Sorry for the run-on paragraph.
I haven't tired of the AP200/HE560 combo yet but that's probably because the 560s have very revealing highs with a kind of metallic twang that add color to the top end. I also just replaced the multiple-times broken yoke that the 560s are famous for and I am enjoying them without the tape, glue, screws and metal brackets I kludged to hold them together. Having an internal metal band that keeps them from cracking is boss. How do you like your headphones with the 200?
Addendum #1:
"Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa"
John Wayne is reported to have said, “Life’s tough. It’s even tougher when you’re stupid.” At least, it’s a poster.
But:
Sometimes stupidity pays off in odd ways.
I have a basket of HiFiMan headphones I’ve picked up used. I can be patient and wait for somebody to list something really cheap. My current favourite is the HE560, hereinafter referred to as 560. One of the reasons it was cheap, was the headband (1st gen.) is known to be fragile. My least favourite is the HE350 (herein 350) (sort of). When the 560 yoke began to crack, I went through several phases of DIY fixes. I can make this work.
After a few months I realised I’d likely have to do something completely different as it kept breaking in new places or got too thick with glue ons to slide against the speaker units. I took the yoke off the 350 and the 560 and tried to swap them out. The nubs on the 350 yoke were too big to plug into the holes on the 560’s speaker units. Didn’t want to increase the size of the holes or sand down the nubs, so back they went in a jumble.
When I bought the $75 reinforced yoke headband from HiFiM, I put them both back together and away. They share a cable. Somehow the cable went on the 350s. When the Hidizs came, at bed time, I reached in and got the 560s (you’re probably by guessing not, eh?), plugged them in, listened for an hour before going to sleep.
They sounded totally different. I mean totally different. Nothing had ever driven the 560s like this DAP. It was amazing and revolutionary. I was so stoked I decided to leave a message on the head-fi board. Last night I decided to try out a different set of phones to see how this amazing unit drove other power hungry headphones. The first one I came across was the 560. Logic dictated that if the 560 was still sitting in a basket without a cable, something else was plugged into the Hidizs. The 350, which is easy to drive and crazy wild sounding was there. I even did the sticker removal on the 350 for extra bass.
So:
I can’t tell the difference between wood grain with angled focus pads and silver-gray without? When it’s late and you’re ready for bed and you just want to try something new out and not do an engineering study? I guess. No excuses. Stupid, plain and simple. It was also the power of suggestion. I believed I had the 560s because it was my intention to grab them where they should be. Something wasn’t off, I thought. Something was amazingly good. No. Just amazingly dumb. Something was way off and I immediately should have recognised it. Now that its happened, I’ll look a lot harder.
My apologies to the head-fi community for the gaffe. I should be banned and shunned. I did figure I’d better get back and correct my postings before somebody decided to buy a 200 to use on something like a 560. Bad intel, for sure.
But?
Back to business. The AP200 didn’t drive the HE560 worth a darn. (I did turn the DSP off and it did increase the high gain setting but not enough) I mean its okay turned all the way up but they’ll never sound robust and interesting like they do on more powerful DACs. they need juice to become as wonderful as they can be. But, I must say, I haven’t used the 350 much, as I have better, more organic sounding phones but I plugged them back into the AP200 and got a big kick out listening to them and I think the match-up will be permanent. If I hadn’t been so stupid, I would likely have been disappointed with the 200 and not used it much. Now, when I want a bit of fun, I’ll reach for the combo and smile. Right or wrong, I like the duo a lot.
Sometimes stupidity pays off in odd ways. Life is still tough, though. Just saying.
Once again, I apologise.
