[Hyjacked]

I recently purchased the HE-500's and they sound great, but not really "airy" or "open" as one would expect from an open-back headphone. Now, I am no audiophile and these are my first planar magnetic open-back headphones I have purchased, but I cannot help but think that they sound remarkably similar to my PSB M4U 1's. I know the HE-500's are said to need 150 hours of burn in, but I don't think that would drastically change them, or would it? They sound quite a bit more up front than I expected. Is that just the style of these particular open headphones? Well, besides that, there are also a number of somewhat limiting factors of mine that I will go over.
 
First of all, I am not using the best amp, but from what I've read and just glancing at the specs, the Schiit Magni is adequate to power the 'phones, maybe not the best match but a good bang for the buck. Coupled with that, you guessed it, I have the Schiit Modi.
 
My source of audio is iTunes, because I never know where to get popular or even true 320kbps songs (obviously many people take lower resolution files and scale them up to 320kbps and mark it off as that, even though the quality is not the same as an original 320kbps file). iTunes bitrate is 256kbps, so I can't see there being a huge difference in quality. The device hooked up to my DAC is my laptop.
 
Summary:
1. Do I need to fully break in the HE-500's in order for them to sound "open" and "airy" or am I doing something wrong or do I need to adjust settings on my computer?
2. Is my amp/DAC combination sufficient for the HE-500's or do I need a better set-up and is that why the headphones don't sound very open?
3. Where is a good place to get true 320kbps songs, including modern pop songs, cheap/free or is iTunes' 256kbps a sufficient option?
 
Other than those questions, please feel free to leave any suggestions you have for a first timer.

 

[HarleyZH]

So do you mainly or mostly listen to pop. Pop recordings are not usually the most airy or open themselves a lot of the time. However Planars are not usually known to be "airy" like open dynamic drivers, the sound stages usually are not too large either. Burning in a headphone does not create a night and day difference, the differences are often stated as very dramatic, usually it would be slight and it is impossible to eliminate the possibility that burn in can also occur in your brain as you grow accustomed to a sound signature. Another thing to consider is that buying a more expensive headphone and listening often does not impress upon you the differences/quality until you get used to the high end can and go back to your previous reference. Often you then hear a dramatic gap in quality compared to what you have now become accustomed to. 
My personal belief is that amps affecting the sound are overstated, and the differences are not night and day. Many would argue otherwise, that is what they hear. It is up to you to decide what you believe. 
The gap between Flac and 320kbs is not heard/hearable to a lot of people who try to tell the difference, some believe there are definite differences. This is a controversial topic.

 

[Hyjacked]

So do you mainly or mostly listen to pop. Pop recordings are not usually the most airy or open themselves a lot of the time. However Planars are not usually known to be "airy" like open dynamic drivers, the sound stages usually are not too large either. Burning in a headphone does not create a night and day difference, the differences are often stated as very dramatic, usually it would be slight and it is impossible to eliminate the possibility that burn in can also occur in your brain as you grow accustomed to a sound signature. Another thing to consider is that buying a more expensive headphone and listening often does not impress upon you the differences/quality until you get used to the high end can and go back to your previous reference. Often you then hear a dramatic gap in quality compared to what you have now become accustomed to. 
My personal belief is that amps affecting the sound are overstated, and the differences are not night and day. Many would argue otherwise, that is what they hear. It is up to you to decide what you believe. 
The gap between Flac and 320kbs is not heard/hearable to a lot of people who try to tell the difference, some believe there are definite differences. This is a controversial topic.

Thank you, you confirmed a number of my suspicions. Is it crazy of me to think the the M4U 1's are nearly as good?

 

[HarleyZH]

I have not heard the phones you had before, but its not crazy - law of diminishing returns and all. Improvements in SQ will be noticed more with other genres, compared to pop though. 
 
What ear pads are you using? Velour sound more open.

 

[DaemonSire]

  I recently purchased the HE-500's and they sound great, but not really "airy" or "open" as one would expect from an open-back headphone. Now, I am no audiophile and these are my first planar magnetic open-back headphones I have purchased, but I cannot help but think that they sound remarkably similar to my PSB M4U 1's. I know the HE-500's are said to need 150 hours of burn in, but I don't think that would drastically change them, or would it? They sound quite a bit more up front than I expected. Is that just the style of these particular open headphones? Well, besides that, there are also a number of somewhat limiting factors of mine that I will go over.
 
First of all, I am not using the best amp, but from what I've read and just glancing at the specs, the Schiit Magni is adequate to power the 'phones, maybe not the best match but a good bang for the buck. Coupled with that, you guessed it, I have the Schiit Modi.
 
My source of audio is iTunes, because I never know where to get popular or even true 320kbps songs (obviously many people take lower resolution files and scale them up to 320kbps and mark it off as that, even though the quality is not the same as an original 320kbps file). iTunes bitrate is 256kbps, so I can't see there being a huge difference in quality. The device hooked up to my DAC is my laptop.
 
Summary:
1. Do I need to fully break in the HE-500's in order for them to sound "open" and "airy" or am I doing something wrong or do I need to adjust settings on my computer?
2. Is my amp/DAC combination sufficient for the HE-500's or do I need a better set-up and is that why the headphones don't sound very open?
3. Where is a good place to get true 320kbps songs, including modern pop songs, cheap/free or is iTunes' 256kbps a sufficient option?
 
Other than those questions, please feel free to leave any suggestions you have for a first timer.

 
Stock, I didn't find the HE500 very open either.  But after performing the regrilling mod, it made a huge difference.  Honestly, I was surprised at the difference it made.  I've found that mods typically make a minor change but this was significant.
 
My HE500's sound like speakers now.  Compared to my Q701 (which has a notoriously large soundstage), the gap has closed quite a bit.  It still isn't as open, but it is close enough now that I'll probably be getting rid of the Q701's soon.
 
Here is a link:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/619447/hifiman-regrilling-mod
 
And here is mine specifically:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/619447/hifiman-regrilling-mod/285#post_10625285
 
 
Try that before ditching the HE500's.
 
Secondly, I'll be looking to pick up one of the new hybrid HE560 pads.  I'm waiting for the dust to settle on the revisions though.

 

[mcandmar]

I can 2nd that, grills really do open up the sound.  They also made it a little bit too bright sounding so i've since added a layer of foam behind them to dial that out.  Experiment with it and see what works for you. Here is my version of the mod..