[sachu]

I am curious to see what Rob makes of the LCD-2..just a matter of how much praise he will reap on it. 

 

[Zoide]

Skylab:
 
What do you think about the HE-5 vs the HE-5LE?  Also, what do you make of the fabric-less or grill-less mod for the HE-5LE?
 
Thanks

 

[Gu Sensei]

 
Quote:

Rumor says Audeze phones sound great at low volume.  I do a lot of low volume listening so this is important to me.  I wonder what could make these two orthos so different in this regard, if it's true.

 

 
Just to clarify, I am not having to crank these phones to ridiculous volumes, far from it. Just a little more than I would prefer. Sorry, I wish I could provide specific measurements, but I cannot. I suspect that many will not find it an issue as it is not typically discussed with the T1s and HD800s, and I feel the same way about those. The PS1000s were brilliant at low volumes.
 
Quote:

Also,the HE-5 (LE) is a great headphone, but we are comparing dynamic and ortho. They both sound great out of the EF-5. 
I also use my T-1 out of my Headroom Desktop Max and Luxman P-1.

 
How do the Luxman P-1 and EF-5 compare with the HE-5LEs? I like them with both my Leben and the P-1, but just wonder what differences I would get with their official mate.
 
 
Just got through the remastered version of Revolver. Very very nice. Mids are gorgeous, and possibly their main strength. Recordings with very hard L/R channel mixing are usually tough for me with the HD800s and their IMAX soundstage, but with these, it is not an issue at all. No soundstaging trickery, instruments are naturally placed (for the headphones world) and well separated. No distractions there at all.
 
Really impressive headphones at an amazing price point.
 

 

[Zoide]

Gu Sensei:  Do you feel a need to use any of the no-fabric or no-grill mods?

 

[Gu Sensei]

At the moment, not really. If these end up staying long-term, I might give it a try.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

How do the Luxman P-1 and EF-5 compare with the HE-5LEs? I like them with both my Leben and the P-1, but just wonder what differences I would get with their official mate.
 

I'm in the process of writing a review now, but wanted to share some thoughts. The Luxman P-1u loaner that I had for two weeks until last week was quite good, and it was noticeably better with the HE-5 LE than the EF5, Woo WA6, Nuforce HDP, or ALO Amphora.  The P-1u was on par with my ZDT but with slightly crisper treble.  The EF5 is a great sounding amp for $399, and a person on a tight budget WONT regret the EF5 in combo with HE-5 LE one bit, especially with how easy it is to change the sound by rolling a single 12AU7 tube.  The EF5 is a little warmer and slightly punchier in the midbass, but the Luxman has a more extended treble and deeper bass.  The P1-u also has more micro-detail and transparency, a much bigger wider deeper soundstage, and also has enough power on tap to play as loud as you need them to go.  Someone else posted a comparison of the P-1 to the P-1u and found little difference, so I think these impressions would be valid.
 
It's not even fair to compare a $3000 amp to a $400 amp, but I did and came away impressed with how well the EF5 did in comparison, but it was still no comparison (pun intended).  The EF5 is a "fun" amp for the HE-5 and HE-5 LE which I can really enjoy, but the Luxman was a fine tuned precise instrument that opened a more transparent window into the music (like my ZDT).  The EF5 gain is too high to use properly with IEM, while the Luxman was a perfect match due to a much more precise volume control.  However, feeding the EF5 with an Apogee mini-DAC, Nuforce uDAC or HDP DAC lets me use their variable volume control to adjust the amp's volume, and then that is less of an issue.

 

[thinker]

edit: see post 755 final result its easier you dont have to do this
 
 
Put the phone apart and rebuild it step by step.I am not at the final modstage yet but close this phone could be like LINN LP 12 how many mods are out there.By rebuilding it step by step you can" hear" on each step what decisions Fang made and i understand now what meaning each piece has.
I am doing this because i am missing the openness and honesty of the original HE-5.The perfect phone would be a combination of LE and HE-5 and i am on the way to find it.I am close wich means that i removed the felt outside the driver so when you look at the phone from outside you see shiny silver.The felt inside the driver should not be taken away.I am not using the grills but i have put the original cloth against the naked driver.Now i have to find out on wich position the cloth is better, against the driver or on its original position with the clamp.I have done almost 50 different modsteps and this is close what i am looking for.Please dont treat this phone like me there is definitely no warranty anymore.
 
Headphone surgery in progress
50/50 chance to survive 

 

[Gu Sensei]

Quote:

 The EF5 is a "fun" amp for the HE-5 and HE-5 LE which I can really enjoy, but the Luxman was a fine tuned precise instrument that opened a more transparent window into the music (like my ZDT).

 
Cool! Thanks for info. I would have been surprised to hear otherwise, but there was a lot of discussion about careful pairings with amps and the HE-5s. It is helpful to confirm what I already suspected.

 

 

[Frank I]

I asked head Direct if my Matrix M Stage would be enough power and was told by MS T that the only amp was the E5 she said my 400m  Matrix wouldnt be sufficient enought power. I am a little confused as it drives the 701 to obscene levels so it looka like I will be ordering yje Deno AHD7000

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Skylab:
 
What do you think about the HE-5 vs the HE-5LE?  Also, what do you make of the fabric-less or grill-less mod for the HE-5LE?
 
Thanks

The HE-5LE, to me, are superior in every way over the HE-5, although the differences are not large.  I do think the original HE-5 had just a little more bass weight, but the bass definition of the HE-5LE is improved.  I think the LE are smoother, and more transparent.  I get no harsh treble from them at all, but lots of treble detail.  The differences are, IMO, slight - these headphones are very similar sounding.
 
I did not and will not be trying the mods.  I like the sound of these as they are, and I don't like modding headphones unless the mods are completely and totally reversible and don't void the warranty.

 

[thinker]

see post 755

 

[perrew]

Which cloth are you referring to?

 

[dBel84]

Can I make a simple recommendation to anyone who wishes to modify their HE5. Have a breeze through read of the ortho thread. There is a lot of useful info in that thread ( it is daunting ) but the information and experience of others is invaluable to understand why you are doing certain things when modding orthodynamic headphones. I felt the HE5 had the potential when I heard it, just needed some fine tuning to suite MY ears. ..dB

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I don't want to mod the HE-5 LE either, as I think they are just right the way they come; but I'll still probably take out the rear grill cloth for my review as a "just in case" exercise.  Who knows, I might find that I like it even more, you never know.  

 

[immtbiker]

Surprisingly, I blew the dust off of my RSA Raptor and was enamored by the results, using the HE-5LE, the T-1 and the HD800's. 
I was foolish to think that the Raptor would not have enough power to push all three headphones through the test. Boy, was I wrong.
Sticking to just the HE-5LE's all I needed was 10 o'clock on the volume dial to motor them to a quality output. I have taken off the outside "star" foam and the cloth that covered the grill and am quite happy with the results.
Others have reported loss of bass, but I am not having that problem. The T-1 and HD800 sounded especially nice, actually pretty competitive to my Luxman.
 
Lesson learned? Don't knock it until you try it. The EF-5 has less of a "hollow" midrange, but the Raptor (which costs twice as much)
is definitely a contender. I'd still say that the EF-5 is better, but for all 3 headphones, I now find I have another option on a rainy day.