đŸ”¶ Hifiman HE5XX

Headphones [Official] Open Back
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Ah and some other things, soundstage is surprisingly spacious, decently large and has a decent amount of depth, somewhat surprised there, imaging is also pretty great

Dynamics are decent here as long as you have at least an entry level amp, not lacking but not def not excelling (I would really like if that could be improved), decent layering as well

A bit more on the amp side of things, they don’t sound great off a phone or underpowered, but it’s easier to power them that it was a 4xx from my experience so that’s nice, I do prefer them on a warmer source as they can get a bit sharp, liquid spark is a great budget idea here

This seems like a upgrade from a 4xx although not as much as a sundara, but the 5xx does sound more energetic than a sundara tbh. I would say so far that I would take this 100% over a 4xx for sure so far

Edit: now probably about 80-85%

I think the thing that’s most impressive to me about what they are pulling off here with the 5xx is the timbre and or tone, it’s pretty great for a planar at this price, and also stage spaciousness as it’s really quite good for the price. And the midrange is really quite nice. The most disappointing aspect is pretty easily the bass as it doesn’t dig as deep as I would want, doesn’t have great impact and heft, and while it is controlled I don’t know how to feel about a weird roundness in the bass. Also can get sibilant with some tracks and depending on what amp you have

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This is actually pretty nice to hear considering how different the sundara and 4xx sounded I felt like there would be a missing step for people who liked the 4xx and wanted another hifiman. Altho I’m also grateful that the sundara sounds completely different from the 4xx lol

THIS in particular is very nice to hear. The tonality and timbre of the 4xx was really my only problem with it. Otherwise it was a great headphone

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Yes the 5xx does a pretty great job of making this much less of an issue, along with giving it some needed sweetness as well, I might say that I prefer the midrange and upper bass timbre of the 5xx over the sundara but I would really need both on hand to compare, but both the sundara and 5xx are pretty easily much better timbre wise over the 4xx

Ah and also now since it’s been on my head for awhile, I actually might find the 5xx more comfy than the sundara for my head, personally the cup shape and the lightness make it pretty nice, whereas the sundara headband was somewhat off-putting to me. Personally I really like the suspension strap style bands on the older hifiman like the 560 or stuff like the arya and up. Build still feels real cheap though

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Hello,
How would you divide the listeners of if you had to allocate a place between the Hifiman Sundura,He4xx and He5xx,which one would be on place one and which one on place 3 for you?

Had the He4 xx once had was too dull for me.
I have heard the Sundura under conditions that were not great, without amplifier and primitive on a Cd player.
But with this one I did not find it too dull.

And as a Fostex Tr x00 listener all three could have a hard time, the He4xx for me anyway I would not buy it again.

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Out of both combined preference and performance I would currently rate sundara > 5xx > 4xx, both the sundara and 5xx are both overall upgrades over the 4xx but with different signatures, although the sundara is the pretty clear combined technical leader imo

The sundara is fairly amp picky for the budget, so it requires more careful matching to get ideal sound

The fostex biodyna headphones are pretty great although pretty different from the hifiman planars

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Super thank you Mon for your assessment I appreciate,:wink:.

Just from my gut it tells me that I should go a level higher than Quad Era 1 or even higher for my needs.

With Hifiman I have a hard time for whatever reason.

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From what I read, the Quad Era 1 seems to have a soft, ethereal sound (Zeos mentions this too), aspects that the modern Hifiman sound has too.

Thanks @M0N for your take on the HE5XX. I have one coming my way (likely going back) to do a side by side comparison with the HE500.

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Personally the quad would more remind me of the hek or the hex v2 in terms of impact, thickness, and smoothness, more than it would like an arya or sundara (or the older hifiman), but they might share some characteristics

Should be pretty interesting side by side, but I sure hope nobody sells their he500 to buy one of these expecting something similar lol. Will be curious on your thoughts :+1:

I really wish drop would have branded this differently, because now you have people pissed it isn’t really a he500 replacement and also people thinking it’s just a rebranded and recolored deva while it’s really neither of those, it’s something different instead

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After some more time with it, it has gotten a bit more impactful and opened up a bit (only slightly, still not enough for my tastes, still not a hard hitter), and treble has evened out but that peak right near the sibilance area is still prominent enough to be an issue for some, a bit less raw sounding overall. Otherwise sound is similar to what I felt earlier. I also should say that it is indeed a slight v shape but I still really like what the midrange is doing on here for a planar at this price, I don’t want to make it seem mid centric or anything though since it isn’t that, it’s a slight bit recessed but not overly so, perhaps a slight u shape but that’s not exactly it either because of that weird bass roundness.

Generally I tend to find myself favoring warmer amps with more body, asgard 3 is a very good match for the price, helps smooth treble a bit, maintain that really nice timbre for the midrange, and gives more impact to the bass without over-exaggerating that lower bass hump, gives some nice linearity throughout the midrange and treble, and also really helps spatial recreation out. A monolith liquid spark really helps it out in the treble but can actually sound a bit overdone in the bass as it kinda emphasizes that roundness in the hifiman (but also gives it a pretty large stage), but I would still prefer it over something like an atom or heresy which would get way too sharp in the treble at times in comparison and lost some impact and body in the bass. The magni 3+ does a pretty good job but imo can sound harsh at times which isn’t the most enjoyable. It does scale with higher end amps, but personally if you were going to spend in that 500 range amp wise I would just suggest you change to a sundara unless you really love the tuning of the 5xx.

I should also add that it’s actually pretty dang detailed for the price, moreso than I initially realized, so that’s really nice, and it doesn’t shove it down your throat unless it happens to be in that 8-10k sibilance range lol, more detailed than most other cans I can think of in the 200 range

Also more into spatial creation, the 5xx has a bit of exaggerated width and verticalitiy/largeness which while isn’t the most faithful to the recording is tastefully done and tends to be enjoyable most of the time. I wouldn’t say it has that largeness and grandness of like a hex or arya, but it does have more of it than most headphones in this range imo. I do wish it had more depth to go along with this added width but that’s too much to ask at this price point lol. Imaging is still very sharp, I have a feeling that these would be good for some more serious gaming but I don’t really game anymore (but for casual games I would want more slam and impact)

So far though I really personally wouldn’t see a reason to buy the 4xx when the 5xx is only like 50 ish bucks more iirc, it’s well worth the extra cost imo

Edit: it depends on preferences, if you are after subbass performance, the 4xx/400i is still a better pick

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@M0N mine arrive 2 days ago. I agreed with you. I feels it lacks impact and maybe some dynamics.

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Yeah it is kinda a shame since I really still do like them, but on some tracks I do wish for some more punch and authority, along with improved dynamics (but mainly punch here imo), if they could improve that these would be pretty incredible for the price

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My first Hifiman. Arrived 30 minutes ago. My super-initial impression? These, literally, stink. I understand some of the build concerns. They are very light in weight, and the clamp force is incredibly slight. Sound later.

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Yeah, a few mentioned about the chemical smell of the headband in Drop’s HE5XX discussion thread.

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Does an eq help improve bass impact.

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I can try some eq later on, both something like apo and some analog eq to test as well. I really don’t think it will be able to fix the impact but I can try. I will also try boosting bass under 30hz which might be more effective in addressing the bass roll off there

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Putting a bass boost on the 4xx using peace eq made them a bit more punchier so maybe the 5xx would react the same way.

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So for me the 4xx actually has more slam than the 5xx, the 5xx feels softer in that regard, and the 4xx might have better extension as well, as imo I feel like below 30hz it just doesn’t reach that deep (and the 4xx when powered properly reached deeper from memory). There is also that weird 60 hz like hump to work around as well as giving an overall lift to the bass tends to make it sound a bit sloppy if you don’t control that hump

I did do some quick testing yesterday and I found that allowing for the pads to get a better seal did help with impact, so potential modding opportunities there.

I tried that tape mod mentioned on sbaf with some thicker tape I had lying around and it actually did improve the headphone in a few ways. First it corrected the roll off a fair bit, still not super extending but now I would say it went down to 23-25 hz without having noticeable roll off. 2nd, it improved impact slightly but still not enough to where I like it (it still didn’t really have much slam or punching power I associate with some planars and the older hifiman). 3rd, it actually reduced that treble peak in the sibilant range and tamed overall brightness a bit, but I will say that it sounds a bit dulled in the treble now overall somewhat and perhaps lost a slight bit of spaciousness and clarity. Personally I think this mod is worthwhile though if you are someone who is worried about that stock bass rolloff and the treble peak, it’s basically free as well. This being said I’m not fully sold and will keep it on for a few more hours and then listen to it stock again to see what I think, that hit to treble clarity and a slight reduction in stage spaciousness might not be worth it (it would be worth it though if this mod fixed impact and slam more)

I am considering trying this mod which is prob to get a better seal with the pads like the tape mod is trying to achieve, but I suspect this would be more effective at creating that seal and may yield more of that impact I am seeking, but haven’t tried it yet and I don’t have any of what looks like blutack laying around (also it seems less reversible).

I generally don’t mod at all and like to keep things stock as generally if something isn’t good stock modding isn’t going to save it, but I do like the 5xx stock, and some of it’s downsides are somewhat seemingly reasonable to overcome with light modding, so I decided to give it a try.

Edit: also just experimenting with an eq right now, and while it gives more volume and prominence in the bass, I personally wouldn’t say that impact actually increased. I can get the most impact by running the 5xx off my speaker tap setup for the he6se and susvara but I would not recommend doing that lol, this really seems like an inherent design and driver limitation that really isn’t something I can overcome with amp pairings and mods from what I have tired so far. I have yet to try hardware eq though

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I’m really glad I passed on these. I grabbed an original HE-500 last week with Velpads, and they are basically a super Sundara to my ears with smoother treble. Also, hearing people say the 5XX is brighter than the Sundara is another reason I won’t get them. I find the Sundara plenty bright enough, almost too much with certain songs.

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I would agree the treble on the 5xx is more hyped than the sundara at times. The sundara can get overly bright depending on the amps used, but with the right amp imo I don’t find it crossing that overly bright range

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@JJPablo tried some hardware eq’s, slightly more impact than software eq but overall still not going to be enough imo

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