[campj]

Quote:

having sat infront of the drummer for many years n watching him tune his drums...
i marvelled at what a drumset could/should sound like. 
 
the skin, the tension, the woodframe, the drumsticks, the felt he taped on...the mic positioning...how its anchored down..the platform..n the various hi hats, its a mathematical monstrosity how it could be tuned..
 
but he methodically tuned it until he smiled... having convinced himself he had arrived at his reference sound,  a black art indeed.
i have no quarrel with that...as long as he keeps his beat

Epic post, I love it.

 

[maarek99]

Quote:

 Mids = 650s --> 500s -->600s

 
Agree with this. My 650's spanked the HE-500 in the mids. And now my HD800 is in a completely different league.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

i wish i had HD 650 still to compare to HE-500, but i think HE-500 have equal mids or better. both have great mids though, and depends on amping as well. LCD-3 better mids anyways 

 

[Uchiya]

That planar soundstage, ugh.  It kills me every time.  Love the clarity and resolution,  Hate the extreme panning that happens all too often - this did not occur on the HE-6 however.

 

[GoldfishX]

Thanks for the write-up! I had been looking at these two phones before and this is helping me in my decision-making.
 
The killer for Hifiman phones has been their look for me. Sorry to hear they are that uncomfortable. Too bad for them, comfort is something Sennheiser dominates at.

 

[Nimzerz]

As for the bad mid >> treble transition, this is one of the reasons why Jerg created the jergpads AFAIK. So, if you're not talking about stock he-500s, that problem should be eliminated.

 

[jerg]

As for the bad mid >> treble transition, this is one of the reasons why Jerg created the jergpads AFAIK. So, if you're not talking about stock he-500s, that problem should be eliminated.

 
I would agree though that the stock HE500s are weak in this regard, and so these are poor design decisions on Hifiman's part. It's not quite fair to compare a modded headphone to a stock one.

 

[Nimzerz]

I would agree though that the stock HE500s are weak in this regard, and so these are poor design decisions on Hifiman's part. It's not quite fair to compare a modded headphone to a stock one.

Yeah that was kind of my point; if they were considering the modded he-500s or not as part of these comparisons.

 

[pp312]

  i wish i had HD 650 still to compare to HE-500, but i think HE-500 have equal mids or better. both have great mids though, and depends on amping as well. LCD-3 better mids anyways 

 
 
 
This probably doesn't add much, but I remember moving from the 650 to the LCD 2 R1 and feeling it was in a different class altogether (though it still took me two weeks to wean myself off the 650's homogenous and seductive mids). However, I never liked the sound of the HE-500 and found it inferior to the DT880 Pro. I'd like to compare the HE-500 and 650, but I strongly suspect I'd prefer the 650. Jerg's mods? Well, the HE-500 sounded bad enough to me that I couldn't believe mods could rescue it, just as the Fostex T50RP sounded so bad I couldn't believe that could be rescued either. I'm happy to be proved wrong, but frankly, unless I develop a sudden and inexplicable aversion to the 880, I'm not that interested.
 
BTW, I'm not suggesting the HE-500 sounds anything like as bad as the T50RP. To my ears that baby is an absolute disaster unmodded.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

The he-500 is far superior to dt 880/990 series, its just a preference u have towards the others sound signature.

 

[cheuh]

The he-500 is far superior to dt 880/990 series, its just a preference u have towards the others sound signature.

 
What about HD600/650?

 

[pp312]

The he-500 is far superior to dt 880/990 series, its just a preference u have towards the others sound signature.

 
 
Hmm, not sure I can go along with that. The unmodded HE-500 has some significant problems. Subjectively there's a dark, echoey effect typical of ringing. I'm not the only one to complain about it. I've now had two HE-500s and found them similarly afflicted. It's certainly an effect I could not live with. Also the HE-500 has a very audible treble suckout which leads to the peculiar effect of dullness and sharpness all at the same time (this with the pleather earpads. The velours were too uncomfortable). The only ways in which I felt the HE-500 was superior to the 880 was a greater smoothness--less grain--and of course more extended bass. But then I listen exclusively to classical, and bass is not that important to me.
 
I don't defend the 990. I've never heard it. The 880, however, is quite astonishingly neutral and free of oddities once its treble peak is ameliorated. Yes, I wish it had the grainlessness of the HE-500, but the compromises are too great for me.
 
Plus the HE-500 is like a brick on your head. My neck muscles eventually called Uncle.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Yeah beyer better for classical.

U should listen to trance and dubstep and house to see what he-500 can do. Overall i still think he-500 better, especially off a good amp

 

[jerg]

   
 
 
This probably doesn't add much, but I remember moving from the 650 to the LCD 2 R1 and feeling it was in a different class altogether (though it still took me two weeks to wean myself off the 650's homogenous and seductive mids). However, I never liked the sound of the HE-500 and found it inferior to the DT880 Pro. I'd like to compare the HE-500 and 650, but I strongly suspect I'd prefer the 650. Jerg's mods? Well, the HE-500 sounded bad enough to me that I couldn't believe mods could rescue it, just as the Fostex T50RP sounded so bad I couldn't believe that could be rescued either. I'm happy to be proved wrong, but frankly, unless I develop a sudden and inexplicable aversion to the 880, I'm not that interested.
 
BTW, I'm not suggesting the HE-500 sounds anything like as bad as the T50RP. To my ears that baby is an absolute disaster unmodded.

 
The earpad modification I devised was specifically targeting issues with HE500's sound, mainly the midrange ringing and the poor mids->treble transition which, believe me, bugged me a lot. It's not some holistic crap branded as mods hoping to do something to a headphone's sound, and hoping it's more positive than negative.

 

[Nimzerz]

   
The earpad modification I devised was specifically targeting issues with HE500's sound, mainly the midrange ringing and the poor mids->treble transition which, believe me, bugged me a lot. It's not some holistic crap branded as mods hoping to do something to a headphone's sound, and hoping it's more positive than negative.

 
+1 I can agree that even JUST the damping holes was a large improvement on the midrange ringing problem.