New Hifiman Headphone HE-400 is out - Page 158

Jerg, you are now truly the headphone gangsta. Please change your name accordingly. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

My velour pads came in.... I can't hear **** out of them!

Lol, JUST the pads... now waiting for the headphones themselves.

Did you forget to order the cans first? 

Hang in there MLE...the cans will get there before you know it!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattTCG 

Jerg, you are now truly the headphone gangsta. Please change your name accordingly. 

Seriously though, you don't need to attempt the mod, but try this: pop off the grills, hold one in each hand by corners (so when you move them against the outside of the drivers where they seat, your hands don't obstruct anything) and move them on and off at the same time while you play some well-recorded live music, and hear the difference. The default grills have too much material to not to cause some resonance and hence a more closed-in sound.

So the problem is that the grills are not perforated enough? And when you add a material that is more perforated the sound stage increased? 

Man, I love my he400 quite a bit. I don't know if I have the coconuts to try to mod them. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattTCG 

So the problem is that the grills are not perforated enough? And when you add a material that is more perforated the sound stage increased? 

 

Man, I love my he400 quite a bit. I don't know if I have the coconuts to try to mod them. 

Pretty much, the grill:hole cross-sectional SA ratio is too high...lol.

No need to mod em, they sound great, the mod itself doesn't change a damn thing about the sound signature or tonal balance, all it does is partially cut out the minute bit of resonance that causes the soundstage / imaging to be headphone-like.

Pleasant surprise when i got home today, HE-400s sitting at my door! Wasn't supposed to be delivered until tuesday...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

Guys, is the stock HE400 covered with a mesh like material, like the HE-4? Or are they the pretty common black cables found on other headphones?
I really liked the cables on the HE-4.

The stock cable is a black canare cable, nothing special, but nicer then many other stock cables.

So I got the chance to hear the HE-400 today, overall impressed. I think I get what people mean when they say they are dark but with sparkle in other areas. It seems a bit too bassy for casual listening, but I did only hear it at a store, and it was only with an E11 that the owner let me demo. I'll probably get it, but experiment with EQ and different pairings to see if the bass can be tightened up.

And oh god those mids, they're probably comparable to the HE-500 (which was next to the HE-400's display, but I couldn't find a 1/4" adapter for it to try) from what I remember. Less detailed and transparent though. 

The only real problem I see at this moment is the bass overpowering the lovely mids at this moment, perhaps velvet pads help with this? (Tried pleather in store)

Edit: I might or might not have had the bass eq on the e11 turned on when I was listening, that might account for the flabby bass, Whoops.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwinQY 

So I got the chance to hear the HE-400 today, overall impressed. I think I get what people mean when they say they are dark but with sparkle in other areas. It seems a bit too bassy for casual listening, but I did only hear it at a store, and it was only with an E11 that the owner let me demo. I'll probably get it, but experiment with EQ and different pairings to see if the bass can be tightened up.

 

And oh god those mids, they're probably comparable to the HE-500 (which was next to the HE-400's display, but I couldn't find a 1/4" adapter for it to try) from what I remember. Less detailed and transparent though. 

 

The only real problem I see at this moment is the bass overpowering the lovely mids at this moment, perhaps velvet pads help with this? (Tried pleather in store)

You should try to use 31 band equalizer with them and i heard them with E11 and don't think it's good match

Quote:

Originally Posted by olegausany 

You should try to use 31 band equalizer with them and i heard them with E11 and don't think it's good match

I have an E10 at home to try them with (well, until my O2 comes back), would they sound better? There was a E10/E17 next to them, but they guy was closing up for the day, so I didn't get to try them out.

And I REALLY like the cables that they come with. Solid, seems like they'd last for a while. The braided silver HE-500 seemed paltry and downright puny next to them, it'd seem like they'd snap in seconds

Velour doesn't change the bass of them at all.  Decreasing bass in EQ won't tighten the bass up any, the HE-400's bass is already very tight and controlled as it is.