A few months back I was having an itch to try out a planar headphone. Low and behold HiFiMAN has just announced a new planar headphone offering, the HE-400, with a pre-order price $50 less than SRP after pre-oder period. So I jumped in the HE-400 wagon immediately not knowing of the fiasco looming ahead, unfortunately there were a lot of issues with their latest model, the build quality, the very long lead time because of the Chinese New Year, and that it doesn't come with a hard case considering its price. Apparently there were a “first batch” that came out just before the Chinese New Year. The first batch that came out had the issue of the left channel dying on them after a few hours, but a few screw tightening was enough for the fix, problem solved. Unfortunately mine was supposedly part of the second batch, so I waited longer. In the process I opted to upgrade to HE-500 for twice the price. So that is the irrelevant story of how I ended up buying the HE-500. =)
Ok, here's a short review on this planar headphone.
First off.. Unboxing =)
Opening the box, I was surprised to see a travel bag, like the one they're selling in head-direct for $29. I was expecting a hard case. Oh well.. no biggie =D Inside the travel case are the ff. HE-500 planar headphone with leather ear pads, a velour bag, silver cable terminated with 1/4” plug, extra velour pad, extra headphone connectors, thats it.
Build quality, the headphone is really heavy, heavier than any headphone i've ever tried, clamping force is a tad less than HD650. The paint-job is fantastic, has better gloss than HD650, much like car paint, but this share the same color as the HD650. Headband is just OK, I've seen better, a little thin on the foam, just enough. The only gripe I have with build quality is the silver cable, its a bit disappointing, but expected, this look very fragile, especially near the headphone connectors, and im hearing some micro phonics, im not sure if sleeve would help. Would've preferred the Canare cable. Leather pads are soft. Velour pads are fine.
Sound Quality, I am just blown away. I have never heard a headphone as clear and detailed as these.. I was expecting these to sound dark and warm, it is fairly neutral,im not sure.. im thinking the silver cable probably has something to do with it. Forward mids, sweet and smooth vocals, I can hear the slightest vibrations in guitar strings. Listening to Carpenters, some Bossa Nova and Susan Wong, I am just captivated. Absolutely fantastic with classical and female vocals. It has just enough bass, although a bit light footed on some tracks, but listening to some techno and dance, I'd say its just about right and defined. Listening to Foo Fighters and Incubus, its really good with rock but its better with other genres. Its great with acoustic, i've never heard John Mayer's voice and guitar sound so good, Jack Johnson felt real to me. excellent soundstage, expansive width and depth.. very open. Thats it for now. I've been listening for 2 straight hours.. =)
oh.. here are some pics..
