Yamaha YH-5000SE Flagship Headphone Review

[cobra-kai-never-dies]

A fool and his money…

May ASR become a test for separating audiophiles into gullible and responsible one? How could you be fooled into spending a good chunk of money to listen through this? And maybe even brag about it with your less well endowed friends?
Great test Amir of a failed HP, with long shadows cast on the honesty and reliability of Yamaha. I shall not buy any audio products from a company that charges so much for so little.

I hate to say this, but these headphone measurements are disgraceful for a company that has been in business for so long. It's like they hired interns who barely passed post secondary education to engineer these.

 

[oscar_dziki]

lol great sense of humor. Made me laugh.

Thank you! To be fair, he provided a good build up.

 

[Soria Moria]

Are there any worse 4-digit price headphones out there?

 

[Mr Swing King]

Are there any worse 4-digit price headphones out there?

I’m not entirely sure, but it sure is competing with the likes of Abyss and Raal.
I expect more from Yamaha though. This seems verging on the absurd considering the company’s legacy in audio.

 

[Alexander Gödde]

is it possible that this measured set of headphones is defective or broken? So many positive reviews online.

Nope. There are other measurements out there which agree. Just goes to show that most reviewers out there are just shills.

 

[Alexander Gödde]

I have a pair of vintage Yamaha HP-1, their first planar headphone. Bought used for <100 EUR and they are very listenable even without EQ. On-ear though, which I can't stand for much longer than 30 minutes, so they do not get a lot of use.

 

[Palladium]

I’m not entirely sure, but it sure is competing with the likes of Abyss and Raal.
I expect more from Yamaha though. This seems verging on the absurd considering the company’s legacy in audio.

That's only because Amir didn't used a $10000 HPA with a 1000W output that will "bring out all the dynamics".

And lol'ing at the 94 SPL THD plot; there are better performing THD plots from $400 speakers at 96dB SPL.

I’m not entirely sure, but it sure is competing with the likes of Abyss and Raal.
I expect more from Yamaha though. This seems verging on the absurd considering the company’s legacy in audio.

I believe a lot of audio companies lately realise just how gullible their customer base is, which is why they push out products like this.
Even Mogami is now claiming there are audible things that can't be measured in their cables.

 

[BrooklynNick]

I heard these at CanJam NYC earlier this year. I thought they sounded awful. There is a notable difference between the two pads, but neither sounds good. That Yamaha rep was there and was very proud of the product. He asked me how I liked them and I decided to be nice and just said they look great and are really comfortable, which is true. Anyone who gave these a good review should just stop. The issues with this headphone are very easily heard.

 

[cobra-kai-never-dies]

Nope. There are other measurements out there which agree. Just goes to show that most reviewers out there are just shills.

And the reviews definitely read like the people who wrote them are shills! Sad that those who may buy them believe the hype and think of all the sonic irregularities as more detail and impact.

 

[cobra-kai-never-dies]

I heard these at CanJam NYC earlier this year. I thought they sounded awful. There is a notable difference between the two pads, but neither sounds good. That Yamaha rep was there and was very proud of the product. He asked me how I liked them and I decided to be nice and just said they look great and are really comfortable, which is true. Anyone who gave these a good review should just stop. The issues with this headphone are very easily heard.

Thanks for the listening impressions.

Just saved me time. Now I'll never waste my time to audition these particular headphones. Great to see a real-world example from someone and the measurements prove that what you heard is true.

 

[Mr Swing King]

That's only because Amir didn't used a $10000 HPA with a 1000W output that will "bring out all the dynamics".

And lol'ing at the 94 SPL THD plot; there are better performing THD plots from $400 speakers at 96dB SPL.




I believe a lot of audio companies lately realise just how gullible their customer base is, which is why they push out products like this.
Even Mogami is now claiming there are audible things that can't be measured in their cables.

Obviously. Either that or the omission of some specialised watercooled radioactive dac that puts 1s and 0s together via fusion.
There is always a fantastical way to brush off facts or common sense.

Mogami probably figured as much and are now realising the potential of selling special sand to the Sahara.

 

[WalterW]

What HI-Fi claims they are exceptional. https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/yamaha-yh-5000se-headphones.

"Yet, in our view, they justify that price with a depth of ability that we haven’t come across at this level before."

Maybe that's sarcasm?

I can't trust any for-profit reviews anymore.

So you did trust them before? Why would that be?

 

[AudioSceptic]

I used to sell the HP1 and they were a long-term 'pleasant' listen with a more full-bodied tone I remember. I don't remember the slight rise in the lower kHz region, as it was very much better than the sometimes astringent tones of some early Sennheisers. I don't remember the HP3, but then, rather large speakers was this twenty year old's bag back then

I think I might also have the HP-1 somewhere. I bought the HP-3 new as it was the budget model, but bought the HP-1 used years later. I've got the HFC issue with those, and I bet you have too.

 

[AudioSceptic]

I have a pair of vintage Yamaha HP-1, their first planar headphone. Bought used for <100 EUR and they are very listenable even without EQ. On-ear though, which I can't stand for much longer than 30 minutes, so they do not get a lot of use.

I must see if I can find my HP-1 (and HP-3) and see what they sound like now.

 

[Robbo99999]

Wow, that's an insane headphone! I'm kinda surprised Amir liked it with EQ even, albeit it was noted that the headphone still had deficiencies after EQ - in the bass. Perhaps the big ear cups of the headphone mean that the measurements translate quite accurately to what Amir ends up hearing after EQ (low real on head variability from person to person perhaps), so maybe that's why he found it good after EQ. Crazy headphone though in lots of ways!

 

[Cammy]

Are there any worse 4-digit price headphones out there?

Not worse, but there's Hifiman closed backs

 

[WillBrink]

Coming from that company in particular, really surprising. It appears you'd really have to look to find something much worse.

 

[bmwr75]

There is not set of headphones in the world worth $5000. Have never heard any headphone come close to approximating the fidelity and soundstage of a nice speaker system in an acoustically friendly room.

 

[Nabuco]

5000 for this, waste of money, this world is crazy

 

[Redman43]

5000 dollars for headphones ? If a salesperson offered headphones for 5 000 dollars to me, well let's say that he would have a looooong rehabilitation period to look forward to and would always have a great parking spot available courtesy of state.