[grokit]

 
Quote:

HE-5 silver clear jacket
HE-5LE black not clear jacket

Not to mention the LE has a 4-pin balanced XLR connector and SE adapter, and the wire in the cable has no silver coating. The difference would be quite obvious even without the different-colored insulation.

 

[harj]

I have the stock he-5le cable which is black in colour, has a 4-pin balanced XLR connector and SE adapter. The cable that was sent to me by Ampcity (uk seller) as the stock he-5 cable has a black jacket, is shorter in length compared to the stock he-5le cable and has a chrome SE jack. 
 
I have sent Head-direct a message regarding the SPC cable with the clear jacket and gold Neutrik jack. I will get back with the reply.

 

[TimJo]

Quote:

HE-5 silver clear jacket
HE-5LE black not clear jacket

Quote:

Not to mention the LE has a 4-pin balanced XLR connector and SE adapter, and the wire in the cable has no silver coating. The difference would be quite obvious even without the different-colored insulation.

Well, I guess what I was trying to explain, and obviously not doing a very good job of, is that my HE-5LE's came with two cables. The 'stock' LE cable which has the XLR connector and the SE adaptor, as well as a second cable which was described as a 'Silver HE-5 replacement cable' and it is black with a silver connector. It is shorter than the stock HE-5LE combo cable. 

 

[Audio-Omega]

I have two stock cables as well.  Are they both made of copper ?  I thought they sounded different.  The unbalanced cable appeared to be brighter.  

 

[TimJo]

They are supposed to be 'silver plated' and the sound is supposed to be brighter, according to Nankai.
 
free-silver-cables-for-he-5le

 

[harj]

I take it that the he-5le now ships with two cable's. I only got the one cable but ordered the SPC cable. I wish I got the SPC cable with the clear jacket rather then the one with the black jacket and chrome plug, the clear one just looks cooler guess.
 
Anyway back to my original question, how many 5le owners have removed the cloth from behide the meshed grill?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

They are supposed to be 'silver plated' and the sound is supposed to be brighter, according to Nankai.
 
free-silver-cables-for-he-5le

I think the item and price on that link has changed now.

 

[stuckonsound]

Well, I decided to go with the underdog (vs. LCD-2) and received a pair of HE-5LE's last week. To my ears, with my setup they are best I've heard. The only 'issue' I have is with bass perception. When I first got them I thought the bass was weak, but after a few days I thought it had greatly improved. I attributed this to burn in. Today I watched a movie with my HFI-780's. Then when I went to listen to music on the HE-5LE, the bass seemed weak again. It must be a psychological adjustment. The thing is, once I get used to the HE-5LE the bass seems to have good impact, texture, and definitiion. It's weird how much my perception changes when switching between these cans.

 

[Solude]

I think what you are hearing is the difference in the presence or impact range.
 

 

[Zoide]

The FR graph actually shows that the HE-5LE have kick-ass bass.

 

[reaction]

...and kick-ass drop between 3 and 8kHz

 

[K3cT]

Well, here is my short impression of the HE5-LE after spending a week with them. It was driven by the Matrix M-Stage w/ class-A biased OPA627 and AMB Gamma2 and its companion Sigma25 power supply unit FYI.
 
Overall the HE5-LE is a fine performer if you like your music to sound lean with gobs of treble details and air between the instruments which in my opinion, makes it a perfect companion with faster-paced music with tons of instruments playing simultaneously. The upper midrange to lower treble still sounds slightly harsh to my ears though it's much more bearable compared to the older HE-5 which was just painful for me. Other than that, I still have a slight issue with how the different instruments do not "mesh" together but it seems that the problem is less mitigated if you crank up the volume louder. I also have to add that if you're looking for body and warmth then stay away from the HE5-LE as it will not provide that but as I've said before, if you like air, speed, leanness and treble "details" then the HE5-LE is the perfect can for you.

 

[Reputator]

Quote:

Well, here is my short impression of the HE5-LE after spending a week with them. It was driven by the Matrix M-Stage w/ class-A biased OPA627 and AMB Gamma2 and its companion Sigma25 power supply unit FYI.
 
Overall the HE5-LE is a fine performer if you like your music to sound lean with gobs of treble details and air between the instruments which in my opinion, makes it a perfect companion with faster-paced music with tons of instruments playing simultaneously. The upper midrange to lower treble still sounds slightly harsh to my ears though it's much more bearable compared to the older HE-5 which was just painful for me. Other than that, I still have a slight issue with how the different instruments do not "mesh" together but it seems that the problem is less mitigated if you crank up the volume louder. I also have to add that if you're looking for body and warmth then stay away from the HE5-LE as it will not provide that but as I've said before, if you like air, speed, leanness and treble "details" then the HE5-LE is the perfect can for you.

I'd like to know what your comparison point is. Compared to what I have, I found the HE-5LE to have a lot of body and a tinge of warmth. The only way I can think of that someone could come to your conclusions is if they only had a really warm headphone to compare to, or if the amp was simply really cold sounding (the latter in which I seriously doubt is the case).
 
In fact I don't think I've read anyone say the same things you're saying.

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

I'd like to know what your comparison point is. Compared to what I have, I found the HE-5LE to have a lot of body and a tinge of warmth. The only way I can think of that someone could come to your conclusions is if they only had a really warm headphone to compare to, or if the amp was simply really cold sounding (the latter in which I seriously doubt is the case).
 
In fact I don't think I've read anyone say the same things you're saying.

 
My main comparison points are the HD650, HD800, the older HE5, Grado HF2, and the O2. I can agree with the HE5-LE having a tinge of warmth but I don't see how it has a lot of body really which is actually a typical character of the orthodynamic drivers. I seem to detect this leanness in various vintage orthos other than the YH-1000 that I've tried in meets.
 
And in the case that I was not being clear enough, I do like what I'm hearing with the HE5-LE although it's not a sound that I'm looking for if you get what I mean.

 

[Solude]

Wow I guess the HE-5LE is harder to amp than I thought.  When I moved from the Concerto to the B22 the HE-5LE didn't change much if it all but the Senn 800 did so I assumed the HE-5LE though inefficient wasn't rough.  Anyway point being compared to the Senn 800 the HE-5LE is both darker, warmer with full body and a kind of softening character that comes from a pitch blackground.  It is easily the darkest of the 800, O2 and LCD-2.  If anything the 800 is lean with the O2 not being lean but next in line for body.
 
Given what I just experienced with the LCD-2, first pair shot, second pair awesome, I wonder if that pair of HE-5LE is defective somehow?  Or maybe the amp can't keep up the bass line, don't know.