[Brahmsian]

slightly on the warm side of neutral and very flexible due to the adjustable output impedance.

Slightly on the warm side sounds perfect since the HE-560 is slightly too bright to my ears (just a tad treble heavy). As for the looks, a head-fi reviewer had only the following to say

No need to say more : )

 

[DavidA]

@Brahmsian, you can change the color of the LED, its why my old GF bought the Ember:


Green


Pink (her favorite color)


White


Blue

I think its harder on the Polaris since you have to change the LED but with the Ember it has RGB adjustment so its really easy with just a small screwdriver.

 

[SBranson]

I just got in a Lake People G-190P and holy cow does it take the HE560's to a whole new level... Unbelievable... I've never heard these sound so good... I got caught for a few minutes in that HiFi state of mind where you listen to dynamics and detail retrieval etc... but then just kept listening.
These can be fussy headphones but when you get a nice match.. yowza.
AK Jr - audioquest golden gate - G-109P... cannot wait for my Norne Cable to get back here...

 

[Zowie1]

Has anyone paired Sony PHA-3 with Hifiman HE-560 while using balanced mode? If you have, how was the sound?

 

[jaxz]

This pairing.

 

[doctorjazz]

Cool!

 

[Brahmsian]

This pairing.

Where's the cassette?

 

[doctorjazz]

Cassettes are coming back, from what I hear (which I really don't understand at all).

 

[deadkenny64]

Slightly on the warm side sounds perfect since the HE-560 is slightly too bright to my ears (just a tad treble heavy). As for the looks, a head-fi reviewer had only the following to say No need to say more : )

My HE-560s arrived today and I have a Polaris kit on the way so I'll post my impressions once I get a chance to listen. I've read so many good things about the synergy that I had no problem buying blind.

 

[Brahmsian]

Cassettes are coming back, from what I hear (which I really don't understand at all).

There are some audiophiles who like reel-to-reel tape. It's not necessarily nostalgia. Some people find digital music kind of cold and brittle sounding. They prefer LPs and tape, which, while technically not as good as digital, introduce distortion that some people find euphonic/pleasurable.

My HE-560s arrived today and I have a Polaris kit on the way so I'll post my impressions once I get a chance to listen. I've read so many good things about the synergy that I had no problem buying blind.

Polaris comes as a DIY kit? I've never put an amp together. Let me know how hard it is to assemble. Looking forward to your impressions, particularly regarding the warmish quality. In general, the HE-560 has great treble. Triangles, cymbals, hi-hats shine and sparkle and contain no grain or harshness that I can hear. For me, the problem mostly has to do with massed violins. Solo violin sounds great on these headphones; it's only when they're massed together that they begin to sound a little artificial and colored to me.

 

[doctorjazz]

I guess you weren't around when cassettes were big. I listen to digital, but still use my turntable. There were a few decent cassette recorders back in the day (Nakamichi made some), but no one would confuse a cassette recording (commercial) with a reel to reel recording {I have a friend who collects reel to reel recordings, they do sound really great. Cassettes were all about recording and convenience, not sound quality).

 

[DavidA]

Polaris comes as a DIY kit? I've never put an amp together. Let me know how hard it is to assemble. Looking forward to your impressions, particularly regarding the warmish quality. In general, the HE-560 has great treble. Triangles, cymbals, hi-hats shine and sparkle and contain no grain or harshness that I can hear. For me, the problem mostly has to do with massed violins. Solo violin sounds great on these headphones; it's only when they're massed together that they begin to sound a little artificial and colored to me.

The Polaris comes as both a kit and already built, you probably want it already built since it comes with a warranty (5 yrs IIRC) while the DIY kit does not have warranty.

 

[TimeSnow]

I used to LOVE the sound of vinyl recorded onto cassettes.

 

[doctorjazz]

With a good recorder they could be ok (by its nature, an analog copy loses some fidelity of the original, I did lots of recording for the car or making mix tapes). Prerecorded cassettes, though were bad sounding in general.

 

[TimeSnow]

With a good recorder they could be ok (by its nature, an analog copy loses some fidelity of the original, I did lots of recording for the car or making mix tapes). Prerecorded cassettes, though were bad sounding in general.

THIS ^^

Prerecorded cassettes were almost always dodgy.

Though, there were obviously some that were better than others.