[LoveKnight]

Thank you doctorK53. I think I imagine somehow the overall sound of Yamaha YH-5000se like NS-5000 Yamaha speakers. I used to listen to an old model Yamaha NS-1000 versions and these speakers are very picky at equipments and synergy. The resolution and image were the two special things that I liked when I listened to a pair of Yamaha NS-1000 speakers version couple years ago. That combo I still remember was paired with an old version of Yamaha amplification that Yamaha recommends when paring with these speakers too. And the Dac was a handmade tube dac by the owner. That was one of the most beautiful memorial speakers audio chains that I ever heard. Now I know the Yamaha YH-5000se is a must have headphone that I have to buy now. I want to experience that feeling again but of course this time I have to match the synergy first.

​

 

[voja]

Four months have passed since YH-5000SE joined my life. Here is my 2nd impression.
If your time allows, please see my 1st impression. I do not repeat the introduction of my background, aesthetics, and fit and comfort.

The system:
Soundgenic (strage&player)
UD-505 (DAC)(AKM4497)
at-bha100 (tube&ss hybrid amp)
Belden 1850 (power tap)

Music:
Classical music (symphony, concerto, piano, strings, flute)
Japanse pop and rock (e.g. Kessoku band from Bocchi the Rock)

I have always used a 6.3mm single-ended stock cable because it is more universal than a 4.4mm balanced (stock) cable, hence more convenient to compare with different headphones and try other systems.


1. Burn-in effect
I wrote the performance was seemingly stable after 10+ hours in my previous post. I should correct the statement. It changed drastically after 100 hours. In general, the sound shifted from lean to bold, from revealing to forgiving. The treble was harsh in the first 10 hours, though, the harshness disappeared soon. After two months (= 100 hrs), the sound image turned bigger. E.g., a solo violin on the stage appeared as a small dot at first, but now it is a larger circle. More presence. Vocals came a bit closer to me. The dependency on the source chain was a bit relaxed. At first streaming by a smartphone with Bluetooth connection felt empty, but now it is so-so and enough to enjoy videos.
From the beginning, they had good resolution, separation, and sound imaging. Its very high performance in reproducing natural sound images has been stable since the open-box to now. My priority for audio gear is an orchestra in concert halls. At the sheet of a good concert hall I can listen to the united sound of many instruments on the stage as an organism, while if I focus on a specific player, it is also possible to pick it up and enjoy his/her unique skill in detail (which psychologists call cocktail party effect). YH-5000SE makes this experience at a high level. I have not found changes in frequency balance. Crisp highs, clear mids, and tight lows.


2. Pads
YH-5000SE, as an SE package, includes two sets of pads; leather and suede. The latter is Toray's proprietary Ultrasuede. Both of them have a very good touch. My impression of the two is similar to many others. Leather pads have clearer sound, tighter bass, and more precise positioning. Suede pads give a more relaxed atmosphere. The edge of the sound image is a bit vague. Consonants are heard well with leather pads while the echo of choral in a church is more enjoyable with the suede pads. If the leather pad is spicy Thai curry, the suede pad is CoCo Ichi's. My personal preference (ah, of course, everything here is my personal something) is leather for most of the music because I'd like to see precise positioning and a clear presence of each instrument in an orchestra. Suede pads may be good for choral, some female vocals, and BGM. In summer may be good as well.


3. Dependency
YH is a sensitive tool. You need your favorite gear, an appropriate volume level, and a quiet room.

(1) Chain
I agree with others' comments. It changes a lot with coupled devices. I use at-bha100 hybrid amp as my main gear. The amp gives a slight tube effect and adjusts the balance of the scattered sounds. With YH-5000SE, vocals are recessed a bit. It is no problem for me because I enjoy instruments even when listening to pop and rock. The DAC, UD-505, is also a good headphone amp. I use it instead of AT in summer because the tube amp is too hot. Everything comes closer and more visible with a clearer edge. I also tried ADI-2 Pro. Then mids, especially vocals, came forward. I can watch the tongue of the vocalists. YH was sensitive to DSP features. XbassII of ifi gryphon was quite effective. The headphones simply give me what they received. I can enjoy the sounds of my favorite gear.

(2) Volume
Normally there is no "volume" section in a headphone review. But I think the performance of YH depends on the volume a lot. It may be true for other headphones, e.g., Sennheiser wrote HD800s shows good performance in low or middle volume, not in a high volume in its manual. The same can be said for YH. I prefer relatively low volume (I seldom turn the nob over 9 o'clock), but when I tried larger volume, the treble becomes harsh early followed by a feeling of overall distortion. Since its arrival on audio shows last year, impressions were polarized and the problem of treble has been reported repeatedly. A user on Japanese Twitter says he needed lots of effort to control distortion while others say YH shows faithful sound reproduction effortlessly. I guess the difference in loudness is part of the reason for the diversified comments.

(3) Room
YH-5000SE is very open even among open-back headphones, such as HD800s, ClearMG, and TH909. Its almost ZERO insulation is similar to ATH-R70x. You can hear any sound outside, including noise from electric devices. Audition in a crowded audio show is the worst environment to judge its performance unless you use a very loud volume. (yet high volume is not suitable for YH in my opinion as mentioned above). For my lifestyle, it is OK because I enjoy music early in the morning before my family wakes up. For the same reason, mobile use is almost impossible even though its cable termination is suitable for a DAP (3.5mm + 6.3mm adapter, 4.4mm balanced).


4. Comparison
I have HD800s in my hands. As in my previous post, I auditioned several other expensive headphones in e-earphone Akihabara and compared them hand-by-hand. The sysmte was: PC(FLAC&DSD)-aune X18-Benchmark HPA4. Around 10 minutes for each. Here is my note of the impressions of those headphones in comparison to YH. If you are familiar with one of them, e.g., D8000, just turn the words opposite, and then you get my impression of Yamaha against Final.

(1) One-by-one impressions

HD800s
- The headband is a bit harder, but fit and comfort are good enough.
- Wider sound stage in all directions. Far. Rear sheet of a concert hall.
- Less bass impact. More transparent highs. Similar resolution.
- Monocrome and drier. Less realistic.
- Overall impression of HD800s is the closest to YH among the tested headphones.

D8000
- Heavy. The headband does not fit well on my head.
- The sound stage is a bit smaller. Vocals closer.
- Similar or a bit higher level of reality and resolution
- Heavier sound, punchy bass. Pizzicato of contrabass is excellent.
- Some limit was felt in highs.

LCD5
- Good fit. Lighter than expected. Similar insulation (= almost zero).
- Slightly less resolution and reality
- More punchy bass than D8000
- Soundstage is deep. Positioning is far. A similar level of precision.
- Drier feeling, more reference side

Empyrean
- Very comfortable in a different way
- Narrower sound stage. Vocals in front of my face. My head in the piano.
- Resolution is sacrificed a bit
- No harshness even in the "s" sound.
- Smooth, wet, warm, and elegant. Especially bass

Elite
- Good fit and comfort
- Wetter than YH, drier than Empyrean
- Similar level of resolution. The echo in the hall is visible.
- A bit narrower sound stage. The vocal is closer.
- Similar impression in highs

Susvara
- Not a good fit on my head
- Surprisingly brilliant, transparent, and attractive highs. Crystal clear.
- May not be suitable for a long listening
- Much less bass. (Limitation of the amp?)
- Piano sounds a bit artificial.

I wrote "a bit" or "slightly" many times. The difference may be clear for a skilled audiophile, but as a beginner of Head-fi I should say all of the headphones were very good in most of the aspects. We are lucky to live when a variety of those excellent headphones are available (though not affordable). In e-earphone, I tested D8000pro as well, but it requires too loud volume to show its performance and it was not tolerable for me. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to audition for Utopia, Stealth/Expanse, or Stax. Someday I will make a chance.

(2) Rank
For your convenience of interpretation of my comment and bias, I arranged in order the headphones in different criteria based on my subjective judgment.

Number one
Punchy bass: LCD5
Brilliant treble: SUSVARA
Warm&smooth : Empyrean
Sound image: YH-5000SE
Resolution: D8000
Balance: ELITE

Sound stage <Wide>HD800s, LCD5, YH-5000SE, Susbara, D8000, Elite, Empyrean <Narrow>
Resolution <High>D8000, YH-5000SE = Elite = HD800s, Susbara = LCD5, Empyrean<low>
Frequency <Treble-centric> Susbara, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Elite, D8000, Empyrean, LCD5 <Bass-centric>
Humidity<Dry>LCD5, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Susbara, Elite, D8000, Empyrean <Wet>
Temperature<Warm>Empyrean, D8000, Elite, YH-5000SE, LCD5, Susvara, HD800s<Cool>
Reality<Natural>YH-5000SE, D8000, Elite, HD800s, LCD5, Susvara, Empyrean<Artifiical>
Touch<Smooth>Empyrean, Elite, LCD5, YH-5000SE=D8000, HD800s, Susvara<Crisp>
Uniqueness<Universal>LCD5, YH-5000SE, HD800s, Elite, D8000, Empyrean, Susvara<Individualistic>

If I could have done this audition before purchasing YH-5000SE, I would wonder between Elite and YH. Now, if someone gives me one of them, I will choose Empyrean because of its opposite character against YH and its almost magical charm.


5. Summary

The overall impression has not changed from the 1st impression. This is a good machine that can work as both microscope and a panoramic lens. It demands a certain level of operation skill and patience of burn-in for the users. Among the headphones at a similar price, YH-5000se is good in some specific areas such as realistic sound image, resolution, and lightweight while not a top-performance in punchy bass, brightness, and width of the soundstage.
In a sense, the sound is very normal. No decoration, no exaggeration. Good music in, good music out.

Outstanding post!! Thank you Doc, once again. You always provide this community with quality and substance. I adore how you mentioned all the relevant details to make your already comprehensive impression post even more detailed. This is how you do it.

It's very useful for everyone to hear your thought about such a wide range of comparisons. Overall, A+++ for the quality of the post =)

 

[Nostoi]

Four months have passed since YH-5000SE joined my life. Here is my 2nd impression.
If your time allows, please see my 1st impression. I do not repeat the introduction of my background, aesthetics, and fit and comfort.

The system:
Soundgenic (strage&player)
UD-505 (DAC)(AKM4497)
at-bha100 (tube&ss hybrid amp)
Belden 1850 (power tap)

Music:
Classical music (symphony, concerto, piano, strings, flute)
Japanse pop and rock (e.g. Kessoku band from Bocchi the Rock)

I have always used a 6.3mm single-ended stock cable because it is more universal than a 4.4mm balanced (stock) cable, hence more convenient to compare with different headphones and try other systems.


1. Burn-in effect
I wrote the performance was seemingly stable after 10+ hours in my previous post. I should correct the statement. It changed drastically after 100 hours. In general, the sound shifted from lean to bold, from revealing to forgiving. The treble was harsh in the first 10 hours, though, the harshness disappeared soon. After two months (= 100 hrs), the sound image turned bigger. E.g., a solo violin on the stage appeared as a small dot at first, but now it is a larger circle. More presence. Vocals came a bit closer to me. The dependency on the source chain was a bit relaxed. At first streaming by a smartphone with Bluetooth connection felt empty, but now it is so-so and enough to enjoy videos.
From the beginning, they had good resolution, separation, and sound imaging. Its very high performance in reproducing natural sound images has been stable since the open-box to now. My priority for audio gear is an orchestra in concert halls. At the sheet of a good concert hall I can listen to the united sound of many instruments on the stage as an organism, while if I focus on a specific player, it is also possible to pick it up and enjoy his/her unique skill in detail (which psychologists call cocktail party effect). YH-5000SE makes this experience at a high level. I have not found changes in frequency balance. Crisp highs, clear mids, and tight lows.


2. Pads
YH-5000SE, as an SE package, includes two sets of pads; leather and suede. The latter is Toray's proprietary Ultrasuede. Both of them have a very good touch. My impression of the two is similar to many others. Leather pads have clearer sound, tighter bass, and more precise positioning. Suede pads give a more relaxed atmosphere. The edge of the sound image is a bit vague. Consonants are heard well with leather pads while the echo of choral in a church is more enjoyable with the suede pads. If the leather pad is spicy Thai curry, the suede pad is CoCo Ichi's. My personal preference (ah, of course, everything here is my personal something) is leather for most of the music because I'd like to see precise positioning and a clear presence of each instrument in an orchestra. Suede pads may be good for choral, some female vocals, and BGM. In summer may be good as well.


3. Dependency
YH is a sensitive tool. You need your favorite gear, an appropriate volume level, and a quiet room.

(1) Chain
I agree with others' comments. It changes a lot with coupled devices. I use at-bha100 hybrid amp as my main gear. The amp gives a slight tube effect and adjusts the balance of the scattered sounds. With YH-5000SE, vocals are recessed a bit. It is no problem for me because I enjoy instruments even when listening to pop and rock. The DAC, UD-505, is also a good headphone amp. I use it instead of AT in summer because the tube amp is too hot. Everything comes closer and more visible with a clearer edge. I also tried ADI-2 Pro. Then mids, especially vocals, came forward. I can watch the tongue of the vocalists. YH was sensitive to DSP features. XbassII of ifi gryphon was quite effective. The headphones simply give me what they received. I can enjoy the sounds of my favorite gear.

(2) Volume
Normally there is no "volume" section in a headphone review. But I think the performance of YH depends on the volume a lot. It may be true for other headphones, e.g., Sennheiser wrote HD800s shows good performance in low or middle volume, not in a high volume in its manual. The same can be said for YH. I prefer relatively low volume (I seldom turn the nob over 9 o'clock), but when I tried larger volume, the treble becomes harsh early followed by a feeling of overall distortion. Since its arrival on audio shows last year, impressions were polarized and the problem of treble has been reported repeatedly. A user on Japanese Twitter says he needed lots of effort to control distortion while others say YH shows faithful sound reproduction effortlessly. I guess the difference in loudness is part of the reason for the diversified comments.

(3) Room
YH-5000SE is very open even among open-back headphones, such as HD800s, ClearMG, and TH909. Its almost ZERO insulation is similar to ATH-R70x. You can hear any sound outside, including noise from electric devices. Audition in a crowded audio show is the worst environment to judge its performance unless you use a very loud volume. (yet high volume is not suitable for YH in my opinion as mentioned above). For my lifestyle, it is OK because I enjoy music early in the morning before my family wakes up. For the same reason, mobile use is almost impossible even though its cable termination is suitable for a DAP (3.5mm + 6.3mm adapter, 4.4mm balanced).


4. Comparison
I have HD800s in my hands. As in my previous post, I auditioned several other expensive headphones in e-earphone Akihabara and compared them hand-by-hand. The sysmte was: PC(FLAC&DSD)-aune X18-Benchmark HPA4. Around 10 minutes for each. Here is my note of the impressions of those headphones in comparison to YH. If you are familiar with one of them, e.g., D8000, just turn the words opposite, and then you get my impression of Yamaha against Final.

(1) One-by-one impressions

HD800s
- The headband is a bit harder, but fit and comfort are good enough.
- Wider sound stage in all directions. Far. Rear sheet of a concert hall.
- Less bass impact. More transparent highs. Similar resolution.
- Monocrome and drier. Less realistic.
- Overall impression of HD800s is the closest to YH among the tested headphones.

D8000
- Heavy. The headband does not fit well on my head.
- The sound stage is a bit smaller. Vocals closer.
- Similar or a bit higher level of reality and resolution
- Heavier sound, punchy bass. Pizzicato of contrabass is excellent.
- Some limit was felt in highs.

LCD5
- Good fit. Lighter than expected. Similar insulation (= almost zero).
- Slightly less resolution and reality
- More punchy bass than D8000
- Soundstage is deep. Positioning is far. A similar level of precision.
- Drier feeling, more reference side

Empyrean
- Very comfortable in a different way
- Narrower sound stage. Vocals in front of my face. My head in the piano.
- Resolution is sacrificed a bit
- No harshness even in the "s" sound.
- Smooth, wet, warm, and elegant. Especially bass

Elite
- Good fit and comfort
- Wetter than YH, drier than Empyrean
- Similar level of resolution. The echo in the hall is visible.
- A bit narrower sound stage. The vocal is closer.
- Similar impression in highs

Susvara
- Not a good fit on my head
- Surprisingly brilliant, transparent, and attractive highs. Crystal clear.
- May not be suitable for a long listening
- Much less bass. (Limitation of the amp?)
- Piano sounds a bit artificial.

I wrote "a bit" or "slightly" many times. The difference may be clear for a skilled audiophile, but as a beginner of Head-fi I should say all of the headphones were very good in most of the aspects. We are lucky to live when a variety of those excellent headphones are available (though not affordable). In e-earphone, I tested D8000pro as well, but it requires too loud volume to show its performance and it was not tolerable for me. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to audition for Utopia, Stealth/Expanse, or Stax. Someday I will make a chance.

(2) Rank
For your convenience of interpretation of my comment and bias, I arranged in order the headphones in different criteria based on my subjective judgment.

Number one
Punchy bass: LCD5
Brilliant treble: SUSVARA
Warm&smooth : Empyrean
Sound image: YH-5000SE
Resolution: D8000
Balance: ELITE

Sound stage <Wide>HD800s, LCD5, YH-5000SE, Susbara, D8000, Elite, Empyrean <Narrow>
Resolution <High>D8000, YH-5000SE = Elite = HD800s, Susbara = LCD5, Empyrean<low>
Frequency <Treble-centric> Susbara, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Elite, D8000, Empyrean, LCD5 <Bass-centric>
Humidity<Dry>LCD5, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Susbara, Elite, D8000, Empyrean <Wet>
Temperature<Warm>Empyrean, D8000, Elite, YH-5000SE, LCD5, Susvara, HD800s<Cool>
Reality<Natural>YH-5000SE, D8000, Elite, HD800s, LCD5, Susvara, Empyrean<Artifiical>
Touch<Smooth>Empyrean, Elite, LCD5, YH-5000SE=D8000, HD800s, Susvara<Crisp>
Uniqueness<Universal>LCD5, YH-5000SE, HD800s, Elite, D8000, Empyrean, Susvara<Individualistic>

If I could have done this audition before purchasing YH-5000SE, I would wonder between Elite and YH. Now, if someone gives me one of them, I will choose Empyrean because of its opposite character against YH and its almost magical charm.


5. Summary

The overall impression has not changed from the 1st impression. This is a good machine that can work as both microscope and a panoramic lens. It demands a certain level of operation skill and patience of burn-in for the users. Among the headphones at a similar price, YH-5000se is good in some specific areas such as realistic sound image, resolution, and lightweight while not a top-performance in punchy bass, brightness, and width of the soundstage.
In a sense, the sound is very normal. No decoration, no exaggeration. Good music in, good music out.

Yes. Simply exemplary set of impressions/comparisons. This should be bookmarked/pinned as a model of clarity, precision, and organizational coherence which we should all aspire to!

 

[leylandi]

Four months have passed since YH-5000SE joined my life. Here is my 2nd impression.
If your time allows, please see my 1st impression. I do not repeat the introduction of my background, aesthetics, and fit and comfort.

The system:
Soundgenic (strage&player)
UD-505 (DAC)(AKM4497)
at-bha100 (tube&ss hybrid amp)
Belden 1850 (power tap)

Music:
Classical music (symphony, concerto, piano, strings, flute)
Japanse pop and rock (e.g. Kessoku band from Bocchi the Rock)

I have always used a 6.3mm single-ended stock cable because it is more universal than a 4.4mm balanced (stock) cable, hence more convenient to compare with different headphones and try other systems.


1. Burn-in effect
I wrote the performance was seemingly stable after 10+ hours in my previous post. I should correct the statement. It changed drastically after 100 hours. In general, the sound shifted from lean to bold, from revealing to forgiving. The treble was harsh in the first 10 hours, though, the harshness disappeared soon. After two months (= 100 hrs), the sound image turned bigger. E.g., a solo violin on the stage appeared as a small dot at first, but now it is a larger circle. More presence. Vocals came a bit closer to me. The dependency on the source chain was a bit relaxed. At first streaming by a smartphone with Bluetooth connection felt empty, but now it is so-so and enough to enjoy videos.
From the beginning, they had good resolution, separation, and sound imaging. Its very high performance in reproducing natural sound images has been stable since the open-box to now. My priority for audio gear is an orchestra in concert halls. At the sheet of a good concert hall I can listen to the united sound of many instruments on the stage as an organism, while if I focus on a specific player, it is also possible to pick it up and enjoy his/her unique skill in detail (which psychologists call cocktail party effect). YH-5000SE makes this experience at a high level. I have not found changes in frequency balance. Crisp highs, clear mids, and tight lows.


2. Pads
YH-5000SE, as an SE package, includes two sets of pads; leather and suede. The latter is Toray's proprietary Ultrasuede. Both of them have a very good touch. My impression of the two is similar to many others. Leather pads have clearer sound, tighter bass, and more precise positioning. Suede pads give a more relaxed atmosphere. The edge of the sound image is a bit vague. Consonants are heard well with leather pads while the echo of choral in a church is more enjoyable with the suede pads. If the leather pad is spicy Thai curry, the suede pad is CoCo Ichi's. My personal preference (ah, of course, everything here is my personal something) is leather for most of the music because I'd like to see precise positioning and a clear presence of each instrument in an orchestra. Suede pads may be good for choral, some female vocals, and BGM. In summer may be good as well.


3. Dependency
YH is a sensitive tool. You need your favorite gear, an appropriate volume level, and a quiet room.

(1) Chain
I agree with others' comments. It changes a lot with coupled devices. I use at-bha100 hybrid amp as my main gear. The amp gives a slight tube effect and adjusts the balance of the scattered sounds. With YH-5000SE, vocals are recessed a bit. It is no problem for me because I enjoy instruments even when listening to pop and rock. The DAC, UD-505, is also a good headphone amp. I use it instead of AT in summer because the tube amp is too hot. Everything comes closer and more visible with a clearer edge. I also tried ADI-2 Pro. Then mids, especially vocals, came forward. I can watch the tongue of the vocalists. YH was sensitive to DSP features. XbassII of ifi gryphon was quite effective. The headphones simply give me what they received. I can enjoy the sounds of my favorite gear.

(2) Volume
Normally there is no "volume" section in a headphone review. But I think the performance of YH depends on the volume a lot. It may be true for other headphones, e.g., Sennheiser wrote HD800s shows good performance in low or middle volume, not in a high volume in its manual. The same can be said for YH. I prefer relatively low volume (I seldom turn the nob over 9 o'clock), but when I tried larger volume, the treble becomes harsh early followed by a feeling of overall distortion. Since its arrival on audio shows last year, impressions were polarized and the problem of treble has been reported repeatedly. A user on Japanese Twitter says he needed lots of effort to control distortion while others say YH shows faithful sound reproduction effortlessly. I guess the difference in loudness is part of the reason for the diversified comments.

(3) Room
YH-5000SE is very open even among open-back headphones, such as HD800s, ClearMG, and TH909. Its almost ZERO insulation is similar to ATH-R70x. You can hear any sound outside, including noise from electric devices. Audition in a crowded audio show is the worst environment to judge its performance unless you use a very loud volume. (yet high volume is not suitable for YH in my opinion as mentioned above). For my lifestyle, it is OK because I enjoy music early in the morning before my family wakes up. For the same reason, mobile use is almost impossible even though its cable termination is suitable for a DAP (3.5mm + 6.3mm adapter, 4.4mm balanced).


4. Comparison
I have HD800s in my hands. As in my previous post, I auditioned several other expensive headphones in e-earphone Akihabara and compared them hand-by-hand. The sysmte was: PC(FLAC&DSD)-aune X18-Benchmark HPA4. Around 10 minutes for each. Here is my note of the impressions of those headphones in comparison to YH. If you are familiar with one of them, e.g., D8000, just turn the words opposite, and then you get my impression of Yamaha against Final.

(1) One-by-one impressions

HD800s
- The headband is a bit harder, but fit and comfort are good enough.
- Wider sound stage in all directions. Far. Rear sheet of a concert hall.
- Less bass impact. More transparent highs. Similar resolution.
- Monocrome and drier. Less realistic.
- Overall impression of HD800s is the closest to YH among the tested headphones.

D8000
- Heavy. The headband does not fit well on my head.
- The sound stage is a bit smaller. Vocals closer.
- Similar or a bit higher level of reality and resolution
- Heavier sound, punchy bass. Pizzicato of contrabass is excellent.
- Some limit was felt in highs.

LCD5
- Good fit. Lighter than expected. Similar insulation (= almost zero).
- Slightly less resolution and reality
- More punchy bass than D8000
- Soundstage is deep. Positioning is far. A similar level of precision.
- Drier feeling, more reference side

Empyrean
- Very comfortable in a different way
- Narrower sound stage. Vocals in front of my face. My head in the piano.
- Resolution is sacrificed a bit
- No harshness even in the "s" sound.
- Smooth, wet, warm, and elegant. Especially bass

Elite
- Good fit and comfort
- Wetter than YH, drier than Empyrean
- Similar level of resolution. The echo in the hall is visible.
- A bit narrower sound stage. The vocal is closer.
- Similar impression in highs

Susvara
- Not a good fit on my head
- Surprisingly brilliant, transparent, and attractive highs. Crystal clear.
- May not be suitable for a long listening
- Much less bass. (Limitation of the amp?)
- Piano sounds a bit artificial.

I wrote "a bit" or "slightly" many times. The difference may be clear for a skilled audiophile, but as a beginner of Head-fi I should say all of the headphones were very good in most of the aspects. We are lucky to live when a variety of those excellent headphones are available (though not affordable). In e-earphone, I tested D8000pro as well, but it requires too loud volume to show its performance and it was not tolerable for me. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to audition for Utopia, Stealth/Expanse, or Stax. Someday I will make a chance.

(2) Rank
For your convenience of interpretation of my comment and bias, I arranged in order the headphones in different criteria based on my subjective judgment.

Number one
Punchy bass: LCD5
Brilliant treble: SUSVARA
Warm&smooth : Empyrean
Sound image: YH-5000SE
Resolution: D8000
Balance: ELITE

Sound stage <Wide>HD800s, LCD5, YH-5000SE, Susbara, D8000, Elite, Empyrean <Narrow>
Resolution <High>D8000, YH-5000SE = Elite = HD800s, Susbara = LCD5, Empyrean<low>
Frequency <Treble-centric> Susbara, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Elite, D8000, Empyrean, LCD5 <Bass-centric>
Humidity<Dry>LCD5, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Susbara, Elite, D8000, Empyrean <Wet>
Temperature<Warm>Empyrean, D8000, Elite, YH-5000SE, LCD5, Susvara, HD800s<Cool>
Reality<Natural>YH-5000SE, D8000, Elite, HD800s, LCD5, Susvara, Empyrean<Artifiical>
Touch<Smooth>Empyrean, Elite, LCD5, YH-5000SE=D8000, HD800s, Susvara<Crisp>
Uniqueness<Universal>LCD5, YH-5000SE, HD800s, Elite, D8000, Empyrean, Susvara<Individualistic>

If I could have done this audition before purchasing YH-5000SE, I would wonder between Elite and YH. Now, if someone gives me one of them, I will choose Empyrean because of its opposite character against YH and its almost magical charm.


5. Summary

The overall impression has not changed from the 1st impression. This is a good machine that can work as both microscope and a panoramic lens. It demands a certain level of operation skill and patience of burn-in for the users. Among the headphones at a similar price, YH-5000se is good in some specific areas such as realistic sound image, resolution, and lightweight while not a top-performance in punchy bass, brightness, and width of the soundstage.
In a sense, the sound is very normal. No decoration, no exaggeration. Good music in, good music out.

Thank You

LEYLANDI

Ps.lol

 

[jamesjames]

Four months have passed since YH-5000SE joined my life. Here is my 2nd impression.
If your time allows, please see my 1st impression. I do not repeat the introduction of my background, aesthetics, and fit and comfort.

The system:
Soundgenic (storage&player)
UD-505 (DAC)(AKM4497)
at-bha100 (tube&ss hybrid amp)
Belden 1850 (power tap)

Music:
Classical music (symphony, concerto, piano, strings, flute)
Japanse pop and rock (e.g. Kessoku band from Bocchi the Rock)

I have always used a 6.3mm single-ended stock cable because it is more universal than a 4.4mm balanced (stock) cable, hence more convenient to compare with different headphones and try other systems.


1. Burn-in effect
I wrote the performance was seemingly stable after 10+ hours in my previous post. I should correct the statement. It changed drastically after 100 hours. In general, the sound shifted from lean to bold, from revealing to forgiving. The treble was harsh in the first 10 hours, though, the harshness disappeared soon. After two months (= 100 hrs), the sound image turned bigger. E.g., a solo violin on the stage appeared as a small dot at first, but now it is a larger circle. More presence. Vocals came a bit closer to me. The dependency on the source chain was a bit relaxed. At first streaming by a smartphone with Bluetooth connection felt empty, but now it is so-so and enough to enjoy videos.
From the beginning, they had good resolution, separation, and sound imaging. Its very high performance in reproducing natural sound images has been stable since the open-box to now. My priority for audio gear is an orchestra in concert halls. At the sheet of a good concert hall I can listen to the united sound of many instruments on the stage as an organism, while if I focus on a specific player, it is also possible to pick it up and enjoy his/her unique skill in detail (which psychologists call cocktail party effect). YH-5000SE makes this experience at a high level. I have not found changes in frequency balance. Crisp highs, clear mids, and tight lows.


2. Pads
YH-5000SE, as an SE package, includes two sets of pads; leather and suede. The latter is Toray's proprietary Ultrasuede. Both of them have a very good touch. My impression of the two is similar to many others. Leather pads have clearer sound, tighter bass, and more precise positioning. Suede pads give a more relaxed atmosphere. The edge of the sound image is a bit vague. Consonants are heard well with leather pads while the echo of choral in a church is more enjoyable with the suede pads. If the leather pad is spicy Thai curry, the suede pad is CoCo Ichi's. My personal preference (ah, of course, everything here is my personal something) is leather for most of the music because I'd like to see precise positioning and a clear presence of each instrument in an orchestra. Suede pads may be good for choral, some female vocals, and BGM. In summer may be good as well.


3. Dependency
YH is a sensitive tool. You need your favorite gear, an appropriate volume level, and a quiet room.

(1) Chain
I agree with others' comments. It changes a lot with coupled devices. I use at-bha100 hybrid amp as my main gear. The amp gives a slight tube effect and adjusts the balance of the scattered sounds. With YH-5000SE, vocals are recessed a bit. It is no problem for me because I enjoy instruments even when listening to pop and rock. The DAC, UD-505, is also a good headphone amp. I use it instead of AT in summer because the tube amp is too hot. Everything comes closer and more visible with a clearer edge. I also tried ADI-2 Pro. Then mids, especially vocals, came forward. I can watch the tongue of the vocalists. YH was sensitive to DSP features. XbassII of ifi gryphon was quite effective. The headphones simply give me what they received. I can enjoy the sounds of my favorite gear.

(2) Volume
Normally there is no "volume" section in a headphone review. But I think the performance of YH depends on the volume a lot. It may be true for other headphones, e.g., In the manual of HD800s, Sennheiser wrote it shows good performance in low or middle volume, not in a high volume. The same can be said for YH. I prefer relatively low volume (I seldom turn the nob over 9 o'clock), but when I tried larger volume, the treble becomes harsh early followed by a feeling of overall distortion. Since its arrival on audio shows last year, impressions were polarized and the problem of treble has been reported repeatedly. A user on Japanese Twitter says he needed lots of effort to control distortion while others say YH shows faithful sound reproduction effortlessly. I guess the difference in loudness is part of the reason for the diversified comments.

(3) Room
YH-5000SE is very open even among open-back headphones, such as HD800s, ClearMG, and TH909. Its almost ZERO insulation is similar to ATH-R70x. You can hear any sound outside, including noise from electric devices. Audition in a crowded audio show is the worst environment to judge its performance unless you use a very loud volume. (yet high volume is not suitable for YH in my opinion as mentioned above). For my lifestyle, it is OK because I enjoy music early in the morning before my family wakes up. For the same reason, mobile use is almost impossible even though its cable termination is suitable for a DAP (3.5mm + 6.3mm adapter, 4.4mm balanced).


4. Comparison
I have HD800s in my hands. As in my previous post, I auditioned several other expensive headphones in e-earphone Akihabara and compared them hand-by-hand. The system was: PC(FLAC&DSD)-aune X18-Benchmark HPA4 (volume -47 to -50db. -30db only for Susvara). Around 10 minutes for each. Here is my note of the impressions of those headphones in comparison to YH. If you are familiar with one of them, e.g., D8000, just turn the words opposite, and then you get my impression of Yamaha against Final.

(1) One-by-one impressions

HD800s
- The headband is a bit harder, but fit and comfort are good enough.
- Wider sound stage in all directions. Far. Rear sheet of a concert hall.
- Less bass impact. More transparent highs. Similar resolution.
- Monocrome and drier. Less realistic.
- Overall impression of HD800s is the closest to YH among the tested headphones.

D8000
- Heavy. The headband does not fit well on my head.
- The sound stage is a bit smaller. Vocals closer.
- Similar or a bit higher level of reality and resolution
- Heavier sound, punchy bass. Pizzicato of contrabass is excellent.
- Some limit was felt in highs.

LCD5
- Good fit. Lighter than expected. Similar insulation (= almost zero).
- Slightly less resolution and reality
- More punchy bass than D8000
- Soundstage is deep. Positioning is far. A similar level of precision.
- Drier feeling, more reference side

Empyrean
- Very comfortable in a different way
- Narrower sound stage. Vocals in front of my face. My head in the piano.
- Resolution is sacrificed a bit
- No harshness even in the "s" sound.
- Smooth, wet, warm, and elegant. Especially bass

Elite
- Good fit and comfort
- Wetter than YH, drier than Empyrean
- Similar level of resolution. The echo in the hall is visible.
- A bit narrower sound stage. The vocal is closer.
- Similar impression in highs

Susvara
- Not a good fit on my head
- Surprisingly brilliant, transparent, and attractive highs. Crystal clear.
- May not be suitable for a long listening
- Much less bass. (Limitation of the amp?)
- Piano sounds a bit artificial.

I wrote "a bit" or "slightly" many times. The difference may be clear for a skilled audiophile, but as a beginner of Head-fi I should say all of the headphones were very good in most of the aspects. We are lucky to live when a variety of those excellent headphones are available (though not affordable). In e-earphone, I tested D8000pro as well, but it requires too loud volume to show its performance and it was not tolerable for me. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to audition for Utopia, Stealth/Expanse, or Stax. Someday I will make a chance.

(2) Rank
For your convenience of interpretation of my comment and bias, I arranged in order the headphones in different criteria based on my subjective judgment.

Number one
Punchy bass: LCD5
Brilliant treble: SUSVARA
Warm&smooth : Empyrean
Sound image: YH-5000SE
Resolution: D8000
Balance: ELITE

Sound stage <Wide>HD800s, LCD5, YH-5000SE, Susbara, D8000, Elite, Empyrean <Narrow>
Resolution <High>D8000, YH-5000SE = Elite = HD800s, Susbara = LCD5, Empyrean<low>
Frequency <Treble-centric> Susbara, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Elite, D8000, Empyrean, LCD5 <Bass-centric>
Humidity<Dry>LCD5, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Susbara, Elite, D8000, Empyrean <Wet>
Temperature<Warm>Empyrean, D8000, Elite, YH-5000SE, LCD5, Susvara, HD800s<Cool>
Reality<Natural>YH-5000SE, D8000, Elite, HD800s, LCD5, Susvara, Empyrean<Artifiical>
Touch<Smooth>Empyrean, Elite, LCD5, YH-5000SE=D8000, HD800s, Susvara<Crisp>
Uniqueness<Universal>LCD5, YH-5000SE, Elite, D8000, HD800s, Empyrean, Susvara<Individualistic>

If I had done this audition before purchasing YH-50000SE, I would have wondered between Elite and YH. Now, if someone gives me one of them, I will choose Empyrean because of its opposite character against YH and its almost magical charm.


5. Summary

The overall impression has not changed from the 1st impression. This is a good machine that can work as both microscope and a panoramic lens. It demands a certain level of operation skill and patience of burn-in for the users. Among the headphones at a similar price, YH-5000se is good in some specific areas such as realistic sound image, resolution, and lightweight while not a top-performance in punchy bass, brightness, and width of the soundstage.
In a sense, the sound is very normal. No decoration. No exaggeration. Good music in, good music out.

This is a great review, thanks. It's also good to see someone focusing on volume. I agree it's critical and can't really understand why it doesn't turn up as a topic of discussion more often.

 

[doctorK53]

I made a graphical chart of the comparison table in my previous post because it was not reader-friendly for smartphone users.

In addition to the order, we can find some more information from this chart. E.g., Empyrean often appears at the end of each row, D8000 and Elite can be found near YH-5000SE, YH-5000SE is often placed around the middle of each row, etc.

As an exercise, it is also easy to quantify their similarity. We can measure the distance of each model from YH. For example, the distance of D8000 in the "soundstage" criteria is 2 while it is 0 in the "resolution" criteria. If we calculate the average distance of all eight criteria;

D8000 1.6
Elite 1.5
Empyrean 3.6
HD800s 1.8
LCD5 1.9
Susvara 2.4

A larger number means it is far from YH and smaller means similar. The above result partly reflects my comment in the previous post on Empyrean, the opposite character against YH, and for Elite, I would wonder between Elite and YH because they are somehow similar.

Let me do another exercise. We can calculate the distance of each model from the center of the chart. Then, the result is:

YH-5000SE 1.1
D8000 1.2
Elite 1.0
Empyrean 2.5
HD800s 1.6
LCD5 1.8
Susvara 2.6

The larger number means more extreme and the smaller means moderate character.
The result suggests Elite has the most "average" character (for me, of course). It matches the fact that I ranked Elite number one in the "Balance" criteria in the 2nd impression post.

Please remember, everything here is based on my subjective impressions from only 10 minutes of listening for each model (except for YH and HD).

 

[FunkyBassMan]

Correct. Choose your favorite and enjoy the music. Well, I bought a YH-5000SE for a few days. I love it . Its sound is improving every day.

I spent a lot of time with the Yamaha at the Munich show and loved it. And the engineer representing the team who built it is a super nice guy. I listened to all the phones at the show and it was my second favorite headphone after the HEDD. I may still buy it.

 

[HiFiDJ]

This is a great review, thanks. It's also good to see someone focusing on volume. I agree it's critical and can't really understand why it doesn't turn up as a topic of discussion more often.

For me, I'll only mention it if it's deficient in one area. For example, if I'm talking about the final d8kp then i would mention that i think it performs best at higher than moderate amplitudes.

That and it's likely we all have different personal levels of perceived volumes. I know I'm pretty sensitive to what most people around me consider as "average volume" (ie. to me it's loud).

But if i were to share my own opinion of the yh5k, i think it's pretty similar to a utopia. Good at low level-listening, best at moderate levels, and OK at higher amplitudes (maybe a bit better than utopia). For best at low-level listening, the mysphere to me is best. For best at high-level listening, the d8kp to me is best.

 

[jamesjames]

For me, I'll only mention it if it's deficient in one area. For example, if I'm talking about the final d8kp then i would mention that i think it performs best at higher than moderate amplitudes.

That and it's likely we all have different personal levels of perceived volumes. I know I'm pretty sensitive to what most people around me consider as "average volume" (ie. to me it's loud).

But if i were to share my own opinion of the yh5k, i think it's pretty similar to a utopia. Good at low level-listening, best at moderate levels, and OK at higher amplitudes (maybe a bit better than utopia). For best at low-level listening, the mysphere to me is best. For best at high-level listening, the d8kp to me is best.

I agree it's wise not to be dogmatic about level when it comes to describing particular phones - the impressionistic component really is big here as you say. And it seems I may be a bit like you - my preferred levels seem a bit lower than those of others. I couldn't agree more that the MySphere seems to be at its best (and one of the best) at lower levels. But level does seem critical to me nevertheless - the appeal to me of certain phones depends completely on level - to the point that they may be exquisite on the right side of the line but unlistenable on the other. It's actually caused me to re-evaluate all the phones I own and the way I listen. I've certainly moved away from some and I've acquired some that didn't previously seem very attractive.

 

[jrkong]

Ok... here's what the cat dragged in! And it's time to pay the Head-Fi tax!

I put in a preorder for these with Bay Bloor Radio back in March and they got back to me saying that they got the only pair on the Canadian market with the price roughly 2 weeks ago. Due to some logistics issues they didn't arrive in store until today.

This lead up to a trip down to the shop where I spent 45 minutes trying out the competition before finalizing my purchase. That said, these pics aren't the genuine unboxing experience as I unboxed them at the shop and if I wasn't going to buy them these would be the in store display. Unfortunately they're mine now! With the backstory out of the way here are some of the notes I jotted down in my brain as I furiously swapped headphones and tested different gear. I'll start with the stuff that I eliminated and why right off the bat:

Stealth/Expanse: I only tried the Expanse because the issue I experienced took both off the table instantly. The shop didn't have anything that could properly power them and I could tell. On the gear they had on hand I noticed the channel imbalance that I tend to hear with DCA headphones when they don't get enough current to them. They definitely got loud but I could tell that they were lacking something that immediately told me that my gear wouldn't like them.

D8000Pro: These were interesting but I'm not a fan of their presentation of the sound. While they have soundstage what I heard felt like I had 2 speakers stuck directly to my head and lacked dimension and feel I enjoy. I can see some people liking this kind of presentation but not my cup of tea.

Meze Elite: These were great. I'm inclined to agree with Doc that tonally speaking they were the middle of the pack. They were technically fun and nice but they also felt a little stale for me. Comfort wise they were nice but the whole experience was ruined for me by something I'll go over later.

Utopia (2022): The Utopia (2022) was definitely the "safest" option of the entire group for me. When I started listening to them it felt like meeting up with a long lost friend. The sound signature felt like something that was extremely familiar and pleasant. Of the things I heard today, if I didn't grab the YH-5000SE I'd be walking home with a pair of Utopias. The Utopias were warmer then the Elites and had a nice clean presentation that stood out to me. The soundstage started out in the middle and radiated out but gave a nice and close feel which I have a tough time ranking it was a 3 way tie between the Utopia, YH-5000SE and the HD800S. After I got home I've been trying to figure out why I found them so familiar and looking at the frequency response gave me the answer right away, the HD650/HD6XX. Before the HD800S those were my main driver for years and the frequency response definitely explains the familiarity.

YH-5000SE: If I were to sum up my experience is, it does some weird and interesting things. Remember how I mentioned during the Elite part that the comfort experience was instantly ruined for me? That's because I wore the YH-5000SE right before. The moment I put them on they felt like they vanished on my head. Weight of a headphone never bugged me but when I don't notice a pair of headphones on my head, dang does it make a difference. Build wise the moment I picked them up they felt rugged compared to the others outside of maybe the D8000Pro which ties it. Before I get onto the sound I'll preface this with all of these impressions come from the leather pads only.

These were the first headphones I tried at the store being the star of the show and the entire reason for the trip. The first thing that my ears picked up on was "yep there's more bass then the HD800S for sure!" Of all the headphones I tried, if I were to go from bright to warm it would go like HD800S>YH-5000SE>Elite>Utopia>D8000Pro. Now having heard these for myself I can definitely see that they are going to be very polarizing. The "weirdness" that the frequency response showed manifests in vocals for me. The HD800S shine when it comes to vocals as they feel energetic, crisp and clear. Whenever I go from the HD800S to another pair of headphones I would need to acclimate to how they handle the vocals. Contrasting that something that has a warmer signature sounds more mellow and plays nice with the rest of the sounds around it. The YH-5000SE does neither of these. This isn't something i noticed until I constantly swapped between headphones but vocals are further back in the soundstage especially when I don't have the volume dialed in right and I found myself adjusting the volume around the vocals. Something that is especially exaggerated when A/Bing with other headphones is there is an odd quality to the vocals that remind me of when I listened to the radio when I was a kid. That issue isn't noticeable when I set the volume level around the vocals.

Sonic peculiarities aside the YH-5000SE is incredibly capable compared vs the competition as far as I could tell from my short gauntlet and there were a few minute details here and there in the few tracks that I tried that I noticed on the YH-5000SE first, did a double take, listened again and checked if they were there on the other flagships to make sure I wasn't crazy.

I'm definitely going to back up Doc on his sentiment that the YH-5000SE is the closest to the HD800S of all the things I've heard today. Everything else gave off the vibe that they are a product of the harmon curve whereas the HD800S is something that predates that era. That said, after testing everything the choice for me was between the Utopia and the YH-5000SE. The Utopia felt very effortless and gave off very familiar feeling. If I was looking for something that sounded like an existing sound signature that I already owned but with technicalities cranked up to 11 the Utopia would be that. It would be an easy choice that I would have jumped right into. On the other hand, the YH-5000SE offered the most unique sound out of everything I heard and it does enough for me to be happy with what I heard even if it doesn't improve over time but from the time I spent with it it felt like the Yamahas had the most to discover and explore. There are enough peculiarities in the YH-5000SE's sound that I can't tell if actual weirdness is going on or if my brain is so used to harman curve-esque/HD800S that my brain is getting over the system shock of using something new or if it's genuine weirdness.

On top of that, it has the makings of something that I can see myself growing to love more and more as my brain gets more and more familiar with the sound. Plus this is just the story if I only look at the sound. If we look at build quality and aesthetics the YH-5000SE wins by a mile for me. The first time I picked them up I thought "wow I won't have to baby these like the HD800S" not that I plan to use these roughly but they felt INCREDIBLY solid the moment I picked them up.

Wrapping things up, the YH-5000SE definitely aren't perfect and for everyone but they are definitely something unique and if they're something you enjoy it's something that you won't find anywhere else (yet???). For me, the deciding factor between the YH-5000SE vs everything else is I've got the HD800S and I've got harman curve and harman-esque gear. It's great and a very enjoyable sound signature but I've got plenty of gear that gives me that flavor even if it's not as technical. That's why I went with the more unique and interesting option that has the potential to get a lot better for me. It's a great pair of headphones that's definitely not a "safe" recommendation because it's so unique it's hard to compare, a safe recommendation that people would be familiar with would be the Utopias to my ears. It is a safe recommendation in the sense that the YH-5000SE have technicalities that can compete but it's got a unique sound signature that is different from what's on the market. It's definitely warmer then the HD800S so it's within the realm of neutral.

Expect more comparisons with the HD800S in the future and more updates as I use them more I've got around 4 hours on them so far. Enjoy the hastily taken pics from my cell phone and the HD800S for scale.

P.S. that is not a LOL
Nomex isn't wrong in the sense that these aren't a blind buy if you expect something within the harman range. If you're looking for something within the harman curve this isn't that and the YH-5000SE have some qualities that are hard to describe without something similar to compare it to. However that doesn't make them intrinsically bad or "bleh they aren't worth my time". From a technical standpoint they keep up and if that's all you're looking for in a TOTL headphone, they're a safe buy but it's hard to do the sound signature justice with just words when it's hard to find something to compare it to so try them if you have the chance! They're unique!

 

[up late]

^ thanks for your impressions, which i can relate to. i found the yh-5000se's sound signature interesting but i am somewhat ambivalent about it tbh.

 

[doctorK53]

Four months have passed since YH-5000SE joined my life. Here is my 2nd impression.
If your time allows, please see my 1st impression. I do not repeat the introduction of my background, aesthetics, and fit and comfort.

The system:
Soundgenic (storage&player)
UD-505 (DAC)(AKM4497)
at-bha100 (tube&ss hybrid amp)
Belden 1850 (power tap)

Music:
Classical music (symphony, concerto, piano, strings, flute)
Japanse pop and rock (e.g. Kessoku band from Bocchi the Rock)

If not mentioned, I have always used a 6.3mm single-ended stock cable because it is more universal than a 4.4mm balanced (stock) cable, hence more convenient to compare with different headphones and try other systems.


1. Burn-in effect
I wrote the performance was seemingly stable after 10+ hours in my previous post. I should correct the statement. It changed drastically after 100 hours. In general, the sound shifted from lean to bold, from revealing to forgiving. The treble was harsh in the first 10 hours, though, the harshness disappeared soon. After two months (= 100 hrs), the sound image turned bigger. E.g., a solo violin on the stage appeared as a small dot at first, but now it is a larger circle. More presence. Vocals came a bit closer to me. The dependency on the source chain was a bit relaxed. At first streaming by a smartphone with Bluetooth connection felt empty, but now it is so-so and enough to enjoy videos.
From the beginning, they had good resolution, separation, and sound imaging. Its very high performance in reproducing natural sound images has been stable since the open-box to now. My priority for audio gear is an orchestra in concert halls. At the sheet of a good concert hall I can listen to the united sound of many instruments on the stage as an organism, while if I focus on a specific player, it is also possible to pick it up and enjoy his/her unique skill in detail (which psychologists call cocktail party effect). YH-5000SE makes this experience at a high level. I have not found changes in frequency balance. Crisp highs, clear mids, and tight lows.


2. Pads and Cables
< A paragraph for cable option was added in 2023/June/05>
YH-5000SE, as an SE package, includes two sets of pads; leather and suede. The latter is Toray's proprietary Ultrasuede. Both of them have a very good touch. My impression of the two is similar to many others. Leather pads have clearer sound, tighter bass, and more precise positioning. Suede pads give a more relaxed atmosphere. The edge of the sound image is a bit vague. Consonants are heard well with leather pads while the echo of choral in a church is more enjoyable with the suede pads. If the leather pad is spicy Thai curry, the suede pad is CoCo Ichi's. My personal preference (ah, of course, everything here is my personal something) is leather for most of the music because I'd like to see precise positioning and a clear presence of each instrument in an orchestra. Suede pads may be good for choral, some female vocals, and BGM. In summer may be good as well.
YH-5000SE package includes two cables: a single-ended (3.5mm + 6.3mm adapter) and a balanced (4.4mm). After posting the 1st version of this review, using the 4.4mm out of at-bha100, I tried the latter cable for the first time (with sheepskin pads). The difference is quite impressive. Wider soundstage, higher resolution, and better separation. The bass is a bit punchier. The overall impression is more exciting and enjoyable. Joyful cantata of J.S Bach BWV147 with more joy, powerful end of Smetena's Vltava more powerful, brilliant flute of P.L Graf more brilliant. Some reviewers (including myself) mentioned the soundstage is not so big among the flagship headphones. However, probably, in most of the cases, 6.3mm stock cable was used. So it is good news that the balanced cable, which is already included in the "SE" package, is effective to improve the width. Well, though, I noticed that this difference is mainly that of the amp side. The amp, at-bha100 is the first fully-balanced tube/ss hybrid amp of audio-technica (discontinued, unfortunately). Its push-pull is very well designed. In conclusion, as I describe in the next section, YH-5000SE is sensitive to the chain. If the best connection option of your system is balanced out, it is certainly better to choose 4.4mm cable. It makes YH's unique character even better. When reading others' impressions, we should be careful about the cable option. When testing by yourself, if possible, it is highly recommended to try a balanced cable connection.
FYI: The difference between the two stock cables is only the termination of the amp end. Both of them are silver-coated OFC, 2m long. Some claim it is too short for in-room use, but for me, it is OK because I use a desktop system in a small room. Yamaha also offers XLR4pin balanced cable as an option. However, its price is more than $150 more expensive than 4.4mm even though the adapter is normal Neutrik's.



3. Dependency
YH is a sensitive tool. You need your favorite gear, an appropriate volume level, and a quiet room.

(1) Chain
I agree with others' comments. It changes a lot with coupled devices. I use at-bha100 hybrid amp as my main gear. The amp gives a slight tube effect and adjusts the balance of the scattered sounds. With YH-5000SE, vocals are recessed a bit. It is no problem for me because I enjoy instruments even when listening to pop and rock. The DAC, UD-505, is also a good headphone amp. I use it instead of AT in summer because the tube amp is too hot. Everything comes closer and more visible with a clearer edge. I also tried ADI-2 Pro. Then mids, especially vocals, came forward. I can watch the tongue of the vocalists. YH was sensitive to DSP features. XbassII of ifi gryphon was quite effective. The headphones simply give me what they received. I can enjoy the sounds of my favorite gear.

(2) Volume
Normally there is no "volume" section in a headphone review. But I think the performance of YH depends on the volume a lot. It may be true for other headphones, e.g., In the manual of HD800s, Sennheiser wrote it shows good performance in low or middle volume, not in a high volume. The same can be said for YH. I prefer relatively low volume (I seldom turn the nob over 9 o'clock), but when I tried larger volume, the treble becomes harsh early followed by a feeling of overall distortion. Since its arrival on audio shows last year, impressions were polarized and the problem of treble has been reported repeatedly. A user on Japanese Twitter says he needed lots of effort to control distortion while others say YH shows faithful sound reproduction effortlessly. I guess the difference in loudness is part of the reason for the diversified comments.

(3) Room
YH-5000SE is very open even among open-back headphones, such as HD800s, ClearMG, and TH909. Its almost ZERO insulation is similar to ATH-R70x. You can hear any sound outside, including noise from electric devices. Audition in a crowded audio show is the worst environment to judge its performance unless you use a very loud volume. (yet high volume is not suitable for YH in my opinion as mentioned above). For my lifestyle, it is OK because I enjoy music early in the morning before my family wakes up. For the same reason, mobile use is almost impossible even though its cable termination is suitable for a DAP (3.5mm + 6.3mm adapter, 4.4mm balanced).


4. Comparison
I have HD800s in my hands. As in my previous post, I auditioned several other expensive headphones in e-earphone Akihabara and compared them hand-by-hand. The system was: PC(FLAC&DSD)-aune X18-Benchmark HPA4 (volume -47 to -50db. -30db only for Susvara). Around 10 minutes for each. Here is my note of the impressions of those headphones in comparison to YH. If you are familiar with one of them, e.g., D8000, just turn the words opposite, and then you get my impression of Yamaha against Final.

(1) One-by-one impressions

HD800s
- The headband is a bit harder, but fit and comfort are good enough.
- Wider sound stage in all directions. Far. Rear sheet of a concert hall.
- Less bass impact. More transparent highs. Similar resolution.
- Monocrome and drier. Less realistic.
- Overall impression of HD800s is the closest to YH among the tested headphones.

D8000
- Heavy. The headband does not fit well on my head.
- The sound stage is a bit smaller. Vocals closer.
- Similar or a bit higher level of reality and resolution
- Heavier sound, punchy bass. Pizzicato of contrabass is excellent.
- Some limit was felt in highs.

LCD5
- Good fit. Lighter than expected. Similar insulation (= almost zero).
- Slightly less resolution and reality
- More punchy bass than D8000
- Soundstage is deep. Positioning is far. A similar level of precision.
- Drier feeling, more reference side

Empyrean
- Very comfortable in a different way
- Narrower sound stage. Vocals in front of my face. My head in the piano.
- Resolution is sacrificed a bit
- No harshness even in the "s" sound.
- Smooth, wet, warm, and elegant. Especially bass

Elite
- Good fit and comfort
- Wetter than YH, drier than Empyrean
- Similar level of resolution. The echo in the hall is visible.
- A bit narrower sound stage. The vocal is closer.
- Similar impression in highs

Susvara
- Not a good fit on my head
- Surprisingly brilliant, transparent, and attractive highs. Crystal clear.
- May not be suitable for a long listening
- Much less bass. (Limitation of the amp?)
- Piano sounds a bit artificial.

I wrote "a bit" or "slightly" many times. The difference may be clear for a skilled audiophile, but as a beginner of Head-fi I should say all of the headphones were very good in most of the aspects. We are lucky to live when a variety of those excellent headphones are available (though not affordable). In e-earphone, I tested D8000pro as well, but it requires too loud volume to show its performance and it was not tolerable for me. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to audition for Utopia, Stealth/Expanse, or Stax. Someday I will make a chance.

(2) Rank
For your convenience of interpretation of my comment and bias, I arranged in order the headphones in different criteria based on my subjective judgment.

Number one
Punchy bass: LCD5
Brilliant treble: SUSVARA
Warm&smooth : Empyrean
Sound image: YH-5000SE
Resolution: D8000
Balance: ELITE

Sound stage <Wide>HD800s, LCD5, YH-5000SE, Susbara, D8000, Elite, Empyrean <Narrow>
Resolution <High>D8000, YH-5000SE = Elite = HD800s, Susbara = LCD5, Empyrean<low>
Frequency <Treble-centric> Susbara, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Elite, D8000, Empyrean, LCD5 <Bass-centric>
Humidity<Dry>LCD5, HD800s, YH-5000SE, Susbara, Elite, D8000, Empyrean <Wet>
Temperature<Warm>Empyrean, D8000, Elite, YH-5000SE, LCD5, Susvara, HD800s<Cool>
Reality<Natural>YH-5000SE, D8000, Elite, HD800s, LCD5, Susvara, Empyrean<Artifiical>
Touch<Smooth>Empyrean, Elite, LCD5, YH-5000SE=D8000, HD800s, Susvara<Crisp>
Uniqueness<Universal>LCD5, YH-5000SE, Elite, D8000, HD800s, Empyrean, Susvara<Individualistic>

If I had done this audition before purchasing YH-50000SE, I would have wondered between Elite and YH. Now, if someone gives me one of them, I will choose Empyrean because of its opposite character against YH and its almost magical charm.


5. Summary

The overall impression has not changed from the 1st impression. This is a good machine that can work as both microscope and a panoramic lens. It demands a certain level of operation skill and patience of burn-in for the users. Among the headphones at a similar price, YH-5000se is good in some specific areas such as realistic sound image, resolution, and lightweight while not a top-performance in punchy bass, brightness, and width of the soundstage.
In a sense, the sound is very normal. No decoration. No exaggeration. Good music in, good music out.

Today I tried the 4.4mm balanced cable. To my second impressions post, I added a paragraph for the cable options as follows:

YH-5000SE package includes two cables: a single-ended (3.5mm + 6.3mm adapter) and a balanced (4.4mm). After posting the 1st version of this review, using the 4.4mm out of at-bha100, I tried the latter cable for the first time (with sheepskin pads). The difference is quite impressive. Wider soundstage, higher resolution, and better separation. The bass is a bit punchier. The overall impression is more exciting and enjoyable. Joyful cantata of J.S Bach BWV147 with more joy, powerful end of Smetena's Vltava more powerful, brilliant flute of P.L Graf more brilliant. Some reviewers (including myself) mentioned the soundstage is not so big among the flagship headphones. However, probably, in most of the cases, 6.3mm stock cable was used. So it is good news that the balanced cable, which is already included in the "SE" package, is effective to improve the width. Well, though, I noticed that this difference is mainly that of the amp side. The amp, at-bha100 is the first fully-balanced tube/ss hybrid amp of audio-technica (discontinued, unfortunately). Its push-pull is very well designed. In conclusion, as I describe in the next section, YH-5000SE is sensitive to the chain. If the best connection option of your system is balanced out, it is certainly better to choose 4.4mm cable. It makes YH's unique character even better. When reading others' impressions, we should be careful about the cable option. When testing by yourself, if possible, it is highly recommended to try a balanced cable connection.
FYI: The difference between the two stock cables is only the termination of the amp end. Both of them are silver-coated OFC, 2m long. Some claim it is too short for in-room use, but for me, it is OK because I use a desktop system in a small room. Yamaha also offers XLR4pin balanced cable as an option. However, its price is more than $150 more expensive than 4.4mm even though the adapter is normal Neutrik's.

 

[l2201030]

I just got a pair of the YH-5000SE used from Japan, and the first impression was surprised how light it is. Feels like you are wearing nothing, and very breathable on a hot day too.

 

[l2201030]

Have to say the packaging does feel a bit cheap (mostly cardboard) especially compared to other TOTL headphones, but they do offer one of the best stock cables. The stand is kinda meh but better than nothing I guess

 

[doctorK53]

Ok... here's what the cat dragged in! And it's time to pay the Head-Fi tax!

I put in a preorder for these with Bay Bloor Radio back in March and they got back to me saying that they got the only pair on the Canadian market with the price roughly 2 weeks ago. Due to some logistics issues they didn't arrive in store until today.

This lead up to a trip down to the shop where I spent 45 minutes trying out the competition before finalizing my purchase. That said, these pics aren't the genuine unboxing experience as I unboxed them at the shop and if I wasn't going to buy them these would be the in store display. Unfortunately they're mine now! With the backstory out of the way here are some of the notes I jotted down in my brain as I furiously swapped headphones and tested different gear. I'll start with the stuff that I eliminated and why right off the bat:

Stealth/Expanse: I only tried the Expanse because the issue I experienced took both off the table instantly. The shop didn't have anything that could properly power them and I could tell. On the gear they had on hand I noticed the channel imbalance that I tend to hear with DCA headphones when they don't get enough current to them. They definitely got loud but I could tell that they were lacking something that immediately told me that my gear wouldn't like them.

D8000Pro: These were interesting but I'm not a fan of their presentation of the sound. While they have soundstage what I heard felt like I had 2 speakers stuck directly to my head and lacked dimension and feel I enjoy. I can see some people liking this kind of presentation but not my cup of tea.

Meze Elite: These were great. I'm inclined to agree with Doc that tonally speaking they were the middle of the pack. They were technically fun and nice but they also felt a little stale for me. Comfort wise they were nice but the whole experience was ruined for me by something I'll go over later.

Utopia (2022): The Utopia (2022) was definitely the "safest" option of the entire group for me. When I started listening to them it felt like meeting up with a long lost friend. The sound signature felt like something that was extremely familiar and pleasant. Of the things I heard today, if I didn't grab the YH-5000SE I'd be walking home with a pair of Utopias. The Utopias were warmer then the Elites and had a nice clean presentation that stood out to me. The soundstage started out in the middle and radiated out but gave a nice and close feel which I have a tough time ranking it was a 3 way tie between the Utopia, YH-5000SE and the HD800S. After I got home I've been trying to figure out why I found them so familiar and looking at the frequency response gave me the answer right away, the HD650/HD6XX. Before the HD800S those were my main driver for years and the frequency response definitely explains the familiarity.

YH-5000SE: If I were to sum up my experience is, it does some weird and interesting things. Remember how I mentioned during the Elite part that the comfort experience was instantly ruined for me? That's because I wore the YH-5000SE right before. The moment I put them on they felt like they vanished on my head. Weight of a headphone never bugged me but when I don't notice a pair of headphones on my head, dang does it make a difference. Build wise the moment I picked them up they felt rugged compared to the others outside of maybe the D8000Pro which ties it. Before I get onto the sound I'll preface this with all of these impressions come from the leather pads only.

These were the first headphones I tried at the store being the star of the show and the entire reason for the trip. The first thing that my ears picked up on was "yep there's more bass then the HD800S for sure!" Of all the headphones I tried, if I were to go from bright to warm it would go like HD800S>YH-5000SE>Elite>Utopia>D8000Pro. Now having heard these for myself I can definitely see that they are going to be very polarizing. The "weirdness" that the frequency response showed manifests in vocals for me. The HD800S shine when it comes to vocals as they feel energetic, crisp and clear. Whenever I go from the HD800S to another pair of headphones I would need to acclimate to how they handle the vocals. Contrasting that something that has a warmer signature sounds more mellow and plays nice with the rest of the sounds around it. The YH-5000SE does neither of these. This isn't something i noticed until I constantly swapped between headphones but vocals are further back in the soundstage especially when I don't have the volume dialed in right and I found myself adjusting the volume around the vocals. Something that is especially exaggerated when A/Bing with other headphones is there is an odd quality to the vocals that remind me of when I listened to the radio when I was a kid. That issue isn't noticeable when I set the volume level around the vocals.

Sonic peculiarities aside the YH-5000SE is incredibly capable compared vs the competition as far as I could tell from my short gauntlet and there were a few minute details here and there in the few tracks that I tried that I noticed on the YH-5000SE first, did a double take, listened again and checked if they were there on the other flagships to make sure I wasn't crazy.

I'm definitely going to back up Doc on his sentiment that the YH-5000SE is the closest to the HD800S of all the things I've heard today. Everything else gave off the vibe that they are a product of the harmon curve whereas the HD800S is something that predates that era. That said, after testing everything the choice for me was between the Utopia and the YH-5000SE. The Utopia felt very effortless and gave off very familiar feeling. If I was looking for something that sounded like an existing sound signature that I already owned but with technicalities cranked up to 11 the Utopia would be that. It would be an easy choice that I would have jumped right into. On the other hand, the YH-5000SE offered the most unique sound out of everything I heard and it does enough for me to be happy with what I heard even if it doesn't improve over time but from the time I spent with it it felt like the Yamahas had the most to discover and explore. There are enough peculiarities in the YH-5000SE's sound that I can't tell if actual weirdness is going on or if my brain is so used to harman curve-esque/HD800S that my brain is getting over the system shock of using something new or if it's genuine weirdness.

On top of that, it has the makings of something that I can see myself growing to love more and more as my brain gets more and more familiar with the sound. Plus this is just the story if I only look at the sound. If we look at build quality and aesthetics the YH-5000SE wins by a mile for me. The first time I picked them up I thought "wow I won't have to baby these like the HD800S" not that I plan to use these roughly but they felt INCREDIBLY solid the moment I picked them up.

Wrapping things up, the YH-5000SE definitely aren't perfect and for everyone but they are definitely something unique and if they're something you enjoy it's something that you won't find anywhere else (yet???). For me, the deciding factor between the YH-5000SE vs everything else is I've got the HD800S and I've got harman curve and harman-esque gear. It's great and a very enjoyable sound signature but I've got plenty of gear that gives me that flavor even if it's not as technical. That's why I went with the more unique and interesting option that has the potential to get a lot better for me. It's a great pair of headphones that's definitely not a "safe" recommendation because it's so unique it's hard to compare, a safe recommendation that people would be familiar with would be the Utopias to my ears. It is a safe recommendation in the sense that the YH-5000SE have technicalities that can compete but it's got a unique sound signature that is different from what's on the market. It's definitely warmer then the HD800S so it's within the realm of neutral.

Expect more comparisons with the HD800S in the future and more updates as I use them more I've got around 4 hours on them so far. Enjoy the hastily taken pics from my cell phone and the HD800S for scale.

P.S. that is not a LOL
Nomex isn't wrong in the sense that these aren't a blind buy if you expect something within the harman range. If you're looking for something within the harman curve this isn't that and the YH-5000SE have some qualities that are hard to describe without something similar to compare it to. However that doesn't make them intrinsically bad or "bleh they aren't worth my time". From a technical standpoint they keep up and if that's all you're looking for in a TOTL headphone, they're a safe buy but it's hard to do the sound signature justice with just words when it's hard to find something to compare it to so try them if you have the chance! They're unique!

thanks for the review! I'm happy to hear some of my opinion was backed up with your experience!

Let me ask a question out of my curiosity. Would you let us know the serial number of your YH-5000? As supply is limited and no shop has regular stock even in Japan, I'd like to guess production capacity of these phones in Kakegawa factory. The number of mine is 207. If you mind, approx number (24X, middle of three handed, etc) is very much appreciated.