Hifiman HE-4 Impressions Thread

[preproman]

magicman,
 
Be carful, the a-100 can be bright as well, especially with the HE-4s.  I tamed the brightness of the amp by using the Ciunas DAC.  What DAC are you going to be using?  In your setup, the DAC is going to be very important.

 

[148124]

  magicman,
 
Be carful, the a-100 can be bright as well, especially with the HE-4s.  I tamed the brightness of the amp by using the Ciunas DAC.  What DAC are you going to be using?  In your setup, the DAC is going to be very important.

 
I'm using audio-gd 10es2 at the moment which is actually a bit smoother and with more punch than 1.32 dac but still having that amazing tonality, details and realism (9018 in full current domain)
 
I'm aware of that, just need to check this out, silly money anyway, he-4 is a tricky headphone, can sound totally different on two different amps
 
I can accept a bit of brightnes on some recordings (let's say 20%, usually because of bad mixing/mastering) having amazing sense of realism, spacious soundstage, lightning speed transients, details, control, this is something that he500, he400 couldn't render properly, only he-5le might be close to that (I guess this is common in the he-4, he-5le, he-6 family)
 
If that won't satisfy me I might go back to Lyr/EF-5 combo which was really nice complementing each other in many different genres, Lyr for rock/metal/gothic, EF-5 for the rest especially classical, acoustic solo instruments (violin, piano, cello, drums - real life experience), jazz
 
anyway I will let you know soon how it worked for me

 

[kothganesh]

  magicman,
 
Be carful, the a-100 can be bright as well, especially with the HE-4s.  I tamed the brightness of the amp by using the Ciunas DAC.  What DAC are you going to be using?  In your setup, the DAC is going to be very important.

Preproman,
 
any thoughts on the suitability (or lack of) of the Bifrost/Lyr combo for the HE-400 ?

 

[preproman]

  Preproman,
 
any thoughts on the suitability (or lack of) of the Bifrost/Lyr combo for the HE-400 ?

Never heard either.  However, reports say the Lyr is a good amp for the HE-4s..

 

[148124]

hey preproman,
 
having he-4 and he-6 and only emotiva a-100 (I know you heard both on that amp) which one would be a winner for you ?
 
Is a-100 enough for he-6 to beat he-4 ? or do I need much better amp for HE-6 to be much better than HE-4 ?
 
very curious ...

 

[preproman]

Well the HE-6 is a better headphone overall.  The a-100 is a good starter amp for the HE-6, The HE-4 is very underrated, It can do well on the a-100 if you put some work in it DAC matching.  Both the HE-4 and the a-100 could be considered as bright.  The HE-6 is less bright IMO.  
 
The HE-6 will scale hight than the HE-4.  However, the HE-4 scales higher than most other headphones out there.  
 
I would say look into a few of the tube dacs out there like the TubeMagic D2  
 
http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tubemagic_d2, this might lessen the brightness.  This with the Ciunas Converter would be a killer setup.  Or the Ciunas DAC - it's a reall good one.
 
https://sites.google.com/site/jkciunas/

 

[148124]

regarding the dac, brightness etc - and only on a-100 amp, he-6 better or not I think I have to check it by myself, I don't mind it's bright sometime (it's only on some nasty recordings), I don't want to cut it because it will take some of the information from the spectrum, it doesnt make any sense to me, especially on the dac side - it has to be neutral, reference
 
if I am tired of HE-4 brightness I can always just buy Lyr

 

[preproman]

Yes, the HE-6 is a better headphone on the Emotiva a-100  IMO.
 
Here is a long review on the HE-6 and the Emotiva a-100
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/650912/hifiman-he-6-re-400-iem-and-ultrasone-pro-900-in-depth-reviews

 

[148124]

pleather or velour with he-6 on a-100 ? pleather more bass ?

 

[hemipowered007]

If any of you he4 owners want to trade for a 400. You let me know!!! I may just have to buy the he4 from Justin while he still has them, they are calling my name!!

 

[148124]

check this out on your he-4 can't believe how good this headphone is even on EF-5, sense of realism is just stunning, jaw dropping, make sure to have enough volume level to achieve amazing "be there" effect, out of this world super clean attack, low freq kick, transients speed, tonality and resolution - aspects where he-4 just shines ...
 
http://youtu.be/TjX9f1eExKQ?t=43m15s
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIk-Kxw_7Kc&hd=1
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyAy6hxGirg&hd=1
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ounSY8eijgM&hd=1
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShxJIP56mL4&hd=1
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ugPXrY65k&feature=share&list=UUoE9537BkBHtOOrQAj6x_0w&hd=1
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttF45s-Ikb8&feature=youtu.be&t=26m18s&hd=1
 
http://youtu.be/ttF45s-Ikb8?t=42m22s&hd=1
 
http://youtu.be/MtPQOTyFHXw?t=33m28s&hd=1  guitars sound just crazy in here on EF-5 as well as the freaking drums sections just like I would be there on the concert
 
http://youtu.be/l1toLihZkDs?t=2m35s&hd=1
 
http://youtu.be/pdxjhqA23gg?t=49s&hd=1
 
http://youtu.be/4jLaa6SqjiE?t=3m24s&hd=1
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4cN1vc60sU&feature=youtu.be&t=54s&hd=1
 
http://youtu.be/ourvXtt1pQ0?t=23m41s&hd=1   you have to use more gain it has low recording level but superb dynamics and fidelity without any freaking compression to the sound, amazing performance in HD
 
these days I actually don't listen much to my CDs having such performances on youtube in HD with superb sound quality

 

[hejjafish]

 

Hey, thanks for these links! I really enjoyed some of these.

 

[148124]

cool !
 
that's just a small sample of my youtube collection, youtube actually uses nice AAC 48-96kHz 448kbps codec and if the source material is in high quality it sounds really amazing but you have to look for nice mixed/mastered materials and believe me - there are plenty
 
and when there is also high quality video it has amazing connection with the musicians on the stage, much better than only listen to music
 
all links with added &hd=1 postfix to load automatically in HD quality, if it does not start in HD try to reload the same link, it usually helps
 
you can also check out my previous post http://www.head-fi.org/t/522157/hifiman-he-4-impressions-thread/735#post_9555052

 

[hemipowered007]

so whats the consensus on these vs he500s for rock and metal? Are we talking a decent difference or is the he4 an adequate choice coming from the he400? the 400s upper mid recession just cannot be fixed by eq and i just cant get into vocals with them.  Just trying to figure out if i should just sell the 400 and get the he4 while its available or really shoot for the 500. Any ideas from you 4 owners who have heard the 500 and possibly 400?

 

[148124]

for rock/metal HE-4+LYR is the best combo I have heard in my life (haven't heard HE-6 though but all other hifimans) - it's like you there at hard rock / metal / rock / gothic concert (I was at many arenas usually a few meters from the main stage)
 
HE-400 makes nice first impression but after a few days it's just boring although I liked ultra smooth vocals and holographic effect
 
texturing/layering capabilities, ultra sharp, fast, detailed mids of HE-4 won my heart (not so thick and dull but like in real acoustic concert), there is also that bass of HE-4 - ultra fast with great punch and air on a big stage that it creates, simply amazing in the aspect of realism, for me HE-400 is simply crashed by HE-4 in too many aspects, weak point of HE-4 is that on some SS amps it might be a bit bright so you should pay some attention when matching (for example with LYR there is no hint of  brightness or sibilance but some of the micro details are missed, bass is out of this world, ultra smooth vocals but without losing details like HE-400, LYR adds some real punch to the point you can feel vibrations from the drivers enclosure when you touch it - this is why HE-4 sounds so good with vintage receivers, usually they have similar sound signature to LYR - smooth, punch, great soundstage - that is great when matching with super fast and a bit on the bright side HE-4, brightness is often covered by an amazing bass and saturated mids which is really nice overall)
 
I can't describe the difference better, HE-4 scales amazing with great amps / dacs (HE-400 does not and plays almost the same from any source/amp, don't get me wrong HE-400 = nice HP but I expect something more from HP to enjoy)
 
Need to check out HE-6 on EMO a-100 in the nearest future and If I am not satisfied I am gonna buy LYR again and stay with my HE-4 for good (combo with my EF-5), audeze is not my kind and good staxes like 007/009 + expensive amp (old lambda pro are not reliable these days because of their age buying second hand) cost too much for me, the cheaper ones are worth nothing in my opinion and are total mistake after listening them
 
for me using any EQ on headphones is super silly resulting is some freaking effects, this is not the way to go - just find another HP that suits you
 
recessed upper mids in HE-400 was its main flaw to me, piano never sounded like in real life (upper harmonics, bite of hammers - it was somewhere but it was too distant, even lower octaves didn't sound as amazing like on HE-4), cello sounded thick but not detailed and without the soul (no scraping bow, texture, transients speed etc), everything was ultra thick and smoothed but not like in real world - just too much - that's why I sold it after about a week because there was no fidelity comparing to real instruments in real life / concert