[gardibolt]

Maybe a hybrid tube amp?

I adore the combo of the HE560 v3 and my Lyr 2 hybrid. I expect the Lyr 3 would give similar results, though I haven't tried it.

 

[eeagle]

The Drop Airist R2R DAC & THX Amp is my favorite combo for the 560's; tube warmth w/o tubes.

 

[LCMusicLover]

I am on the same boat - my HE560 sound overly bright to me. Using them with a Schiit Magni 3.
I am looking for an upgrade in the amp, but opinions on the net vary quite a lot. Some people say to get a warmer amp (don't know which though), some say to just get a lot of power (Drop THX? What else?). According to some even a JDS Labs Atom would be enough, since Schiit are crap and the Atom would be cleaner, hence not as bright. Overall people say valve / tube amps are not good for planars, but I have friends who tested the HE560 with a Darkvoice and said it's a good combination.
Really don't know how to fix that brightness and not spend too much on an amp.

My 560s are less bright driven by my Liquid Carbon X than they were from my previous SS amps (Bryston BHA-1 & Violectric V280). It's a small difference, but I don't think either the BHA-1 or V280 were particularly bright. Certainly less bright than the Magni.

To my ears, the 560s are pretty V-shaped, so the highs are going to seem fairly pronounced compared to the somewhat recessed mids. They definitely seem less bright from my Liquid Platinum with Siemens CCa tubes.

All 'my ears, your ears' of course.

 

[phthora]

My 560s are less bright driven by my Liquid Carbon X than they were from my previous SS amps (Bryston BHA-1 & Violectric V280). It's a small difference, but I don't think either the BHA-1 or V280 were particularly bright. Certainly less bright than the Magni.

To my ears, the 560s are pretty V-shaped, so the highs are going to seem fairly pronounced compared to the somewhat recessed mids. They definitely seem less bright from my Liquid Platinum with Siemens CCa tubes.

All 'my ears, your ears' of course.

When I had my Audio-gd 28.38, I never heard the mids as recessed. Instead, the 560 seemed flat through the FR with elevated treble. Now that I've upgraded to a much more transparent amp, the mids are clearly the weak point. To my ears, it's more complicated than the mids being lower in volume. They also sound thinner in body and less defined in their imaging than the bass and treble. Less life-like and less energetic. That makes them sound a little disconnected from everything else. I still don't hear a big bass presence, especially not a mid-bass hump, so I have a hard time thinking of them as being v-shaped, but certainly the mids are missing something.

That said, with a warmer, thicker sounding amp, they tend to sound better tonally. I can see why people are eager to pair them with tubes.

 

[LCMusicLover]

...To my ears, it's more complicated than the mids being lower in volume. They also sound thinner in body and less defined in their imaging than the bass and treble. Less life-like and less energetic. That makes them sound a little disconnected from everything else...

Yes, mids do seem thinner to me as well. Perhaps my 'recessed mids' comment can be attributed to laziness. I don't hear the mids as poorly defined though, just less prominent and thin.

...I still don't hear a big bass presence, especially not a mid-bass hump, so I have a hard time thinking of them as being v-shaped...

I don't think of V-shape as necessarily suggesting a mid-bass hump. In fact, I don't hear such a hump from my 560s, but I call that a good thing. To my ears, on my equipment, listening to my preferred tracks (enough with the qualifiers already) I find the bass quite satisfying. I'm not a basshead though.

...I can see why people are eager to pair them with tubes.

Yes, I really like them best from the LP w/ the CCa tubes. Of course, since that's a tube/hybrid amp, I'm not really getting the 'full tube' effect. Frankly, I've never been a huge fan of a wet tube sound, so the LP w/ CCa is probably as good as the 560s will get for me.

To me, everything you're saying about the 560s are part of their charm. The recessed mids and bright(er) highs lend a sort of ethereal spaciness to the sound. I reach for these when I want to trip on ambient. For (almost) everything else, there's an arrow in my quiver which I prefer vs the 560s.

 

[phthora]

Yes, mids do seem thinner to me as well. Perhaps my 'recessed mids' comment can be attributed to laziness. I don't hear the mids as poorly defined though, just less prominent and thin.

I don't think of V-shape as necessarily suggesting a mid-bass hump. In fact, I don't hear such a hump from my 560s, but I call that a good thing. To my ears, on my equipment, listening to my preferred tracks (enough with the qualifiers already) I find the bass quite satisfying. I'm not a basshead though.

Yes, I really like them best from the LP w/ the CCa tubes. Of course, since that's a tube/hybrid amp, I'm not really getting the 'full tube' effect. Frankly, I've never been a huge fan of a wet tube sound, so the LP w/ CCa is probably as good as the 560s will get for me.

To me, everything you're saying about the 560s are part of their charm. The recessed mids and bright(er) highs lend a sort of ethereal spaciness to the sound. I reach for these when I want to trip on ambient. For (almost) everything else, there's an arrow in my quiver which I prefer vs the 560s.

So, not poorly defined so much, just the mids are less precisely placed with the soundstage. Maybe that's the same thing. But, instrument separation and clarity is still quite good, I just miss the sense of depth and layering. Something akin to a 2D picture versus 3D reality. The bass and treble do a better job of that.

The bass presence I'm talking about is impact. On these, the bass doesn't slam like on the 2C, for example. Often increasing the mid-bass can help give the illusion of that slam, but the 560 doesn't have that either. Likewise, the short decay on the bass doesn't help fill it out either. So, to me, it measures bassier than it sounds and I have difficulty thinking of it as a V. I'm not saying anyone is wrong to call it such, it just doesn't fit what I think of as a classic V.

 

[smy1]

I am on the same boat - my HE560 sound overly bright to me. Using them with a Schiit Magni 3.
I am looking for an upgrade in the amp, but opinions on the net vary quite a lot. Some people say to get a warmer amp (don't know which though), some say to just get a lot of power (Drop THX? What else?). According to some even a JDS Labs Atom would be enough, since Schiit are crap and the Atom would be cleaner, hence not as bright. Overall people say valve / tube amps are not good for planars, but I have friends who tested the HE560 with a Darkvoice and said it's a good combination.
Really don't know how to fix that brightness and not spend too much on an amp.

I have the atom+d10 combo for my he560 and they are still bright. I prefer brighter sounding than dark but this is a rare occasion saying that the he560 is bright for me. I was going to get the dark voice and heard the same thing that planars and tubes don’t go along so that’s why I didn’t get them.

Atom will do for the $100-300 price range. Guess I save for a tube

 

[LCMusicLover]

So, not poorly defined so much, just the mids are less precisely placed with the soundstage. Maybe that's the same thing. But, instrument separation and clarity is still quite good, I just miss the sense of depth and layering. Something akin to a 2D picture versus 3D reality. The bass and treble do a better job of that.

The bass presence I'm talking about is impact. On these, the bass doesn't slam like on the 2C, for example. Often increasing the mid-bass can help give the illusion of that slam, but the 560 doesn't have that either. Likewise, the short decay on the bass doesn't help fill it out either. So, to me, it measures bassier than it sounds and I have difficulty thinking of it as a V. I'm not saying anyone is wrong to call it such, it just doesn't fit what I think of as a classic V.

I get all that. V-shaped is certainly an imprecise term.

To my ears, 560s have a pretty unique signature which is the reason I've hung onto them despite having moved up the ladder.

 

[AnotherN00b]

I am on the same boat - my HE560 sound overly bright to me. Using them with a Schiit Magni 3.
I am looking for an upgrade in the amp, but opinions on the net vary quite a lot. Some people say to get a warmer amp (don't know which though), some say to just get a lot of power (Drop THX? What else?). According to some even a JDS Labs Atom would be enough, since Schiit are crap and the Atom would be cleaner, hence not as bright. Overall people say valve / tube amps are not good for planars, but I have friends who tested the HE560 with a Darkvoice and said it's a good combination.
Really don't know how to fix that brightness and not spend too much on an amp.

I did a lot of research when upgrading from my Magni and am very happy with the Garage1217 Project Polaris. Lots of power, adjustable brightness and gain, and a very good deal. Might have gone with a Lyr if I had more money to spend but am very happy with the Polaris. If you want to go the tube route, check out their Project Ember. Definitely worth checking out and I'm surprised they don't get more love here: http://garage1217.com/garage1217_diy_tube_headphone_amplifiers_014.htm

 

[jj69]

In just the last few pages of this thread, people have described the HE-560 as:

Bright
V-shaped
A planar version of the HD-650 (i.e. very warm)

Makes me wonder if we're all listening to the same headphone? Do the different versions of the 560 sound wildly different? Does Hifiman have major consistency problems? Is everyone driving them properly? ...they need a LOT of power.

Seriously, other than the Monoprice 1060, I've never seen so little consensus on what a headphone sounds like!

 

[LCMusicLover]

In just the last few pages of this thread, people have described the HE-560 as:

Bright
V-shaped
A planar version of the HD-650 (i.e. very warm)

Makes me wonder if we're all listening to the same headphone? Do the different versions of the 560 sound wildly different? Does Hifiman have major consistency problems? Is everyone driving them properly? ...they need a LOT of power.

Seriously, other than the Monoprice 1060, I've never seen so little consensus on what a headphone sounds like!

No idea — I’ve only heard my 560s. But V-shaped doesn’t mean ’not bright’. That all depends on how tall the right ’arm’ of the V ism compared to the ’left’ arm.

That said, I can’t imagine calling the 560s a ’planar 650’. Not even close (to my ears of course).

 

[Kukuk]

I've been playing around with these with different pads, most notably the VelPads, and I gotta say I'm enjoying them more. That 7khz spike sill exists, but at least the soundstage is vastly improved versus the stock pads. I sorta wonder if my stock pads were made wrong; The interiors are oval shape, but the oval runs along the wrong axis, so they're not very comfortable. It also makes me wonder if that's affecting the soundstage. With the stock pads they almost sound like a closed headphone, whereas these VelPads put them more in line with the Sundara.

I still can't get over how hard these are to drive, though. As a curiosity I was running them off my single-ended output and the bass was absolutely destroyed. Like, so much distortion that you don't need anything close to a trained ear to hear it. I can't even run these off my WA2, as they distort at fairly low volume.

In just the last few pages of this thread, people have described the HE-560 as:

Bright
V-shaped
A planar version of the HD-650 (i.e. very warm)

Makes me wonder if we're all listening to the same headphone? Do the different versions of the 560 sound wildly different? Does Hifiman have major consistency problems? Is everyone driving them properly? ...they need a LOT of power.

Seriously, other than the Monoprice 1060, I've never seen so little consensus on what a headphone sounds like!

Aside from the brightness, I don't get those claims. They're definitely not V-Shaped; they are very, very flat. Even the brightness thing is debatable. It's just a 7khz spike, but that doesn't really rear its ugly head in all content. Not all instruments, or mastering, will cause that frequency range to be hammered.

 

[descloud]

The HE5se... Now this is a headphone! Talk about trading blows with the HE-500! I remember when these and the HE-560 were readily available on Amazon for around the same price people were steering others toward the HE-560. Huge mistake. I think the HE5se is a far better headphone; it covers most of technical bases, but offers a sweeter mid range and treble, plus slightly boosted bass. And the soundstage is vastly bigger than the 560, and even bigger than the Sundara and HE-500.

Whenever a headphone gets a poor review from a reviewer, there's always a knee-jerk reaction to say that reviewer just got a defective sample, and I've always hated it. It's basically an excuse to say someone is wrong without giving an actual, thought out rebuttal. Most notably, Zeos really panned these, so I just kind of wrote them off, since a lot of his tastes fall in line with my own. But I'm kinda feeling like he might have actually gotten a dud...

I'm not ready to declare it to be better than the HE-500 overall, but it's definitely leaving a strong first impression! And to think: I got these for only $200. I feel like I absolutely stole them for that price.

If you got them at $200, that is surely a steal.

I'm curious which genres do you think work best with it? Does the wild treble peak bother you? I'm not that sensitive to treble, but the occasional sharp "Sss" and "Tss" can be bothersome at times.

Curious if these can replace my HD650. I have the HE-500 and they are still my go to for musical engagement.

 

[Guidostrunk]

I had the 560 for over a year and the only thing that was a permanent fix for the bright nature of them was Jerg mods. I went from the Lyr to the MJ1 to the MJ2 and rolled a ridiculous amount of tubes. Final stop was the bas-x a100 on taps(best amp out of the bunch imo).

Jerg has detailed instructions for the mod. It completely removes the sharpness and balances out the FR overall.

All subjective though.

Cheers

 

[phthora]

In just the last few pages of this thread, people have described the HE-560 as:

Bright
V-shaped
A planar version of the HD-650 (i.e. very warm)

Makes me wonder if we're all listening to the same headphone? Do the different versions of the 560 sound wildly different? Does Hifiman have major consistency problems? Is everyone driving them properly? ...they need a LOT of power.

Seriously, other than the Monoprice 1060, I've never seen so little consensus on what a headphone sounds like!

As with any headphone, describing the sound is difficult due to variance in personal taste, experience, and listening levels, differences in the gear feeding them, differences in how they are worn and how worn the pads are, and differences in the way that people use these ill-defined, subjective, metaphorical words to describe sound. With this particular headphone, all that gets compounded by the fact that the headphone is relatively hard to drive, has a unique sound signature, and varies more than average with the amp.

In other words, I think people generally are hearing this headphone mostly the same way, but perhaps struggling to articulate that. For example, after digging into it a bit, I rather agree with @LCMusicLover and his take on the sound. We were just using slightly differing terms to describe that sound.

I will be among the last to defend HiFiMan's build quality, but I have owned 3 copies of this headphone and heard 2 others (each without the backplate). Only one unit differed in any way I could discern, and that was due to a clear fault with the driver out of the box. All the others sounded the same when used on the same gear.