[Techno Kid]

Quote:

 
Neither can I. I'm pretty interested in your thoughts on the HE-500. As a matter of fact, Headamp has a 30 day money back guarantee if you don't like the headphones. You can buy one now, and have that safety blanket to fall back on should you not like it.

 
That's cool, I'll have to think about buying them through Headamp then.
 
I'm pretty set on getting the HE-500 because from everything I've read about them they seem to have the warm euphonic signature I'm looking for with my next headphone purchase.
 
I'm glad you let me know about the reason my HD600 driver had a little rattle in it and that I didn't have to exchange them.

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

 
That's cool, I'll have to think about buying them through Headamp then.
 
I'm pretty set on getting the HE-500 because from everything I've read about them they seem to have the warm euphonic signature I'm looking for with my next headphone purchase.
 
I'm glad you let me know about the reason my HD600 driver had a little rattle in it and that I didn't have to exchange them.

 
Yeah, I'm really curious about your thoughts on the HE-500..especially since I found them flawed next to the HD600. I'm also interested in hearing the HE-400, but after my experience with the 500 I'm not sure anymore. If you do get the 500 and find the 400 significantly different, I may still take steps towards getting it.
 
No problem about the rattle. It's one of those nagging things that can drive you crazy after a while. I got mine used, so I decided to give it a once over...so much hair and dust. On the upside, my pair look and sounds brand new now.

 

[Techno Kid]

Quote:

 
Yeah, I'm really curious about your thoughts on the HE-500..especially since I found them flawed next to the HD600. I'm also interested in hearing the HE-400, but after my experience with the 500 I'm not sure anymore. If you do get the 500 and find the 400 significantly different, I may still take steps towards getting it.
 
No problem about the rattle. It's one of those nagging things that can drive you crazy after a while. I got mine used, so I decided to give it a once over...so much hair and dust. On the upside, my pair look and sounds brand new now.

 
I'll definitely let you know what I think of them when I get them but why did you think they were flawed?  They're said to have a warm neutral signature not unlike the HD600 but the HE-500 has better clarity and better mids at least that's what I get from reading about them.
 
The HE-400 is also a great HP and I really like them.  A lot of people think the treble is to bright and harsh at times but I love the crispness of the treble and I hate harsh highs.  Mids are quite balanced but are just a touch recessed in the upper mids and nothing sounds better than orthodynamic bass imo.  I think you'd like the HE-400, it kinda reminds me of the GR07 with its bright highs and warm mids and bass like the Vsonic.

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

 
I'll definitely let you know what I think of them when I get them but why did you think they were flawed?  They're said to have a warm neutral signature not unlike the HD600 but the HE-500 has better clarity and better mids at least that's what I get from reading about them.
 
The HE-400 is also a great HP and I really like them.  A lot of people think the treble is to bright and harsh at times but I love the crispness of the treble and I hate harsh highs.  Mids are quite balanced but are just a touch recessed in the upper mids and nothing sounds better than orthodynamic bass imo.  I think you'd like the HE-400, it kinda reminds me of the GR07 with its bright highs and warm mids and bass like the Vsonic.

 
I compared the two in a head-to-head:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/656160/review-hifiman-he-500-vs-sennheiser-hd600

 

[BobJS]

Quote:

 
I compared the two in a head-to-head:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/656160/review-hifiman-he-500-vs-sennheiser-hd600

 
I have them both and if forced to part with one, I would have a very difficult choice..... I guess with a gun to my head, I would say goodbye to the HD600.  I love the HD600 as a great, great all-around phone, but I still find the HE500 technically superior and able to add that magic quality to whatever I listen to.
 
eke, looks like you're still kind of in your honeymoon period with the Senns.  I'd be curious to see if your opinions change (HE500 vs HD600) 6 months to a year from now,,,

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

 
I have them both and if forced to part with one, I would have a very difficult choice..... I guess with a gun to my head, I would say goodbye to the HD600.  I love the HD600 as a great, great all-around phone, but I still find the HE500 technically superior and able to add that magic quality to whatever I listen to.
 
eke, looks like you're still kind of in your honeymoon period with the Senns.  I'd be curious to see if your opinions change (HE500 vs HD600) 6 months to a year from now,,,

 
Definitely not honeymoon phase here. I hat the DT880/250 for a while before getting the 600. A week later, I decided to get the HE-500 to see what all the hype was about. I spent a good week with just the 500 before writing the review.
 
There's no doubt that the 500 is a great phone, but I find myself shaking my head at the comments on the appreciation thread.
 
There were a few songs I wanted to add to the a/b list, but I wanted to keep the review short. The songs that are there are somewhat representative of my library, and the HD600 simply works better for those types of tracks. I went into copious detail about my reasoning too. 
 
My two biggest gripes with the 500 are it's vocal presentation, and the incoherent soundstage. The vocals lack depth, and seem to try to compensate for that by boosting the region even more. The sound stage is equally strange, with its substantial width that is paired with the (maybe below) average depth and height. Binaural tracks are simply more convincing with the HD600.

 

[Techno Kid]

Binaural tracks sound very very good on the HE-400, I know that for sure.  
 
I don't know if I should just save $300 more and instead of getting the HE-500 just get the LCD-2 Rev 2 and be done with it for awhile.  First I need to get the Schiit Lyr amp before I get another HP but my little SMSL sApIII amp is very very good for what it costs, I'm quite amazing at the clarity they give the HD600 and HE-400.

 

[BobJS]

Quote:

 
Definitely not honeymoon phase here. I hat the DT880/250 for a while before getting the 600. A week later, I decided to get the HE-500 to see what all the hype was about. I spent a good week with just the 500 before writing the review.
 
There's no doubt that the 500 is a great phone, but I find myself shaking my head at the comments on the appreciation thread.
 
There were a few songs I wanted to add to the a/b list, but I wanted to keep the review short. The songs that are there are somewhat representative of my library, and the HD600 simply works better for those types of tracks. I went into copious detail about my reasoning too. 
 
My two biggest gripes with the 500 are it's vocal presentation, and the incoherent soundstage. The vocals lack depth, and seem to try to compensate for that by boosting the region even more. The sound stage is equally strange, with its substantial width that is paired with the (maybe below) average depth and height. Binaural tracks are simply more convincing with the HD600.

 
OK, different ears hear different things, I guess.  Funny you should mention binaural recordings.  Just yesterday I played the virtual haircut through all my phones (out of a Bifrost/Lyr) to see which one would present the widest and most realistic sound stage so I could plop them on my wife's head to have a demo listen.  My top rankings in order:
 
1. HE-500
2. T-1
3. Q-701
4. HD-600
 
When you mentioned "incoherent soundstage", it made me think back to my Westone 4s ...... I swear all those drivers in there get everything out of phase.....
 
Even though we disagree, nice write-up!

 

[eke2k6]

OK, different ears hear different things, I guess.  Funny you should mention binaural recordings.  Just yesterday I played the virtual haircut through all my phones (out of a Bifrost/Lyr) to see which one would present the widest and most realistic sound stage so I could plop them on my wife's head to have a demo listen.  My top rankings in order:

1. HE-500
2. T-1
3. Q-701
4. HD-600

When you mentioned "incoherent soundstage", it made me think back to my Westone 4s ...... I swear all those drivers in there get everything out of phase.....

Even though we disagree, nice write-up!

Thanks for the compliment.

I don't usually look for width, but the HD600 is easily as wide as the 500. Go to the hdtracks website and listen to the demos for Explorations in Space and Time. You'll see what I mean by coherence. The 500 might seem more wide and open on normal tracks because it focuses more on the extremes, and sort of forgets centerstage. I actually enjoyed the 600 more with edm due to the fact that the sound cues were more focused, instead of the more diffuse, cavernous sound of the 500.

When listening to the demos, listen especially to Stank and Groove.

 

[Techno Kid]

I've said that I think the Hifiman HE-400 is a technically better HP over all compared to the HD600 but the more I listen to the HD600 the more I think I have to take back that statement.  
 
I felt the HE-400 had better detail and clarity but now I think the HD600 has about the same amount of detail as the treble and mids started to open up more these past few days.  The bass is also sounding better because at first I thought the bass sound a bit sloppy at times but now it sounds much tighter and uniformed.  I think they both have about the same size soundstage as well as being equal in separation.  Imaging is the one that I can't quite nail down because on some albums the HD600 seems better while other the HE-400 sound a bit more cohesive in that area.
 
Imo both HP's are quite equal in terms of performance though having a different sound signature compared to one another.  Price performance ratio I think these 2 HP's should be right up there near the top and I see why there so popular.

 

[Beagle]

The HD600 is hard to beat for balance and neutrality. And in the overall scheme of things, it is one of the best headphones ever made.

 

[Techno Kid]

I ordered a nice silver cable for my HD600 so I'm looking forward to hearing the difference between the stock cable and these and I'm hoping for quite a noticeable difference.
 
As this is my first silver cable for anything I'm wondering what sound characteristics do they have?  I've heard it makes the highs more crisp and bright which is great for the HD600 but what other changes are there?

 

[claud W]

Quote:

I ordered a nice silver cable for my HD600 so I'm looking forward to hearing the difference between the stock cable and these and I'm hoping for quite a noticeable difference.
 
As this is my first silver cable for anything I'm wondering what sound characteristics do they have?  I've heard it makes the highs more crisp and bright which is great for the HD600 but what other changes are there?

Where did you order your cable ? I have original Cardas cable on my 600s and its so stiff. I would like a very soft supple 6 ft. one.  I tried contacting Toxic, but not much in the way of response. What is the best current cable for the 600s that fits my needs.

 

[Techno Kid]

Quote:

Where did you order your cable ? I have original Cardas cable on my 600s and its so stiff. I would like a very soft supple 6 ft. one.  I tried contacting Toxic, but not much in the way of response. What is the best current cable for the 600s that fits my needs.

 
I got it off ebay from a DIY'er and it doesn't look like a stiff cable at all and it has Cardas connectors.  It was pretty cheap at $100 for a silver cable and they have a 14 return policy so if its not good I'll just send it back.

 

[Ohnoitztotoro]

Quote:

I've said that I think the Hifiman HE-400 is a technically better HP over all compared to the HD600 but the more I listen to the HD600 the more I think I have to take back that statement.  
 
I felt the HE-400 had better detail and clarity but now I think the HD600 has about the same amount of detail as the treble and mids started to open up more these past few days.  The bass is also sounding better because at first I thought the bass sound a bit sloppy at times but now it sounds much tighter and uniformed.  I think they both have about the same size soundstage as well as being equal in separation.  Imaging is the one that I can't quite nail down because on some albums the HD600 seems better while other the HE-400 sound a bit more cohesive in that area.
 
Imo both HP's are quite equal in terms of performance though having a different sound signature compared to one another.  Price performance ratio I think these 2 HP's should be right up there near the top and I see why there so popular.

In terms of clarity I think both the HD600 and HE-400 are on pretty even. Overall the HD600 are amazing but I do find the imaging and separation to be technically better on the HE-400. The 600 has a slightly smooth, buttery cohesion of the imagery and instrument separation that causes the sound to be very pleasing. In return though, the details are a little more rounded and smoothed out so that details don't come out as clear. Just different flavors imo.
 
I will say though that the balance of cohesion and clarity on the 600 are great to me. With the HD650, the sound is amazing because those headphones produce even more cohesion that creates an extremely pleasing sound but sometimes... It's just too much butter spilling into my ears.