[brunk]

Yup,  When they left the house I was like..  What the heck I'm I doing.  But yes - these are a good headphone.  I agree 100% with Clems impressions.  You have some good amps there - they really put the juice in these phones that they really need.  I still got my 500s and like Clem said sometimes they just have that wow factor.  The 5LEs and the 6s are very close..

Yes they are definitely very close to the HE-6 as I remember them. What i loved most about the HE-6 was its beautiful and delicate treble extension and sparkle, but they were just so uncomfortable and heavy that I just couldn't justify their price tag. I'm anxiously awaiting HE-6 v2 lol. The HE-5LE's were a bargain at $700, it's no wonder they are near impossible to find. I think it would be a fair comparison in terms of neutrality against the HD-800.

 

[conquerator2]

Quote:

Yes they are definitely very close to the HE-6 as I remember them. What i loved most about the HE-6 was its beautiful and delicate treble extension and sparkle, but they were just so uncomfortable and heavy that I just couldn't justify their price tag. I'm anxiously awaiting HE-6 v2 lol. The HE-5LE's were a bargain at $700, it's no wonder they are near impossible to find. I think it would be a fair comparison in terms of neutrality against the HD-800.

 
Yeah but that air and balance
Damn I gotta say its worth it.... Although the top of my head tent to hurt... I really gotta get that generic extra padding
The velours after softening them in water though are much better

 

[brunk]

Yeah but that air and balance
Damn I gotta say its worth it.... Although the top of my head tent to hurt... I really gotta get that generic extra padding
The velours after softening them in water though are much better

Yeah it was a tough choice getting rid of them, but they just wouldn't let me reach my headphone zen because they were so heavy.

 

[wje]

Quote:

Just got Darryl's 5LEs! I could listen to them for about 1h30 yesterday evening.
So far, I'm VERY happy with what I heard, to say the least
 
[SNIP]
 
Detail retrieval
As prepoman said, the 4s are some "detail monsters"! Considering the treble only, I fully agree with this statement. The 5LEs and (even more) the 500s fall short to the 4s in that area.
Yet, I feel that the 5xx are more resolving in the mids. This is where our mileages does vary .
With more treble energy and a better tonal balanced, the 5LEs are better at resolving details than the 500s.
Overall, I'm having a hard time deciding which of the 4s and 5LEs are the more resolving.
 
[SNIP]
 
Early conclusion
 
I'm lovin' it!

 
Quote:

Yup,  When they left the house I was like..  What the heck I'm I doing.  But yes - these are a good headphone.  I agree 100% with Clems impressions.  You have some good amps there - they really put the juice in these phones that they really need.  I still got my 500s and like Clem said sometimes they just have that wow factor.  The 5LEs and the 6s are very close..

 
Quote:

Yeah it was a tough choice getting rid of them, but they just wouldn't let me reach my headphone zen because they were so heavy.

 
Clem, Great to hear.  I didn't realize you were the one who had purchased Darryl's HE-5LEs.
 
Brunk, If the HifiMAN can't let you reach your Zen due to the weight, what would the LCD2 do?
 
Preproman, In the end you'll be fine.  Keeping the flagships was a good move. 
 
Now, here I sit with my HE-4s and HE-5LEs.  Kind of in the same place as Clem is with regards to both pair.  Both have great detail and resolution.  I loved the HE-400s, but when I started listening to a lot of female vocalists, the sibilants become a bit much for me.  Going towards the HE-4 and HE-5LE put me in a better place with that regard.
 
I have a 3+ week old pair of HE-4s though that are not getting a lot of use.  The HE-5LE is stealing what little time I have to listen.  I may put the HE-4 up for sale so that it could go onto a good home.  Plus, I don't have a 3rd Woo Audio stand for them.
 
I guess I've never faced a decision before when I was forcing myself to sell a great pair of headphones just because they were not being used.  I've sold off good pairs of headphones for that reason before, but not a great pair.
 

 

[conquerator2]

Quote:

 
 
 
Clem, Great to hear.  I didn't realize you were the one who had purchased Darryl's HE-5LEs.
 
Brunk, If the HifiMAN can't let you reach your Zen due to the weight, what would the LCD2 do?
 
Preproman, In the end you'll be fine.  Keeping the flagships was a good move. 
 
Now, here I sit with my HE-4s and HE-5LEs.  Kind of in the same place as Clem is with regards to both pair.  Both have great detail and resolution.  I loved the HE-400s, but when I started listening to a lot of female vocalists, the sibilants become a bit much for me.  Going towards the HE-4 and HE-5LE put me in a better place with that regard.
 
I have a 3+ week old pair of HE-4s though that are not getting a lot of use.  The HE-5LE is stealing what little time I have to listen.  I may put the HE-4 up for sale so that it could go onto a good home.  Plus, I don't have a 3rd Woo Audio stand for them.
 
I guess I've never faced a decision before when I was forcing myself to sell a great pair of headphones just because they were not being used.  I've sold off good pairs of headphones for that reason before, but not a great pair.
 

Decisions, decisions... Hate that stuff.
 
On a similar note, I am giving the RE-400 a try. Should have them tomorrow.
 
I am a self proclaimed Hifimanist from now on I guess :]

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
 
 
Clem, Great to hear.  I didn't realize you were the one who had purchased Darryl's HE-5LEs.
 
Brunk, If the HifiMAN can't let you reach your Zen due to the weight, what would the LCD2 do?
 
Preproman, In the end you'll be fine.  Keeping the flagships was a good move. 
 
Now, here I sit with my HE-4s and HE-5LEs.  Kind of in the same place as Clem is with regards to both pair.  Both have great detail and resolution.  I loved the HE-400s, but when I started listening to a lot of female vocalists, the sibilants become a bit much for me.  Going towards the HE-4 and HE-5LE put me in a better place with that regard.
 
I have a 3+ week old pair of HE-4s though that are not getting a lot of use.  The HE-5LE is stealing what little time I have to listen.  I may put the HE-4 up for sale so that it could go onto a good home.  Plus, I don't have a 3rd Woo Audio stand for them.
 
I guess I've never faced a decision before when I was forcing myself to sell a great pair of headphones just because they were not being used.  I've sold off good pairs of headphones for that reason before, but not a great pair.
 

 
 
Just experienced that..
 
Wayne.  DC meet coming up..

 

[Joong]

It is nice to hear for him to get the phones and love them.
 
My XLR female connector has been arrived and I am almost ready to hook He-5le to Emotiva mini X tomorrow.
It will be my major event.

 
Even though the symmetric structure is absent in He-4s in compared to HE-5le, the pair of 4s is regarded as wonderful in this thread.
I think headphone is not merely an engineering object but something mystical from engineer's point of view.
The quanity maynot be measurable to generate some quanitfiable metric, but must be felt by brain and generate some emotion....which is so precious.
 
This is a reason people gethering together here to share a kind of fragile feeling and form a some solid ground on which we try to stand to feel the freedom?

 

[captouch]

Yeah, these cans really seem to be overlooked, but that's understandable with Hifiman bringing so many different models to market.  
 
People may assume that something newer in a similar price range must be better, or the 5LE model is being discontinued because it was improved - but not really true in this case.
 
if you have the HE6, then I can understand parting with these, but otherwise, I would think about it carefully, because they may be hard to pick back up again in the future - don't seem to be a ton out there.

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

Yeah, these cans really seem to be overlooked, but that's understandable with Hifiman bringing so many different models to market.  
 
People may assume that something newer in a similar price range must be better, or the 5LE model is being discontinued because it was improved - but not really true in this case.
 
if you have the HE6, then I can understand parting with these, but otherwise, I would think about it carefully, because they may be hard to pick back up again in the future - don't seem to be a ton out there.

 
HE-500 will never bring to the table what HE-5LE did for me even though it was considered by many as an upgrade. They're simply two different cans with two different signatures. The reviews suggested that one was an evolution of the other. When I listened to HE-5LE I really felt like I had something that could go toe to toe with HD800 and trump it in some areas, but the HE-500 with it's dark presentation, didn't really establish to me the same level of neutrality. I understand thats somewhat of an odd statement considering I have the even darker LCD-2, but I keep checking in with this thread to see the usual suspects talking about one of my favorite cans I've owned to date.
 
Jeez and to think I paid like $400-something for my first pair in pristine condition with Moon Audio cable.. =/

 

[itshot]

So I just got my HE-5LE's and have been doing some A/B-ing with the HE-6's before I send them off... I've got to say, I wouldn't say the difference between the two is necessarily $400+ dollars. It is very close.
 
For the most part, they share the same general tonality (though the bass quantities differ a bit), but the 6's are that tad bit cleaner, more transparent, and blacker in the background which makes me say: "Ahh... this is it". And it has better bass control, too. Still, I find that the 5LE's get strikingly close.
 
Other differences include that the 5LE's have a more forward/ less forgiving midrange, and that the 6's have a wider/more distant soundstaging, etc. But whether you like one better than the other likely boils down to personal preference.
 
I'm happy with my "downgrade" so far.

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

I guess I've never faced a decision before when I was forcing myself to sell a great pair of headphones just because they were not being used.  I've sold off good pairs of headphones for that reason before, but not a great pair.
 

 
I found an easy solution to that: I offered the 4s to my dad . I can listen to them anytime I want ^^

 

[preproman]

Quote:

So I just got my HE-5LE's and have been doing some A/B-ing with the HE-6's before I send them off... I've got to say, I wouldn't say the difference between the two is necessarily $400+ dollars. It is very close.
 
For the most part, they share the dame general tonality (though the bass quantities differ a bit), but the 6's are that tad bit cleaner, more transparent, and blacker in the background which makes me say: "Ahh... this is it". And it has better bass control, too. Still, I find that the 5LE's get strikingly close.
 
I think that the rest just comes to preference between a more forward midrange, or a a wider/more distance soundstaging, etc. I'm happy with my "downgrade" so far.

 
I share the exact same impressions as you 100%.  
 
However, where the 6s distance itself from the 5LEs is with scalability.  Yes, the 5LEs scale really well, But the 6s keeps going.  The a-100 is a great amp for the 5LEs but only a great entry level amp for the 6s IMO.  I love both.  

 

[Joong]

My Emotiva is now connected and He-5le is sounding really great!!!!
Bass is now great and strongly present with greater detail, so far I have been listening to He-400 because of Bass presence.
 
I think now I do not need He-400 for bass quantity and quality.
HE-5le has more textured in the bass so that the effective feeling of the presence seems even greater to my ears.
Previously with Little dot MKVii+ the sound is not airy as with this set up.
 
HE-5LE is excellent and great, and these phones are now entering to the region of He-400 and claimed the territory.

 

[Clemmaster]

To my ears, the 400s have much more bass presence (V-shaped), as expected from a fun headphone.The bass on the 5LE is more in line with the rest of the spectrum, for a more HiFi sound.
The 500s are closer in quantity to the 400s IMO.

I had a listen with my beloved Metrum Quad yesterday (fed by the optical out of my fostex HP-A3, until the concerto chime in). I set the SA-31 on its most neutral setting.

Man! I don't know why I went crazy and tried the Ref5 and NFB-27 just for the convenience of a 2-boxes or all-in-one solution, the Quad is much better for me!
The 5LE are exactly what I hoped the 500s would become (natural/dynamic) as soon as I'd have found the right DAC! I should have bought them from the beginning and spare a lot of money.

 

[pataburd]

The 500's perceived "naturalness" is due to their rolled off treble and slight midrange coloration; their perceived "dynamics" due to lack of coherency, compared to the 5LE and 6--IMHE.