Hifiman HE-500?

[Oggeen]

Hey im planning to buy hifiman he 500 because I have heard great things about this headphone, Do you agree?

 

My real question: is it worth to buy one of Hifimans dac/amp or should I go for the objective 2 + odac from mayflower?

The last option could be an Asus Xonar Essence STU.

 

The Mayflower and the Asus has the same price. because in Sweden we have high taxes for import of these electronics

[helping]

The last option could be an Asus Xonar Essence STU.

This is not your answer.

 

otherwise you look to be doing it right.

[Oggeen]

This is not your answer.

 

otherwise you look to be doing it right.

Then i guess that it is a fight between EF-2A and objective 2 +odac and i guess that the objective is better but would i be dumb to save the money and take the EF-2a from Hifiman?

 

Is it a lot of diffrent in sound quality between HE-500 and HE-400?

[helping]

Then i guess that it is a fight between EF-2A and objective 2 +odac and i guess that the objective is better but would i be dumb to save the money and take the EF-2a from Hifiman?

 

Is it a lot of diffrent in sound quality between HE-500 and HE-400?

It's not a bad idea at all, but it's a tube amp and you'd have to see if you'd prefer that.

 

Not sure how the HE400 and HE500 compare.

[Oggeen]

It's not a bad idea at all, but it's a tube amp and you'd have to see if you'd prefer that.

 

Not sure how the HE400 and HE500 compare.

okey thanks i will looking further for the diffrence between HE-400 and HE-500

[MayflowerElectronics]

okey thanks i will looking further for the diffrence between HE-400 and HE-500

 

A lot. The HE-500 is just overall a better headphone. The bass is clearer and hits harder, the midrange is bumped up a bit more, and the treble is slightly higher on the HE-500. It's comparable to the LCD-2 at half the cost.

[creatip123]

I have a personal review of the HE400, if you're interested: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/147451-my-personal-review-of-hifiman-he-400-image-heavy/

 

IMO, HE400 got a little gap in the mids, but it can be helped with a little EQ. That's what I did anyway...

 

And @Lays here used to have HE500, but then he upgraded to the LCD2. He said good things about the HE500.

 

Hifiman's tube amp isn't very well known, at least not in my country. Tubes are supposed to give a warmer nuance to the sound (maybe not always), so maybe first get the HE500 first, and if you feel it's warm enough (more warm would be too much), then go with solid state amps, like the O2. 

[Lays]

A lot. The HE-500 is just overall a better headphone. The bass is clearer and hits harder, the midrange is bumped up a bit more, and the treble is slightly higher on the HE-500. It's comparable to the LCD-2 at half the cost.

 

 

I think I'd say better controlled treble as well, I've read lots of people having issue with sibilance on the he-400. I didn't have that issue with the 500's, it was quite smooth while still having great treble but I had some problems with the treble at higher volumes where it was quite fatiguing for me.

 

 

@Oggeen I'd have to say the he-500 is a fine headphone, and a pretty fine one for around ~500$.  As @creatip123 mentioned, I previously owned the HE-500, but upgraded to the LCD-2. My 3 weeks I spent with it were very enjoyable, although I wish I could of tried it with different amps / setups, just for curiosity sake. I really should of written a review of them while I was still in possession of them, but I never quite got around to it.  I upgraded to the LCD-2 because I loved the way it looked, and sounded. I also feel it's much more comfortable, due to the extremely thick pads with very very soft padding inside.

 

If you have the money, the he-500 is a more refined version of the 400 IMO, and I think you'd enjoy it very much. If you can't quite spend that much, the he-400 would be a good option too. Other amps you could look at, would be the emotiva mini x a-100, I hear the he-500 and this amp get along extremely well, and the amp is aesthetically pleasing as well. (Keep in mind you'd need a dac as well, the ODAC would be fine in this case) Although you'll have to buy adapters to go from 1/4" to 4 speaker taps, as it's a speaker amp.

I'm planning on getting one to test with my LCD-2's soon out of curiosity to test it myself after seeing so many recommendations. 

[NannerBeans]

Then i guess that it is a fight between EF-2A and objective 2 +odac and i guess that the objective is better but would i be dumb to save the money and take the EF-2a from Hifiman?

Is it a lot of diffrent in sound quality between HE-500 and HE-400?

Headnhifi sells o2 amps in Switzerland. That would probably be cheaper than shipping one from the states.

[Oggeen]

okey thanks guys.

Sorry NannerBeans but in sweden if you buy something from an EU-country, the company need to make the product in EU to let the ware be tax free and i guess thet buy them from Mayflower so it would not be cheaper

[NannerBeans]

okey thanks guys.

Sorry NannerBeans but in sweden if you buy something from an EU-country, the company need to make the product in EU to let the ware be tax free and i guess thet buy them from Mayflower so it would not be cheaper

But...it's made in Switzerland. There's also one that's made in UK. These are small companies making it by themselves. The o2 is an open design. Anyone can make it. 

[Oggeen]

whoops did a mistake didnt see that if you buy something under $192,85 you can skip taxes. 

The amps price is $174 so i dont need to pay taxes

Was looking at the objective2 +odac, i dont think i would need the odac yet.......

[Oggeen]

But...it's made in Switzerland. There's also one that's made in UK. These are small companies making it by themselves. The o2 is an open design. Anyone can make it. 

ohhh didnt know that thanks for the info