I checked with the Linn Classik and I know what you mean. The trumpet does sound a bit nasal (more than on the HD650), it seems off key somewhat. The effect seems to be limited to the trumpet though, I don't hear it in George Benson's guitar or Johnny Hammond's organ on the last track. Do you?
The Linn Classik makes it sound worse, thinner and meaner. The Classik's headphone out is definitely not the best for the HE-5, I had to turn the volume up to 85 for a decent sound level (25 - 35 being normal for speaker listening, which I normally only do with it).
I'm curious to see how people will prefer the HE-5LE to the HE-5, and if this preference will be more or less "strict" (overwhelmingly one over the other). Perhaps some will prefer the HE-5's brighter sound? Who knows for now, but I'm certainly anxious to read about it.
With all these HE-5 sales, though, hopefully enough comparisons will be made from A/B as opposed to A/Memory (eagerly awaiting Kees' and others' iimpressions)... I wish I could participate!
Originally Posted by electropop /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whether a note is really C, or not. For instance.
Imagine you're a musician and your job for a project is to pick out notes off a certain track and write a sheet music of them. I actually tried this myself (haven't studied music really..) and with my girlfriend, who plays the trumpet and studies at a pop&jazz conservatory. I can't remember what I played. Might've been some jazz recording with real melodic bass-lines and trumpet. Either something off Hubbard's album "Red Clay" or "Straight Life".
Well, picking out bass-notes with the HD25s was impossible. You had to guess often and it went wrong. HE-5's are pretty good with bass-notes but the trumpet was tricky. At this point we thought if it was the recording or our ears that were faulty but then we changed to my speakers (Linn Majik 109s) and AKG 701s (and cheaper K514s) and suddenly it was a breeze, to her. She could pick out the notes and write a sheet music.
So in other words, for a musician or a person who listens to the music itself and not qualities of sound reproduction, the HE-5s aren't ideal. I would even say that they're not musical, because of this.
Sorry, i disagree. The HE5 accurately reproduces acoustic instruments, in my opinion. I have not heard the 702, so it may be better, but the HE5 is also very tonally accurate, more so than anything I've heard.
Originally Posted by tvrboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry, i disagree. The HE5 accurately reproduces acoustic instruments, in my opinion. I have not heard the 702, so it may be better, but the HE5 is also very tonally accurate, more so than anything I've heard.
Funny, I always considered them tonally off, as their IMO hot treble have a dip and peaks which make it seem very unnatural to me. Also, I've always felt that despite their hot treble, they don't seem as extended as other headphones I've listened to, which brings on my contradicting notion that the HE-5 seem ever-so-slightly on the dark side (is that possible?) Their bass also has room to be tighter. I think these factors do at times detract from their wonderful midrange. Hopefully the HE-5LE corrects these faults.
I think another thing to be considered is that - and this might be due to the restriction of planar headphones - they don't seem to do stereo imaging that well, particularly headstage. IMO they seemed less focused than dynamics. However their soundstage and out-of-head detail is superb.
Well Im having both coming so A/B should be fairly easy, and with same connectors the cables can be kept constant. Amps Mactone MA-300B, Hifiman EF5 and à pair of monoblocks.
Originally Posted by electropop /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, I wonder. I'm driving them via HE-5. I believe a source is more important than an amplifier in this regard. You can toss the amp away if it doesn't give you what the source is feeding you
But true, it can be the HE-5 if it's not letting everything through, but I don't think it's a matter of driving the headphone. Otherwise they're spot on, in every regard. K701s are more "pitch perfect" when run out of an ipod..
Tried via Linn Classik Music as a source, via its headphone out, HM-801 as source.. Not convinced enough that I should spend a big buck on a new amp+source...
Also, fine control and resolution are better with HE-5 when compared to K701s. This is something else altogether.
True, source IS more important than amp. But headphones (speakers) are the most important... and HE-5 are great headphones.
I reckon most dissatisfied HE-5 users actually had/have amp problems (or were impatient to burn them in properly). There is a valid reason why Fang contemplated on selling HE-5 exclusively in HE-5 EF-5 combo: underpower them and they can be sssssibilant, thiny, ordinary... Power them right and all your other headphones can easily hit the FS part of this forum. I think they are worth of investing in proper headamp upgrade.
...last weekend I've brought out my recabled balanced K701. Just to reevaluate why my previously favourite headphone was stashed away a couple of months ago... after half an hour K701 went back to the box - balanced HE-5 out of (tweaked) A-GD Roc are in league of their own.
I'm quite intrigued with HE-5LE. But I'm fighting my "itch" and waiting for comparisons from owners of both HE-5 versions with views similar to mine. If after month or two they will (still) rate LE as a substantial upgrade - I'll be again Fang's customer.
I also thought their treble was hot, although of very good quality. Bass wasn't as tight (or extended) as my other cans either. These were my main problems with the HE-5 sound-wise.
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Originally Posted by reorx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since these babies are planar magnetic, which I THINK is closer to stats than dynamics, why are they most commonly compared to the dynamic HD800 as opposed to similarly priced Stax offerings?
Which brings me to my next question, given that i wanna try the non-dynamic cans route for a change, would this the HE-5 (LE or not) be a better purchase than say, an 3030 or 4040 stax system setup? What would be the main differences between a Stax setup and this?
I have owned both the 303 and 404 systems, and the sound cannot be compared. First off, the amps in the 2 systems are anemic. So in comparison, they don't give the Stax a fighting chance. Using my SR Lambda Pros out of my BHKE was like a breath of fresh air compared to the 717 or 007t amps, but still did not even come close to the HE-5/EF-5 combo.
I don't believe that the orthos sound more like a dynamic than a stat setup. I can't compare the orthos to either, they are in a class all by themselves.
Hpwever, when deciding which ones to plunk my money down on, the 3030 and 4040 systems are not even close. The 2 stat systems are slightly thin sounding and the hedastage is forward. The HE-5's, while they could stand a slightly mire visceral bass, are a full headphone that have a terrific soundstage, and they don't "squeak" when you adjust them to your head.
The O2's when amped properly (and unfortunately far more expensively) would be be more of a contender.
Originally Posted by FauDrei /img/forum/go_quote.gif True, source IS more important than amp. But headphones (speakers) are the most important... and HE-5 are great headphones.
I reckon most dissatisfied HE-5 users actually had/have amp problems (or were impatient to burn them in properly). There is a valid reason why Fang contemplated on selling HE-5 exclusively in HE-5 EF-5 combo: underpower them and they can be sssssibilant, thiny, ordinary... Power them right and all your other headphones can easily hit the FS part of this forum. I think they are worth of investing in proper headamp upgrade.
...last weekend I've brought out my recabled balanced K701. Just to reevaluate why my previously favourite headphone was stashed away a couple of months ago... after half an hour K701 went back to the box - balanced HE-5 out of (tweaked) A-GD Roc are in league of their own.
I'm quite intrigued with HE-5LE. But I'm fighting my "itch" and waiting for comparisons from owners of both HE-5 versions with views similar to mine. If after month or two they will (still) rate LE as a substantial upgrade - I'll be again Fang's customer.
You feel the Roc works well with the HE-5? When I had the Phoenix and HE-5, the treble killed me. However, the burn-in time was not what I needed to have on them seemingly (Fang sent the second batch with almost no time on them compared to the first which had 200+ hours already which I did not know until after sending back). FYI, I could not do the K701 either due to brightness.
If you feel the Roc has plenty to offer the HE-5 in power, then I would consider the LE.
Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't believe that the orthos sound more like a dynamic than a stat setup. I can't compare the orthos to either, they are in a class all by themselves.
Originally Posted by tim3320070 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You feel the Roc works well with the HE-5? When I had the Phoenix and HE-5, the treble killed me. However, the burn-in time was not what I needed to have on them seemingly (Fang sent the second batch with almost no time on them compared to the first which had 200+ hours already which I did not know until after sending back). FYI, I could not do the K701 either due to brightness.
If you feel the Roc has plenty to offer the HE-5 in power, then I would consider the LE.
If you recall Tim - I had sssssibilance problems similar to yours from the very start with my pair and I was also thinking of sending them back. 250 or so hours later and two additional resistors in Roc things changed for the better. Much better.
In fact so much better that I'm reluctant to believe LE can significantly better "normal" HE-5.
HE-5 through Roc are my reference now. But you'd be surprised how intimate and warm can HE-5 sound through (maxed out) X-Can V2...
As for K701 which were my previous reference - they sure are "bright" compared to HD6x0, but I'd say that they are percieved "bright" because of their upper bass shyness. Good amp helps with that, balancing too. They are, to me, much more revealing and engaging. Compared to them, HD6x0 are like listening the same music but from the other room... nice but kind of detached... and I'am sucker for those ambiance cues and microdynamics. Enough said. HE-5, in my book, trounces them both - the music from AKGs or Sennheisers are for me now just headphony approximation of the real thing, and this real thing is quite believably presented through HE-5.
Originally Posted by Xan7hos /img/forum/go_quote.gif Funny, I always considered them tonally off, as their IMO hot treble have a dip and peaks which make it seem very unnatural to me. Also, I've always felt that despite their hot treble, they don't seem as extended as other headphones I've listened to, which brings on my contradicting notion that the HE-5 seem ever-so-slightly on the dark side (is that possible?) Their bass also has room to be tighter. I think these factors do at times detract from their wonderful midrange. Hopefully the HE-5LE corrects these faults.
I think another thing to be considered is that - and this might be due to the restriction of planar headphones - they don't seem to do stereo imaging that well, particularly headstage. IMO they seemed less focused than dynamics. However their soundstage and out-of-head detail is superb.
I don't believe that "hot" treble, or an overemphasis on bass or midrange is related to pitch tonality; rather it is related to the volume (or amplitude) of a given note.
As an example, selecting bass boost, or "Loudness" contour on an amplifier only changes the amplitude, not the frequency.
While I have heard many colored headphones, some of which sound terrible, I have never heard a headphone that can alter the pitch of a given note.
Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have owned both the 303 and 404 systems, and the sound cannot be compared. First off, the amps in the 2 systems are anemic. So in comparison, they don't give the Stax a fighting chance. Using my SR Lambda Pros out of my BHKE was like a breath of fresh air compared to the 717 or 007t amps, but still did not even come close to the HE-5/EF-5 combo.
I don't believe that the orthos sound more like a dynamic than a stat setup. I can't compare the orthos to either, they are in a class all by themselves.
Hpwever, when deciding which ones to plunk my money down on, the 3030 and 4040 systems are not even close. The 2 stat systems are slightly thin sounding and the hedastage is forward. The HE-5's, while they could stand a slightly mire visceral bass, are a full headphone that have a terrific soundstage, and they don't "squeak" when you adjust them to your head.
The O2's when amped properly (and unfortunately far more expensively) would be be more of a contender.
THANK YOU immtbiker. That is precisely what i was looking for. Wow, i guess that proves that the HE-5 is definitelty a top tier 'phone. I see an HE-5LE in my not-too-distant future. I just hope i can find sufficient amplification for them, as i doubt my current Millett Hybrid Max could do it justice.
Any other Stax vs HE-5 impressions? Ive been intrigued by the Stax Stat sound for so long, and then this bad boy shows up and shakes up the hierarchy tree.
Are they really THAT good? ( as in high-level STAX good?)
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