The story so far...

After just a month from acquiring my Denons and splurging on a desktop amp setup, I broke out the bank and decided to further indulge myself into my wallet-sucking hobby again. This time, I was gunning for open-back headphones.

I was able to save more time for this decision, mainly because I managed to loan some higher end models from some generous pals of mine. Within the last week or so, I had the Beyerdynamic T1, the HD650, the LCD-2 on my desk, ready for auditioning. Several days later I came to a consensus that I liked the T1 out of the bunch, but it was way out of my intended budget. So I settled for the dark horse of the planar mag world, the HiFiman, specifically the HE-500.

A trip to Jaben and almost 3 hours of auditioning, I brought home the HE-500. This was the newer, revised version where HiFiMan went up a notch from its previous version. You get a fine spread of extras and accessories with the headphone itself; there's one set of leather and velour earpads, a leather bag, a 3m braided silver cable, an extra set of connectors and lastly, the hard-shell carrying bag with the HiFiMan logo proudly emblazooned on it.

The spoils

Taking the phones out, holy crap, they are heavy. They weigh approximately half a kilo, but I expected this after reading its specs online. The HE-500 are heavy compared to most if not all modern flagship models. The gimbals housing the planar mag drivers is 120% solid, cold metal in and out. You can literally fend off zombies with these. The padding on the headband is very minimal, very similar to my Denon AH-D5000s, but it didn't have the uncomfortableness I feared. However, HiFiman could've put some extra effort into its headband padding, but it's not really a huge gripe for me. Despite being heavy, the HE-500 don't feel that way on my head. The clamping pressure distributes the weight evenly around my ears and the headband's centre-point didn't have that burning sensation on my skull. Very nice.









We all heard how notorious planar magnetics are when it comes to driving them. They are very much inefficient compared to the standard dynamic drivers we often see, and thus requires a hefty amount of power to drive them into their correct zone of fidelity. This may be the case for the HE-6, which literally needs a nuclear reactor to drive them, but very less so with the HE-500. Dr. Fang Bian, brainchild of the HiFiMan lineup, claimed that the HE-500 is the 'user-friendly' version of the HE-6, catering to the scenario where its more probable and realistic for audiophiles to reap the full benefits of a planar mag headphone without blowing a mint on a speaker amp system beforehand. Although it carries the same traces and workings of its higher-end big brother, the HE-500 doesn't require a whole lot of drive them. Granted, 1 watt is still a feat for most conventional, lower rung amps, lest you go for the reference or higher end models like the Ray Samuels, Eddie Current, Woo Audio or Rudistor variants.

The sound

So comes the main dish of this review. How does it sound? Initially, I want to just pair it with the Schiit Bifrost and Asgard and completely run through the bases, but I thought it would be interesting to see how the HE-500 would scale up in terms of equipment level. For this, I had tested the phones in this manner;

1) Naked and Unamped (yes, straight from my system's audio jack)
2) Fiio E10
3) Centrance DACport
4) Schiit Bifrost + Asgard

Naked and Unamped.


Fiio E10
I wasn't very confident with this. Sure, it drove my ATH-M50s with authority, but the HE-500 were on a whole different level. I was partially right, and wrong at the same time. The E10 does pump some juice into the HE-500, but not a whole lot. The sound is very hollow, and I can assure you its not the open-back design at work here. The lows, mids and highs all sound very thin, unsatisfactory. Even with the volume pot at max, I couldn't get a proper drive.

Centrance DACport
This opened up a whole can of whoop-ass. The DACport drives the HE-500 very decently. I had the volume pot at near max for this. The frequencies are much better represented here, it's fidelity has went up a notch from the E10. Alas, it didn't have the control and finesse I was looking for. However, I do want to mention that the DACport is powered by USB, which is already amazing considering how power-hungry planar mags are. It deserves an honorable mention at least.

Schiit Bifrost + Asgard
If the DACport opened up a can of whoop-ass, the Bifrost + Asgard opened up 10 more cans of ass-whooping goodness. The lows, mids and highs are better than ever, they sing and dance to the Bifrost + Asgard combo. It retained the lush, warm sound I was fond of with my Denon cans. The mids are placed in that sweet spot where the vocals just serenade you to no end. The bass extensions are very nice, they go real low and high when needed, and the highs are a pleasure to listen to, not fatiguing, piercing or overly bright. the soundstage is very big and wide, as expected of a open-back design. I find the volume pot at the 1pm clock sufficient enough for my listening, with lots of headroom and tons of SPL still left to spare.

*The following is a series of songs I picked out purely based on preference for this testing. I want to first declare that my selection of songs are very anime and game-centric. In no way these songs and its genre are ultimately the must-go-to ones and its descriptions reflect the entirety and true potential of the HE-500. While I'm pretty confident mainstream music would work equally good on them, I choose songs which have strong emphasis on instruments, vocal, and soundstage as opposed to music recorded in a cramped studio room. All music files used are in FLAC format at 1050kbps*



One particular song I was very eager to test out was Aoi Eir's orchestral version of Memoria from her Prayer album. I'll be brutally honest, when the orchestra starts to play, I got goosebumps all over me. My heart was racing faster. And when Aoi started to sing, I lost it. Tears rolled down my eyes, and my entire body just shivered from her vocals. It was an euphoric sound, something you have to listen for yourself to know.




I recently started the Atelier Meruru game on PS3. So I had the whole OST downloaded in FLAC. Since the game has a very laid-back, easy-going soundtrack, and the Atelier orchestra team had always used a philharmonic hall to do their OST recordings, it was the perfect test for the HE-500s. Cadena was fun to listen to, the choir effect of the theme song, a signature of the Atelier series was simply stunning. The instrumental version of Alchemist Girl Meruru was equally fun. The bass and flute in Alchemic Boy and Girl was punchy and soothing overall. The lullaby musicbox from Little Toybox had me almost drifting off to sleep.




I played through the Supercell albums next. The vocals in Perfect Day was liquid and relaxed, the acoustic guitar was crisp and clear. The instruments in Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari and Sayonara Memories was fun to listen to.




The Everlasting Guilty Crown by EGOIST was pure bliss. The guitar riffs at the beginning are so distinct and clear, you can feel the energy from the guitarist's strum. The bass kicks are nice and good, they don't lack at all.




Mikako Komatsu's Black Holy gave a sense of depth and a space-like feeling. Again, her vocals literally sing to you. I swear, the HE-500s are very mid-centric, lush and warm, which suits me perfectly. Toumei no Yozora's slow and relaxed pacing gave me a sense of aloofness, like I was drifting off into space.


Conclusion

I think despite my best efforts to at least try to get a nice flagship like the Beyer T1, I find myself liking the lower rung models a whole lot more. As much as I liked the T1 when I auditioned it previously, it just didn't come close to what the HE-500 could do, for me at least. I'm quite the discerning listener, and while most may disagree with the HE-500 being better than the T1, it just didn't cut it for me. Though there is always room in my hobby for another headphone, a flagship maybe, but I want to lay low for the time being and enjoy this little treasure here. If you haven't dropped any cash on a pair of high-end headphones, and can't afford a flagship, the HE-500 may be up your alley, but be warned, they do take some power to drive to its full potential. I recommend at least a desktop setup as opposed to a portable setup lots of audiophiles are geared towards to let this baby really shine.

This post has been edited by Ban-kun: Jun 3 2012, 09:58 AM

Thumbs up for this review...HE500 is definitely one of my favorites among headphones, and yea its kinda heavy but really solid

Nice song selections too btw, although wouldn't hurt to test other types of genre to give wider perspective to other readers.

This post has been edited by El-Prodigy: Jun 3 2012, 12:01 AM

I can do that on request, if anyone wants. I don't have a whole lot of mainstream music though, just a few like Green Day, Tokio Hotel, Far East Movement and Don Omar.

Any comment on the HE500 compared to the T1 or the LCD-2?

HE-500 sounds warmer, more lush, like my Denon AH-D5000.
T1 sounds zippy, but imaging and placement is dead accurate.
The LCD-2 sounds very dark to me, not my thing.

Mind posting the picture for those setup?
like a poor person like me satisfied my visual hunger

Did you get to try the HE-500 with Hifiman's copper cable instead of the silver? A couple of us tried and some of us preferred the original copper cable.

I think the hifiman's signature is a nice compromise between that of Beyer and Audez'e.

Yep, I did. Guys at Jaben 'borrowed' the cable from the HE-6 box and let me tried it.
It was awesome too, but I'm digging the silver cable more. Makes cymbals sparkle and tiny nuances more evident. Decay also fades better for me.

And yeah, they tried to poison me into getting the T1 instead, hence the 3 hour audition session. As much as I want it, I was pretty adamant about getting the HE-500.

This post has been edited by Ban-kun: Jun 3 2012, 10:54 AM

Too bad the beyer T80 isn't out yet, I think the series of T70-T90 will be able to match the HE-500 for price and performance.

Gonna settle down for now while recovering from damage.

My next foray would be IEMs I guess. I might just indulge in 1 more headphone, probably a flagship, and be done with it.

Consider going for custom IEMs instead maybe?
Or
Stats flagship and be done with the upgrade bug (for some years anyway)
Or
Speaker system (room acoustics dependent)
Or
Scratch it and give up the hobby (not possible, I've tried)

Universal IEMs maybe. Customs is too much work and upkeep is costly.

I don't think I'll ever afford a stat phone.

Waiting for the release of T80 before I decide between the He-500 and T80 although I'm leaning towards the HE-500 just to get a slightly different signature.

Well the FitEar To Go 334 is a universal IEM (of a custom version)

im totally a copper person considering they have better performance for the lower (or rather over all) frequencies as compared to silvers which are generally biased for the higher frequencies

Those who dismiss the HE-500 when compared to 'flagship' Beyer T1 will be very wrong indeed. To me, the HE-500 is way better.

I'd also take the HE-500 above the LCd-2.

While I do agree that copper compliments all frequencies across the spectrum, I find the silver for the HE-500 more to my liking. Mainly because the freqs on an open-back headphone don't sound that harsh compared to a closed-back. Might just be a placebo effect, I dunno. But I'm loving how jazz music and OST sound on my HE-500s with silver, the decay, the crisp clarity and the overall tonality and warmth is just pure harmony.


Ditto. I'm so glad my gut instinct told me to go with the HE-500. As much as I liked the T1's imaging, it didn't have that warm sounding intimacy I was looking for. So far, only my Denon AH-D5000 and my HE-500 fits that bill perfectly.

Jaben almost had me poisoned with the T1, but I remained strong.

I had my mind set on HE-500 when i ventured into the desktop scene... but a good offer for T1 was up that time, and i grabbed it without hesitation.... LOL

anyways from memory, HE-500 and T1 sounds different... T1 does some things better but its most likely due to personal preference when choosing... I can confirm that HE-500 does bass and warmth better than T1... bass hits lower and retains longer... T1 is on the neutral'er brighter side.. imaging, separation, soundstage width,depth and prolly height is better on the T1.... thats all i can compare sorry folks..

but I've grown to love the T1 sound while owning it.. don't regret not getting the T1 Ban-Kun... there's not much you lost lol.. next upgrade for you will definitely be cables

This post has been edited by jkwanness: Jun 4 2012, 02:19 AM

another thing with open cans is that their lower/bass frequencies are not as strong as closed cans. if i were to go with silvers, that would mean f*** all on my bass

as for T1's, or rather, general beyer signatures, the "problem" is their mid frequencies (which most vocals resides at)

From memory. The HE500 does bass just fine, spite being open. The HE-6 does it even better!!! The brilliant part about orthodynamics is that they can more air easily and quickly, thus won't have much problems with the bass. LCD-2s and -3s are also just as wonderful with the lows.

However, if an orthodynamic would be made into a closed headphone, when ported or dampened well, the bass = monstrous.

i can attest the LCD3's bass being a good performer

though the AD2k performs just as good, if not better in some aspects (eg: bass depth/slam)
not to mention being waaaaaaay cheaper

I've only heard the AD2000 once. And I have to disagree on the bass slam part.

You previously just mentioned that open headphones lack bass presence and all. Then now backtrack saying that the AD2k has.

The slam on the HE-6 and LCDs are stupendously good. And will satisfy all but the biggest bassheads, where the closed Fostex 'Thunderpants' TR50p will do.

The AD2000 does go really low I have to say. The extension is great, but the power is nowhere close to an orthodynamic, IMHO.

Your opinions seem to be very 'coloured' and biased towards your darling AD2000. I can understand. Everyone gets used to their own prized possession and the longer one uses these, the more they're familiar with the sound and the more they think its a world beater. Which is why I try my best to stay neutral.

I've had this friend who owned the A2000x and claims its one of the best he's ever heard. He traded them for a Beyer T5p, and now the T5p is the best headphone in the world. Unfortunately for the online community, he's got quite a robust following. And as such, his tribe all seem to think that nothing he says is wrong (he does have a vast knowledge of headphones and earphones).

That being said. I think the AD2000s are a great great piece of investment. They'll hang around really well with the likes of the HD700, Shure SH1840, RS1s and even the HE-500 (although I'd take the hifiman anyday). But their packaging itself shows that Audio Technica did not intend for these to compete with the absolute top rung. BUT, such is audio that if the sound signature matches your preference, the AD2000 will be more preferred than even say the STAX-sr09.

by default, without any amping, closed cans will always have superior bass than open cans. same case goes for my ad900, i only have bass from it via my govibe peak's bass boost.

considering that, having the same amp to drive the ad2k, the default signature of the ad2k is more veiled/more towards the mid/low frequencies. which ultimately yes, much better bass.
that said, LCD3 definitely have more control and finesse over the ad2k though, which comes at a really hefty price if i may add; the worthiness of it is really subjective and to me personally, it's on the "no" side.
raw depth/bass slam though, the ad2k still wins, and bear in mind both are under the same govibe peak amp for fairness' sake.

cant comment much bout the hifimans since i dont think i've audited them. (i cant remember if jaben brought it to the KLAV, if yes then i may have audited it )

and yes, i do admit that my opinions are very biased towards the AT AD series, because atm it is the only series/lineup that can satisfy my needs for genre bandwidth coupled with the amp i have. do remember, AT's general sound signature/coloration towards the mids and towards female vocals are a charm of its own that as far as i know, no other manufacturers can come close to it. (you may refer to their much revered woodies)

the only thing lacking is the top/bottom end, and more towards the lack of bass for the AD series being open cans (ad700 and above. anything below are just mainstream scaled down "toys" that does not have the AD line up airy sound signature) and that's where the govibe peak comes in. high gain and bass gain, and voila perfect. i get highs, lively mids, (yes, it is very much colored) and moving bass, and that airy sound signature that brings me as close as it could to a speaker setup. (as you probably didn't knew, im more towards a speaker person lol) its a combination of everything that makes it in my long list of requirements, and so far i believe the lcd3 is the only one that came close, and in other ways better than the ad900/ad2k.

admittedly, while i have not been able to audit every setup (especially the ones lurking at home with their desktop setups), i do believe the senn HD800 is a very potential contender; and believe me i have heard a LOT of setups even the flagship headphones that are listed out on the other thread. (akabane's woodie collection is as awesome as ever ) The only problem with the hd800 is that not many have the full setup that could bring that potential in hd800 out which is quite unfortunate. the last time i get to audit a hd800, the owner's amp (schiit lyr) was sent for warranty and my govibe peak cannot drive it at all

with all that said, id really like to try out the hifimans too given the opportunity *coughhinttscough*

When you say audit and audited, do you actually mean audition? It's left me somewhat confused.

lol back to topic.... ban-kun, how many hours have you burnt them in to give the impressions?

jaben should have them.

About 48 hours now. Gonna target 200 hours.


They have the HE-6, HE-400 and HE-5, but no more HE-500s. I always seem to grab the last unit they have, lol.

my apologies on messing up audit/audited and audition/auditioned

my excuse is the lack of sleep (night job, which is 1am to 7am not on shift, on 24/7 call lol, fukken servers) then straight laundry into ripping CDs into service car until now posting this post. yea i havent slept since yesterday night

---

Added on June 4, 2012, 11:55 pmhmm whats the difference between he5LE/HE-500? same price

have you considered the he5?

This post has been edited by Quazacolt: Jun 4 2012, 11:55 PM

haha my second love

love it with copper cable... smooth and lively~ shd go jaben try HE500... hmm shd be different or shd i save money for SR009 (shd able to buy it after 10years LOLz)

jaben have both the he-5LE and he-500?

u tried it before? I really wonder how it sound... shd i mod mine~~~

ban-kun said he bought the last HE-500. so presumably Jaben is OOS for HE-500 for the time being

No sure but i think they only hv HE500 now... i tried the HE5LE with hifiman tube amp long time ago~ everything is good maybe smt the treble abit hot (cannot remember properly)~

well for now i use T50RP as poor man electrostatic~ forget that it sounds flatter than the horizon... its super smooth and very forgiving~

curious on the he-5LE too, as they are the same price o_O

paper spec sheets etc seems like the 5LE is superior (and lighter too!) than the he-500...

heard the HE-5LE long long ago before i got my T1. wasn't impressed with it. lol. can't remember how it sounds like now.

They have both, yes, but I bought the last HE-500. They can still place orders for you if you want.
IMO, you're better off with the HE-500. When I auditioned the 5LE, I find the midrange and treble very withdrawn. The treble also sounds zingy, artificial like.

Not very impressed. It's also difficult to drive, 2 watts or so iirc. the 5LE was hooked into a govibe portatube when I auditioned it. So yeah.
Although for some reason the T1 paired with the portatube was actually very nice.

maybe it was a case of inadequate driving power from amps? i mean, hifiman spec sheets kinda put the 5le being better than 500, then again, spec sheets means little in audio

im actually more intrigued over the -500gram weight, as i either listen for long periods, or i just use my speakers lol.

With better driving power maybe, but I'm more of a realistic audiophile, I get what I can afford and make sure my gear is fit for it, not shelling out monies for trophy amps/setups just because.

I can assure you, you won't feel a damn thing even with 500g sitting on your head. The clamping pressure takes care of that, and it doesn't crush your skull into a vice too. Leave it to the chinese...

This post has been edited by Ban-kun: Jun 5 2012, 09:21 PM

http://www.audio-technica.com.sg/con_product.php?prodid=10
or
http://www.audio-technica.com.sg/con_product.php?prodid=13

250gram lol.

for short listening, sure, you're absolutely correct. however i am almost certain after 5-6 hours or more, the weight is gonna carry a toll on your head. hell, even my 250gram headphones are fatiguing after that long hours, and AT cans with their 3d wing head bands make some really comfortable wearing lol (lets not forget the extra puffy modded w5k earpads lol)

Unless you wear headphones 8 hours a day for a living, chances are you won't be affected.

The portatube doesn't even remotely have the sort of driving power the 5LE requires. Hence the sucked out mids and treble.

Generally beyers plus tubes equals match made in heaven, if you think the T1 goes well with the portatube, wait till you hear it sing with a proper tube amp.

i already have a few occasions wearing over 8-10 hours, if you even count the few times i fell asleep with my headphones, thats over 10 hours already lol.

Actually they had some sort of external sound card hooked up before this, some Asus Sonar card, didn't impress me either, lots of microphonic and static noise.

Have you tried Grado/Alessandro headphones? The feel like air on your head, especially with the oversized bowl earpads and their relatively lightweight and minimalistic look.

This post has been edited by Ban-kun: Jun 6 2012, 09:14 PM

i've tried both Grado/Alessandro headphones and listening to rock on the grado (or even alessandro if you prefer to have it not so forward) is always a bliss. that said, AT's coloration on mid/female vocals are a notch better than the americans. weight/comfort wise grado materials are either metal or solid plastic, which yes, more weight as opposed to AT's generally magnesium casing (at least for the mid range and above, though yeah more expensive)

i havent personally worn the grado/Alessandro for the length i've worn my AT AD900, so opinions are definitely going to be biased, however for time i get to auditioned with them, i still prefer the lesser head/hair contact 3D wing design by AT. albeit if you're not used to it or you're having "non-mainstream/standard" head shape/size, then the design maybe too tight or too loose for you.

that said, the wood modded (was it sr60?) grado that akabane has is imho the best bass reproduction headphones i've EVER heard. no matter it being bass quality, quantity, slam/depth, refinement/finease, everything. i've never heard bass so well done on a headphone as that grado.

the last time i've heard it at penang the driver was "loosened" from the intense "bass auditioning" (i am assuming that it's the most likely root cause) so i am not sure if akabane repaired the headphones or not. if he got it repaired and got the time to arrange and what not, i'd highly recommend bringing anything bassy and give it a go. either the govibe peak or ALO RX MK3 would be the best amp pairing. (havent experienced anything better, as from the top of my head almost every audiophile around LYN cant give a rat's ass about low frequencies/bass lulz oh and shoutout to sheenho's pro700mk2 )

It's Alessandro MSW1k? I have listened to it before, if any of you like MS1i, you're going to like that headphone very-very much. It's a whole new level.

This post has been edited by Iqbal_kakashi: Jun 6 2012, 10:18 PM

Just a few more pics. I think someone here requested I posted my desktop setups. Here's one with the HE-500 and the AH-D5000 with my Asgard + Bifrost.

I noticed my all my headphones' models have the number '5' in them, as with my ATH-M50. Pure coincidence...?

i think so. my memory's pretty piss poor at times so it can't be helped >_<

Good lo finally got HE500 kaki.
Surrounding fren all Beyer T1 kaki lol.

Nice headphone stand man~

From my experience with the HE6 and the HE500... I would say that the HE6 and the HE500 sound somewhat similar but the bass quality on the HE6 cannot be matched by the HE500. As I compared both, and I would say that the HE500 sounds like a HE6 but something is just limiting the 500 from performing like the 6. It just doesn't dish out that final bit of performance of the 6. I would say that the HE500 is maybe about 70% of the HE6. But the HE6 is a real pain to drive and I think that is the main reason why people don't really buy it much..

Exactly mate. He6 is better but on the other hand it is power hunger.
Even the eargasm doesnt drive he6 but it drives he500 perfectly.
With the eargasm combo I would say he500 is more pleasure to listen to.

In terms of actual application, the HE-500 would be more realistically plausible compared to the HE-6.
No point in grabbing a headphone to find that your amp has no power in driving it to its fullest. If you're buying the HE-6 and just get about 50-50 chance of swinging its fidelity, you might as well get the HE-500 and realize 70-80% of what the HE-6 can do.

Well unless, you plan to build a rig around the HE-6... then that'll be ok...

Well if wanna build a rig around he6, it is not cheap to invest on the amp.
Lyr? I have not listened to the combo but some of headfier still claim it to be under power.
Ef6? Well usd1599 now on head direct.
Or darkstar / liquid fire? The price itself can buy another 2 he6. Hehe.
Output directly from integrated amp/avr speaker post? So far I have tried on 1 integrated amp and 1 avr, got the full power, but the sound is not coherent.
Not to mention about the mobility, and connect to portable rig is nearly impossible.
Just my humble opinion, dont flame me hehe.

Yeah it is that good, I wish I could afford it one day, with the pairing amp.
Or lcd3 with cheaper amp will also do the trick.

This post has been edited by mclee0427: Jun 16 2012, 07:51 PM

http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/banned-at-head-fi.html
Hi bro i saw NwAvGuy said this~ is it only Asgard got problem with the AKG's headphone~
so far its doing fine with your headphone?

What do u means by not coherent when drive by speaker amp?

It means as in the left channel and right channel are not connected, the vocal/instruments that are supposed to focus in center position disperse and separate over the entire horizontal imaging.
To me it just sounds weird. Well so far I have only tried on 1 speaker amp and 1 AVR. There could be other amps working well with HE6 possibly.

They already rectified the problem by installing a muting relay in their future Asgard units.
propf is using it with his AKG and so far he hasn't blown his headphones yet.

The speaker amp you were referring to was on my set up from that day?

Yes, from both our setups. I also tried with he500 and got the same result.
Really thanks for arranging the meet up, had fun that day.
So see you again on next weekend

Btw, I just got my he500 back from China, waited for 2 months plus.
They sent me back a new unit.

This post has been edited by mclee0427: Jun 17 2012, 12:11 PM

I'm close to 150 hours of burn in on my HE-500, and I must say, the sound has opened up alot more. Better transparency, tonal accuracy seems to have improved as well, imaging took a huge leap forward, its like everything just fell into place effortlessly.

Now to just test it with a my coming-soon DHC Macromolecule and Clone cables.

This post has been edited by Ban-kun: Jun 17 2012, 02:16 PM

Ah~ i see~ thanks for the update bro

Ban-kun, is the hifiman he500 nice for anime song, jrock and jpop?