Drop HIFIMAN HE-5XX review

Sound Quality

By naming the HE-5XX after the revered HE-500, Drop and HIFIMAN have set pretty high standards by which their newest collaboration ought to be judged. So how does it stack up? Let me get one fact out of the way immediately: the HE-5XX is not a re-vamped HE-500. It’s been a while since I last spent some time with the HE-500, but I distinctly remember it having incredible mid-range tonality, plentiful bass, and a relaxed top-end – all of which contributed to an impressive voicing that explains why the HE-500 is still sought-after by collectors. The HE-5XX certainly hasn’t lifted the 35 ohm / 89 dB drivers straight out of the HE-500 as the HE-5XX’s specs are nigh-identical to the Deva, with which the HE-5XX also shares its cup-design. Drop explains that the driver of the HE-5XX is different from the Deva, however, using a dual-sided magnet in the case of the HE-5XX. 

The immediate sense that the HE-5XX gives you when fed with a dose of music, is that it’s a bright, clear, and open-sounding headphone that favours speed and nimbleness over heft and slam. Upping the volume on Judas Priest’s ‘Grinder’ reveals the HE-5XX to be very much a planar-sounding headphone in that it has lightning-fast transients and leading-edge attack, as well as a quick sense of note decay, particularly with cymbals. 

The HE-5XX’s low-end sits on the leaner side of the equation. It doesn’t provide any real sense of the speaker-like bass of the HE-500, and nor is it felt in any kind of physical way. Rather, the HE-5XX offers a well-extended and articulate, snappy bass that doesn’t tend to roll away until it reaches 40 Hz. Thundercat’s hard-hitting bass in ‘Show You The Way’ is impressively deft on the HE-5XX, and doesn’t yield a hint of flab nor the ‘one-note’ bass that older HIFIMANs can venture into. It’s certainly not lacking in its ability to reproduce bass notes, but the HE-5XX is simply not a bass-head’s headphone – it’s been designed with a different sort of voicing in mind. I can’t help but think that with a different set of pads that create a better seal, that the HE-5XX would actually produce greater levels of bass – the ingredients are certainly in there. 

After spending a couple more tracks listening to the HE-5XX, you start to get the sense that it is an articulate, technically impressive pair of headphones that offers a wonderful sense of immersion. When you place the HE-5XX over your ears you feel like you’re stepping into a much bigger world than the space that inhabits the inside of their earcups. It offers a genuinely large sense of staging in terms of width and depth, with terrific spatial cues and imaging. If I could describe the HE-5XX’s sound in a word it would be ‘air’. 

The HE-5XX’s overall linear frequency response combined with an upper-treble bump makes for a dry, crisp voicing with a delicate tonality that threatens to become brittle at times, but just falls short – it’s just very revealing in terms of treble information and micro-detail. The HE-5XX is definitely not a sibilant-sounding headphone, however consonant sounds in vocals can sound a little etched and aggressive at times. 

The HE-5XX’s mid-range is linear and present and renders both instruments and vocals accurately without any weird dips nor spikes in terms of frequency response. While it’s entirely accurate up until its forward upper treble, the HE-5XX’s midrange isn’t exactly tonally lush or super-engaging. While the original HE-500 and many of the HE-5XX’s similarly-priced dynamic-driver competitors offer a greater sense of emotion in their mid-range, the HE-5XX is a little more stark-sounding. That’s not to say that it’s not enjoyable, but the way that the HE-5XX plays back the vocal and instruments parts in Loggins & Messina’s ‘Angry Eyes’ is more business-like than it is organic immersion. 

Vs Drop + Sennheiser HD6XX (HD650)

The HD6XX is the inevitable competitor to the HE-5XX, being the exact same asking price at $220 USD, and is the giant in the room when it comes to being the prime contender for an outstanding entry-level audiophile headphone. The HD6XX (and the HD650, which is sonically identical) is pretty much the polar opposite to the HE-5XX’s sounds in every way, and so they make for an interesting match-up. The Sennheiser is all about intimacy and smoothness, while the HIFIMAN offers a greater sense of space, staging, and treble detail in particular. The HD6XX is famed for its natural, easy to love tonality, and its chalk and cheese when played back-to-back with the HE-5XX. The HD6XX has a more liquid, syrupy mid-range and a warm mid-bass hump that makes for an overall more relaxed listen. The HE-5XX offers a distinctly more planar experience, especially in terms of its flat, accurate bass response. However, the HE-5XX’s biggest point of difference is its treble-detail. 

Those looking for a more neutral, snappy sound-signature will lean towards the HIFIMAN, while lovers of a more organic, lush tone will opt for the Sennheiser. In many ways, both headphones are standard-bearers for their respective driver-types and represent exceptional value in both cases. In fact, I suspect that the listener who decides to choose both the HE-5XX and HD6XX for a total of $440 USD will be better served for more musical options and greater all-round flexibility than any single headphone choice under $500. 

Vs Audeze Sine DX

I’ve already spelled out my thoughts on the HE-5XX’s chief sonic differences compared to the original HIFIMAN HE-500, but comparing it to another lightweight, affordable planar in Audeze’s open-back Sine DX is an interesting exercise. Slash’s ‘Ghost’ tells you immediately that the Sine is a more rock ‘n roll kinda headphone, with a more forward and energetic mid-range, that presents vocals and guitars with much more aggression and excitement. By comparison, the HE-5XX has an almost gentle sense of dynamics and feels somewhat flat by comparison. I do find that the HE-5XX isn’t quite the genre-master and that its leaner dynamics and airy treble are a better match to classical and acoustic music than they are for heavy rock, metal, or bass-heavy hip hop. The Sine DX also has far more bass-slam than the HE-5XX, giving a more vivid and tangible sense of Aphex Twin’s ‘produk 29 [101]’, which is still one of the ultimate low-end test tracks in my library. 

The review continues over the jump on page 4.