[preproman]

Clem,
 
Sense you have them side by side...  What's the pros and cons of each?

 

[swspiers]

  Clem,
 
Sense you have them side by side...  What's the pros and cons of each?

+1  It would be nice to have a recent comparison!

 

[Clemmaster]

  Clem,
 
Sense you have them side by side...  What's the pros and cons of each?

 
Of the 5LEs vs 6s?
 
Based on my most recent listening session with the two - which was on the Cinuas Converter -> Chord QuteHD -> EF-6 - I could say the following:
- The only pros of the 5LEs - vs. the 6s, not in absolute term of course - would be the darker tonality, which make it more like a in-studio sound vs a live sound. That and... the weight. That's it, really, the 6s is better in every other ways (technically).
- The 6s have fuller mids - which is readily apparent and not really expected because at the same time they are less warm/more linear; there's no mistaking here, switching to the 6s brings a lot more meat on the bones (technical), but less warmth (voicing).
The extension is better in both the treble (oh so smooth and well defined! I could use a bit less elevation but my somewhat warm source and the pleather pads can deal with that) and the bass. The sound is smoother throughout the whole audio band and the level of refinement is better all around. I always said the 5LEs are a bit "raw" in the treble (which doesn't bother me, it's even quite good for fast paced rock), here it's certainly not the case. The scale is bigger (wider, deeper and also taller) and the dynamics are better too. Note that this last point is quite new to me; you probably remember that I complained about the lack of dynamics with the 6s on the SA-31. This is no longer the case on the EF-6. Finally, the level of details is another league entirely.
 
The cons of the 6s would be the elevated treble that can be too much on poorly mastered rock tracks (or poor compression) and the linear voicing that might be too "polite" or "boring" for some people. While I certainly love some bloom and warmth in the sound (e.g. HE-500) I can never find the 6s polite in their presentation; not with that level of slam and dynamics! They are the fastest headphones I ever listened to, period.

 

[preproman]

 

[Joong]

However, when you drive HE-6, or LCD-2r2 with ordinary ordinary headphone amplifier, you can realize how great is HE-5LE!!!
He-5LE is simply the best headphone with ordinary hp amplifier like Lyr.
The sound is airy, textured, smooth, and deep and high.
They allow you to listen to Mahler with excitement ever with reasonably priced machine chain.
 
He-6 does simply demand too much resources, and personal R&D for identify a suitable rig among enormous opinions.
For example, gold traced voice coils are ok when they are exposed to high current out of speaker amp?
High current carries away gold molecules away from their location as in the DC connector operating in higher than 1 amp.
Higher current connect is therefore avoid gold plated.
Another point is that application of D-amplifier makes sense when connected to high inductive load of low impedance speaker which will act as low path filter so that final motor action will be the same as class A ?
But Can almost resistive 50 ohm load of HE-6 be the same case, which has far less damping factor than in case of inductive load?

 

[Biscuitz]

I did get to compare the HE-6 and HE-5LE on my Emotiva. Not the greatest setup for the HE-6, granted, but seeing as it was going to be my setup, I wanted to compare them on it and see if the HE-6 outshone the HE-5LE enough to warrant the jump in price.

Clem's assessment resonates much with my own. I'll just add to it by saying that to me, on the setup I used, the biggest most noticeable difference between the HE-5LE and HE-6 was the depth of the HE-6 versus the HE-5LE. The HE-6 seemed to take the sonic image of the HE-5LE and fan it out, layering it more openly and expressing it with much greater depth and precision. It was actually a bit unnerving to my ears, to be honest. I felt like the HE-6 traded in intimacy for live-like immersion. Which, depending on what you're looking for in a headphone, could be a good thing or a bad thing. For me, it was certainly fascinating and impressive, but I quite missed the more intimate feel of the HE-5LE.
 
So for that reason it was an easier choice than I had anticipated. I would say the HE-6 is the better headphone, technically. But to my surprise I seemed to quite like the more intimate feel of the HE-5LE. That's not to say I just like intimate presentations in general (I'm not an Audeze fan)...it's just that the HE-5LE strikes the right balance of intimacy, openness, and airiness for my tastes.

 

[Mambosenior]

The HE-6 also has a bit more extension on top. However, the HE-5LE without the thin films on the grills scales "almost" as well. As far as the bass, a enormous difference was NOT as apparent to me. Sound staging: the 6 is a bit wider but only as deep as the 5LE. I ran both off a 100w speaker amp.

 

[Joong]

He-5LEs are like home where I finally take rest after all trials with big expenses and considerable effort.

 

[davidsh]

Any recommendations on pads, mods, etc. Am new HE-5LE owner and I own an HE-500 as well (which is in for repair, kinda the reason i picked up the 5le). 
Right now I am rocking damping modded pleathers with slight veting, shelves down the treble quite a bid against the velour.
 
As of now, I can say this is not a bad headphone, but I look forward to see how it stands against the HE-500 after all.
 
I am using the Emotiva by the way.

 

[Clemmaster]

  Any recommendations on pads, mods, etc. Am new HE-5LE owner and I own an HE-500 as well (which is in for repair, kinda the reason i picked up the 5le). 
Right now I am rocking damping modded pleathers with slight veting, shelves down the treble quite a bid against the velour.
 
As of now, I can say this is not a bad headphone, but I look forward to see how it stands against the HE-500 after all.
 
I am using the Emotiva by the way.

 
The Emotiva will probably be too bright/aggressive for the 5LE. These have kind of "raw" treble rendering, which works great for rock but can be too much on bright sources.
 
The Alpha Pads do wonders with these cans for me.

 

[Mambosenior]

The 5LE is only bright if it's underpowered. I even had the thin felt circles taken out of the earcups to give it a brighter presentation. If you are used to the tubby delivery of the 500, the 5LE will give you better extension and may not be to your liking.

 

[davidsh]

I am used to my Stax Sigma and my Sennheiser Momentum atm. Both warm or even dark sounding. Prior to that I used my HE-500 and Lambda Signature most of the time. I prefer neutral, yet smooth and slightly euphonic/musical. The HE-500 is overly musical/warm and smooth in my opinion, but still good.
 
Am considering using my x-can v8p as pre amp to the emotiva (it's a tube hybrid, gives me volume control at my desktop as well). That combined with modded pleathers and the treble probably won't bother me.. But then there's the upper mids... might be overly dark, then..
 
I find the HE-5LE build quality a little shotty compared to HE-500 by the way. DIdn't expect that.

 

[Clemmaster]

What does shotty mean?
 
Is it an older build (rubberized mat grey) or the new glossy black with purple hue?

 

[davidsh]

It's the black rubberized one. I meant shoddy by the way, misspelled it. It just means fragile and not too good build quality in this case.

 

[beancounter0]

  What does shotty mean?
 
Is it an older build (rubberized mat grey) or the new glossy black with purple hue?

I assume it's a misspelling of the word "shoddy".
 
Shoddy was the name of a cheap fabric made by Northern profiteers during the American civil war; it was made by pressing scraps of recycled wool felt together.  It was a disaster, usually falling apart days after it was issued to troops.  If the troops were caught in the rain, their uniforms literally melted off their bodies.
 
The term passed into common usage to derisively describe anything poorly and cheaply made.  I heard it a lot as a kid, not so much anymore.  130 - 140 years as a slang term isn't bad.
 
I've got the later black/purple 5LE's; I think the build is just ok.