I know that you are pretty gun shy after your experiences with the previous 560s.
I can tell you that I had some major problems with the sound of mine at first. You can read some of my comments back in the thread. I did get Focus A pads and did the grill mod. I also played with several amps and DACs. I found initially that my best shot at enjoyment was with tube hybrid amps. I had a Lyr 2 for a while, but did not like the pairing. I ended up using a Sunrise II with a NOS Mullard 12AU7 for quite a while. This tended to mellow things out a bunch.
After time and starting to use the Gustard H10 and later adding the Pulse Infinity... and lots of hours with them on my head... I now accept that some of the things that I hear that are not quite what I expect, are not a problem with the headphones.
Out of the dozen or so headphones that I have, I usually grab the 560 first these days during the limited time I have to listen.
 
Give them some time. Brain burn in is real !!

 

[Sonic Defender]

^ What he said.