= HiFiMAN HE-560 Impressions & Discussion Thread =
Sep 26, 2016 at 1:33 PM Post #17,041 of 21,166
Have you listened to the jotunheim? I've googled it for a few minutes now, but cant really find a good review of the sound it has. I guess it's quite new on the market.
I'd audition it first. I've read it's a bit bright w/ certain phones
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 1:44 PM Post #17,042 of 21,166
My HE560 sounds more balance with Focus-A pads but I realize that these still have a little bit aggressive, it makes me tired when long listenning. Everything are changed when I borrow the grounding box from my friend, now I can continuous listen 4 hours. I think that it is not as good as Entreq but what it brings to the sound with its price, it's a miracle.
http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=236501.0
http://www.yoycart.com/Product/45828054245/
 
p/s: I don't except the case main power system is not good enough.
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 1:57 PM Post #17,043 of 21,166
  Have you listened to the jotunheim? I've googled it for a few minutes now, but cant really find a good review of the sound it has. I guess it's quite new on the market.

No, I haven't been able to audition one yet, its quite new and seems to be very popular since the demand has caused a back order.
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 2:06 PM Post #17,044 of 21,166
You might want to look at the new schiit Jotunhiem, and if looking for a new DAC then you can get the Jot with a DAC built in.

I've had the original Modi/Magni stack and they don't drive the HE-560 very well, a little thin, bass lite and not dynamic sounding.  I still have my Asgard2 but to me this is not a good pairing with the HE-560 since both are a touch on the brighter side, there are some who like this pairing so YMMV.  I wouldn't recommend the LD Mk3 for the HE-650 since its an OTL design for high impedance headphones like the HD-6XX or 250ohm Beyers.  I'm currently using a Lyr2 and it drives the HE-650 quite well but is a little tube dependent.
I found the HE560 with Lyr 2 and amperex PQs to be the most sonically balanced set up I've heard so far. Maybe not best overall, many headphones outdue the 560, but in terms of tonal balance
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 5:32 PM Post #17,045 of 21,166
I found the HE560 with Lyr 2 and amperex PQs to be the most sonically balanced set up I've heard so far. Maybe not best overall, many headphones outdue the 560, but in terms of tonal balance

 
What's your DAC/Source? 
 
I found the Uberfrost to be kind of boring/bland. Modi 2 Uber is slightly more lively but similar in tone with a slight bump in the upper mids compared to the Mojo which is a bit more warm but only barely. The Mojo does tame the upper mid spikes on my TH600/900's. 
 
I'm referring to the Mojo as the source using the Lyr 2 with Amperex 7308 tubes myself. 
 
Best combo I've found is the Mojo and Lyr 2 but the Mojo itself it pretty darn good. On Audiobot9000.com it shows the Mojo as having an extremely high "damping factor" but not exactly sure what that is. 
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 8:23 PM Post #17,047 of 21,166
Is it just me or does the 560 not handle complex music that well? It's an extremely low distortion and high resolution headphone don't get me wrong. When I A/B the 560 vs my TH900's the TH900's sound grainy and veiled by comparison while the 560's are warmer yet more detailed and revealing... It's weird like that...
 
Anyways, when listening to intros to most metal songs the headphones sound extremely detailed and just blow me away but once the music starts getting heavy and complex it starts to lose it and just starts falling apart. 
 
I'm actually just starting to think that they are so revealing that it's showing bad recordings more obviously than the TH900's which excel at every genre I listen to. 
 
My amp/dacs are the Mojo and Lyr 2 and the Lyr 2 tends to be more clear and detailed while the Mojo is more meaty and even though it outputs cleaner sound on paper it sounds thicker which is great in most cases when compared to the Lyr 2. 
 
EDIT: 
Could it possibly the cable I'm using? Would silver or switching to 8 core copper possibly make a huge difference? I've got some adapters coming and plan on making some 8 core mogami gold cables for them. I know when I had some 4 core cables for my LCD-X they blew the stock cables out of the park so I'd imagine 8 core would be even better.
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 8:35 PM Post #17,048 of 21,166
Hmmmm...Interesting. I was listening to Atilla a few hours ago, and things get pretty complex. No problems whatsoever. Listening to the same album with the HE500's, that I had a few months ago, was disastrous. One of the reasons I got rid of them.

Currently I'm using a Theta Pro Prime IIA, with a Schiit Mjolnir 1, fully balanced. Metal at about 1 o'clock with this combo, is extremely intense. In awe every time I jam.
Is it just me or does the 560 not handle complex music that well? It's an extremely low distortion and high resolution headphone don't get me wrong. When I A/B the 560 vs my TH900's the TH900's sound grainy and veiled by comparison while the 560's are warmer yet more detailed and revealing... It's weird like that...

Anyways, when listening to intros to most metal songs the headphones sound extremely detailed and just blow me away but once the music starts getting heavy and complex it starts to lose it and just starts falling apart. 

I'm actually just starting to think that they are so revealing that it's showing bad recordings more obviously than the TH900's which excel at every genre I listen to. 

My amp/dacs are the Mojo and Lyr 2 and the Lyr 2 tends to be more clear and detailed while the Mojo is more meaty and even though it outputs cleaner sound on paper it sounds thicker which is great in most cases when compared to the Lyr 2. 
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 8:39 PM Post #17,049 of 21,166
Hmmmm...Interesting. I was listening to Atilla a few hours ago, and things get pretty complex. No problems whatsoever. Listening to the same album with the HE500's, that I had a few months ago, was disastrous. One of the reasons I got rid of them.

Currently I'm using a Theta Pro Prime IIA, with a Schiit Mjolnir 1, fully balanced. Metal at about 1 o'clock with this combo, is extremely intense. In awe every time I jam.
 

 
I usually don't listen to music that loud but lately I've been turning it up due to how good these damn things sound. 
 
I do use Tidal and the max quality settings for both Tidal and my Mojo. 
 
On a side note, I'm extremely tempted to get the new Schiit Jotunheim balanced DAC/Amp and start the process of switching to balanced with my cables/terminations. 
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 8:45 PM Post #17,050 of 21,166
I'm actually using Tidal myself. Lol. It's so much easier. I absolutely agree about volume on these things. I could never listen this loud with any can previously owned. (Hd600,650,700,800&HE500)
It always seemed that all my previous cans would get treble happy(more like ice picks through my eyeballs) , at loud volumes. The 560's , entire spectrum gets loud equally. It's pretty insane. Sometimes I find ,with certain songs, the treble actually blends better at loud volumes. Or maybe I'm losing it. :fearful:

LOL

Edit: Forgot about your side note. I won't get into the debate about SE vs Balanced, but to my ears. There's a difference. For me it's imaging, and sounstage(height/width/&depth). May be significant to some, and others not. I'm in the former category.

Cheers
I usually don't listen to music that loud but lately I've been turning it up due to how good these damn things sound. 

I do use Tidal and the max quality settings for both Tidal and my Mojo. 

On a side note, I'm extremely tempted to get the new Schiit Jotunheim balanced DAC/Amp and start the process of switching to balanced with my cables/terminations. 
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 9:35 PM Post #17,051 of 21,166
Recieved my 560's back from hifiman today. Apparently they send you a new set of phones as mine were the new ones with the 2.5mm connectors. Unfortunately I can't use any of my custom cables & can't run them balanced. That stock cable is meh!
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 9:50 PM Post #17,052 of 21,166
Recieved my 560's back from hifiman today. Apparently they send you a new set of phones as mine were the new ones with the 2.5mm connectors. Unfortunately I can't use any of my custom cables & can't run them balanced. That stock cable is meh!

Norne makes nice adaptors, or save a couple of bucks and make them yourself.

I ran into the same problem after mine quit.
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 11:03 PM Post #17,054 of 21,166
Is it just me or does the 560 not handle complex music that well? It's an extremely low distortion and high resolution headphone don't get me wrong. When I A/B the 560 vs my TH900's the TH900's sound grainy and veiled by comparison while the 560's are warmer yet more detailed and revealing... It's weird like that...

Anyways, when listening to intros to most metal songs the headphones sound extremely detailed and just blow me away but once the music starts getting heavy and complex it starts to lose it and just starts falling apart. 

I'm actually just starting to think that they are so revealing that it's showing bad recordings more obviously than the TH900's which excel at every genre I listen to. 

My amp/dacs are the Mojo and Lyr 2 and the Lyr 2 tends to be more clear and detailed while the Mojo is more meaty and even though it outputs cleaner sound on paper it sounds thicker which is great in most cases when compared to the Lyr 2. 

EDIT: 
Could it possibly the cable I'm using? Would silver or switching to 8 core copper possibly make a huge difference? I've got some adapters coming and plan on making some 8 core mogami gold cables for them. I know when I had some 4 core cables for my LCD-X they blew the stock cables out of the park so I'd imagine 8 core would be even better.
metal recordings suck flat out. I found the 560s pretty good with metal to be honest. Very great at presenting guitar and having deep but non bloated bass to give solid lean meat
 
Sep 26, 2016 at 11:09 PM Post #17,055 of 21,166
What's your DAC/Source? 

I found the Uberfrost to be kind of boring/bland. Modi 2 Uber is slightly more lively but similar in tone with a slight bump in the upper mids compared to the Mojo which is a bit more warm but only barely. The Mojo does tame the upper mid spikes on my TH600/900's. 

I'm referring to the Mojo as the source using the Lyr 2 with Amperex 7308 tubes myself. 

Best combo I've found is the Mojo and Lyr 2 but the Mojo itself it pretty darn good. On Audiobot9000.com it shows the Mojo as having an extremely high "damping factor" but not exactly sure what that is. 
I simply use a modi
 

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