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HiFiMan's HE-500 headphones are burning up the Web with rave reviews. "Guys, it is really hard not to get impressed with this headphone," notes Mike in his review for Headphonia.com. "The HE-500 is definitely the best Hifiman headphone I've heard." "Straight to the point, the HE-500 is the currently best headphone of Fang Bian's ortho stable," observes Srajan Ebaen at 6moons.com.The HE-500 orthodynamic headphone uses a special driver treatment for improved midrange and to make the '500 easy to drive. HiFiMan's Fang Bian told 6moons.com, "The HE-500 is better than the HE-5LE in almost every way. While the HE-500 lacks the HE-6's ultra clarity, its sonic signature over a regular headphone amplifier is pretty close to that of the HE-6 over a high-end amp." And we have to note at this point that the HE-6 costs a chunk of cash more than the HE-500. So that makes the HE-500 a tremendous headphone for the money!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
The HE-500 delivers a superb sound, with amazing clarity and a wonderfully textured bass response. This is the first open back headphone I've owned, and I doubt any closed back design could approach the sound the HE-500 delivers. For me, these weren't an upgrade for my headphones, but rather a way to get a full audiophile experience when I couldn't use the speakers.
I don't think I can really list "weaknesses" in a headphone this good, but I should mention that the upper part of the midrange (about where Sarah McLachlin sings in "Angel", for instance) was a little flat. Not that it still isn't a pleasure to hear, but compared to the amazingly clear and liquid reproduction of bells, guitars, pianos, horns, it's... just a little less incredible. Over time I've this has struck me less forcefully. One school of thought says that the drivers are "settling in". Another is that my ear has been trained by the headphone.
To finish, let me mention headphone amplifiers. You'll be wasting your money if you plug these into your iPod or PC; I tried it, and can assure you that standard consumer audio drivers just aren't equipped to handle the needs of this headphone. I then tried them with a FiiO E7 (mediocre), then a Total Bithead (good). I then tried them on the headphone jack of my old Tube Audio Design TADAC--incredible! So when budgeting for these headphones, be sure to hold off until you can afford the amplifier to drive them too. I could never have justified buying a TADAC as a headphone amplifier (it's our main stereo DAC), but it gives you an idea of the kind of brawn you need to look for to drive the headphones.
For an audiophile, these headphones are probably the best bang/buck product on the market. Paired with the right headphone amp, they deliver an incredible listening experience.
I don't think I can really list "weaknesses" in a headphone this good, but I should mention that the upper part of the midrange (about where Sarah McLachlin sings in "Angel", for instance) was a little flat. Not that it still isn't a pleasure to hear, but compared to the amazingly clear and liquid reproduction of bells, guitars, pianos, horns, it's... just a little less incredible. Over time I've this has struck me less forcefully. One school of thought says that the drivers are "settling in". Another is that my ear has been trained by the headphone.
To finish, let me mention headphone amplifiers. You'll be wasting your money if you plug these into your iPod or PC; I tried it, and can assure you that standard consumer audio drivers just aren't equipped to handle the needs of this headphone. I then tried them with a FiiO E7 (mediocre), then a Total Bithead (good). I then tried them on the headphone jack of my old Tube Audio Design TADAC--incredible! So when budgeting for these headphones, be sure to hold off until you can afford the amplifier to drive them too. I could never have justified buying a TADAC as a headphone amplifier (it's our main stereo DAC), but it gives you an idea of the kind of brawn you need to look for to drive the headphones.
For an audiophile, these headphones are probably the best bang/buck product on the market. Paired with the right headphone amp, they deliver an incredible listening experience.
67 of 79 people found the following review helpful
By Katun
Table of Contents:
Section 1 - The introduction to the beginning
Basics here folks. This section will get you situated with some of my brief history regarding the HE-4 and HE-500 and also a peek at how I will conduct the testing. Burn in will also be mentioned. This will get the ball rolling for the actual comparison, which will take place a few sections further down.
Section 2 - We'll eat the cake, but first the frosting
Everything will be discussed that regards physical appearance, construction, and comfort. I'll mention and explain the differences in both headphones, regarding the look and feel. And last, we'll see if these two pass the first and most basic test of any headphone, which just so happens to be comfort.
Section 3 - A first taste of our two different flavors
I dive headfirst into the review here. We'll be looking at my first impressions after direct comparison of these two headphones. First I'll describe my ideal way of doing the comparison and then we'll get down and dirty with actual results after directly comparing. You'll get a real good idea in this section.
Section 4 - I'm technically doing this technically
Okay, so we already have a sense how these compare, but now we need to grab the magnifying glass and have a closer look sonically. In this section, we'll look into the individual aspects of sound of both headphones. I'll try not to dwell too much in this section, as I'd prefer to have my focus elsewhere.
Section 5 - Wrapping it up before taking it down
And now, we hit the end. I'll discuss value, make any recommendations and also add any concluding thoughts I have. You'll get the general sum up here, but I'm kind of hoping you'll just read the entire thing. If not, or if you are in a hurry, just read this section as well as the following one, and call it a day.
Section 6 - Someone deserves some serious limelight
This special section is entirely dedicated to my experience with the HE-500. It's like a mini review, but it's done in an entirely different perspective. I'll be discussing my listening experience only, and embellish as necessary. My true feelings, thoughts, comments, and experience regarding the incredible HE-500.
--------------------
Section 1 - The introduction to the beginning
Introduction: Just when I thought I was done with buying headphones, another door opens for me and I get up close and personal with planar magnetics. I was plenty satisfied with the HD598, but then came the HE-4. To me, the HE-4 did everything the HD598 did, but better. I will admit, treble was brighter then I wanted and soundstage was smaller, but yet I enjoyed it much more. Off went the HD598 and the HE-4 gained permanent residence. But of course, with my new found love of orthos, I already knew there would be another purchase... and in came the HE-500. I already had a feeling it wouldn't be a fair fight, but then again, I had doubts that the HE-500 would be worth double the HE-4. I knew it would be better, but how big was the margin? I began to question how much better headphones could get.
Testing: I'm going to be a bit more strict with this comparison. These are both incredible headphones, and it's going to take more than the ordinary test to find major faults with either of them. Thus, I'll be doing testing a bit different than normal. I've divided up my test songs into different sonic categories. So instead of listening to just a ton of music and deciding which headphones sounds better, I'll have a specific tracks and segments of tracks that will emphasize bass, midrange, treble, naturalness, detail, emotion, fullness, transparency, etc. As with other comparisons, I mainly drill a segment of a song into my head over and over, and then switch headphones and listen to the same segment. I find listening to the whole song a bit overwhelming, and it makes it harder to get better accuracy, thus I use small segments of songs more often. Although, I still use entire songs as well, but only a select special few. Testing is spread out across a few weeks, to maximize consistency.
The Setup: Everything conducted in the review was done so using the following system. HE-500 / HE-4 > Stock Canare Cable / Stock HE-4 Cable > EF5 (Fullmusic 12AU7) > PureAV Interconnects > P650 CD Player (BurrBrown DAC) > Audio CD.
Burn In: I've heard about it. The HE-500 changes significantly with burn in. Well, that said, I couldn't risk doing a review on partial potential. So, I started out with about 30 hours on my head, and finished another 70 just playing music. I might as well kill three birds with one stone and burn in my BurrBrown DAC, PureAV cable, and HE-500 all at once; assuming I'll find improvement. My HE-4 has had about 50 hours all on my head, and I have already noticed that the treble has tamed down a bit. So, in a general sense, the HE-4 has about 50 hours and the HE-500 has about 100 hours.
--------------------
Section 2 - We'll eat the cake, but first the frosting
External Appearance: I'll just go ahead and say it, both of these look great! Looking at the pictures online, I honestly thought they looked like a DIY headphone, but I can assure they look better in person. Color schemes differ slightly, but I'll go ahead and explain. The HE-4 has shiny black earcups while the HE-500 has more of a shiny darkish grey. The hand band material looks different on the HE-500 as well, but generally about the same. Surprisingly, the HE-500's headband padding feels like memory foam, while the HE-4 is just regular foam. Between the grills, the HE-500's is partial see thru while the HE-4 is not; due to a foam disc inserted between the grill and driver. The HE-500 only has a super thin sheet, which explains being able to see the driver. Cable wise, I'm liking them both, but the HE-4 is nicer to handle, while the HE-500 is nicer in general. Although a bit stiff, it's thick and very sturdy while the HE-4's cloth coated cable is thinner and more flexible.
Build and Weight: I actually thought the HE-4 was heavy when I got it, but compared to the HE-500, it feels like a portable. Well, that's a bit exaggerated, but the actual weight is 350 g vs 502 g. TheHE-500 is quite heavy, but it gives them a super good, snug feel. No really, these are really heavy for a headphone. Luckily, it doesn't feel as heavy on your head as in your hand, but we'll get to that later. The HE-4 is definitely lighter, and is of a very good weight. While not feeling as good in your hands as the HE-500, it still feels like a quality product. Both are constructed almost identical, with the exception of the external appearances listed above, and the weight. HE-500's earcups are a bit deeper as well.
Comfort: Once again, I underestimated the HE series comfort. I thought it would be simply down right clunky and uncomfortable, but I was proven wrong. Both are fantastically comfortable. It fit my ears really well and just seemed to hug my head. Now, due to the HE-500's weight, many would have predicted much less comfort, but that's just not the case. You definitely can feel more on your head, but it's still just as comfy. After switching to the HE-4, I really appreciated how incredibly light it was in comparison and it definitely had the edge in comfort. Unfortunately, I couldn't wear the HE-4 any bit longer than the HE-500 because after about two hours with either one, the headband would annoy me. So, tie goes to the runner, which would be the HE-4 for being lighter. But that was a given.
--------------------
Section 3 - A first taste of our two different flavors
How I Roll: One of my absolute favorite ways to compare two headphones is to listen to the superior one first. If find it much easier to get used to the better sound, so then when you switch to the inferior sound, you can hear exactly what has been taken away. If you do it in the reverse order, it's a bit harder as what has been added is a bit harder to detect then what gets taken away. This is the exact reason I was almost never satisfied with my upgrade path, is because I didn't notice the differences that easily, and thought everything sounded the same. Of course, my ears are better at picking that up now, but whenever I listen in reverse, I find the differences are much easier to point out. Just like in the good old days, I thought my AD700 sounded the same as my PortaPro(!) until I listened to them in reverse (and gained more experience). So, "Listening in Reverse" is a key part in my comparisons.
HE-500: Alright, so when I first listened to this headphone, this is exactly what I heard. It's incredibly full sounding with a very lush tone. It's smooth, it's balanced, and it just sounds flat out "right". The midrange is immediately present and gives vocals hair-lifting realism. The sound is just incredibly thick, as if it has more meat to it than your average headphone. Yet, with all this smoothness and fullness in sound, you still get phenomenal clarity. So now you've got smoothness and clarity; a feat I find very hard to accomplish by any headphone. You listen to the HE-500 and think, "It just sounds so right. Nothing is missing. It's all here. And presented with great coherency."
HE-4: Switching to the HE-4, you instantly notice a difference. No concentrating required here. The sound it presents you is much more bright. In turn, it generally sounds more hollow, light, and dry in comparison. Also, the HE-500's amazing texture is missing. I hate to use those words for a headphone as fabulous as the HE-4, but the HE-500 brings it out. As I listen, I think to myself, "Where did it all go?" It's much, much thinner and also much, much brighter. Treble is a bit too bright for my tastes and I sometimes I find it distracting. Read more ›
Section 1 - The introduction to the beginning
Basics here folks. This section will get you situated with some of my brief history regarding the HE-4 and HE-500 and also a peek at how I will conduct the testing. Burn in will also be mentioned. This will get the ball rolling for the actual comparison, which will take place a few sections further down.
Section 2 - We'll eat the cake, but first the frosting
Everything will be discussed that regards physical appearance, construction, and comfort. I'll mention and explain the differences in both headphones, regarding the look and feel. And last, we'll see if these two pass the first and most basic test of any headphone, which just so happens to be comfort.
Section 3 - A first taste of our two different flavors
I dive headfirst into the review here. We'll be looking at my first impressions after direct comparison of these two headphones. First I'll describe my ideal way of doing the comparison and then we'll get down and dirty with actual results after directly comparing. You'll get a real good idea in this section.
Section 4 - I'm technically doing this technically
Okay, so we already have a sense how these compare, but now we need to grab the magnifying glass and have a closer look sonically. In this section, we'll look into the individual aspects of sound of both headphones. I'll try not to dwell too much in this section, as I'd prefer to have my focus elsewhere.
Section 5 - Wrapping it up before taking it down
And now, we hit the end. I'll discuss value, make any recommendations and also add any concluding thoughts I have. You'll get the general sum up here, but I'm kind of hoping you'll just read the entire thing. If not, or if you are in a hurry, just read this section as well as the following one, and call it a day.
Section 6 - Someone deserves some serious limelight
This special section is entirely dedicated to my experience with the HE-500. It's like a mini review, but it's done in an entirely different perspective. I'll be discussing my listening experience only, and embellish as necessary. My true feelings, thoughts, comments, and experience regarding the incredible HE-500.
--------------------
Section 1 - The introduction to the beginning
Introduction: Just when I thought I was done with buying headphones, another door opens for me and I get up close and personal with planar magnetics. I was plenty satisfied with the HD598, but then came the HE-4. To me, the HE-4 did everything the HD598 did, but better. I will admit, treble was brighter then I wanted and soundstage was smaller, but yet I enjoyed it much more. Off went the HD598 and the HE-4 gained permanent residence. But of course, with my new found love of orthos, I already knew there would be another purchase... and in came the HE-500. I already had a feeling it wouldn't be a fair fight, but then again, I had doubts that the HE-500 would be worth double the HE-4. I knew it would be better, but how big was the margin? I began to question how much better headphones could get.
Testing: I'm going to be a bit more strict with this comparison. These are both incredible headphones, and it's going to take more than the ordinary test to find major faults with either of them. Thus, I'll be doing testing a bit different than normal. I've divided up my test songs into different sonic categories. So instead of listening to just a ton of music and deciding which headphones sounds better, I'll have a specific tracks and segments of tracks that will emphasize bass, midrange, treble, naturalness, detail, emotion, fullness, transparency, etc. As with other comparisons, I mainly drill a segment of a song into my head over and over, and then switch headphones and listen to the same segment. I find listening to the whole song a bit overwhelming, and it makes it harder to get better accuracy, thus I use small segments of songs more often. Although, I still use entire songs as well, but only a select special few. Testing is spread out across a few weeks, to maximize consistency.
The Setup: Everything conducted in the review was done so using the following system. HE-500 / HE-4 > Stock Canare Cable / Stock HE-4 Cable > EF5 (Fullmusic 12AU7) > PureAV Interconnects > P650 CD Player (BurrBrown DAC) > Audio CD.
Burn In: I've heard about it. The HE-500 changes significantly with burn in. Well, that said, I couldn't risk doing a review on partial potential. So, I started out with about 30 hours on my head, and finished another 70 just playing music. I might as well kill three birds with one stone and burn in my BurrBrown DAC, PureAV cable, and HE-500 all at once; assuming I'll find improvement. My HE-4 has had about 50 hours all on my head, and I have already noticed that the treble has tamed down a bit. So, in a general sense, the HE-4 has about 50 hours and the HE-500 has about 100 hours.
--------------------
Section 2 - We'll eat the cake, but first the frosting
External Appearance: I'll just go ahead and say it, both of these look great! Looking at the pictures online, I honestly thought they looked like a DIY headphone, but I can assure they look better in person. Color schemes differ slightly, but I'll go ahead and explain. The HE-4 has shiny black earcups while the HE-500 has more of a shiny darkish grey. The hand band material looks different on the HE-500 as well, but generally about the same. Surprisingly, the HE-500's headband padding feels like memory foam, while the HE-4 is just regular foam. Between the grills, the HE-500's is partial see thru while the HE-4 is not; due to a foam disc inserted between the grill and driver. The HE-500 only has a super thin sheet, which explains being able to see the driver. Cable wise, I'm liking them both, but the HE-4 is nicer to handle, while the HE-500 is nicer in general. Although a bit stiff, it's thick and very sturdy while the HE-4's cloth coated cable is thinner and more flexible.
Build and Weight: I actually thought the HE-4 was heavy when I got it, but compared to the HE-500, it feels like a portable. Well, that's a bit exaggerated, but the actual weight is 350 g vs 502 g. TheHE-500 is quite heavy, but it gives them a super good, snug feel. No really, these are really heavy for a headphone. Luckily, it doesn't feel as heavy on your head as in your hand, but we'll get to that later. The HE-4 is definitely lighter, and is of a very good weight. While not feeling as good in your hands as the HE-500, it still feels like a quality product. Both are constructed almost identical, with the exception of the external appearances listed above, and the weight. HE-500's earcups are a bit deeper as well.
Comfort: Once again, I underestimated the HE series comfort. I thought it would be simply down right clunky and uncomfortable, but I was proven wrong. Both are fantastically comfortable. It fit my ears really well and just seemed to hug my head. Now, due to the HE-500's weight, many would have predicted much less comfort, but that's just not the case. You definitely can feel more on your head, but it's still just as comfy. After switching to the HE-4, I really appreciated how incredibly light it was in comparison and it definitely had the edge in comfort. Unfortunately, I couldn't wear the HE-4 any bit longer than the HE-500 because after about two hours with either one, the headband would annoy me. So, tie goes to the runner, which would be the HE-4 for being lighter. But that was a given.
--------------------
Section 3 - A first taste of our two different flavors
How I Roll: One of my absolute favorite ways to compare two headphones is to listen to the superior one first. If find it much easier to get used to the better sound, so then when you switch to the inferior sound, you can hear exactly what has been taken away. If you do it in the reverse order, it's a bit harder as what has been added is a bit harder to detect then what gets taken away. This is the exact reason I was almost never satisfied with my upgrade path, is because I didn't notice the differences that easily, and thought everything sounded the same. Of course, my ears are better at picking that up now, but whenever I listen in reverse, I find the differences are much easier to point out. Just like in the good old days, I thought my AD700 sounded the same as my PortaPro(!) until I listened to them in reverse (and gained more experience). So, "Listening in Reverse" is a key part in my comparisons.
HE-500: Alright, so when I first listened to this headphone, this is exactly what I heard. It's incredibly full sounding with a very lush tone. It's smooth, it's balanced, and it just sounds flat out "right". The midrange is immediately present and gives vocals hair-lifting realism. The sound is just incredibly thick, as if it has more meat to it than your average headphone. Yet, with all this smoothness and fullness in sound, you still get phenomenal clarity. So now you've got smoothness and clarity; a feat I find very hard to accomplish by any headphone. You listen to the HE-500 and think, "It just sounds so right. Nothing is missing. It's all here. And presented with great coherency."
HE-4: Switching to the HE-4, you instantly notice a difference. No concentrating required here. The sound it presents you is much more bright. In turn, it generally sounds more hollow, light, and dry in comparison. Also, the HE-500's amazing texture is missing. I hate to use those words for a headphone as fabulous as the HE-4, but the HE-500 brings it out. As I listen, I think to myself, "Where did it all go?" It's much, much thinner and also much, much brighter. Treble is a bit too bright for my tastes and I sometimes I find it distracting. Read more ›
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
The HIFIMAN He-500
A great headphone for those who want a detailed full frequency spectrum sound that is articulate while maintaining a smooth and very slightly laid back quality.
What drove me to the Hifiman 500's?
If you're like me and have a limited amount of money to spend on hobbies like headphones you typically will scour the internet for a good while to figure out what the next "perfect" purchase is. I for years have been a collector/hobby-ist of different things, and after a while you get sick of searching for the "best" item and just want something to hold onto that becomes "yours."
After reading over head-fi and other internet forums and blogs about the best $500 range headphones I found that there were tons of choices. Man the headphone market has gone crazy since I first became interested in high quality sound five or so years ago. I decided that I wanted to try something with a orthodynamic style driver. What I surmised from what I read is that a dynamic driver or cone based driver is more "nodal" and will most of the time provide sound that eminates from a certain point on the driver. Orthodynamic headphones are a flat surface, or at least more flat than a dynamic driver and provide sound that more exists then is just pushed at you from a node. I may be totally wrong, but this is also what I experience when listening to the HE-500's.
I had had good experiences with the hifiman 262 and RE-ZERO's in the iem realm and I liked how they were tuned.
So I decided after looking at all the other possibilities that the he-500's were it. This was about nine months ago and I bought the headphones used for $550 bills. Turns out these thins rarely go on the market for much below that.
Different Sources?
These headphones really taught me how important a source with headphones. As even though I own a modified pair of Fostex Trp-50's the hifiman's need more power to sound "right." You can get them to a good volume with other headphone amps but to be as crisp as they can be you need the right source.
Un-amped they do sound a bit muddy and I can't recommend these without an amp unfortunately.
The first amp I tried was my feeble fiio e6. This didn't help much. Basically made the upper mid range a tiny bit smoother but I really had to listen to them to hear any difference.
The second amp was a JDS 421 and this made a huge difference. Everything was clean and smooth except for the bass. When playing bass heavy edm or hip-hop music the bass seemed to break up. Knowing how strong these orthodynamic drivers are I realized it was the source and not the headphones.
Next I did more reading and found that the "Schiit Lyr" is the preferred amp by many. And if I've learned anything is that through the popularity of headphones that usually people are right in the general consensus that is laid out on the internet forums and the like.
After getting the lyr and finding that it certainly had a ton of power I learned about "tube rolling" which is basically using different vacuum tubes in the lyr to change the sound. The lyr does change in it's characteristics, but because it's half solid state the changes aren't as large as pure tube amps . I have found though after using various tubes that the two I like the most are the well known Mullard 2492 and the Toshiba 6DJ8. The differences with the HE-500 are subtle but to summarize it the Mullard is slightly smoother with more balanced frequencies and the Toshiba has more low end and better soundstage. They are very close though.
I have to agree with others though, that the LYR is a great option for this headphone. And Schiit has recently released more budget solutions for people in the amp/dac market so getting something that may work from them is even cheaper now. BTW I got my LYR used for 375 with some extra tubes.
WHAT THE HELL DO THESE SOUND LIKE??????
The first thing that happened to me after getting a proper amp on these bas boys was that I would listen for a few minutes, get to doing some work or something else. Then become conscious I was listening to music again, hear a distant sound, take the headphones off to make sure it was in the headphones and not my apartment, then get back to listening. It's almost a "what was that?" moment that I've never had with headphones before. The soundstage on these is so varied, and the placement so different than any dynamic headphone I've used that it takes a moment to take in and get used to how the sound is coming at you. I personally think this has a lot to do with how the driver is shaped but I'm no professional. The soundstage on these is remarkable, even for other open cans I've tried.
One thing I have to mention quickly is that these can be heard very easily to those around you. There are times when I'll be jamming out on my computer and my fiancée will say "hey play that song on the speakers." I'll have an "oh s***" moment realizing she can hear the music quite well.
As far as the rest of the sound:
Bass: It's tight and not overwhelming. I've heard some people say these are bass light. I don't find that to be the case, I just think that they provide super accurate fast bass and that if needed you can eq it up easily and they become bass monsters. You have to have a good source like the lyr though to get a ton of bass out of these. These phones do have incredible sub-bass, it's just not accentuated like other phones. So if you want a bass monster headphone with crystal clear highs this may not be for you.
Mids: These headphones do voices/singing and mid-range instruments like a cello unlike any that I've ever heard before. They literally will make you feel like you're sitting right there with the musician. I personally believe most sounds that us as humans find pleasurable emanate from the mid-range, I may be biased as I listen to a lot of acoustic music. Every time I put these on I'm startled by how "life=like the midrange is. Many phones has a slight veil or have some bleeding that occurs between the frequencies that change the midrange. These do not. It's crisp and perfect.
Highs: While the highs are ever so slightly rolled off, I like this. It makes these more relaxing to listen to and not as exhausting. They are very clear and extended; they just aren't in your face. This is what I love so much about the RE-262's and it certainly is true about the he-500 too. You hear everything that is needed to make the soundstage huge but yet there is no peak anywhere to upset the ears. Just lovely.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
I have heard the owner of Hifiman say in numerous articles that these are just about every bit the he-6's are. Well I haven't heard the he-6's but at twice the price it's going to take quite a while for me to want to spend my sheckles on a pair of those.
I can also highly recommend you checkout the Fostex Trp-50's and any people who modify them like Mayflower Electronics or Mr Speakers, as they sound fantastic and have a similar idea to the sound albeit with a closed headphone. Those headphone have ortho type drivers that are smaller and are tuned by many people to sound like much more expensive headphones then they are ($100).
I haven't heard a modded pair that sounds as good as the He-500, but they sure do sound amazing. The difference in the pairs I've heard (Mad Dogs and my own mods) is that the Fostex's are a little smoother, not as big a sound stage and can at times feel like the mids are a tiny bit veiled compared to the HE-500. Ofcourse those, those changes can only be heard when you're comparing and not just hangin'out.
PADS/COMFORT:
The pads that come with the he-500 kinda suck. The pleather ones are downright uncomfortable to me and the velours are the worst ones I've tried. You can use other pads by taking out the ring that is behind either of the stock pads that you have and put other pads over them. It's really easy to do.
So far the only other pad I've tried is the Shure 840 pads, of which I have found to be a huge improvement over the stock pads. They don't diminish sound quality at all to my ear and feel a lot better.
These are somewhat heavy headphones so you'll need to find the best combo for you. I have ordered HM5 Brainwavz pads from MP4Nation and will update this section when I get them.
The headband is nice and has a memory foam feel to it. The clamping force is just right.
Last Words:
If you want to try the ortho market these are a great place to start and maybe end unless you continue on up into Stax/Audeze territory. I'd love for someone to do a direct comparison with these and the LCD-2's as I have not heard them. I'm sure one may exist. These are laid back, open, clear and exciting to listen to. Highly Recommended!
PADS UPDATE:
So I finally got the pads from MP$Nation and I also tried the "Mad Dog" pads sold by Mr. Speakers. He does sell them "a la carte" to owners of his headphones, which I am. They are great BTW and anyone who wants a closed he-00 should consider them.
HM5 PADS: Very soft leather, not sure if it's real, these are probably the most comfortable pads I've tried and so far I really like them. I believe they offer the least amount of coloring to the sound of the he-500. My only worry is that the padding is very soft and comfortable, but if it compresses a lot over time they won't provide enough cushion to keep the ears from the walls of the headphone. We'll see...at $15 bucks a pair thought it's not bad. Sound has great depth to it, high's may be accentuated slightly more with bass staying neutral as well as mids. Read more ›
A great headphone for those who want a detailed full frequency spectrum sound that is articulate while maintaining a smooth and very slightly laid back quality.
What drove me to the Hifiman 500's?
If you're like me and have a limited amount of money to spend on hobbies like headphones you typically will scour the internet for a good while to figure out what the next "perfect" purchase is. I for years have been a collector/hobby-ist of different things, and after a while you get sick of searching for the "best" item and just want something to hold onto that becomes "yours."
After reading over head-fi and other internet forums and blogs about the best $500 range headphones I found that there were tons of choices. Man the headphone market has gone crazy since I first became interested in high quality sound five or so years ago. I decided that I wanted to try something with a orthodynamic style driver. What I surmised from what I read is that a dynamic driver or cone based driver is more "nodal" and will most of the time provide sound that eminates from a certain point on the driver. Orthodynamic headphones are a flat surface, or at least more flat than a dynamic driver and provide sound that more exists then is just pushed at you from a node. I may be totally wrong, but this is also what I experience when listening to the HE-500's.
I had had good experiences with the hifiman 262 and RE-ZERO's in the iem realm and I liked how they were tuned.
So I decided after looking at all the other possibilities that the he-500's were it. This was about nine months ago and I bought the headphones used for $550 bills. Turns out these thins rarely go on the market for much below that.
Different Sources?
These headphones really taught me how important a source with headphones. As even though I own a modified pair of Fostex Trp-50's the hifiman's need more power to sound "right." You can get them to a good volume with other headphone amps but to be as crisp as they can be you need the right source.
Un-amped they do sound a bit muddy and I can't recommend these without an amp unfortunately.
The first amp I tried was my feeble fiio e6. This didn't help much. Basically made the upper mid range a tiny bit smoother but I really had to listen to them to hear any difference.
The second amp was a JDS 421 and this made a huge difference. Everything was clean and smooth except for the bass. When playing bass heavy edm or hip-hop music the bass seemed to break up. Knowing how strong these orthodynamic drivers are I realized it was the source and not the headphones.
Next I did more reading and found that the "Schiit Lyr" is the preferred amp by many. And if I've learned anything is that through the popularity of headphones that usually people are right in the general consensus that is laid out on the internet forums and the like.
After getting the lyr and finding that it certainly had a ton of power I learned about "tube rolling" which is basically using different vacuum tubes in the lyr to change the sound. The lyr does change in it's characteristics, but because it's half solid state the changes aren't as large as pure tube amps . I have found though after using various tubes that the two I like the most are the well known Mullard 2492 and the Toshiba 6DJ8. The differences with the HE-500 are subtle but to summarize it the Mullard is slightly smoother with more balanced frequencies and the Toshiba has more low end and better soundstage. They are very close though.
I have to agree with others though, that the LYR is a great option for this headphone. And Schiit has recently released more budget solutions for people in the amp/dac market so getting something that may work from them is even cheaper now. BTW I got my LYR used for 375 with some extra tubes.
WHAT THE HELL DO THESE SOUND LIKE??????
The first thing that happened to me after getting a proper amp on these bas boys was that I would listen for a few minutes, get to doing some work or something else. Then become conscious I was listening to music again, hear a distant sound, take the headphones off to make sure it was in the headphones and not my apartment, then get back to listening. It's almost a "what was that?" moment that I've never had with headphones before. The soundstage on these is so varied, and the placement so different than any dynamic headphone I've used that it takes a moment to take in and get used to how the sound is coming at you. I personally think this has a lot to do with how the driver is shaped but I'm no professional. The soundstage on these is remarkable, even for other open cans I've tried.
One thing I have to mention quickly is that these can be heard very easily to those around you. There are times when I'll be jamming out on my computer and my fiancée will say "hey play that song on the speakers." I'll have an "oh s***" moment realizing she can hear the music quite well.
As far as the rest of the sound:
Bass: It's tight and not overwhelming. I've heard some people say these are bass light. I don't find that to be the case, I just think that they provide super accurate fast bass and that if needed you can eq it up easily and they become bass monsters. You have to have a good source like the lyr though to get a ton of bass out of these. These phones do have incredible sub-bass, it's just not accentuated like other phones. So if you want a bass monster headphone with crystal clear highs this may not be for you.
Mids: These headphones do voices/singing and mid-range instruments like a cello unlike any that I've ever heard before. They literally will make you feel like you're sitting right there with the musician. I personally believe most sounds that us as humans find pleasurable emanate from the mid-range, I may be biased as I listen to a lot of acoustic music. Every time I put these on I'm startled by how "life=like the midrange is. Many phones has a slight veil or have some bleeding that occurs between the frequencies that change the midrange. These do not. It's crisp and perfect.
Highs: While the highs are ever so slightly rolled off, I like this. It makes these more relaxing to listen to and not as exhausting. They are very clear and extended; they just aren't in your face. This is what I love so much about the RE-262's and it certainly is true about the he-500 too. You hear everything that is needed to make the soundstage huge but yet there is no peak anywhere to upset the ears. Just lovely.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
I have heard the owner of Hifiman say in numerous articles that these are just about every bit the he-6's are. Well I haven't heard the he-6's but at twice the price it's going to take quite a while for me to want to spend my sheckles on a pair of those.
I can also highly recommend you checkout the Fostex Trp-50's and any people who modify them like Mayflower Electronics or Mr Speakers, as they sound fantastic and have a similar idea to the sound albeit with a closed headphone. Those headphone have ortho type drivers that are smaller and are tuned by many people to sound like much more expensive headphones then they are ($100).
I haven't heard a modded pair that sounds as good as the He-500, but they sure do sound amazing. The difference in the pairs I've heard (Mad Dogs and my own mods) is that the Fostex's are a little smoother, not as big a sound stage and can at times feel like the mids are a tiny bit veiled compared to the HE-500. Ofcourse those, those changes can only be heard when you're comparing and not just hangin'out.
PADS/COMFORT:
The pads that come with the he-500 kinda suck. The pleather ones are downright uncomfortable to me and the velours are the worst ones I've tried. You can use other pads by taking out the ring that is behind either of the stock pads that you have and put other pads over them. It's really easy to do.
So far the only other pad I've tried is the Shure 840 pads, of which I have found to be a huge improvement over the stock pads. They don't diminish sound quality at all to my ear and feel a lot better.
These are somewhat heavy headphones so you'll need to find the best combo for you. I have ordered HM5 Brainwavz pads from MP4Nation and will update this section when I get them.
The headband is nice and has a memory foam feel to it. The clamping force is just right.
Last Words:
If you want to try the ortho market these are a great place to start and maybe end unless you continue on up into Stax/Audeze territory. I'd love for someone to do a direct comparison with these and the LCD-2's as I have not heard them. I'm sure one may exist. These are laid back, open, clear and exciting to listen to. Highly Recommended!
PADS UPDATE:
So I finally got the pads from MP$Nation and I also tried the "Mad Dog" pads sold by Mr. Speakers. He does sell them "a la carte" to owners of his headphones, which I am. They are great BTW and anyone who wants a closed he-00 should consider them.
HM5 PADS: Very soft leather, not sure if it's real, these are probably the most comfortable pads I've tried and so far I really like them. I believe they offer the least amount of coloring to the sound of the he-500. My only worry is that the padding is very soft and comfortable, but if it compresses a lot over time they won't provide enough cushion to keep the ears from the walls of the headphone. We'll see...at $15 bucks a pair thought it's not bad. Sound has great depth to it, high's may be accentuated slightly more with bass staying neutral as well as mids. Read more ›
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