Hifiman HE-560

Came back to edit my post once again. I feel my opinion has changed a bit since selling them, almost buying them again, and listening to them again after sale of my original pair. What follows are updated impressions that may not have been reflected in my original post.

Agree that these headphones need a lot of current before them to be driven to full potential. Also agree that these headphones have pretty good tone and I thought they had decent soundstage although unmistakably planar-like with better than average depth and width (in similar way as HE-1000v1 and Edition X) but not the best imaging (localization and vividness of instruments). In my case the Bottlehead SEX 3.0 with C4S upgrade brought out some of the very best sound I had ever heard in planars at that point - and few planars I've tried since have exceeded it in value and even few actually outperformed it substantially regardless of price. I still want to try the Abyss 1266-Phi someday...

Owning HE-560 made me appreciate the planar sound, and yet I knew that they didnt do all the stuff planars ought to do exceptionally, such as bass slam (not that it's any slouch). And while HE-560 was good in volume and decent for overall tonality, it didnt have the impact of some high-end dynamics and planars like Aeon open, nor did it have the sweet treble timbre that HD650 brought to the table - still one of the best planars I've tried in regards to tonality. A real breath of fresh air.

It is really good value at it's current price of 450 (?) or so. The original price was "decent," at 900. At it's current price, I think it was a bit of a sleeper for some time, but since the Aeon Flow models have come out I think they have been outdone in the niche they succeeded in so well. Aeon Closed won for me due to it's tonal presentation - one very important aspect in my audio experience.

All in all i praise HE-560 for it's good tonality, but criticize it's lack of heft or "weight," in the lows and mids. It also loses points in timbre for some heat in the upper registers - but I admit it's higher in the treble range than that lower-treble which can be almost painful on other gear, so this is not much of a negative. Only when you compare it to newer models that have become available does the HE-560 become less valuable in the long-term.

TL;DR a decent all-rounder but not the best value at original retail. Also the best planar I've tried for classical music, hands down. Very happy with HE-560 and would gladly revisit it.

 

What EQ settings with EAPO are you finding work well with HE560?

 

I bump the bass and lower the 8khz range a db or two. My adjustments are quite small, and may be to my preference more so than 'fixing' anything. When using the Jotunheim the 8khz reduction helped with what I felt was Jots upper mid forward-like nature.

 

@Pillars HE-560 is one of the best planars to pair with tubes. The 560 mids are not far away from relative perfection, since nothing is actually broken with it. The good treble extension is a touch over-emphasized relative to the midrange, but the tracing from 1k-8k makes it a perfect pairing for what tubes do best

560 is one of the best headphones I really think money can buy, but it needs tubes to transition it from almost there to down right excellent.