[Seamaster]

Thanks Lary for the write-up. LE560 sounds very promising, I only wish it has little more warmth or body per the review. I love the new design of the headband pivots and joints. I do think the joints on LCD-2 is the weakest point for such heavy headphone. The LCD-2 were not comfortable on my head at all that was one of the main reason I sold mine.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

  No offense there brother but thats hard to translate as same level.

 
Well, we'd agree that what "I wanted to post" and what "I posted" are two different things.

 

[grizzlybeast]

   
Well, we'd agree that what "I wanted to post" and what "I posted" are two different things.

I almost said that too..

 either way thanks for the write up though. I find it very useful. 

 

[jerg]

  I almost said that too..

 either way thanks for the write up though. I find it very useful. 

My opinion has always been something like "HE560 is at least equal, but in many traits just flat out better, in technical performance compared to HE500; but HE500's more-forgiving tonal balance will still retain a share of its fans relative to the more neutral balance of HE560."

 

[Xenophon]

Thanks for this thread, it was a very interesting read as I own both the 500 and the 6 and both have their place for me, the 500 for jazz/blues and small ensembles, the 6 for basically all the rest (ok, and the HD-800 for the large orchestral works perhaps, provided recording quality is pristine).
 
I gather the 560 fall between both and you say they are closer to the 6 so I guess it *might* make for an interesting alternative to those who like the 6 but are not ready to make the substantial investment in a good (speaker) amp to drive them.  But as I already have the 6 and the 500 I don't see myself purchasing the 560 anytime soon.  And they're lighter and probably more comfy but I find the headband construction spit-ugly and am not a big fan of the teakwood or any wood for that matter as I live in places where both temperature and humidity vary widely.  Will try to audition them myself if I have the chance though.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I spent today listening to the HE-560 with my iPad Air headphone out at 80% and they were actually fairly good, although they sound less energetic and impact is a bit less than with a small portable amp.  
 
I've been telling people that they need about 1-2 watts of power to get the most out of them, but they really aren't bad at all when used unamped or with <500mw portable amps.  However they won't be nearly as impressive sounding as they are with even a little more powerful amp.  I told one person that my CEntrance HiFi-M8 with about 650mw at 35 ohms (estimate by another forum member) would be enough to keep me happy at a bare minimum.  But others could likely be happy with less, based on my experience today.
 
Fang is having a a new production HE-560 shipped to me this week, and he tells me that the bass is even better now with jerg's baffle mod.  I do have to ship my HE-560 back tomorrow, but the new set will be here soon.  I'll have more to post after that, but I will certainly miss them for the few days they'll be gone.  

 

[conquerator2]

I spent today listening to the HE-560 with my iPad Air headphone out at 80% and they were actually fairly good, although they sound less energetic and impact is a bit less than with a small portable amp.  

I've been telling people that they need about 1-2 watts of power to get the most out of them, but they really aren't bad at all when used unamped or with <500mw portable amps.  However they won't be nearly as impressive sounding as they are with even a little more powerful amp.  I told one person that my CEntrance HiFi-M8 with about 650mw at 35 ohms (estimate by another forum member) would be enough to keep me happy at a bare minimum.  But others could likely be happy with less, based on my experience today.

Fang is having a a new production HE-560 shipped to me this week, and he tells me that the bass is even better now with jerg's baffle mod.  I do have to ship my HE-560 back tomorrow, but the new set will be here soon.  I'll have more to post after that, but I will certainly miss them for the few days they'll be gone.  

That's great to hear.
That gives me even more hope that the Mstage can do well (400mw @64ohms, @32ohms is unknown but it should be more)
We'll be waiting for the fixed baffle version though Jerg does like it.

 

[Xenophon]

  I spent today listening to the HE-560 with my iPad Air headphone out at 80% and they were actually fairly good, although they sound less energetic and impact is a bit less than with a small portable amp.  
 
I've been telling people that they need about 1-2 watts of power to get the most out of them, but they really aren't bad at all when used unamped or with <500mw portable amps.  However they won't be nearly as impressive sounding as they are with even a little more powerful amp.  I told one person that my CEntrance HiFi-M8 with about 650mw at 35 ohms (estimate by another forum member) would be enough to keep me happy at a bare minimum.  But others could likely be happy with less, based on my experience today.
 
Fang is having a a new production HE-560 shipped to me this week, and he tells me that the bass is even better now with jerg's baffle mod.  I do have to ship my HE-560 back tomorrow, but the new set will be here soon.  I'll have more to post after that, but I will certainly miss them for the few days they'll be gone.  

I'm not doubting you but this really amazes me as iirc they're rated at 90 dB sensitivity, which is just marginally better than the HE-500 and -at least to me and playing music with high dynamic range but at moderate volumes- those need at least 1 W clean to sound good.  But ok, otoh it's said the HE-6 require 5 WPC minimum and I drive them well -not to their best- from my 2.75 W V200 so I guess anything's possible.

 

[conquerator2]

I'm not doubting you but this really amazes me as iirc they're rated at 90 dB sensitivity, which is just marginally better than the HE-500 and -at least to me and playing music with high dynamic range but at moderate volumes- those need at least 1 W clean to sound good.  But ok, otoh it's said the HE-6 require 5 WPC minimum and I drive them well -not to their best- from my 2.75 W V200 so I guess anything's possible.

I don't think it's that hard to believe. Minimum is about 1/2 of optimal.
Maybe single sided magnets are a bit more efficient when compared directly to similarly rated double sided ones.

 

[davidsh]

People still don't seem to understand how much listening volume varies from person to person, really. I mean even 5 dB  is very significant in power needed! Or am I off here? I see no reason why less than a watt shouldn't be able to drive HE-500 to it's limits assuming the listener just doesn't listen that loud.

 

[tinyman392]

I don't think it's that hard to believe. Minimum is about 1/2 of optimal.
Maybe single sided magnets are a bit more efficient when compared directly to similarly rated double sided ones.

Single sided magnets are not more efficient than double sided in general.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I'm not doubting you but this really amazes me as iirc they're rated at 90 dB sensitivity, which is just marginally better than the HE-500 and -at least to me and playing music with high dynamic range but at moderate volumes- those need at least 1 W clean to sound good.  But ok, otoh it's said the HE-6 require 5 WPC minimum and I drive them well -not to their best- from my 2.75 W V200 so I guess anything's possible.

Well, I did say it's not ideal, and I was listening in an empty house with medium volume levels, to things like Diana Krall Live in Paris and some Blake Shelton. Most of our listening should be done at 85dB or lower for a 8n hour session, or 95-96dB for a 2 hour session. I think at 100% the iPad and iPhine might just about generate that volume.

Like I said, it's not ideal without an amp, and even a low power amp like the V-MODA Verza Vamp will play with more bass impact than the iPhone and give volumes over 100dB. I found the V-MODA amp this morning to play about 5-6dB louder than an unamp'd iPhone 5s. And that power level (about 150mw) is still not enough to get the most out of them, I said you should have 1-2 watts to get the most out of them.

To me the span between "acceptable" and "get the most out" is pretty big. These were fairly good, so above acceptable or adequate. But fairly good isn't close to really good. So, I wasn't recommending unamp'd listening. But it sure beats an HD600 out of the headphone jack, which become dull & bland and lifeless from an iPhone that can't swing the voltage they need. I'd also rather listen to the HE-560 unamp'd than a Logitech UE4000 portable set any day.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

PS: my son uses my original HE-5 out his V-MODA Vamp Verza, and he's happy with the volume and impact even though those phones are much more inefficient. I prefer a bit more power than him, since my 52 year old ears don't hear as well as his. And my favorite amps with them are my EF5, ZDT, and EF6.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Well, I did say it's not ideal, and I was listening in an empty house with medium volume levels, to things like Diana Krall Live in Paris and some Blake Shelton. Most of our listening should be done at 85dB or lower for a 8n hour session, or 95-96dB for a 2 hour session. I think at 100% the iPad and iPhine might just about generate that volume.

 
I've always been curious what people consider to be their "nominal" listening volume.  95dB seems awfully loud to me for anything more than a one song blast, but without a way to actually measure there is no frame of reference so who knows maybe I've been listening this loud too and don't know it.
 
I got a little wild once and tried to see if I could drive my tube amp into audible distortion/clipping with my LCD-2's one, just so I could actually know where the limits were.  Found a bit of trance with a mean baseline.  I gave up before the amp ran out of steam, my pulse started throbbing through my temples somewhat alarmingly and I felt dizzy.  The electromechanical forces at work at those volumes are impressive to say the least.

 

[jerg]

   
I've always been curious what people consider to be their "nominal" listening volume.  95dB seems awfully loud to me for anything more than a one song blast, but without a way to actually measure there is no frame of reference so who knows maybe I've been listening this loud too and don't know it.
 
I got a little wild once and tried to see if I could drive my tube amp into audible distortion/clipping with my LCD-2's one, just so I could actually know where the limits were.  Found a bit of trance with a mean baseline.  I gave up before the amp ran out of steam, my pulse started throbbing through my temples somewhat alarmingly and I felt dizzy.  The electromechanical forces at work at those volumes are impressive to say the least.

I have phases. Some months I cannot tolerate loud volumes and enjoy very low volume listening. Other months I literally need it blasting to enjoy the music.