I found that I needed to burn in the HE-560s. It took about a week, during which the sound got cleaner and less constrained. As your old review was done after only 2 days, do you have any commentary about HE-560 burn in, and results after?
I also find that they are happier with some power. They are passable with the Dragonfly Black. Better with the Cobalt. Better still using the iFi xDSD as a DAC/AMP, and clearly better using the xDSD as DAC and the Schiit Lyr3 as the amp.
Now I need to research what cheap amp to use to maximize the HE500SE. @pennstac texted he likes the Schiit Lyr3. I am totally blank on headphone amps other than what I read. I do not want to spend much on a headphone amp. I don’t even know what much is…
Well it really depends on what you consider to be ‘much’. In reality, you could go with a Lyr 3 or even something as cheap as a Magni Heresy. Or, if you really want to save money, you could go with the Magni 3 which is now like $60. If you want to spend a bit more you could go with something from Topping or SMSL which seem to perform well. It also depends on your preference of flavor - tubes vs solid state.
a warmer amp paired with the HE560 is better than a neutral/bright one. The HE560 does require a bit of power but the Magni would be a good fit for a budget amp.
Vali 2, little brother of Lyr 3, is incredible for the price and if you are ok with paying $20 extra for a different tube, then even better. If as @antdroid said, you need a warmer amp, Vali is.
I also own a set of HE-560s, and usually run them with a Mass(Drop) THX AAA 789 or Loxjie P20. The Loxjie is the lowest cost way to experience decent clarity with tubes, but it has some caveats. First, the HE-560 impedance is 43 ohms, so Loxjie will bloat the bass somewhat. Second, the factory Chinese tubes are rather rough and woolly on the low end.
My setup:
$100: Loxjie P20 amp
$0: Balanced cable (my HE-560s came with both plain and balanced cables)
$30: A matched pair of GE Triple Mica tubes to clean up the fuzz
$8: Two socket savers to be able to remove the stubby GE tubes from the amp
So, for about $150 you can get into a respectable entry level tube-hybrid amp.
I coincidentally ran HE-560 / P20 combo for a couple hours yesterday. The main transformation is a ‘buttery’ tone and slight ‘boiling’ feel. The tubes round off and mask the rough edges. It’s plainly not neutral, but doesn’t get in the way either.
Thanks @generic. Once the HE560’s arrive and enough time has passed to let them (and me) settle, I’ll probably buy (I’m too lazy to type “pull the trigger”. Wait did it anyway. Uh…) a tube infused amp just to get it out of my system… Wait I mean buy a tube something to hear what it sounds like. I kind of already know by vicariously listening to other people’s tube gear over the ages. Nuttin but kindness for all you guys.
I’m an owner of a 2nd gen HD560 (SMC jacks, wood veneer) and while I agree to a point that the HD560 tends to sound better on more powerful amps (Lyr2 and Ember for me) it also sounds quite good from the headphone jack of my Teac UD301 (100mW/ch) but its probably due to the fact that I listen at fairly low levels (58-75dB). I’d recommend finding out what your listening level is since some headphones sound better at higher levels while others sound better at lower levels (ie: most Grado headphones).
The Magni3 was not an amp that I cared for with my 2nd gen HE560 but since you are getting a 4th gen HE560 they might be a good pairing. One amp that I like was the original Liquid Carbon since it paired well with my HE560 and HD800, something not many amps can do from my limited experience.
If you are using a computer then you might want to consider a decent sound card since an old girlfriend loves her HE560 from a Xonar DGx which she originally got for the optical output but ended up just using the amp on the soundcard.
Tubes are described as having “punch”, “slam”, or “rumble”. I take all of the above as attempts to describe the relatively rapid signal onset and lack of precision versus solid-state amps. [This can be a good thing.]
In comparison to a boiling pot of water: sound suddenly bursts out here and there and everywhere, and this disturbs the ‘perfection’ of the overall image (i.e., solid state photographic clarity). The ‘boil’ results in a smooth predictably-random thickness, where sharp edges are covered up.
In contrast, when tubes are overloaded in electric/hard rock they acquire a distinct ‘sizzle’ or hotness – this is great when playing a guitar but horrible for reproduction.
Good point on how you listen… Uh… I plug into mixing gear or a receiver. I’ve only really listened for pleasure a few times to headphones. A few years ago with a fiio amp that I couldn’t tell a difference to my home processor at the time was an Emotiva UMC200 on the HE500’s. And recently to an Ify nano idsd bl that I think (and I’m stressing the amateur nature of my headphone experience here) I heard a bit more clarity in the midrange. This was through an Emotiva MC700 or Marantz 5013 processor direct to Hifiman HE500 with either the red and white or silver cables supplied by Hifiman. I also listen to the HE500’s through a windows 7 computer a buddy of mine gave me. (He felt like if the computer world knew I let my Windows Vista computer not talk to the internet for a year they would look down on me). I don’t care for computers. I can make them communicate with projectors. That’s it. No love. It sits on a chair in the home theater as a channel into MQA.
All internet, wifi computer stuff at home is through an AT&T router.
It’s interesting to hear the differences between computer connection to internet through router on lan line and with iFi (I pronounce it iffy) nano with MQA from Tidal, or through Oppo 103D via lan line to the HE500 or wifi to LGV30 cell phone. Whew! This is almost like work! I’m an AV tech for a living. I enjoy my job. And I really like home theater. So the long story longer. I’m a beginning at home headphone listener with lots of field AV experience but it isn’t crossing over to headphone Nirvana yet.
Plan of learning:
Get cable internet with @25 Meg or more data speed. Check.
Test speed with SpeedTest by Ookla. Check. (I’m checking internet speed frequently in the many hotels I’m setting up AV that may need a specific minimum internet speed to function properly). Home speed fluctuates depending on usage by others. I’m at the end of the data food chain. Changing cable companies is a pain. It’s AT&T for now.
Get cheap clear audio. Check. Tidal premium with Master music list and MQA cabability. @$20 per month.
Ifi nano idsd bl to verify MQA makes a difference and have reasonable DAC quality cheap. (@$200.) Check.
Reasonably cheap good quality headphones. HE500’s moving to HE560’s and “To infinity and beyond!” Check.
Probably going to buy $10k worth Electrostatic headphones in a few years.
Research headphone stuff. Read @Torq texting about maybe $5k great headphone combo! (Sound of screeching tires!)
Join Headphone Community. Hope they have a good sense of humor… (No one is stopping me yet…)
Read. Listen. Ask for info from people who eat and breathe headphones. Check.
4Th Gen? Well yea the tru 1st Gen had the real wood. That was later ditched for the Veneer so I guess that naming scheme works lol
I also enjoy my HE560 with my Ember II, tho I don’t quite care for it on less powerful stuff. HE 4XX is more enjoyable out of stuff like my Cell Phone or some of my DAPs
Though I have not compared underdriven HE 560 to HE 4XX so that might be worthwhile to explore…
My favorite toy for playing “pad swapping”. I think I spent more on pads than the headphones itself. Finally I kept MrSpeakers Ether Flow Angled Pads.
Also, I’m sure someone must have mentioned this, one of the first things to do with the HE560 is to open up the yolks and remove the thin black cloth-like film covering the grills. That would make it more “open” as in the likes of the HE500 (which to me is a superior headphone, even if marginally).
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