[frogmeat69]

Always wondered what model I have, 2.5mm connectors, wood veneer, got them from Adorama just 3 years ago on sale, came with SE and balanced cables.
Seems to be a version 2?? Seems HiFiMan changes their headphones more than I change my socks, lol.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Seems HiFiMan changes their headphones more than I change my socks, lol.

Suppressing snarky comment re: personal hygiene
I really dislike silent ‘running changes’ to established products. I can’t come up with any rationale for companies doing this that doesn’t end up being disrespectful to some set of customers — either those who are already own the product, or those who might buy it, either new or used.

I guess it’s just business.

 

[sajfi]

Well it's happened, in true HIFIMAN fashion, while listening to some tunes at a reasonably low volume, I put down my beloved HE-560s (carefully) to get a drink, came back a minute later to find the left driver dead... just, totally dead... why HIFIMAN why? These were the v1 with 2.5mm sockets bought August 2017, so lasted just over 3 years of careful use.

Obviously out of warranty, with Hifiman telling me they don't carry spare parts so there's nothing they can do (they did offer me a discount on the Sundaras, but with shipping my broken He-560s to them, and paying import/VAT for the Sundaras it wasn't worth it). Funny story, I did buy the Sundaras when they were on sale in the UK for £270 a few weeks back which I thought was a decent price. They arrived, brand new, sealed in the original box... with the left driver dead! You can't make this up. So I returned those right back and pretty much swore never to tempt fate with Hifiman products again...

So now I'm torn between just parting out my broken HE-560 on ebay to recoup some cash and let other people fix their broken pairs, or wait and lurk here and on ebay to see if I can get hold of a working driver. Sorry for the rant, I figure you guys and gals would understand, they do sound incredible for the money.... while they work. Hope you all have better luck with yours...

I am in the same boat as you are with the same model and same issue and I have walked the same path as you did Found out it’s a common issue with this model and the response from Hifiman also same So if we can find a common ground let us try to solve it

 

[realg]

I am in the same boat as you are with the same model and same issue and I have walked the same path as you did Found out it’s a common issue with this model and the response from Hifiman also same So if we can find a common ground let us try to solve it

Was it also the left driver on yours? I swear every time I read about a hifiman driver failure it always seems to be the left one.

Took me about 3 months to find a listing on ebay for the same version of HE560 in good working condition at a somewhat reasonable price (around £280) so I decided to just go for it, figure now at least I have a spare driver from my broken pair, extra cable, a bunch of pads, etc, so I'll hopefully have enough spares on hand to keep them working for a while... or they'll crap out in a couple months and I'll be back here moaning about hifiman quality again, who knows...

 

[cwescrab]

So when I first got this headset a few weeks ago, with the JDS Atom amp and dac, I wasn't that impressed. I was like "this barely sounds better than my $180 Plantronics gaming headset. But after about 9 hours of listening, it easily beats the Plantronics. Did my ears adjust? I'm thinking the headset "broke in" I know some people debate whether that's a thing or not, I think it is.

 

[sajfi]

Was it also the left driver on yours? I swear every time I read about a hifiman driver failure it always seems to be the left one.

Took me about 3 months to find a listing on ebay for the same version of HE560 in good working condition at a somewhat reasonable price (around £280) so I decided to just go for it, figure now at least I have a spare driver from my broken pair, extra cable, a bunch of pads, etc, so I'll hopefully have enough spares on hand to keep them working for a while... or they'll crap out in a couple months and I'll be back here moaning about hifiman quality again, who knows...

Yes it’s the Left driver again Better keep your HP Well I too plan to wait patiently to see something shows up on ebay or other forums But the sound of Planars is something you will miss so bought a Hifiman Ananda Don’t know when my luck will run out with this one will hold on till the guarantee gets over

 

[Mike-WI]

Wait, when you say wooden cups above, do you mean wooden veneer over plastic cups? HiFiMan made a full-wooden cup model with SMC connectors as a preproduction sample. I'd argue that would be labeled V0. HiFiMan had asked for all of those back though as they revised the design to be plastic with wood veneer over it. Mine are probably V1 from your list then. Though I was debating getting V2 since the 2.5mm connectors are much better to deal with than SMC.

I'm not sure

 

[tan.phan.vt]

So when I first got this headset a few weeks ago, with the JDS Atom amp and dac, I wasn't that impressed. I was like "this barely sounds better than my $180 Plantronics gaming headset. But after about 9 hours of listening, it easily beats the Plantronics. Did my ears adjust? I'm thinking the headset "broke in" I know some people debate whether that's a thing or not, I think it is.

Usually theres a breakin period. Its not that long but the sound do change a little bit, usually hard or impossible to perceive from my experience.
But remember that the changes on the drivers are usually not the deciding factor there. Your amp temp and your ear cushions that matters much more.

 

[Lurk650]

Has anybody found a quality aftermarket cable for the 2.5mm cups that doesn't break the bank and isn't as bulky as the stock cable. Single ended fine since it's used with my JDS Atom stack

 

[FullBright1]

So when I first got this headset a few weeks ago, with the JDS Atom amp and dac, I wasn't that impressed. I was like "this barely sounds better than my $180 Plantronics gaming headset. But after about 9 hours of listening, it easily beats the Plantronics. Did my ears adjust? I'm thinking the headset "broke in" I know some people debate whether that's a thing or not, I think it is.

Your ears forget what your most recent headphone sounds like, but your Brain chemically remembers.
Your brain is one big chemical mixing board.
Its like, when you hear a song, and your brain remembers the song. That is brain chemistry doing that.
Thats not your ears remembering it, that is your brain chemistry analyzing it as "How its perceived", as a chemical reaction that is based on neurotransmitters, ect.

So, your brain remembers how it hears a sound, and that sets it.
When you then change what you brain is hearing, when you give it a new headphone sound, then the brain has to re-set and does, and this is the adjustment that you are perceiving.
Its not brain burn in, its a brain chemistry reset.
This is why when you try to listen to 3-4 sets of headphones, you usualy have the experience of none of them sounding good., or sounding right.
That is the brain chemistry in flux, trying to reset, and can't because you keep giving it no chance to re-set.

The brain hears the same way it thinks.....its "chemical analysis", and when you keep flipping headphones around, you are causing the brain to keep adjusting its "hearing chemistry"......and that is usually going to sound like confusion.., which is why a old set of headphones you like will sound like garbage, after you try the new set and flip back to the old favorite.
You have put your brain chemistry into flux, and the result is........>"this usually sounds great, but now it sounds yuck".

This is why you need to never listen to any headphones on the day you are getting a new set
Always let the new set be the hearing chemistry reset, vs, confusing the reset.

 

[Orejo]

I need to replace my ear pads and possibly the head band. What ear pads can you recommend me? A quick google search showed a replacement from Dakoni Audio. Are they any good?

 

[phthora]

I need to replace my ear pads and possibly the head band. What ear pads can you recommend me? A quick google search showed a replacement from Dakoni Audio. Are they any good?

I've been using using Dekoni pads on my 560 for about three years now, and I absolutely recommend them. I always find velour pads itchy on my skin, so I wanted to switch the pads for comfort, ideally without changing the FR much. To my ears, that is exactly what the Dekoni TH900 Sheepskin pads do. The post below are my impressions right after switching and A/Bing the two pads. About the only negative about the new pads is that they take a good 10-15 minutes to warm up and become soft and malleable. When you first put them on, they feel pretty stiff and make it hard to get a good seal. After they've warmed up though, perfect fit even with my glasses on. Just don't forget that you'll need HiFiMan's earpad ring to attach them.

I switched recently from the stock Focus pads to Dekoni TH900 Sheepskin pads. Largely, this was for an improvement in comfort. The Dekonis are almost exactly the same size and shape as the stock ones, but they are a bit softer, more form-fitting, and the sheepskin, for me, is far more pleasant than the stock velour. On the head, they compress slightly more, which may influence the sound as much as the different material.

On the sound front, the Dekonis up the sub-bass and bass just a touch and add some fullness and presence to the 560, at the expense of just a little bit of soundstage and airiness. The effects, besides the increased sub-bass, are very slight. I absolutely prefer the Dekoni over the focus, even though the difference in sound is so minor. From my experience with the ZMF Oris on my 400i, I can say that the Dekonis do much of the same thing, just to a lesser extent. I prefer that, as I wasn't attempting to change the sound so much as the fit and comfort of these headphones. The Oris are more comfortable, but they also color the sound much more noticeably.

Here are some pictures so that people can see how the Dekonis compare to the stock Focus pads.

 

[deafenears]

Just don't forget that you'll need HiFiMan's earpad ring to attach them.

The Dekoni Elite for HIFIMAN includes the rings, IIUC

 

[Lurk650]

I need to replace my ear pads and possibly the head band. What ear pads can you recommend me? A quick google search showed a replacement from Dakoni Audio. Are they any good?

I use the PaliPad direct from HiFiMan

 

[AgentXXL]

Wait, when you say wooden cups above, do you mean wooden veneer over plastic cups? HiFiMan made a full-wooden cup model with SMC connectors as a preproduction sample. I'd argue that would be labeled V0. HiFiMan had asked for all of those back though as they revised the design to be plastic with wood veneer over it. Mine are probably V1 from your list then. Though I was debating getting V2 since the 2.5mm connectors are much better to deal with than

I'm not sure

My HE560 are from the 1st shipment received by Moon Audio. I received them in July 2014. They are plastic cups with wood veneer and have the SMC connectors. To my understanding these are the V1. The all-wood cup was definitely a pre-production model and should probably be V0 if someone didn't send theirs back to HifiMan.

My HE-560 are still performing well, but I really hate the SMC connectors. I've had to repair/replace connectors on the cable many times now. I'm thinking about replacing the SMC connectors in the cups with something else - might even see if I they can use the same connectors as the Sennheiser HD800 (I have a pair in my repair parts box). If so, I'll be able to use the same cabling I have for the HD800.