Performance Continued

Treble wise the ortohodynamic drivers in the HE-5LEs have great extension, but it is a little less refined and revealing than what you get on a set of HD800s.

The HE-5LEs proved to be very comfy, the velvet type pads and well made headband made them very easy on the head. Add the fact that they are open backed circumaural cans and there is really nothing keeping you from listening to them for many hours in a row.

Compared to the modded Fostex T50RP which is a time tested ortodynamic can, the HE-5LEs are in a completely different league. They are simply not comparable, which might be due to the open back design of the HE-5LEs. With the T50RPs you hear the enclosure too much, and that really subtracts from the general experience. Besides that they are quite lean and dull sounding compared to the HE-5LEs. The T50RPs are by no means bad cans given their price of around $150 including various modifications to both enclosure and cable.

OFC vs. SPC Cable

Head-Direct are now supplying the cable originally intended for the HE-5s to HE-5LEs customers upon request. The cable differs from the stock HE-5LE cable by being a SPC type cable. SPC or silver plate copper cable if you will. The SPC cable is basically just a copper cable doped with silver on the outside for better connectivity and corrosion resistance. The difference this cable swap makes on the HE-5LEs is easily audible. Over the past week I have evaluated the two cables and while they are both good quality wires, the SPC cable has slightly better synergy in the test rig we used for this review. Compared to the stock cable the SPC version adds a little treble and further tightens the bass a tad. Layering is also a little better, which might result in a slightly less colored midrange. All in all these small tweaks to the sound make me prefer the SPC cable. So as far as being able to tailor the sound to you needs the HE-5LEs provide you with the opportunities at a reasonable cost, since you only have to pay shipping for the SPC cable.