[daniel521]

After some thinking, i've decided to expand my budget to 700 dollars. I'm looking for an open headphone which will be best for rock, heavy metal, and pop rock. One thing I strongly dislike is laid back headphones. I want my headphone to sound alive and exciting, but most importantly, fun. Something else I want is forward mids, my m50 has recessed mids which I don't like. I usually have to turn up the volume to get the most out of the mids causing the treble to be too harsh. I know most people would recommend me a grado right away, but I want an in depth response on the he500 and he400. I want it to sound alive and fun, but I also appreciate headphones which sound beautiful and sophisticated. I dont know how to explain the sound signature that i want, but I will try my best. When I'm listening to a song and the vocals come in, music being shoved down someone's throat which is kind of what a grado does (I never listened to one, this is speculation based on reviews) will normally impress someone more than a different headphone. In my case, I want a headphone which gives you that grado feeling, but I also want it to sound beautiful and I want to appreciate the fidelity and how beautiful the vocals sound rather than just have it scream at me (Im not talking about heavy metal lol, that's all about screaming). Which one wil fit me better out of these three options (or any other headphone in the 700 dollar price range) will fit me better? Please feel free to suggest other headphones as well . Also, don;'t think that I won't take any grado suggestions, I'm completely open to them if they fit my criteria.
 
EDIT: I also want to point out that I want to stay away from fatiguing highs

 

[daniel521]

bump

 

[lee730]

Grados tend to lean towards the piercing highs. Not sure about the HE500s but I've heard really good things about them and their sound quality vs price. Think you'd be hard pressed to beat those considering your budget and all the good reviews.

 

[daniel521]

Quote:

Grados tend to lean towards the piercing highs. Not sure about the HE500s but I've heard really good things about them and their sound quality vs price. Think you'd be hard pressed to beat those considering your budget and all the good reviews.

do you think they will be good for rock and metal?

 

[lee730]

I recommend you take a look at the HE500 thread and post your question there. I don't want to lead you down the wrong path. But it would seem they are pretty good all-arounders from what I've heard.
 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/551345/hifiman-he-500-he-as-in-high-end-please-post-your-impressions-loan-pair-for-uk-pg-28/1800
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/605113/he-500-review-and-shoot-out
 

 

[viralcow]

Hi, lemme hijack this thread and ask a very similar question-
 
I've been saving up for the HE-500 for a while now, but now I'm debating whether it's the best choice for me, since I've heard it's difficult to drive. I'm afraid my O2 amp won't be enough to run it at its full potential.
 
On the other hand, I know grado's sound great even unamped- so I'm currently looking at the RS1i. Considering my situation, which one should I get?

 

[daniel521]

Quote:

Hi, lemme hijack this thread and ask a very similar question-
 
I've been saving up for the HE-500 for a while now, but now I'm debating whether it's the best choice for me, since I've heard it's difficult to drive. I'm afraid my O2 amp won't be enough to run it at its full potential.
 
On the other hand, I know grado's sound great even unamped- so I'm currently looking at the RS1i. Considering my situation, which one should I get?

Im equally interested

 

[olegausany]

Quote:

Im equally interested

First of all HE-500 are harder to drive than HE-400. At the recent NYC meet I heard HE-500 to find out if they are better than HE-400 and to my surprise they were unable to give me deep sub-bass I heard from HE-400 driven just by headphones amp built-in into Asus Xonar STX while HE-500 were driven by O2, CTH or more than thouthands dollars 2pcs Woo Audio setup. Also if you want semi-open cans you really should consider D7000 and yes I'm listening different styles of rock and metal as well as classical, jazz and some electronic

 

[daniel521]

Quote:

First of all HE-500 are harder to drive than HE-400. At the recent NYC meet I heard HE-500 to find out if they are better than HE-400 and to my surprise they were unable to give me deep sub-bass I heard from HE-400 driven just by headphones amp built-in into Asus Xonar STX while HE-500 were driven by O2, CTH or more than thouthands dollars 2pcs Woo Audio setup. Also if you want semi-open cans you really should consider D7000 and yes I'm listening different styles of rock and metal as well as classical, jazz and some electronic

Do you think sub-bass important in rock and metal? im tempted to get the he400 caus of the bass but im tempted to get the he500 cause of the mids and highs....

 

[MEDO]

why not stretch your budget and go for Audeze LCD-2's and be done with it, a while ago my budget was ~650$~ and i was on the fence to get the HE-500 but i did more research and save up more money then ordered the LCD-2 and i don't regret my decision at all. after that you can start slowly to build up you gear around them and forgot all the head-fi madness that you went through ,,,
i should add that i searched a lot of headphones under 1k$ but didn't find anything that is more glowing than the audeze.

 

[daniel521]

Quote:

why not stretch your budget and go for Audeze LCD-2's and be done with it, a while ago my budget was ~650$~ and i was on the fence to get the HE-500 but i did more research and save up more money then ordered the LCD-2 and i don't regret my decision at all. after that you can start slowly to build up you gear around them and forgot all the head-fi madness that you went through ,,,
i should add that i searched a lot of headphones under 1k$ but didn't find anything that is more glowing than the audeze.

Im considering it...but its still a lot if money. 1000 is a lot but the LCD-2 is so tempting!!!

 

[Posam]

I haven't heard the PS500 but I own the RS1i. From what I gathered, the PS500 have a big midbass hump and more polite treble giving them an ungrado like sound (which makes them so popular with non grado lovers). The RS1i has a more forward midrange and is a bit more towards neutral however still has the grado house sound So if you want mids you might want to throw in the RS1i or RS2i instead of the ps500 but that is up to you.
 
As for the HE400 and HE500... I've been following the HE400 thread since I think preorders and people seems to say that the  HE400 is very similar to the HE500, good bass, midrange, and treble etc, but I haven't heard them yet and I can't compare them to Grado so I would guess it depends on how much your willing to spend on the cans themselves and what others say about them here. I do know that some former grado lovers now own HE400s as well and I myself am curious to compare the HE400s to my RS1i. 

 

[daniel521]

Quote:

I haven't heard the PS500 but I own the RS1i. From what I gathered, the PS500 have a big midbass hump and more polite treble giving them an ungrado like sound (which makes them so popular with non grado lovers). The RS1i has a more forward midrange and is a bit more towards neutral however still has the grado house sound So if you want mids you might want to throw in the RS1i or RS2i instead of the ps500 but that is up to you.
 
As for the HE400 and HE500... I've been following the HE400 thread since I think preorders and people seems to say that the  HE400 is very similar to the HE500, good bass, midrange, and treble etc, but I haven't heard them yet and I can't compare them to Grado so I would guess it depends on how much your willing to spend on the cans themselves and what others say about them here. I do know that some former grado lovers now own HE400s as well and I myself am curious to compare the HE400s to my RS1i. 

Please tell me what you think after you compare them

 

[Posam]

Quote:

Please tell me what you think after you compare them

Well you might not want to wait that long, I'm probably not going to hear them all until I actually go to a meet which could be months because there was a meet like two months ago near me. 

 

[olegausany]

Quote:

Do you think sub-bass important in rock and metal? im tempted to get the he400 caus of the bass but im tempted to get the he500 cause of the mids and highs....

I think yes cause it affects how other frequencies are presented and not overshadowed. I love how great Iron Maiden's japanese  remasters of albums from 80s sound
Edit: As I said too many times I heard LCD2 at the meets with setups more expensive than LCD2 itself but found nothing special comparing to T1 or D7000 but people have their preferences so until you try you never find out what is best for you but if I would be you I would rather get HE-400 plus Asgard plus good DAC or maybe MBF5.2 as DAC/AMP than getting more expensive cans and drive them by gear which will let you hear your music but not at it best so you will think that headphones are not worth keeping while it is gear not capable to drive them properly