Oppo pm-1 vs Hifiman he-560 vs HD-800

[murphythecat]

I have tried the oppo pm1 for a couple of weeks and loved it.
 
I have heard both hd-800 and he-560 but cannot compare all three for any lenght of time.
 
I listen to a lot of electronica, IDM, poor resolution stuff like traditional music, jazz and rock.
 
Ive been living with the hd-650 and been very happy for 2 years but would like a change. The oppo pm-1 were definitely better to me then hd-650 and could be happy with those.
 
Just need to know what the hd-800 and he-560 could give me that oppo pm1 cant...

 

[WyldeBlue]

Okay, I'm guilty of resurrecting a slightly older thread, but I'm about to ask some similar comparison questions so I thought I'd chime in here. Now, I can't speak to the HE-560, and I'm so new to the hobby that I'm hardly in a position to offer authoritative advice--but I can tell you what I hear when I spin up the PM-1s and my HD800s on the same source material using the same amp. To my ears, the PM-1s have a bit "heavier" presence to them when you start getting digging into the lower frequencies; not over-emphasized bass or midbass mind you, just a general sense that there's a bit more oomph (I don't think it's the Burson amp struggling to drive the 800s either, but again, I don't have a well-trained enough ear to say definitively that this is so). The bass in both is definitely tight and snappy, but I find the PM-1s hit you just a bit deeper than the 800s do. Whether that's the PM-1's having a hump in the bass response curve, harmonics, or what-have-you, or the 800s being fairly neutral at that end of the spectrum (and perhaps, arguably, is therefore giving more refined and ACCURATE bass in the end) I couldn't say; but for me, rock, alternative, metal, dance/electronica, just sound a bit more alive on the PM-1s at the low end than the 800s do. Alternatively, the 800s resolve detail in the high end that the PM-1s approach, but don't quite deliver. 
 
I don't listen to a lot of jazz or classical or live recordings so I can't gush about the ultra-wide soundstage the 800s supposedly deliver; but they DO sound a bit more open and wide than the PM-1s do. Whether that's a good or bad thing is kind of immaterial to me personally; I don't find one type of presentation to be inherently better than the other, and imaging and instrument separation isn't so dramatic on the 800s that you're tricked into thinking you're sitting on a sound-stage with instruments playing at one end of the room vs. the other.
 
I will say that to me personally, I find the SUPER-huge elephant ear construction of the 800s slightly disconcerting. I know most people find the 800s to be about the most comfortable headphones around, but I guess that massive area of open air next to my ears just doesn't QUITE feel right to me. Again, is that good or bad...that's up to you, but you asked what one does that the other doesn't, and that's one area where there can be little argument--you have FAR more empty space around your ears in the 800s than the PM-1s. Personally, with my eyes closed, I can sense that extra bulk on my head and I don't fully care for it. So if you're super happy with your PM-1s in terms of fit and comfort, I'm not 100% convinced the 800s will feel like a step up, but they'll definitely feel like a different step entirely!