[thegunner100]

Thanks to HiFiMAN for doing the tour!
 
I don't really do full reviews before but here are some short impressions with the he-560 loaner unit and a he-400i that I purchased. Both headphones were evaluated with the grill mod provided by a friend.
 
Schiit Gungnir (w/ wyrd) -> Virtue ONE.3 -> headphones
 
The two new hifiman headphones are both very comfortable with their new suspension headband and the new hybrid pads. I preferred the stock pads with the he-400i and the focus-a with the he-560. The focus-a sounded more balanced and a bit less bright to me.
 
While both headphones sounded decent with the dx90, they both were a little bit lacking in body and impact. However, the sound was still very clean with the he-560. Adding in the uha-6s to the dx90 did improve the sound a decent amount. Switching to my full setup made the he-560 sound amazing. Very open sounding, balanced, and detailed sound. The he-400i in comparison was more fun sounding for electronic music with it's increased mid-bass impact. It was also quite closed sounding in comparison to the he-560, even with the grill mod.
 
Overall I think the he-560 is a great buy for someone looking for a neutral sounding with great capabilities for a lower price than the flagships. Aside from its comfort, it is easy to drive as well. The he-400i on the other hand could use some work. It's supposed to have a sound that's between the he-500 and the he-400 but it seems to have it's own unique signature. The biggest complain would be that it is somewhat closed sounding.

 

[Terja]

Thanks for that Gunner! Nice comparative review that highlights one key element that may be of significant difference between the 560 and 400i (open sounding vs closed sounding -- to a relative degree of course). I have yet to try the HE-400i but have had an opportunity to audition the HE-560 and like you I thought it was very open-sounding and amazingly detailed for a planar magnetic, much more detailed than my HE-500 for example, so the comparison of the HE-560 to the HD800 are not lost on me, but the occasions I have had a listen to the HD800 have always left me unimpresseed due to what I've felt was a somewhat artificial (non-musical) soundstage, except for the HD800 I tried with the annax mod and that I thought was very organic, well balanced and natural sounding.

 

[thegunner100]

I do prefer the hd-560 to the hd800s when I had it earlier this earlier. But I only had the Vali at that time and I haven't really had the chance to get to experience the hd800s with a high end amp for a long period of time. That being said though, I think I'd want to try the hd800s again when anax 3.0 is available. 
 
I can see people preferring the he-400i for a more intimate sounding pair of headphones, or for electronic music. They're also $400 cheaper of course. 

 

[geetarman49]

 
the light ... that was ... that is ... that will be ...
560s on the rack

 

[geetarman49]

the rack ... i keep the tape handy to hold everything together ...

 

[geetarman49]

my thanks to HiFiMan for giving me the opportunity to listen to these phones.
 
my first impression upon opening the shipping carton was the large size & weight of the box.  my 2nd impression was that the wood veneer around the cups was neither as bad nor as good as hyped ... it's just, well, ... veneer .. & quite obvious at that.  i normally enjoy, perhaps even lust after, the striking visage of highly figured wood cups, but this definitely leaves me cold.
 
as i examined the phones, what went through my head was a sense of a company trying hard to achieve, but not attaining the level of qa offered by others in the headphone biz -- issues such as visible excess glue, misaligned earpad seams (i've read that this has been fixed in the latest shipment), uneven magnet assemblies ...  admittedly, some small issues to be sure, but they all add up & therein lies the crux of the problem.  it's as if design, manufacturing & assembly are all under different managerial concepts of what is acceptable rather than establishing qa standards from the start.  yeah, i know ... i'm being unduly harsh, but that is not my intent.  here's a company, that is issuing its 3rd (i believe, cmiiw) generation of phones & the cobwebs are still hanging around ... sure, they are quick to respond to anomalies & issue patchups, but the question is 'why, in the first place?'  it’s not a space race … they need to invest in their people & give them the responsibility to get it right or … don’t release. & if they do, then those individuals must bear the brunt of the responsibility for failing the company. HiFiMan has more product to release in the near future & they must get these right the first time around.
 
 
Presentation - it arrives in this neat wooden box with nice internal padding for the phones, but alas, once the initial impression wears off, one realizes how useless this box becomes. it’s not suitable as a portable carrying case nor is it really useable as a daily headphone ‘holder’.  even though i don’t use any of my phones outside of my home, i think HiFiMan missed the ball with the fancy box concept. to me, it really seemed like a needless response to the oppo packaging for the pm-1.  in my mind, users would find a good, solid portable carrying case to be more practical & more desirable.
 
Suspension headband – no complaints here, but i didn’t try to remove it (for purposes of cleaning, replacement, etc.). headband comfort was great … for me.
 
Rotaters, sliders – movement was good with the yokes retaining enough friction so that the cups didn’t start flopping/swivelling around when the phones are handled, like some grados do – but i found that the sliders for adjusting vertical cup placement did not secure all that well (on this sample). The metal band has small holes which are supposed to engage a peg of sorts so that the position is temporarily latched, but i found that mere placement of the phones over the ears more often than not, dislodged the initial placement. Anything more than easy, casual movement of my head would have the slider dislodging and the cup drifting further down the ear. Once i got used to this (weakness of hold), it became a non-issue during the listening tests.  iirc, there were some comments about flimsy design/build, but i wouldn’t characterize them as being flimsy – what i would say is that they are significantly overpriced for the quality presented.
 
Earpads – apart from the seam issue on the focus-a pads, i did not notice any other serious physical anomalies wrt these pads. i used both focus and focus-a pads for short & long durations (w breaks) with daily accumulated listening time of approx 8 hr at the most. i found neither pad to be truly comfortable for my ears, requiring me to disengage frequently during my listening sessions. i think both ear-size and eyeglasses contributed to this discomfort … ymmv. the pads have a mounting ring on which are located 4 tabs. these tabs must engage the notched areas on the matching baffle-ring on the cups in order to secure the pads to the cups. this arrangement has some similarity to akg k/q 700 series of phones but is somewhat more finicky in practice, usually requiring several attempts before successful engagement.
 
Cups/drivers – i don’t want to flog a dead horse but if it helps in dissuading HiFiMan from using veneer in the future, so be it. this really brought back memories of making those ubiquitous kidney-shaped coffee tables in shop class in the ‘60s wherein getting a tidy veneered edge was a challenge. that was hi-fashion then; today, not so much. & that’s how i feel about veneer for a (almost) totl phone. apart from that, i saw some ‘unevenness’ in the magnet assemblies – whether that be by intention or haphazard manufacturing is unknown. the outer grill appeared to be well-made with nice, smooth, glossy finish but i can understand why some would prefer a more open structure.  while i did not experience difficulty with the screw-in cable jack, other manufacturers employ much better connection arrangements. all other aspects were unremarkable.
 
Cables – microphonics was not an issue & overall cable quality was adequate; it would be unremarkable with the exception of two issues – 1) cable is too short for my needs - a cable of approx 9’-10’ would be ideal; 2) the screw connector along with the long cable terminator caused the cable to dig into my shoulders whenever i turned my head – an awkward design aspect. i did not experience any difficulty in attaching the cable by hand even though the retaining nut is quite small, nor did i experience any instances where the cable became loose or disengaged. i could never align the cable splitter to be perfectly aligned in parallel to my chest; it always torqued over to one side.
 
The gear – modified pioneer dv-563a multidisc player --> audio-gd nfb-2 --> modified asl headphone pre dt (aka audiotailor jade) + modified little bear p8 + modified matrix cube --> he-560, port-modded akg q701, fostex t50rpii (dbv3 edition). i used an rca splitter from the nfb-2 to drive both tube amps simultaneously. this arrangement was used during the entirety of the testing except for the last day and a half when i substituted the cube for the little bear. i used ge 12ax7, raytheon 5751, rca 6as7g, chatham 6as7g, osram 6as7g, bendix 6080wb on the asl; and ge 5670, chatham 6as7g, osram 6as7g and rca 6as7g on the little bear.
 
The music – all tracks direct from original cd except for 1 compilation track which i used to initially assess sub-bass performance ( michel jonasz - le temps passé): chilly gonzales, bbng, the bad plus, helen croome (aka gossling), beth gibbons & rustin man, eccodek, san fermin, valerie june, helicopter girl, justin rutledge, melanie de biasio and with a smattering of prokofiev, orff, holst, st.germain, my morning jacket, patricia barber and pharaoh sanders to close things out.
 
The listening - before each day’s listening sessions began in earnest, i ran the ss equipment for at least an hour and the tube amps for at least 30 min. for the most part i played the principal cds from start to finish before injecting the next into play. during this time, i alternated between q701 on one amp vs he560 on the other. after many successive trials of switching phones and amps, i decided to keep the 560 mated to the little bear as i felt that this was the best pairing of a clearly suboptimal setup.  there … the cat’s out of the bag and i will state categorically that i think the 560s were dealt an unwinnable hand in my environment. i will also go on record that my ears are far from golden be they blessed by the syren’s wail (tinnitus 24/7) & that it is always a fight to get at the measure of anything.
 
on the first day of listening, using ge 12ax7 and rca 6as7g & using the right hp output of the asl (this goes thru 100uf dayton film caps), i thought the overall bass (incl sub-bass) response was quite passable/acceptable – not the best, but the not the worse, either. throughout the day, as i listened to cd after cd, i felt it was all very unremarkable, except for the vocals. here, there was a nice, silky smoothness & ease to the presentation with an upfront clarity, but everything else was the domain of the q701. after hrs of listening on the 560s, i also became acutely aware of a plastic/rubbery tonality on almost every instrument. next, i switched tubes to raytheon windmill 5751 and osram 6as7g & while everything improved sonically, a tinge of that rubbery characteristic remained. direct comparison against q701 did no favors for the 560 – the smallish soundstaging coupled with the upper-bass & lower mid fullness derived from tube output began masking some rich details from multi-instrumented bands like san fermin and eccodek.
 
driving duties kept me away from any listening over the next two days, but on the weekend i invited the son (Greg) of very good friends to drop by with his dbv3 edition t50rp headphones – i felt i needed independent verification (Greg is blessed of excellent hearing and pitch perfect voice).  we started with helen croome’s ubiquitous single ‘heart killer’ with the 560s driven by the asl. within mere seconds, he requested that the volume be turned down (it wasn’t overly loud); he found the bass, sub-bass & harmonics to be almost overwhelming – strange, i thought, as i gave him the 701s to try while i fitted the focus-a pads onto the 560s. he found that combo (open port-modded 701 and modded asl) to be particularly involving while listening to the uber-cool de biasio & co. listening again to the 560s on the little bear confirmed his initial thoughts – an upper-bass, lower-mid congestion but not as severe as experienced on the asl, very smooth mid with a slight upper mid peak, good attack but too quick on the decay yielding less than realistic cymbals and brass. he found the phones to give vocals a very ‘flattering’ presence. the bass with the focus-a pads was better controlled than the physically deeper focus pads. we both preferred the 701s by a significant degree. testing with the dbv3 t50rp confirmed that they were 3^rd on the totem-pole, but they were not embarassed – they were not as dynamic, nor as detailed, but they were definitely more evenly balanced from top to bottom than the 560s on this rig.
 
over the next few days, i continued testing the 560s with varying tubes and finally with the matrix cube – this, i found to be the best overall match of all the amps on hand. its slight leanness proved to be a blessing in controlling the lower end & its harmonics, but loss some of the 'spatiality' afforded by tubes. still, the 701 was the much better performer overall. i also discovered why Greg found the bass so overly resonant but i didn’t … until much later … when i took off my glasses (which were preventing a tight seal).
 
these results led to me to the conclusion that single-output tube amps employing 6as7g/6080/5998 are just insufficient to do justice to the he560 phones. either that or the sample that we listened to was compromised; every day, i heard at least one solid ‘whaap’ on the left ear as i was sliding into my (leather) chair – note that i did not feel any shock on my ear. however, examining the drivers while changing pads, i could discern no obvious physical defects. i experienced no static shocks with the 701 & none with the modded fostex during this trial.
 
the performance that i experienced just doesn’t match or jive with the experience of others as to the quality of sonic reproduction as reported in the threads of head-fi. if you’re on a tight budget & want the 560s, then definitely go solid-state; perhaps an old-stock sansui, kenwood or pioneer receiver/amp or maybe the new project polaris.  but by no means do i discount the performance of other tube amps for these phones, just not the ones i tried. as for myself, i’ve discovered that the larger planar drivers are not so palatable; all the more so when price is factored into this equation.
 

again, i thank HiFiMan for this opportunity & hope that this somewhat verbose commentary is of assistance to readers.

 

[money4me247]

I would prefer a carrying case over a nice box as well. I personally think that wood veneer is a bad aesthetic choice, and prefer the glossy paint job of the HE-400i.
 
I did not experience any quality control issues that you described with my pair of HE-560s.
 
Some of the amplifier pairings that you listed I believe are OTL/OCL tube amplifiers that are better suited for high impedance headphones, and wouldn't be a good match for the 50 ohm impedance of HE-560. The cheap Little Bear Amplifier is definitely not adequate for the HE-560's performance (I have a similar Bravo V3 that I tried with the HE-560) & there is a significant performance jump moving to the Lyr 2. My HE-560 sounds great with the Lyr 2 (which is hybrid class A/B tube amp).
 
I have compared the HE-560's performance directly against the Q701 on my set-up and I disagree with your impressions. HE-560 outperformed the Q701 in every sonic aspect from my direct comparisons.

 

[Za Warudo]

Weird, when I compared the Q701 (modded) with the HE560 it was really obvious how grainy and dry the Q701 sounded in comparison.  The soundstage of the Q701 was flat and 2 dimensional compared to the 3D like imaging of the HE560.  The bass on the HE560 is very agile and not the least congested.  Maybe you got a defective headphone?

 

[manbear]

Thanks for the honest review. I find negative reviews more interesting. You almost made me miss my Q701, but i did like the HE-400 much more. Havent heard the 560.

 

[Terja]

Have posted a first impressions review of the HE-560 tour set that I received from Geetarman. Sometimes I feel impromptu impressions are valuable because they are not as studied. I hope my review adds a little sauce to the discussion. It can be found HERE, but I am copying it below. Be warned .. tl:dr coming up ...
 
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

HIFIMAN HE-560 ON TAP: A FIRST DAY REVIEW SAGA (HIFIMAN HE-560 TOUR IMPRESSIONS)
 
 
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
 
Wow ... what a big box! I was expecting a more economically packaged box, but once I open it, it seems justified considering all the goodies that are packed inside. Along with the box containing the headphones there are also two bags containing two sets of cables each, two regular TRS cables and two 4-pin XLR cables with TRS extenders. These cables are fantastic especially when compared to the fare that Hifiman has offered in the past. They are easily complementary to the value of the headphones; boutique shoppers can always find something better but this is stellar; kudos to Hifiman.
 
 
CABLE CHOICE and THE (t)REASON
 
Okay, now I'm ready to get set up. I immediately toss the standard TRS cables straight back into the bag. I won't be needing or using those. The 4-pin XLR is more versatile considering how I intend to be using the HE-560 and the comparisons I will be doing. I have owned the HE-500 since 2011 (yup ... still grooving to it) and a long tortuous road of experimentation finally led me to one conclusion – these headphones are wasted when played via any standard TRS headphone out. Yes during that time I tried various headphone amps, Bellari 540, Schiit Lyr, Musical Paradise MP-301 MK2, various integrated amps, newer and older, and all basically left me uninspired when the HE-500 was played via their headphone outs. It was only when I hooked the HE-500 to speaker taps, for example, of the MP-301tube amp (with resistors in place to protect the amp's transformers) that the 500 really woke and that I truly heard what this headphone was capable of. Previously I could hear the promise via the headphone out but it was just out of reach. After this discovery it was just a matter of finding the proper matching amp for this kind of set up – yes, there are differences to amps when playing this headphone via speaker taps, it's not simply about power, but rather how that power is translated, with finesse or simply with raw power. My favorite amp to date is the Luxman R-1050 because it combines those qualities with a presentation that never fails to impress me. This is the amp that I will be using for putting the HE-560 through it paces.
 

[Two sets of cable choices / TRS vs XLR]
 

[Luxman R-1050]
 
Okay, all this background to say I am not going to waste a lot of time playing the HE-560 via TRS which is why I tossed those other cables straight back into the bag. My primary interest is to see how this new Hifiman HE-560 offering stands up to a well-amplified HE-500, 'mano a mano'. I am giving the HE-560 the best platform for performance that I have found so far to see what it's truly made of, and I am comparing it with a member of the family that simply astounds with such a set up. My secondary set-up will be the Musical Paradise MP-301 MK2 via speaker taps, another set up the 500 excels with. So that's the background scenario.
 
 
TRS or BUST? (What the Heck Does that Stand For?) (Hint: Try something else)
 
Okay, second thing, let's just get that standard headphone out thing out of the way shall we. I reach for the HE-560 TRS extender to connect it to the XLR cable I have already attached to the headphone – what's this? A mini 3.5mm connector, huh .. with four connectors (TRRS). What the ... who is going to be using these headphones with their iPhone, seriously. A quarter inch connector would have been more understandable. So now I have to look for an adapter to hook the headphones to my Luxman amp headphone out so I can get a comparative base. Is the adapter in the bags – I comb through the bags – no adapters, huh. Okay, let me look through my stash; no, not that screw on thing, I toss it back. Let's see, maybe this one, but it has a small protruding edge so that won't do, I'm out of luck. What to do. Wait, I have one I use for my ATH-M50 while watching movies. Let's see ... yeah that will work, it sits flash against the edge, sweet. Okay time for some aural sensations.
 

[Tube buffer / Feeds Luxman amp]
 
Jriver has already been on, and my tube buffer which feeds the Luxman has been warming up all this time. Random playlist – no special favorites or tracks – let's just see how things present themselves with my normal day to day listening. P.S. I have everything hooked up to the Luxman. There are two speaker outs (A and B). The HE-500 is on speaker out A, and on speaker out B I have a Stax SR-44, but it's adapter has a speaker out pass through, that I will connect the HE-560 to, after listening to the 560 via the headphone out first of course. Here goes ... cue music via Luxman headphone out!
 
Aargh ... anemic! Track is .. Erik Truffaz (Wet in Paris). Great track, but I am not getting that much volume. I raise it. I'm almost at noon, better but not very convincing, my back mind is doing a potential comparison with the HE-500 on tap (not even close). It's too loud and I'm still not hearing it. I turn it down a notch, okay the symmetry is there, but it's not quite whole. Joan Armatrading (Show Some Emotion). This track has a great deal of range (let's take a listen). I still get that feeling that something is missing. Yes I could try to drown that missing something with more volume, but eh, no, won't go down that track. It's all there – the detail, the full frequency, but it's just not fleshed out. Oh, alright Seal is playing (Future Love Paradise). I know this track inside out, and ah no, it's not happening. This track should really be grooving, but it feels like it's only 45 to 60% there. Aargh, enough, been there done that, trying to convince myself that these new crop of orthodynamics should sound dynamic out of regular headphone outs. Time to stop. Let's go the other route (yup .. to each his own .. and this ain't it for me). Let's strap the HE-560s to speaker taps and see what comes out. The first track I will re-try is Future Love Paradise. Gimme a minute to switch things ...
 



 
 
SPEAKER TAP AWAKENINGS
 
Okay, the HE-560 is plugged to the Stax adapter speaker out pass through. Okay, there it is, wow, voice extension, oh yeah, yes we are grooving. Man, so much was missing, unbelievable. Those left to right artifacts in the track; I was not hearing that half a minute ago. I'm grinning ..

. Okay, man. It's really good. Anecdote: why does anyone bother trying to find the mythical headphone amp that performs like this when it's so easy, so easily within reach, makes me wonder 

...
 
Wow, I am impressed. Okay, a quick comparison with the HE-500. I switch the amp to speaker out A and leave volume at same level for a quick attenuation comparison. Back to Seal. Press play .. mmm, HE-500 sounds a little warmer (maybe .. wooly .. that ain't a good characteristic believe me .. not as much detail retrieval either). The 500 is little more fuller, muscular? Yes, I think that's right. But I can hear where this might be a drawback to not being able to present the frequencies more linearly. Too much wool around the edges, mmm .. and I have totally adored this headphone for the past three years. Against the HE-560 this is only becoming apparent. Okay, let's let the next track play, Bob Marley (Natural Mystic). Bass on the 500 can be downright addictive, no difference here. Mmm ... I wonder how this will compare with the 560s. Volume is a little too loud (is the 560 less sensitive than the HE-500?). Oh yeah, that reminds me, I would like to measure the impedance of this set of 560s, let's see how close Hifiman is to specs. But first a quick Bob Marley comparison. Back to speaker B ...
 

 
No doubt .. this pair of HE-560s is less sensitive than my HE-500s which measure at 35.1/35.2ohms (right and left respectively). I'll get my multimeter in a sec. Okay Bob, what's cooking? I really like the presentation of this headphone, there is no frequency smearing here, everything has it's place, nice instrument separation. Bass is a little less convincing than the HE-500, I don't know, a little missing in action, but nonetheless quite present (does that make sense?). Erik Truffaz is playing again, this time (Miss Kaba), one of my favorite tracks from him. Mmm ... yummy .. wow beautiful blending. It's reminding me of the Stax SR-44 rig (maybe I'll do a little comp after the track is through ... hey, why not right now seeing as the two headphones are on the same rig). Okay ... turn volume down, switch Stax adapter to Earspeaker, let's see .. volume back up.
 

[Stax SR-44 rig]
 
 
DREAMS OF STAX
 
Oh man .. so similar to the HE-560 in terms of detail presentation. Unbelievable, there is a closer affinity between the HE-560 and the Stax SR-40 than with the HE-500. I didn't see that coming. Rewind Miss Kaba ... man I might as well have been wearing the same headphones, yes there are differences, but it's so close. With a double-blind test I would place the Stax SR-40 and the Hifiman HE-560 in the same family but not with the HE-500. In retrospect it sounds as if the HE-500 was one of those headphones produced to satisfy the basshead era of headphones, and the HE-560s were produced to satisfy high fidelity audio enthusiasts, where the latter engineers (think Stax) were more interested in truer tonal and frequency presentation, than they were with popular colorations. I am hearing it right now in the Stax and I was hearing it a moment ago in the HE-560. As much as I love the HE-500, it doesn't quite achieve this level of balanced tonal presentation.
 
IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENT
 
Okay ... break. I need to measure the impedance of these HE-560s. Gimme a moment ... multimeter time. Right channel 37.5ohms, left channel 38.1ohms. Hifiman specs call for an impedance of 35ohms ... so, pretty close, and closely matched.
 

[Digital multimeter]
 
 
BASS and TREBLE RESPONSE
 
Okay back to music, Cassandra Wilson (Blue Light Till Dawn). Oh by the way I went to see Cassandra Wilson this summer in Vancouver when she was here for the Coastal Jazz Festival. Her show at the Vogue Theatre was absolutely stellar (the Vogue is an acoustical gem for jazz ensembles). Okay, I need to switch headphones as much as I don't want to take these Stax earspekers off. We'll listen to Cassandra Wilson again with the HE-560s. Switch ... mmm, nice, but a little bit slower than the Stax, I don't know, more deliberate I guess. Treble is a little bit pitchy, but detail retrieval is stellar, especially with what seems to be a wider soundstage than the SR-40. I need to compare with the HE-500 after this. Track is almost finished so I'll start afresh.
 


[Vogue Theatre - Vancouver downtown]
 
Blue Light Till Dawn with the HE-500: There is that bass presence, but I hear where it may be smearing into the mid-range. Cassandra's voice on the 500 sounds more true than on the 560, but it's competing with that bass, something that isn't apparent with the HE-560. I am torn, I am not sure which is the better phone with this track. Lol, at this stage I'd take a left-field choice and go with the Stax SR-40. The bass to mid-range frequency of the HE-500 seems a little too overpowering for this track and the HE-560 treble on it seems a little much, making Cassandra's voice a little less genuine. This track is a real test for the HE-560. Let me try it again.
 
This time I plug the HE-560 into the speaker A connector that the 500 was on. It shouldn't make a difference but who knows: Okay, nice balance to the bass entry. Cassandra's voice – still a little bit of sibilance, peaky treble, ummm. P.S. I don't have tonal control on (rarely if ever do I – don't like them and the same goes for EQs, I like things au naturel (as much as possible). As far as this track is concerned I am not very convinced. Excellent soundstaging though, lot's of spatial space between the various facets that make up this song. I think I'd put it down to this – the HE-560 needs a smidgen of the HE-500s warmth and the 500s need a lot less. Okay I give in ... I turn the treble tonal knob on the Luxman a little bit down. Mmmm ... still a little bit peaky in the treble. Maybe it's the track, nah... What is Stax saying, let's see. Could be the track, I do hear some peakish treble, but the Stax seems a little more accurate with a very beautiful tonal presentation. Okay let's move on ...
 
 
SUSHI, PADS and TREBLE TROUBLES
 
Tummy messengers are here ... it's 3:55pm and I haven't had lunch. Time for some left-over sushi. I'll get back to this (break).
 

[Yum ... left over sushi]
 
While my left-over sushi was steaming it occurred to me that a pad change might be in order. All this time I have been using the Focus pads with the perforated inside lip. I swapped to the older focus pads (Focus A) that came with the tour headphones. Okay – back to Cassandra Wilson's Blue Light Till Dawn. Okay, that definitely sounds better, the treble seems a little bit better tonally and I do attest there is a little more warmth to this signature, reminiscent of the HE-500 warmth that I was yearning for a moment ago. I like this signature ... it seems more right, and this track is sounding like it should sound like. Shucks, why did Hifiman change the pads (oh wait, there was all that fake brouhaha about ill-fitting pads), too bad. I feel that if the Focus A pads (1^st generation) had remained the stock pads this headphone would have a lot more going for it in stock form than it is being presented now with the new Focus pads. Too bad ... get those original pads while they are still available ladies and gents, especially if you already have the HE-560.
 

[Focus pads to the left; Focus A pads to the right]
 
Man I am enjoying this, it's sounds just right now. Am listening to Lizz Wright (Fire). Makes me just wanna lay back into my seat, close my eyes, and be taken away by the music. Nothing to analyze any more, it sounds right, just like music. The Focus A pads definitely add some warmth but just the right amount that offsets what I deduce to be a slightly peaky treble the HE-560 often presents. This combination really works in a synergistic manner; even the bass is grooving now, a little more like the HE-500 but without coloring the other frequencies.
 

 
 
SOME BASS HEAVINESS and PAD SWITCHING CONCLUSIONS
 
I am now listening to Erykah Badu (On & On) and this track is bass heavy and the HE-560 is handling the bass absolutely beautifully without letting it take over. I wonder how this track would sound with the HE-500 and Stax SR-40. Let's find out. First up: Stax ...
 

 
The bass frequency weakness of this particular Stax headphone becomes apparent. The Stax can't quite handle bass boasted tracks. It's really not doing this track justice. It's there but the bass is supposed to be the heartbeat of this track and it's too recessed. With the right genres the Staxes are incredibly beautiful but with modern era genres like Electronica, Drum n Bass, Hip Hop, they fall short. It's as if the designers were not even aware such genres could ever exist. The Stax is definitely a fail here.
 
Okay, HE-500 (please don't let me down, eek.) Oh yeah, that's bass alright. Also excellent background detail. I'm foot tapping to the bass. Yeah this is good, everything about the sound signature says groovy track. Perhaps a little smidgen of loose bass in some passages. But vocals are still prominent and nicely blended with other details. I can live with this. Sidenote: I wonder how the HE-500 would perform with the newer pads. Time to find out ...
 
After some fidgeting I attach the second pair of Focus A pads (first generation) that came with the tour package. Mmm .. interesting, a bit more detail retrieval with these pads on the 500 than the stock 500 set. Nice. Lol ... time to upgrade 500 pads. I like it. Still listening to On & On for progeny's sake. Okay what about with the new stock Focus pads. Let's find out: Stop music (fidget, fidget)...Mmm comfy, more comfy than the Focus A pads. A little more detail than the Focus A pads (courtesy of the perforations perhaps?). Bass is tight (did I just say that?). Interesting, nice tonal balance, soundstage and nuances seem more extended. Lol .. conclusion to the pad saga .. Focus A pads are for the HE-560 and the newer Focus pads are for the HE-500 (irony, huh!). I am going to be picking up a set of these for my HE-500, definitely an improvement.
 
 
JUST MUSIC, NO DISTRACTIONS
 
Fast forward ... what else is popping up in this playlist, let's see. Jacksoul (As We); rest in peace Haydain. I am hearing a little bit of a peaky treble with the 500, but nothing to make me stop, could be a symptom of the Focus pads. Next track – Damon Aaron (All I Need). Yeah, here is that feeling again, you know, where it's now simply about the music, no distractions. Time to simply close your eyes and let the music take over. I do just that ... (The detail retrieval of the HE-500 with the Focus pads really surprises me, an excellent hardware match). Upgrade your Hifiman HE-500 pads y'all.
 
My man ... Barry White (Playing Your Game, Baby). Nice soundstage, sounds a little wider somehow. Will compare with the HE-560s on this track. Man, it's just about the music at this stage. I really like it after you've spent time gathering all your hardware together and it comes together and becomes art – that's what it's all about. (Forgotten time elapse ... was listening to Seal (Crazy)). Oh boy, superb track starting, Metropolitan Jazz Affair (Bird of Spring). Everything has come together ... I love it! I'll listen to this track first with the HE-500 (Focus pads) and then compare with the HE-560 (Focus A pads).
 
Back to Barry White with the HE-560s. Pause ... nothing to say really. This is just good music. Listening to Seal (Crazy) again – it's all there and the tonal balance is symmetrical. Metropolitan Jazz Affair (Bird of Spring). Groovy bass, for a moment there I thought I was still with the HE-500. Groovy bass without it being overpowering. Vocals are frontal, just the nice full sound I would expect from a well-amplified orthodynamic. Those pad switches really made that much of a difference, huh? Interesting. I don't feel a need to change anything. Just feels like it's time to simply enjoy the music. And I away ...
 

[Haydain Neale of Jacksoul - d. Nov 2009]
 



 
 
ULTIMATE QUESTION (hang in there ...)
 
Now here is the question. Which of these headphones would I keep? Since I already own the HE-500, the more obvious question is, is there a need to ditch the HE-500 and upgrade (sidegrade?) to the HE-560? Stay tuned while I come up with an answer over the next few days.
 

 
[ Reserved ... ]

 

[Terja]

Finally completed my review conclusion (copied below). You can see the entire review here. In the end, it came down to the headphone that had less significant shortcomings to deal with. Guess which .... ???
 

Spoiler: Review conclusion!

   

 
 
SUSPENDED IN-BETWEEN: FUZZY LOGIC CONCLUSION
 
What ensued was a long back and forth comparison of the two headphones listening to different tracks one headphone after the other. This was fairly easy to do having both headphones strapped to the same amplifier but with dedicated outputs (thanks engineers for speaker amplifiers with two speaker outputs - 

).
 
P.S. Placing the speaker output selection on A+B also made it obvious that the HE-560 required a little bit more attenuation to match the volume output of the HE-500, perhaps underscoring the fact that this particular HE-560 may be less sensitive than the HE-500 (at least my pair). But then again what is 90db/mW (HE-560) vs 89db/mw (HE-500). That means too close to call in my book.
 
Some random track impressions:
 
Jaga Jazzist (The Stix) - very challenging Nu-Jazz/Electronica track:
With HE-500 (Focus pads). Nice full robust sound. All those crazy details are there.
With HE-560 (Focus A pads). I am having a hard time telling the headphones apart. They are equally good, albeit with a nod for more detail retrieval going to the HE-560, but musically, they are equally convincing. One could get either, amplify it well and simply get lost in the music – which really is the goal at the end of the day.

 
 
Stee Downes (Movement):
This track highlighted how similar the HE-560 and HE-500 can sound (with the pad switches I made). I have to listen very closely to pinpoint the differences if any. The HE-500 sounds a little bit fuller whereas the HE-560 sounds a little more defined.

 
 
 
Maxwell (Welcome):
The HE-560 definitely wins this one. There is just more happening with it, not that much more but it's noticeable after coming from the HE-500. Again, very nice frequency balance, all the nuances are there and can be easily picked out. Yeah, oh that treble, no more troubles from it and I think credit goes to the Focus A pads on this.

 
 
With some genres the HE-500 simply shines. For example well-recorded and performed R&B/Neo-Soul. For example: Jill Scott (Golden), a track I felt the HE-500 out-performed the HE-560 on. Similar impressions on Brand New Heavies (Keep Together); Mark Rae (Medicine). The HE-560 doesn't seem to quite have the groove factor that these tracks and others like them call for.



 
 
 
Santana (Smooth (feat. Rob Thomas):
The warmer and fuller presentation of the HE-500 sounds better here too. Makes for a more enveloping and rocking sound. In comparison the HE-560 sounds like it's trying to be more proper when it's really time to let loose and really groove.

 
 
Ali Slaight (Kiss From A Rose):
Mmm ... The HE-560 sounds like the more accurate headphone of the two here. The overall warmth of the HE-500 is working against it. This is a somewhat acoustically based track and that kind of makes sense based on my other impressions: With acoustical music the HE-560 seems more accurate and better balanced overall. The HE-500 seems to bring a little more warmth to the tracks than is necessary resulting in less clarity within and between the various facets of the tracks, vocals and instruments. Still overally good but I would take the HE-560's presentation each time with acoustic based music – so much sweeter and nuanced – excellent performances.

 
 
 
Plantlife (When She Smiles):
HE-560 is clearer. Mmm ... sounds like the evidence is piling up. The HE-560 reproduces music with more clarity than the HE-500. I think the mid-centric character of the HE-500 may be its Achilles heel. Don't get me wrong, it still sounds world-class but it is outclassed by the HE-560 in this regard. (From Wikipedia: An Achilles heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, which can actually or potentially lead to downfall.)

 
 
 
And so forth and so forth, and so forth it went .... until ...
 
Conclusion inside the conclusion: When musical clarity is called for the HE-560s outperform the 500s, but where full musical grooviness is called for the HE-500s seem to have an edge. So I guess it pretty much comes down to choice of the wrong that's less wrong. In this case the less significant and infrequent shortcomings of the HE-560 are easier to fix and live with than the more apparent shortcomings of the HE-500, especially if you listen to a lot of acoustically grounded music. The HE-560 is the better headphone and is definitely an upgrade rather than simply a sidegrade to the HE-500. Would I upgrade then? Yes ... absolutely, strictly based on sound-quality improvements, and especially where money is not a consideration. With the HE-500 now just over half the price of the HE-560 does that make it half as good as the HE-560? Definitely not; I would place the HE-500's abilities at about 93-96% of the HE-560's sonic reproductive ability. Is that final 4-7% worth it? My answer – a resounding yes! With the HE-560 you would have a headphone that gives you less to stop and gripe about knowing in the end there was little you could do about it.
 
Well done Hifiman for taking your headphones further. I didn't think you could do it, especially with single-magnet transducers but you did. The HE-560 is definitely a worthy upgrade to the HE-500!
 
 

[Grill-modded HE-500 (Focus pads) ; Stock form HE-560 (Focus A pads]

 

[geetarman49]

... Some of the amplifier pairings that you listed I believe are OTL/OCL tube amplifiers that are better suited for high impedance headphones, and wouldn't be a good match for the 50 ohm impedance of HE-560. The cheap Little Bear Amplifier is definitely not adequate for the HE-560's performance (I have a similar Bravo V3 that I tried with the HE-560) & there is a significant performance jump moving to the Lyr 2. My HE-560 sounds great with the Lyr 2 (which is hybrid class A/B tube amp).
 
I have compared the HE-560's performance directly against the Q701 on my set-up and I disagree with your impressions. HE-560 outperformed the Q701 in every sonic aspect from my direct comparisons.

money4me:  kind sir (quietly donning sontaran body armour), would you please step back 10 paces and unsheath your hoseblaster? for we will be dispensing copious quantities of latrinal fluids ... NOT! excuse this monty python-esque moment; it just sort of wafted into play

.
 
firstly, i don't doubt your impressions about what you hear on your gear. secondly, i would go so far as to agree with you that the h(e560) is technically the superior of the q(701) in all respects save for one ... that being, the ability of the q earpads to accommodate a wider range of earsize than the h.  while there may be other technical aspects that are superior on the q, none come to mind at the moment.
 
what i do find puzzling is why you choose to take exception to what we (Greg and i) hear on my gear. on top of that you choose to belittle our experience by suggesting that your experience between h & q on your bravo v3 is a sonic equivalent since the v3 (in your words) is almost an analogue of my modded little bear p8. however, i have owned and extensively used the following hybrid amps: bravo v1, bravo v1 modded, bravo v2, bravo v2 modded, indeed v1, indeed v2, indeed v2 modded, project sunrise v1, project sunrise v1 modded & project sunrise v2. all of these, i have either given away or sold, and at present, retain only a singular indeed modded v2 as pictured here. 
 
 
while i have not heard your bravo v3, i believe i am within bounds by claiming that its sonic signature should be identical to that of the v2 but with the inclusion of tone controls. i know that none of my former hybrids sound like either of my pure tube otl amps nor do they come close in (my) sonic preference.  apart from using a tube driver  and the open vestigial chassis design, there is little else that is similar (between bravo v3 and modded little bear p8)


 
& with respect to your suggestions as to the suitability of otl cct (with 6as7g family of tubes) with low impedance headphones, surely that's a non sequitur. i direct your attention to no less than the words of atma-sphere and its esteemed designer, Ralph Karstens ( http://www.atma-sphere.com/Resources/The_6AS7G.php ), unless you take issue with my appropriation of an 8Ω loudspeaker load to that of an 8Ω headphone load?
 
in the end w/o direct contact and experience we can only imagine what the other is hearing. should you be in my neighborhood, drop by, we'll share a few drams of laphroaig and commiserate on the failure of recordings in exposing the beauty that is live music.
 

  Weird, when I compared the Q701 (modded) with the HE560 it was really obvious how grainy and dry the Q701 sounded in comparison.  The soundstage of the Q701 was flat and 2 dimensional compared to the 3D like imaging of the HE560.  The bass on the HE560 is very agile and not the least congested.  Maybe you got a defective headphone?

the prospect of a defective phone was always on the back of my mind, but Terja's review nullifies that possibility quick. yes, the qs grain (even modded) is readily exposed on my modded ss matrix cube, but in the end it all boils down to preferences and to what extent either sins of omission or sins of addition contribute to the holistic experience. for us, the grain of the q was more than counterbalanced by the lack of breathing space and slightly over-damped hi-frequency response of the h as experienced on my otl amps, giving rise to our preference for the q under these circumstances. as an aside, i do not find the grain of the q to be nearly as profound as that of the hf-2
 
i don't want to give the impression that i'm a die-hard q701 über alles type of fan ... far from it.  i'm actively engaged in the search for something else, something considerably better, along with appropriate gear to drive them.
 

Thanks for the honest review. I find negative reviews more interesting. You almost made me miss my Q701, but i did like the HE-400 much more. Havent heard the 560.

thank you for the kind words ... i haven't heard either 400 or 400i, but i doubt that experience on my current amps would do justice to either also. it will be very interesting to hear what results the pm-1 will bring when that time arrives ... perhaps i'll have different gear then; as it is, i'll continue modding both asl and little bear for extracting maximal performance out of the q.

 

[Za Warudo]

  the prospect of a defective phone was always on the back of my mind, but Terja's review nullifies that possibility quick. yes, the qs grain (even modded) is readily exposed on my modded ss matrix cube, but in the end it all boils down to preferences and to what extent either sins of omission or sins of addition contribute to the holistic experience. for us, the grain of the q was more than counterbalanced by the lack of breathing space and slightly over-damped hi-frequency response of the h as experienced on my otl amps, giving rise to our preference for the q under these circumstances. as an aside, i do not find the grain of the q to be nearly as profound as that of the hf-2
 
i don't want to give the impression that i'm a die-hard q701 über alles type of fan ... far from it.  i'm actively engaged in the search for something else, something considerably better, along with appropriate gear to drive them.
 

 
Where in Terja's review did he say that the bass was congested?  The only problems he found with the HE560 was its slightly peaky treble and lack of warmth.  

 

[money4me247]

lol @geetarman49, the point of my post was to simply state that your little bear may not be adequate for optimal performance of the he-560 as from my experience my bravo v3 was not adequate & they share similar specs. no offense was meant & i am sure your impressions are legit. the v3 actually supports different tubes than the v2, so bit of variation there.
 
honestly, i am not an amplifier designer so i am not trying to overstate things, but from my research, people here commonly recommend against pairing OTL amplifiers with low impedance headphones. there are many threads dedicated to this sort of discussion:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/702109/otl-amp-and-headphone-impedance-matching-question
http://www.head-fi.org/t/606260/orthodynamic-headphones-voltage-and-watts#post_8317167
http://www.head-fi.org/t/473358/tube-amp-with-low-impedance-headphones
 
in regards of how well your specific amplifier works for the he-560, you will have to look at the specs and see if the numbers match up. it is entirely possible that your equipment is adequate for the he-560s, but I just wanted to point out that your negative experience with the he-560 could be due to your components. 
 
edit: it sounds like you took offense from my post, so I apologize. I definitely wasn't trying to start a fight, belittle or discount your impressions or anything like that. just wanted to point out some things to consider that may have contributed to your poor experience. I actually ran into a similar issue where the he-560's sound seemed subpar with certain amps, so I was just suggesting it may be possible to get better performance from the headphones. cheers.

 

[Bill-P]

Planar magnetic headphones like the HE-560 are typically much less affected by output impedance of OTL amps, so they don't follow the same ol' impedance matching rules.
 
But the more important aspect is output current, and stability of it.
 
Most tube amps without an output transformer would have really poor current deliverance... because they're already running hot enough at higher voltage. Higher voltage + high current = a lot more heat.
 
Something like the HE-560 can chew through hundreds of milliwatts of power easily, and... even some solid-state amps have a hard time delivering that much without significant distortion or clipping, or... both.
 
Distortion will deliver noise and peaks and all sorts of weirdness into your music.
Clipping will cause things to sound "withdrawn", like weak bass.