The Hifiman HE-5 headphones are the refined gentleman of the headphone scene – big, hand-made and hewn out of real wood, they sound like they should command a hefty premium. However, these Chinese-made cans cost a whole lot less than the top-end units from Audio Technica and Sennheiser. We find out whether it’s all for show in our Hifiman HE-5 review.
These headphones use an open-backed design, so if you’re planning on wearing them around town, think again. Virtually speakers for your ears, the Hifiman HE-5 don’t remove the sounds of the outside world and won’t keep passers-by from knowing your secret love of Kylie Minogue records.
They are resolutely at-home headphones, but what they lose in practicality, they gain in sound quality. Compared to a closed-back pair, the Hifiman HE5s’ sound is wonderfully open, musical and dynamic. Add the powerful bass and fantastically detailed high-end into the mix and you’ve got a set of headphones that sound a little too good to be true. Are they? Well, we don’t think so.
Read our Sennheiser HD 650 review now
Unlike most other high-end headphones, the Hifiman HE-5 cans use planar magnetic drivers, which use an aluminium-coated mylar diaphragm suspended between sets of magnets. It sounds like the kind of technology that might just scramble your brain, but we suspect it may have something to do with how great these headphones sound. They blow the excellent Sennhesier HD650s out of the water.
However, perhaps also thanks to these planar magnetic drivers, the Hifiman HE-5s absolutely need a powerful headphone amp to produce the sweet sounds they’re capable of. Match them with something relatively weedy and sibilant highs start to appear. Granted, these headphones will still sound great, but it’s like pouring ketchup on caviar – you just don’t do it. If you’re thinking of letting these headphones fly solo, you might as well not bother.
Couple them with a worthy amp though and they’ll get pretty darn close to the quality offered by the Sennheiser HD800s, and remember that they cost a helluva lot more than the Hifiman HE-5s. We really dig the wood finish too – these headphones would look classy in a public toilet.
So, are there any real drawbacks? Well, thanks to the magnets inside each headphone, they’re a little heavier than some rivals, but we found them comfy enough for extended sessions. We would like a slightly longer cable though. 2 metres may be enough for most, but it’s not quite long enough to let you air-guitar all the way across the house, which is what these headphones make us want to do, pretty much all day long.
