kudos all around!

Pretty much spot on comparison between HE-500 and HD650. It's good you get to hear these and realize they are a side-grade (but still good headphone) rather an upgrade. Some stuff is worse. Some better.


Yes, the bass quality of the HE-500 is better than HD650. The bass on the HE-400 is better than the bass on the HE-500. I'll loan out the HE-400s next.

HD800 (anax 2.0) and HE-500 (jergpads and grill mod (?)) comparison (With a little bit of hd600)

---

I’ll start this off by saying thank you to Purrin for allowing me the opportunity to try out these fantastic mid-high range headphones. There has been tons of comparisons written about these two already, but I would like to share my thoughts with all of you despite that.

Test Equipment: Schiit Gungnir USB gen 2 -> Schiit Vali -> headphones. No fancy cables were used.

While the he-500 sounded decent with the uha-6s, I found that the sound was still a bit lacking and I didn’t want to use a portable amp to evaluate open headphones designed for home use.

The NFB-10es2 were also briefly used, but not for the comparison. I found that the he-500s sounded similar between the two amps (used the a-gd's preamp to the vali) with the a-gd having a bit cleaner bass and slightly bigger soundstage but overall the vali was more enjoyable.

Soundstaging and imaging

---

Well the he-500 doesn’t really come close to the hd800 in this category, since these are the hd800’s greatest strengths. A more appropriate comparison is between the he-500 and hd600. Based off of memory, the he-500’s soundstage wasn’t actually much larger than the hd600’s. I had initially expected the he-500’s soundstage to be bigger than the hd600’s but it wasn’t the case with the Schiit Vali. Perhaps there would be a more significant difference if I used a different amp.


Presentation

---

The overall presentation of the hd800s and he-500s are quite different even though these two have similar sound signatures. The different driver technologies (dynamic and ortho) as well as soundstaging should be considered as well. The he-500s to me are a little bit more fun sounding, and intimate. They would probably be non-audiophile approved, and are definitely more forgiving of lower quality recordings. On the other hand, the hd800s are more capable of pulling me into the music with its spacious presentation, imaging, and clarity throughout the spectrum. The hd800s are also more capable of being more dynamic, with larger volume swings and impact. More on the differences in presentations in the next sections.

I feel like the hd600s and he-500s have a similar overall presentation, as they are both intimate sounding headphones with smaller soundstages. They are also each slightly warm, with the hd600s being only a slight bit darker. The main differences in presentation between the two for me was that the clarity on the he-500 is much better than the hd600s.

Treble

---

The treble on both the he-500 and hd800s are on about the same level, with the hd800s having a little bit more lower treble energy. The he-500s treble is smoother and less prone to sibilance but the hd800’s treble is more sparkly and is more detailed.

Between the he-500 and hd600, the he-500 has the better treble imo.

Midrange

---

The he-500s have a more forward sounding midrange, which produces a more intimate presentation compared to the hd800. Vocals are also a little bit thicker than on the hd800. Some may like that, others may not. I prefer a mid-range that is somewhere between intimate and distant. I don’t think either of these two quite fill that point. I actually prefer the midrange presentation of the UERMs over the hd800s at times. It sounds “right” to me. My limitation may just be the Schiit Vali though, as the he-500s and hd800s are capable of scaling much higher than that. However, the hd800’s midrange does sound clearer and perhaps more realistic than that of the he-500s.

The he-500 and hd600s both have intimate midranges. Can’t say that I prefer one over the other; they’re both great.

Bass

---

These two have very different bass presentations. There is a bit more bass quantity on the he-500 but it doesn’t come close to reach basshead level of course. The bass did not pull away from the impression that the he-500s sound close to neutral. Despite the bass quantity, the bass is clean and has nice impact. Despite the hd800s having slightly less bass quantity than the he-500s, the hd800s are capable of producing deeper bass and having more impact. At times, the he-500’s bass may interfere a little bit with the mids and the treble.

The he-500s win out over the hd600s in this case. Much better bass quality imo.

Comfort, aesthetics

---

The hd800s are much more comfortable than the he-500s for long term listening. Less weight, less clamp, and better distribution of each. The jergpads are pretty fantastic though, they are more comfortable than the stock velour that I have tried. I wear glasses but the he-500s doesn’t clamp on that thankfully. They do clamp a little bit around my ears though, and the weight gets to me if I wear them for an hour or more.

The hd600s are more comfortable to me than the he-500s in this case as well. Less weight, and less clamp.

Conclusions

---

Overall I really like the he-500s. They’re a fantastic sounding pair of headphones. Ultimately they sound like refined hd600s to me but they don’t quite reach flagship level. I suppose that’s why the he-6 is available. I would have really liked to try the he-500s on a speaker amp or even a balanced amp with lots of power. I feel like the Vali was sufficient though, as I had the chance to try the he-500s briefly with the nfb-10es2’s SE output. The only problems I had with them was really the comfort and clamp, but that’s about it. I look forward to trying the he-560s when they come out. They will be a little bit more expensive but I hope that they will not only improve on the comfort, but the sound quality as well.

Awesome, gunner! Still haven't tried the HD800 but your HE-500 vs. HD600 impressions are spot on. Spot on. I completely agree with your assessment in every way. Owning the HD580, I gave up on the HE-500 in the end after only a week or so. The HE-4 has the most appealing ortho sound to my ears and I also prefer the signature of the HD580 (warmer) to the HE-500. When I did my listening with Ember, it's obvious that the HE-500 has better, more pronounced treble. However, a friend just finished building a Crack and I've fallen in love with the HD580/600 pairing. The treble is so clean and crisp, it really reminds me of an ortho presentation. At this point, this is one of the best pairings I've heard; the HE-500 did not sound as good on the amps I had.