Hifi man HE500 Thread

I still find the HE-500 more engaging than the 6X0. It's certainly not "better" but for my tastes I have far more goosebump moments with them.

The 650 still has it's place for me and it's addictive in its own way. But, if you want to throw out all the generic audio terms that often have no meaning: musical, romantic, etc. That's the 500 for me.

 

I might the only that stuck with the pleather pads. The treble suckout, boosted mids and subbass over midbass emphasis seems to work wonders on the music I listen to. Focus A's were okay, but not even that much more comfortable.

 

Oh, absolutely. The HE-500 is way more engaging in my opinion. I find the HD6x0 line boring in comparison mainly because it does so much right without adding a lot of coloration. My theory is that because they sound less engaging, more people (like me) sell theirs off in search of something more exciting or in search of the next upgrade without realizing exactly what they have on their hands. I will say, though, that the HE-500 does do much better with hip-hop/electronic than the HD6x0 ever did, so overall I'm still a happy camper

 

I don't think I've heard a headphone that has the depth, the 3-dimensional spacing, quite like the 500. I've spent the last few days listening to them unmodded with focus pads, and they just sound excellent. Nice to see the 500 thread still alive.

 

Perhaps 3-dimensional spacing wasn't the right words. I think there's this sense I get with them of instruments floating in space, just completely separate from each other. And I'd love to hear even an unmodded pair of 800's! Just haven't had the chance or monies.

 

Had the 800's for quite a while. But imo the he-500's are much more fun to listen to.

 

have the he500 - I find them too uncomfortable, but preferred the sound to hd650s until I bought a schiit jotunheim

 

You can always buy a cushion, comfort strap, or suspension piece to distribute the weight better.

 

I use these for comfort. About 10-12 bucks & work great

 

@Vansen

Is that a Vali 2 I see? The 500 does quite well out of that, IMO.

No point in trying to clean up the 500s and make them sound lean(er) or sharp(er) with the Jot. Hybrid tube amps serve them well...the Ember is still my favorite for the 500s, but the Vali 2 works in its place.

 

My Jot is running raw, and I only have SE for my 500, so I'm sure that is playing a large part in my bias.

It just seemed to rob the 500 of its romantic mojo and left me feeling cold.

I think I may be the only person left on the planet still using jerg pads on my 500. I really should try the Focus Pads sometime, but jerg had something special here.

 

@Skyline Jerg pads made the HE-500 sound their best. They gave them excellent bass weight, and cleaned up the 7kHz dip in the treble. They are a must for the HE-500. Never tried them with Jot though. I used Ember and Liquid Carbon, which both had excellent synergy.

 

Any comparison of the HE500 in performance and technicalities to the Monoprice monolith open back?
Can you comment on which would have the tighter bass and clarity?

 

I'm not sure how motivated I am, to be honest. The 500s have a nice home with the Vali 2 and my 650s are perfectly happy with the Jot. I haven't really had the desire to switch them around at all.

That said, there is the curious side of me to see what all that extra power from the balanced outputs on the Jot will do for them...

 

Stock to stock the HE-500 is a better can, imho. More tonally even, more detailed in the HF, less bass but more balanced. Both respond well to mods though, and at this point I'm leaning toward selling my HE-500 but it's pretty close. M1060 is both stronger and more resolving in bass Modded vs Modded, but it's also a bit more laid back/darker, closer to an audeze house sound so your preferences would decide.

 

I agree with what @MrTie said. If you like HD650 more than say Beyer or Hifiman then M1060 modded might be up your ally. To add:

Having previously owned the HE-500 with Jerg pads, which were an improvement, I would still take the M1060 with my mods (Audeze pads and paper towel circle behind driver). With these mods you get the great bass extension and better sub bass compared to HE-500 with a little more mid bass emphasis, something most planars are missing. Mids when modded are very good as is the treble which is smoothed out considerably. I think they do a better job at sound stage, especially depth, where sometimes HE-500 was to left right for me. Another issue I had with the HE-500 was the 10kHz peak that would give air and sizzle but was unrealistic and could be fatiguing. These impressions are all with my modded pair. Stock for stock I would probably take HE-500.