Some NotesRapid Development --- HiFiMAN has taken some heat in the forums for coming out with new versions of these cans in rapid fire succession. I appreciate folks feeling distressed after just spending hard earned dosh on a pair of expensive headphones only to find them superseded shortly thereafter. I hope HiFiMAN takes this to heart. But it’s also important to understand the problem from a product developer’s point of view --- I’ve been a manufacturer before, and I can tell you that it’s very difficult. Almost every product development I’ve ever been a part of has started out with excitement, and ended with a sigh. Always, the process of engineering and compromise occurs in an environment of high costs and a ticking clock. There’s an old saying, “It’s time to shoot the engineer and get this thing out the door.” By the time a product is released, the team is tired and well aware of the things that will likely be needed in the next rev. Like a fine woodworker who sees all the flaws that no one else does, satisfaction for product developers is never complete. Developing products is nowhere near as much fun as many might think. So, I get it. While it bugs me too that HiFiMAN has released these cans in rapid fire, I also applaud his continued desire to work on them until the technology shows its full potential. Planar magnetic driver development looked at seriously as a high-end transducer is still in its infancy after all. He could have just stopped with the HE-5LE and said that’s good enough, and gone on to something else. (The bevy of goodies Fang has developed at Head-Direct is ample evidence that he’s got plenty of good ideas to go after.) But he didn’t rest on “good enough” … and thank goodness for that! The HE-500 is a world-class headphone, and I’m glad HiFiMAN has worked so hard on planar magnetic technologies. I expect that other manufacturers will hear the HE-500 and be spurred on to develop one of their own. Why? Because these cans pretty much kick ass. Fantastic work, Fang!
Reversed Absolute Polarity --- With the exception of the HE-5LE, all the other HE series headphones I measured (two additional units in some cases) were wired in reverse polarity. I have not experienced this making a difference in sound on headphones, but many believes it does. Regardless, this seems like a simple thing to fix, and I hope it is remedied soon.
Fig 1. Shows the frequency response of the four HE series models tested. It seems to me that my perception of an improving mid-range as I worked through the series may boil down to the ratio of energy between 5kHz to 10kHz to that between 1kHz and 4kHz. Over time, the line seems to be reducing the higher frequency energy relative to the lower span. Also, note that the response between 10kHz and 20kHz reducing over time. In the earlier models, the treble emphasis and strong bass of these cans may have been subjectively overwhelming the mids. With the HE-500, these are more in balance, possibly accounting for my listening impression of a more coherent presentation. 300 Hz Square Wave Response
Fig 2. Shows the 300Hz square wave response of the HE series. (Please note: I inverted the HE-5LE response so it would be in the same polarity as the others for easier interpretation.) Overshoot and ring on the leading edges contributes to a “tizzy” sound in my experience. Both the HE-5 and HE-6 are moderately excessive in this regard. My sense of it is that you do need to see some overshoot and ring for the headphones to sound properly quick. I would estimate the HE-5LE has about the right amount. However, you’ll also notice the top of the HE-5LE square wave is slightly tilted downward. This typically indicates a slightly thin sound, and I believe this may represent the withdrawn upper-mids of the HE-5LE. On the lower trace, the HE-500 may have slightly too much overshoot and ring evidencing the slightly emphasized treble I heard during subjective testing, but it is somewhat reduced relative to the HE-5 and HE-6. The top of the HE-500 square wave is ruler flat and shows significant reduction in noise. I suspect the new diaphragm in this model is behaving very nicely. This result indicates to me a very coherent sounding headphone with phase well aligned, and a black background upon which to paint the aural picture. Very nice!
Headphonedom has gained territory this past year and a half, and a new state of play exists: World-Class, commercially available, planar magnetic headphones. HiFiMAN’s HE-500 sit at a high point for all the kingdom to hear. It is a masterwork of development, and a siren call attracting those who desire the extraordinary richness of bass, crystal-clear highs, and coherent glorious body between that these cans deliver. Those looking to choose between the HE-500 and LCD-2 should favor the HE-500 for it’s breathtaking speed, and the LCD-2 for its honeybath of PRaT (pace, rhythm, and timing). I suggest buying both. Five years from now, with the latest planar magnetic headphones wrapping my noggin, I may look back at this review and wonder how I was so impressed. But for the moment, I’ll gladly suffer my ignorance and play sweet music on my HiFiMAN HE-500 planar magnetic headphones. Ahhhhh!
Head-Fi impressions thread for the HE-500. Please feel free to post good reference links in the comments!
