A very linear headphone that has a great price/performance ratio, but it is far from perfect.
ABOUT ME:
I love my audio, and I love my headphones. I mainly listen to well produced electronic music (Skylar Spence, Oliver Nelson, Skogsra. ODESZA), though I really also enjoy jazz fusion (Dirty Loops), rock and a lot indie. I bought these HE560s on an Amazon deal in the UK recently. I am powering them with my Geek Pulse, an amp which has proven to me to be a great benchmark. Neutral, powerful, it shows you what the headphones really sound like.
BUILD:
My version came in a new style hifiman box which was not wood and metal, but rather a hard pleather laminate on very stiff and thick card/plastic. Its a nice box. The cable has a good cloth finish and is a convenient 2m in length. The connectors are the new 2.5mm plugs without the old screw-in mechanism. I'm glad hifiman is listening to the community on this one.
The headphones are light for a planar, The headband is a spring steel, whilst the arms and cups are plastic. The wood surrounding the cups is a veneer. It looks ok from a distance, though it does have rough patches. The hinge on my earcup has significantly loosened after just a day of use. NOT GOOD hifiman, but I've come to accept this from your build quality as of late.
COMFORT:
The comfort is decent. The headband distributes weight fantastically do it better than heavier planars like the LCD series. The cups are a bit small for my ears, even though my ears aren't that large. The focus pads are pleather on the sides and have a velour surface that touches your face. These pads can be replaced by the Focus-A pads (a preproduction pad) that some have found to be more comfortable. I haven't tried those yet, though.
SOUND:
The bass, in keeping with the planar technology, is tight and fast with good slam. The upper bass is linear, with no hump as one would usually find on most dynamic drivers. The midrange is also clear, with a slight dip in the upper mids. Vocals are crisp, though they could sound thin at times as a result. Vocals still aren't as restricted as those on the Elear or the new LCD2F 2016 revision. These are not 'warm' headphones and this is only made more apparent by the dry midrange. It is not unlike the HD800 in this regard, though acoustic guitars do have a bit more body on the HE560.
The treble is extended, airy and detailed. These are very reminiscent of some of the best STAX headphones I've heard. There is one slight problem, however. There is a lot of 'tizz' and haze in this region at times. Cymbals can sound a little bit too splashy and vocals can sometimes bite a bit too hard. These are not as bright as the HD800, though whilst the HD800 peaks at around 6K, these seem to have this broad treble bump/resonance at around 8k that could get tiring quick.
Soundstage is decently wide, but not very deep or 3D. Better than the PM1 and HD650, but far behind the HD800. I'd say it is just slightly better than the LCD2 and Denon AHD7200 in terms of imaging.
Overall a good headphone that has a very natural tone for pianos and guitars. It does have build issues, but not as bad as usual hifiman standards, The treble also is a bit tizzy, though some might actually enjoy that.
ABOUT ME:
I love my audio, and I love my headphones. I mainly listen to well produced electronic music (Skylar Spence, Oliver Nelson, Skogsra. ODESZA), though I really also enjoy jazz fusion (Dirty Loops), rock and a lot indie. I bought these HE560s on an Amazon deal in the UK recently. I am powering them with my Geek Pulse, an amp which has proven to me to be a great benchmark. Neutral, powerful, it shows you what the headphones really sound like.
BUILD:
My version came in a new style hifiman box which was not wood and metal, but rather a hard pleather laminate on very stiff and thick card/plastic. Its a nice box. The cable has a good cloth finish and is a convenient 2m in length. The connectors are the new 2.5mm plugs without the old screw-in mechanism. I'm glad hifiman is listening to the community on this one.
The headphones are light for a planar, The headband is a spring steel, whilst the arms and cups are plastic. The wood surrounding the cups is a veneer. It looks ok from a distance, though it does have rough patches. The hinge on my earcup has significantly loosened after just a day of use. NOT GOOD hifiman, but I've come to accept this from your build quality as of late.
COMFORT:
The comfort is decent. The headband distributes weight fantastically do it better than heavier planars like the LCD series. The cups are a bit small for my ears, even though my ears aren't that large. The focus pads are pleather on the sides and have a velour surface that touches your face. These pads can be replaced by the Focus-A pads (a preproduction pad) that some have found to be more comfortable. I haven't tried those yet, though.
SOUND:
The bass, in keeping with the planar technology, is tight and fast with good slam. The upper bass is linear, with no hump as one would usually find on most dynamic drivers. The midrange is also clear, with a slight dip in the upper mids. Vocals are crisp, though they could sound thin at times as a result. Vocals still aren't as restricted as those on the Elear or the new LCD2F 2016 revision. These are not 'warm' headphones and this is only made more apparent by the dry midrange. It is not unlike the HD800 in this regard, though acoustic guitars do have a bit more body on the HE560.
The treble is extended, airy and detailed. These are very reminiscent of some of the best STAX headphones I've heard. There is one slight problem, however. There is a lot of 'tizz' and haze in this region at times. Cymbals can sound a little bit too splashy and vocals can sometimes bite a bit too hard. These are not as bright as the HD800, though whilst the HD800 peaks at around 6K, these seem to have this broad treble bump/resonance at around 8k that could get tiring quick.
Soundstage is decently wide, but not very deep or 3D. Better than the PM1 and HD650, but far behind the HD800. I'd say it is just slightly better than the LCD2 and Denon AHD7200 in terms of imaging.
Overall a good headphone that has a very natural tone for pianos and guitars. It does have build issues, but not as bad as usual hifiman standards, The treble also is a bit tizzy, though some might actually enjoy that.