[sphinxvc]

Quote:

I know that previously with my Eddie Current ZDT amp I've posted that I preferred the HE-5 LE over the LCD-2 out of the ZDT, which makes my LCD-2 sound a little darker than I prefer.  However, I haven't tried the HE-500 with the ZDT yet because I sent the amp back a few weeks ago for repairs to two tube sockets and to get a transformer upgrade to partial silver ones.  I will be able to try the HE-500 with the ZDT in a couple of days, and will report back as soon as I can.  Plus I have the WA6, HDP and about 8-10 portable amps that I haven't tried yet.  Regardless, for now if I only could pick one current production orthodynamic to fill a variety of listening needs, it would be the HE-500 (or HE-6 given enough power).  That might change when I receive my Silver Dragon cable for LCD-2, but it still doesn't solve the LCD-2 comfort issue and may not solve the mild added reverb or recessed treble issues I have either.

Hey HeadphoneAddict, looking forward to you trying the WA6 w/ the 500s; I'd like to know how well it drives it.

 

[LoweArt]

Hey Guys,
 
Silly question, but I assume those of you who have ordered the HE-500 are going through Head-Direct's website ?
 
 
Thanks,
Lok
 
Australia

 

[Townyj]

Ummm thats the only place you can buy them from.... Head-Direct = HiFiman.
 
I purchased mine but they were sent via Fedex which is slow as all crap for Express. Ask to be send via DHL imo.
 
LoweArt you might want to consider getting an amp that can throw some wattage into them aswell... Im not sure how your MadEar will go, or the Crack. I dont think anyone has used either of those for the HE-500.
 
Quote:

Hey Guys,
 
Silly question, but I assume those of you who have ordered the HE-500 are going through Head-Direct's website ?
 
 
Thanks,
Lok
 
Australia

 

 

[LoweArt]

Quote:

Ummm thats the only place you can buy them from.... Head-Direct = HiFiman.
 
I purchased mine but they were sent via Fedex which is slow as all crap for Express. Ask to be send via DHL imo.
 
LoweArt you might want to consider getting an amp that can throw some wattage into them aswell... Im not sure how your MadEar will go, or the Crack. I dont think anyone has used either of those for the HE-500.
 


 

Thanks for confirming the place to buy the HE-500, I thought as much. I agree with your comments regarding FedEx.
 
I don't think my latest toy, the Crack amp will have enough power seeing it's an OTL but I'm hoping my MAD Ear + purist will have enough juice as it uses audio transformers. I also have my Meier Arietta and if all else fails I guess I can always get the Lyr and had to the existing headphone bits collection !
 
Hmmmm, kinda torn between the HE-500 and LCD-2 and which one to get ??????
 
Thanks once again for your advice,
Lok
Brisbane, Australia.  
 

 

[Townyj]

Maybe consider the EF5 or even the new EF6 once it arrives... Im dying to see what sort of design Fang has come up with!

 
Quote:

Thanks for confirming the place to buy the HE-500, I thought as much. I agree with your comments regarding FedEx.
 
I don't think my latest toy, the Crack amp will have enough power seeing it's an OTL but I'm hoping my MAD Ear + purist will have enough juice as it uses audio transformers. I also have my Meier Arietta and if all else fails I guess I can always get the Lyr and had to the existing headphone bits collection !
 
Hmmmm, kinda torn between the HE-500 and LCD-2 and which one to get ??????
 
Thanks once again for your advice,
Lok
Brisbane, Australia.  
 

 

 

[baka1969]

Quote:Originally Posted by LoweArt 


"Thanks for confirming the place to buy the HE-500, I thought as much. I agree with your comments regarding FedEx.
I don't think my latest toy, the Crack amp will have enough power seeing it's an OTL but I'm hoping my MAD Ear + purist will have enough juice as it uses audio transformers. I also have my Meier Arietta and if all else fails I guess I can always get the Lyr and had to the existing headphone bits collection !
Hmmmm, kinda torn between the HE-500 and LCD-2 and which one to get ??????
Thanks once again for your advice,LokBrisbane, Australia."



Woo's OTL amp the WA2 paired very well with the HE500. So I wouldn't use that as a reason against getting it. I have the LCD2 here with me and the HE500 (both on loan) and have found the HE500 the better match. IMHO of course.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:Originally Posted by LoweArt 


"Thanks for confirming the place to buy the HE-500, I thought as much. I agree with your comments regarding FedEx.
I don't think my latest toy, the Crack amp will have enough power seeing it's an OTL but I'm hoping my MAD Ear + purist will have enough juice as it uses audio transformers. I also have my Meier Arietta and if all else fails I guess I can always get the Lyr and had to the existing headphone bits collection !
Hmmmm, kinda torn between the HE-500 and LCD-2 and which one to get ??????
Thanks once again for your advice,LokBrisbane, Australia."



Woo's OTL amp the WA2 paired very well with the HE500. So I wouldn't use that as a reason against getting it. I have the LCD2 here with me and the HE500 (both on loan) and have found the HE500 the better match. IMHO of course.

As Ross mentioned....low impedance orthos ARE NOT the same as low impedance dynamic headphones with regards to damping factor. Their drivers are very different. The WA2 and LCD-2 pairs very well. And surprisingly, the WA2 is a more suitable amp for the POWER HUNGRY HE-6s than the Concerto.

 

[LoweArt]

Thanks to both Baka1969 and MacedonianHero for your advice regarding the HE-500 and suitable amping.
 
I guess I'll have to unzip the wallet shortly and let fly

 

[Happy Camper]

The 500s played very nicely on the Extreme.

 

[Katun]

I forgot who it was that mentioned these needed around 120 hours of burn in to sound best. I also forgot who mentioned (if not the same person) that the HE-500 changes more from burn in than any other headphone that they have tried. But I guess the general question for all you owners is, "Are you hearing any changes after extensive burn in?" I'm probably only at the 20-30 hour mark (optimism and mainly from games), yet I achieved all that time on my head which is impressive for someone like me. I really want to hear these how they are to be heard, and don't know if I should just "let them play" so I can get along with my comparison. Thoughts?

 

[baka1969]

Quote:Originally Posted by Katun 

"I forgot who it was that mentioned these needed around 120 hours of burn in to sound best. I also forgot who mentioned (if not the same person) that the HE-500 changes more from burn in than any other headphone that they have tried. But I guess the general question for all you owners is, "Are you hearing any changes after extensive burn in?" I'm probably only at the 20-30 hour mark (optimism and mainly from games), yet I achieved all that time on my head which is impressive for someone like me. I really want to hear these how they are to be heard, and don't know if I should just "let them play" so I can get along with my comparison. Thoughts?"


I actually agree with this statement. When I had purchased the HE5LE back when they first came out it took about 75 total hours of burn in until they settled in. I wasn't a big believer in burn in until then. They, to me, had been the headphone that had made the biggest impact with the burn in process than any dynamic headphone I had until that point. Including the infamous K-70x. I can't explain the reasoning. But I just listen to them with music and use pink noise during the times I'm not listening to quicken the procedure. I doubt the HE500 would be much different. If I end up buying them I'll know.

 

[Townyj]

I believe im hearing alot of changes with mine aswell... Hopefully they are changing for the better though

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Larry
 
Thanks for the impressions. I was kind of indecisive about getting a pair of LCD-2 again or  HE-500. But are you going to sell your HE-5? I don't know what HE-500 will make me think of my HE-5 but they have been the best of all I have tried and there's something about its beauty and the fact that it has been discontinued which makes me think : I don't think I want to sell these...
 
But again thank you and I guess I am going to choose HE-500 over LCD-2 with my purchase

I'm keeping all the HiFiMan headphones as a collection, and for reference and comparisons.  I love the wood cups on the original, and they still sound wonderful with my ZDT amp (as do my HD800).
 
Quote:

I love reading your comparisons HeadphoneAddict! Thank you! I have been wondering how the HE-500 go against the others in the series! Answered pretty much everything for me. \m/
 
I run my HE-500's through my DACmini and find it quite amazing! Maybe i will consider an amp down the track, but right now im content with my minimal setup.

The DACmini is certainly good enough for these, and later you will appreciate them more when you feed the DAC into a nicer amp.  But for 90% of people out there is does everything you need.
 
Quote:

thanks this answered a of my questions, I am using the HE-5LE right now more the the LCD2. And I have been asking myself if it's worth upgrading to the HE-500. I am thinking that It's not. 
 
@headphoneaddict. Is there an amp that will work well with both the LCD2 and the HE-5LE? I am looking to upgrade my Glite with DPS; thanks
 

Well, that's a tough one because these phones have different sound signatures and often work best with different amps.
 
My ZDT is fantastic with the HE-5 LE but seemed a little dark with the LCD-2.  It was still acceptable with the LCD-2, and even better when I tried it with the ALO Audio chain-mail cable on the ZDT at RMAF last fall.  The LCD-2 were best with a Sylvania gold-pin 5751 tube, while the HE-5 LE and HD800 were best with a Tung Sol 5751.  I'll post soon how it sounds now that I got it back with the partial silver transformer upgrade, and I'll try my Telefunken smooth plate 12AX7 with it as well.  It might be just the ticket for a wider assortment of phones, as long as you don't mind swapping out one tube if needed.
 
As for more affordable amps, the HE-5 LE and LCD-2 both sounded great with the RSA SR-71b balanced at RMAF, but I don't have my balanced silver dragon cable for LCD-2 yet (ordered around 5/26), and single ended the XM5 portable sounds better with LCD-2 than the SR-71b.  Balanced it's a whole different story, and you don't need to use a balanced source because it seems that the improvement is in the balanced output (more power and voltage swing).
 
The WA6 sounds good with both, but underpowered with both if you like to listen very loud, same as with the ALO Amphora.  The HE-5 LE are harder for these amps to drive than the LCD-2, but even the LCD-2 seem to benefit from a more powerful amp.  Again, I used different tubes with HE-5 LE than LCD-2 but the WA6 sound can change a lot just from changing tubes.  Regardless, in this price range for these orthodynamic headphones I think I'd pick the SR-71b with a balanced cable over these WA6 or Amphora.
 
The EF5 is great with HE-5, HE-5 LE, HE-500 and HE-6 and still pretty good with LCD-2 but not optimal, like with the ZDT.  Some tube rolling or opamp rolling could fix the LCD-2 synergy I'm sure.  It's got great power reserves for the HE-5 LE and HE-500, so it also has more than enough for the LCD-2 although the LCD-2 might benefit from a slightly brighter tube.  This is probably still behind the balanced SR-71b, but a bit ahead of it when the SR-71b is driving the phones single ended.
 
The DACmini is great with LCD-2 and pretty close with HE-5 LE and HE-500, but the HE-500 is a little better suited for the DACmini than the HE-5 LE because of the improved efficiency (stock gain of 8).  It's not lacking power and can play loud, it just give the HE-5 LE the same impact that the EF5 amp offers them.  The DACmini is slightly brighter and more airy sounding than the EF5, which suits the more recessed highs of the LCD-2 better; but the EF5 is more powerful and punchier which suits the HiFiMan phones better.  Still, the DACmini is still a great "jack of all trades" and enjoyable with just about every headphone I've tried on it.  I had similar findings with the Nuforce HDP, except it's not as good with more aggressive phones like HD800 while the DACmini is fine with those.
 
Personally, I'd want the DACmini as my source + either the EF5 or the SR-71b with balanced output adapter, and use them as a combo to drive both phones according to my mood.
 
Quote:

Quote:

Hey HeadphoneAddict, looking forward to you trying the WA6 w/ the 500s; I'd like to know how well it drives it.

Since the DACport and ALO Amphora can drive the HE-500 I believe the WA6 is going to do just fine.  We'll see.

 

[brasewel]

Quote:

As Ross mentioned....low impedance orthos ARE NOT the same as low impedance dynamic headphones with regards to damping factor. Their drivers are very different. The WA2 and LCD-2 pairs very well. And surprisingly, the WA2 is a more suitable amp for the POWER HUNGRY HE-6s than the Concerto.

Very interesting. Have you heard this combo as well? I know the WA2 is a pretty warm and tubey amp so how does it complement the LCD-2 since it's a lush headphone by itself.
 

 

[baka1969]

Quote:Originally Posted by brasewel 


"Very interesting. Have you heard this combo as well? I know the WA2 is a pretty warm and tubey amp so how does it complement the LCD-2 since it's a lush headphone by itself."



Peter has the WA2 (with many tunes) and the LCD2. Peter has told me he enjoys the paring. I'll let him expand further.

As I'm more of a solid state guy I personally like the LCD2 with an amp like Woo's WA6SE and the beta22.


As I stated above in this thread I thought the HE500 and WA2 was a terrific match. Peter and I do agree that both the HE500 and LCD2 planars will work well and be properly driven on an OTL amp like the Woo WA2.