This is a review and detailed measurements of the Hifiman HE560 V4. It is on kind loan from a member. I think it is exclusive to Adorama (?) and costs US $899 but goes on sale for $260 or something like it.
The look is similar to other Hifiman headphones:
Comfort was good with about average weight:
Cups are symmetrical and round with diameter of 61mm and depth of 23mm.
The included cable is short and rather stiff, terminated with 3.5mm plugs so easy to replace.
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
The large cups made an easy job of mounting them on my fixture and getting good measurements on first try.
Hifiman HE-56 V4 Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:
This is fairly typical Hifiman response with flat bass and droop above 1 kHz. The latter though is more than some others I have tested and is dissipating to see. It will not only impact tonality but also spatial effects. But overall not too bad.
Relative frequency response graph useful for development of EQ is:
Developing EQ should be simple given the shape of shortfalls.
Distortion is very low which is nice:
Group delay is messy as is usually the case with these headphones:
Impedance as usual is flat and low:
It does require fair bit of juice to get loud:
You definitely need a good headphone amplifier to drive it.
Hifiman HE560 V4 Listening Tests and Equalization
Without equalization the sound is not bad. It sounds light on its feet due to lack of bass energy. I turned on my HE400i EQ and it instantly elevated the performance a few notches. I refined it more for the 560 response and landed with this:
Once there, spatial qualities were excellent and overall tonality very good.
Conclusions
I honestly can't keep track of why there are so many models in the hifiman lineup. What is here seems to have been tweaked just a bit in the wrong direction. Fortunately with low distortion, equalization can compensate. Once there though, I did not want to listen without it. So this means you need to have EQ with you in all of your uses which can be inconvenient if you use a platform that doesn't support.
Overall, I can't recommend the HE560 V4 at its retail price. Fully discounted it is not bad but there are better choices from the company at even lower costs (HE400SE). Still equalization does it a lot of good and with it, I can recommend it.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The look is similar to other Hifiman headphones:
Comfort was good with about average weight:
Cups are symmetrical and round with diameter of 61mm and depth of 23mm.
The included cable is short and rather stiff, terminated with 3.5mm plugs so easy to replace.
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
The large cups made an easy job of mounting them on my fixture and getting good measurements on first try.
Hifiman HE-56 V4 Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:
This is fairly typical Hifiman response with flat bass and droop above 1 kHz. The latter though is more than some others I have tested and is dissipating to see. It will not only impact tonality but also spatial effects. But overall not too bad.
Relative frequency response graph useful for development of EQ is:
Developing EQ should be simple given the shape of shortfalls.
Distortion is very low which is nice:
Group delay is messy as is usually the case with these headphones:
Impedance as usual is flat and low:
It does require fair bit of juice to get loud:
You definitely need a good headphone amplifier to drive it.
Hifiman HE560 V4 Listening Tests and Equalization
Without equalization the sound is not bad. It sounds light on its feet due to lack of bass energy. I turned on my HE400i EQ and it instantly elevated the performance a few notches. I refined it more for the 560 response and landed with this:
Once there, spatial qualities were excellent and overall tonality very good.
Conclusions
I honestly can't keep track of why there are so many models in the hifiman lineup. What is here seems to have been tweaked just a bit in the wrong direction. Fortunately with low distortion, equalization can compensate. Once there though, I did not want to listen without it. So this means you need to have EQ with you in all of your uses which can be inconvenient if you use a platform that doesn't support.
Overall, I can't recommend the HE560 V4 at its retail price. Fully discounted it is not bad but there are better choices from the company at even lower costs (HE400SE). Still equalization does it a lot of good and with it, I can recommend it.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
