The new pads appear to be available for sale on the HFM store. Are the old style pads compatible with the HE-560? I'm assuming they are. If so, I'd be very interested to see how they measure on the HE-560 (including jergpad).

SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS + COMPARISON TO ABYSS


I'll make it short and call the HE-560 Abyss Lite.

• Tonal response and presentation very similar to Abyss with some minor differences:
• More 4k emphasis on HE-560, whereas Abyss has more 9k emphasis. The HE-560 is also just a hair warmer. But again both headphones are very similar in terms of tone and presentation.
• HE-560 tends to have a more plasticky timbre, Abyss has more steely timbre. Please don't go around saying I said the HE-560 sounds plasicky. It doesn't. Just trying to find words to describe the differences.
• Abyss has better microdetail extraction, but HE-560 plankton retrieval is very good and something I find quite satisfying. This cannot be said with the HE-500 or even the AKG K812 (see impressions elsewhere on this site to read how the K812 fails in this regard even in the face of the "lowly" HD600.)
• Abyss has more bass power and tighter bass. Bass on HE-560 can sometimes be soft compared against the Abyss. HE-560 is still no slouch in the area. And as mentioned earlier, a huge improvement over the HE-500's mushy bass.
• Abyss has better layering and separation.
• Percussion sounds snappier and less soft on Abyss.

VERDICT: FOUR STARS

I was asked earlier if I felt the HE-560 was worth it. I said yes, assuming that the HE-560 cost $1199. (I have no idea why I thought this.) Anyways, at $899, I find the HE-560 quite a good deal.

Why the comparison to the Abyss? It's not fair no? Because you get 80-90% of it at well less than 20% of the cost. The HE-560 represents a significant improvement over the earlier iterations. Better tonal balance than HE-5/6 and better technicalities and refinement over HE-500. It's all growed up now.

Marvey, what amps did you think fared well with the HE-560?

Marvey, what amps did you think fared well with the HE-560?

I would generally steer away from tubes or lower powered amps - tends to sound soft. High Z tube amps like EC ZD or WA-2 are not recommended. EC 4-45 was fantastic, but that is an exception to the guidance. The headphone definitely does scale. Even the Objective 2 drove the HE-560 well. So no need for a mega powered speaker amp. It's not that hard to drive.