Is it worth getting the HE-500 if I'm only willing to spend 400 dollars on both amp and DAC?
Sep 1, 2012 at 9:27 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 13
daniel521

daniel521

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I'm thinking about buying the he500, but I'm only willing to spend 400 dollars on both an amp and a DAC. Will it be enough to make the HE500 sound like its supposed to sound, or will it be smarter to purchase a headphone which doesn't require so much? It doesn't make sense to buy a 700 dollar headphone if it's gonna sound like a 400 dollar headphone right? I thought about three setups that are in my budget, could you tell me what you think about them? Which one of these will be best for it, will any of them be sufficient for the HE500, or will I have to buy a headphone with a lower impedance?
 
Setup 1: O2 + HRT MusicStreamer II
 
Setup 2: Asgard + HRT MusicStreamer II
 
Setup 3: NFB12.1 
 
I didn't include the ODAC because many people find them fatiguing, and fatigue is smoething I absolutely want to avoid. I would also like to point out that I don't want any tube amps because they are too hard to maintain and are a bit tricky.
 
Sep 2, 2012 at 12:54 PM Post #8 of 13
Quote:
chewy4 said:
It only has a 38 Ohm impedance... Where are you going to find a headphone of equal quality with a lower impedance than that?
 
I guarantee you they will sound great even without an amp. With a $400 amp/dac combo they should sound fantastic.
Click to expand...


its not really about impedance, its about the current.
 
Sep 2, 2012 at 3:12 PM Post #9 of 13
I'd be inclined to recommend the NFB12.1 as it gives out a approx 3 watts into 32 ohms where as the Asgard gives out just over 1watt. I know that the HE500's are low impedance but they are plannar at the end of the day and need as much power as you can give them. Having said that, I used the Asgard with the HE500's for a short while and thought it sounded very nice indeed. However, I now use the Audio gd c2.2 with upgraded opamps and it is superior for not much more money.
 
Sep 2, 2012 at 4:44 PM Post #10 of 13
Quote:
daniel521 said:
I'm thinking about buying the he500, but I'm only willing to spend 400 dollars on both an amp and a DAC. Will it be enough to make the HE500 sound like its supposed to sound, or will it be smarter to purchase a headphone which doesn't require so much? It doesn't make sense to buy a 700 dollar headphone if it's gonna sound like a 400 dollar headphone right? I thought about three setups that are in my budget, could you tell me what you think about them? Which one of these will be best for it, will any of them be sufficient for the HE500, or will I have to buy a headphone with a lower impedance?
 
Setup 1: O2 + HRT MusicStreamer II
 
Setup 2: Asgard + HRT MusicStreamer II
 
Setup 3: NFB12.1 
 
I didn't include the ODAC because many people find them fatiguing, and fatigue is smoething I absolutely want to avoid. I would also like to point out that I don't want any tube amps because they are too hard to maintain and are a bit tricky.
Click to expand...

 
 
Heya,
 
The NFB12 (or later revisions, 12.1, 15, 16 or whatever it is now) is the way to go. I tested my NFB12 against my Bifrost and Lyr and honestly, there was not much of a difference that I could consistently find that made me lean one way or another. It has a good clean sound and has enough power to push the HE500 sufficiently with overhead to spare.
 
Quote:
chewy4 said:
It only has a 38 Ohm impedance... Where are you going to find a headphone of equal quality with a lower impedance than that?
 
I guarantee you they will sound great even without an amp. With a $400 amp/dac combo they should sound fantastic.
Click to expand...

 
You clearly have no idea about this. Forgive me for being rude, but suggesting, no, guaranteeing to someone that an HE500 will sound great even without an amp, is absolutely absurd. He will hear nothing from the HE500 but a feint whisper. The HE500 is low impedance, but it's not sensitive, it takes a lot of energy to generate it's pressure. The HE500 without sufficient power does not sound great, it either makes no sound hardly at all or it sounds like a clipping jumpy mess. 
 
Very best,
 
Sep 2, 2012 at 5:14 PM Post #12 of 13
Quote:
malveaux said:
 
 
Heya,
 
The NFB12 (or later revisions, 12.1, 15, 16 or whatever it is now) is the way to go. I tested my NFB12 against my Bifrost and Lyr and honestly, there was not much of a difference that I could consistently find that made me lean one way or another. It has a good clean sound and has enough power to push the HE500 sufficiently with overhead to spare.
 
 
You clearly have no idea about this. Forgive me for being rude, but suggesting, no, guaranteeing to someone that an HE500 will sound great even without an amp, is absolutely absurd. He will hear nothing from the HE500 but a feint whisper. The HE500 is low impedance, but it's not sensitive, it takes a lot of energy to generate it's pressure. The HE500 without sufficient power does not sound great, it either makes no sound hardly at all or it sounds like a clipping jumpy mess. 
 
Very best,
Click to expand...

Oh, I didn't think they were that far off from the 400's in terms of what you needed to drive them. My apologies.
 
Feb 18, 2013 at 8:36 PM Post #13 of 13
I'm in the same situation..I'm considering the HE-500's...and questioning if it warrants the $300 upgrade from my 400's...especially considering I'll have to invest in higher quality amps/dac's from my current e17/e9k combo...so $300 is not even the true price of the upgrade...it's more around $500 or $600, at least. I'm definitely looking into the M&M stack (Magni/Modi)...I obviously don't know if the OP found what he was looking for but this thread is still relevant...obviously :) I also considered the Lyr/Modi...
 
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