I'm surprised no one's suggested one of LFF's offerings.

I'll have a chance (as well as ultrabike) to compare those two side-by-side soon. The HE500 will be Jerg modded.

You won't find anything better than HD800s for comfort. They are the only headphones I've ever tried that can truly disappear.

Despite not being velour pads, I would take a serious look at those K550. I was seriously impressed with them when I heard them at a meet. Large soundstage with good detail and a tonal balance close to HD800s, but less top end. At the time I called them HD800 Jr. or something like that. Comfort isn't quite as good, but the ear opening is large and the pads are cushy, but also firm enough to be supporting. They don't collapse like the pillows on the LCDs. I don't recall their clamp, but I would have if it was too much, so it should be fine. It's nice they are closed if you ever need that as well. I like how they look, too. If I wasn't a 1 headphone person I'd probably have a pair. Only reason I hang on to my HD600 is it's sort of an industry standard most people have heard so it's easy to compare experience with.

Re: HD600 & HE500

I thought the HD6x0 clamp was too much for you that it wasn't in consideration? It's fairly balanced, but lacks extension on both ends and needs a hefty amp to bring to potential, moreso than HD800s which are easy to drive by comparison, just picky about synergy. If there was ever a vanilla of headphones it would be the HE500. Good at everything (except comfort), but great at nothing. Roughly similar to HD600, but with improved extension, especially in the bass and somewhat smoother due to the planar advantages. Overall I'd call the HE500 better than HD600, but the price difference cancels it out.

Quote (selected)

Gungnir - BHA-1 - K550
Notes: Good center - very good. Bass volume needs a bump. Mids and treble attack is good. I like the treble. Not the cleanest but has a similar presentation to the HD800. Vocals are nice. Medium to large stage.

Comments: Thought I would not like these, but tried them anyways. Surprised to find out I really liked them. For their price I can certainly suggest them to anyone wanting a HD800 but doesn't have the budget for it. And they are closed... wtf??

From the 2013 Austin impressions thread.

I found HD600 to be a bit midbassy sounding with not enough depth while HE-500 were linear and deep in bass. However, HE-500 were also a bit too bloated and dominant in bass area. I would say that both headphones lacked texture and tightness in bass department.

In terms of mids, I enjoyed both... Mids of HE-500 were most probably the best I have ever heard, HE-500 rivalling LCD-2 in vocals definitely. Though there was something a bit weird with HE-500 - bass-mids and mids-upper-mids transitions being somewhat fuzzy, not precise enough. Upper-mids sufficient (for me) enough, no tendency for sibilance. Both forgiving. Vocals with pleather pads a little bit emphasised on HE-500 but not offensively in any way I would say.

In terms of treble, I enjoyed both... Again, no tendency for sibilance, no VERY obvious imbalances in frequency response to my ears (but I havent spent days with them to be more accurate). I enjoyed pleather pads more in terms of treble with HE-500 - I though velour pads made HE-500 sound a bit hollow - like some info was missing. But I thought HD600 sounded a bit hollow in treble as well. I thought both lacked air.

Soundstaging on HD600 was nothing special... Almost closed-in to my ears. It was better on HE-500... But honestly, there is nothing very special about HE-500 or HD600 in terms of technicalities - they just dont image impressively or do soundstage in an expansive way. They do not provide a lot of macrodetail and definitely lack in microdetail department. Both headphones could be faster. But as I said, I am not looking for a competitive headphones to HD800 in these areas.