[Nankai]

  What's the final word on the pre-order units that we just got? Are they the final voicing? Are they different to the test unit Jerg received few weeks ago?

 
The preorder headphones you got is the final voicing headphones, and have improved sound bass quality and quatity from the unit Jerg received weeks ago. In the final product, the drivers and anything else in the earcup will not be changed.    We will concentrate on solving minor issues about earpad, earcup and finishing. Please take your time, enjoy music and relax.

 

[krumme]

I understand a few people is frustrated by the consistency of the finish, the errors here, and they need to be corrected to a certain degree over time. And there is even more fundamental issues beyound the ones discussed and known here. I could post pictures of it, and mention it here, and  there could be a lot of noise. I will not. Why?
 
Because this hp is just plain excellent sounding all over and thats what matters to me. Music just flows and will give you an excellent experience. Offer me 10.000 usd and i will not give you my hp. Literally. Its that simple. I dont care if it was pink, ugly and could be 2% better with some corrections. Thats my perspective. I prefer focus to sound and music, that is what drives my interest. And in my experience that is what is driving our hobby forward. Take care of it and dont lose perspective.
 
Eg. it might seem low quality the earpads have this weird, flimsy and fragile attactment. And that the/my pads - to be critical - is not even 100% symmetric perhaps due to the mixed solution selected. But the pads attachment is actually good for us enthusiast besides the obvious sound and comfort effect, because you can rotate them to fit your head. We are all different build as Jerg said. I ajusted and got better depth. We can experiment, adapt and get better sound. I dont know if its the right solution, but from an enthusiast perspective its good. Btw. the velour is very soft imo.

 

[tinyman392]

  I understand a few people is frustrated by the consistency of the finish, the errors here, and they need to be corrected to a certain degree over time. And there is even more fundamental issues beyound the ones discussed and known here. I could post pictures of it, and mention it here, and  there could be a lot of noise. I will not. Why?
 
Because this hp is just plain excellent sounding all over and thats what matters to me. Music just flows and will give you an excellent experience. Offer me 10.000 usd and i will not give you my hp. Literally. Its that simple. I dont care if it was pink, ugly and could be 2% better with some corrections. Thats my perspective. I prefer focus to sound and music, that is what drives my interest. And in my experience that is what is driving our hobby forward. Take care of it and dont lose perspective.
 
Eg. it might seem low quality the earpads have this weird, flimsy and fragile attactment. And that the/my pads - to be critical - is not even 100% symmetric perhaps due to the mixed solution selected. But the pads attachment is actually good for us enthusiast besides the obvious sound and comfort effect, because you can rotate them to fit your head. We are all different build as Jerg said. I ajusted and got better depth. We can experiment, adapt and get better sound. I dont know if its the right solution, but from an enthusiast perspective its good. Btw. the velour is very soft imo.

 
These do sound marvelous...  Even though mine have to get replaced.  I've got no issues with the pads, the wood scratching is visible, but a minor thing for me.  I only pointed it out because someone asked specifically what was wrong with the build... 

 

[Ultracer]

Thanks a lot Fang for your effort to provide a better headphones for all of us. I ordered mine, and I guess I will have to wait a bit longer then . Btw, does any1 know why the Canare cable is priced higher than the Silver plated one? And which one is better?

 

[Ultracer]

Btw, Tyll received his pair of HE-560 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g0R1EZsgyM

 

[jerg]

  Btw, Tyll received his pair of HE-560 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g0R1EZsgyM

In his InnerFidelity article:
 
"The HiFiMAN HE-560 arrived here only yesterday, but it turns out an early change is in the works and I'll be receiving another pair, so at the moment, unfortunately, no comment...except to say that it does appear this sub-$1000 planar magnetic headphone will be competitive in its category."
 
Still, we know it's just cosmetic changes with the turn-over, so any listening he did was probably commentable. Maybe Tyll wants to be thorough when he gets to talk about it.

 

[ThurstonX]

Jeez Louise, now I wish I could have pre-ordered.  Ridiculously excellent customer service.  Those brave/wise enough to pre-order... enjoy your reward.  There is no doubt I will own these, just wish they'd come out in October!  OK, not really, cuz I realize y'all needed them now 

 

[rwelles]

As one of those who pre-ordered, I'm bowled over by the response from HiFiMan!! Yes, I was disappointed by the minor flaws. But I'm thrilled to learn that the voicing will be the same. I've come to really love the sound of my "preview" model!!
 
 
THANKS!!!!!!

 

[JohnYang]

My only complain to the headphone is the plastic scratching the wood piece slightly, otherwise i was very satisfied with the headphone.
I really like the wood finishing on my cans, I hope the incoming replacement pairs(the ones Nankai was talking about after final fix) would look just as good or I wont take them!

 

[StanD]

  Jeez Louise, now I wish I could have pre-ordered.  Ridiculously excellent customer service.  Those brave/wise enough to pre-order... enjoy your reward.  There is no doubt I will own these, just wish they'd come out in October!  OK, not really, cuz I realize y'all needed them now 

Let the Lab Rats early purchasers shake out the early production problems first. 

 

[ogodei]

  After we fixed issues, we will ship the final headphones to all preorder customers before you ship the preorder headphone back. I will also provide $100 head-direct gift card for preorder customers to appreciate your feedback, support, and help.

 
Wow! Crazy level of customer service!  I haven't followed this thread for several days, been off listening to the headphones to get some impressions without being influenced by the reviews here, and I come back to find Head-Direct offering to both refund money and replace the phones to fix "issues" I hadn't even thought were significant.  What an outstanding level of customer care.

 

[ThurstonX]

  Let the Lab Rats early purchasers shake out the early production problems first. 

 
I flove guinea pigs.  Cute li'l critters, esp. @cute 

 
Being bit by the early adopter bug years ago, and survived, I've built up an immunity.  You may have heard of this side effect: patience 

  <== see! red grilled HE-500s!

 

[tigon_ridge]

Quite frankly, we are all guinea pigs in a sense. Final product or not, your impressions and feedback still provide a guidance for future products. In that sense, there is no real hard end to the experiment. In that sense, Jerg has been the most prolific guinea pig of all. We should all strive to be productive, and contributing guinea pigs.

 

[FlySweep]

When can those who pre-ordered through (HiFiMan-authorized) dealers (i.e. RazorDogAudio) expect the 560?

 

[M-13]

Glad to see Fang is on top of all this build quality issue. HifiMan is a much bigger company than when they launched the HE-500. I hope they can put these launch issues behind them and provide a very polished product (box and packaging included).
 
@grizzlybeast
 
During the early days of the HE-500 we had headphones arriving that were falling apart in the box, rofl. I think there are some photos still on Head-Fi, like the cup coming loose from the yoke and all sorts of messy problems with plastic parts coming loose and undone, not to mention that horrendous earpad attachment system that needed help from god to reattach. I understood back then because HifMan was sort of new and I wanted them to succeed very much. Now, there is very little excuse. They're exprienced and have the resources to deliver an almost perfect product and they should.
 
And I think they will. Fang is on it.

 (I imagine him walking around in the factory fixing problems left and right, holding meetings and not yelling at people because he's too nice)