New Hifiman Headphone HE-400 is out - Page 366

How is DAT BASS.

So no sales on the he-400, huh. Moon audio said "15% off everything on the site!" Then turned out to be excluding v moda and hifiman...

Headamp has free next day shipping....and that's it. 

Extends lower (based on sinewave sweep) but not as visceral as HE400's.

Figures it would, it has a larger diaphragm?  Can you tell any difference in the mid distortion?  Since HE-500 has cleaner mids by the numbers and HE-400 is a bit messy.

 

Honestly so far I can't tell difference in distortion, the only thing I can say is HE500 mids are fuller and blooms more, however because of that it doesn't sound as dynamic or "holographic" as the HE400s.

 

It has the same size diaphragm, but is 100% covered by aluminum tracings (as opposed to HE400's about 2/3 coverage) and magnet arrays.

Edited by jerg - 11/23/12 at 1:07pm

Is that true?  At least in the inner fidelity video, the HE-6 tyll took apart spanned the entire circular enclosure of the frame, and I assumed HE-500 to be the same.  HE-400 I always just assumed to be a big rectangle.

Well I don't even need to take any photos, there already are photos on the internet with the two drivers side by side:

 

 

As apparent here, the HE400s take up the center 2/3 of the entire diaphragm, while the HE500s have more extended tracings filling up the two sides.

 

I bet the bass dynamics of the HE400s are at least partially due to the circular grooving on its tracings, which the HE500 diaphragm doesn't have.

Edited by jerg - 11/23/12 at 1:16pm

 

I've seen talk of this mid distortion on the HE-400s, but not sure if i can detect it. What should i be looking for to be able to hear it?

 

@ jerg, all things considered, which of the two do you prefer? 

Edited by beaver316 - 11/23/12 at 1:38pm

Well for me, I'm not sure if what I heard was characteristic of the HE-400 mid distortion or not.  But at least coming from the HD650, the HE-400 mids had a sense of being liquidy and flowing together, while the HD650 was more snappy.  It also sorta gave the HD650 a blacker background too.  Purrin noticed the same thing about the HE-400's mids and its lack of clean background.  However, I'm not sure if what I experienced with the HE-400 was just a result of planar magnetic sound signature, or the high distortion.

I see, apart from the lack of clean background you mention, this "distortion" doesnt seem to be a drawback if the mids have a sense of being liquid. It may well be an orthodynamic thing.

Both seem to be great in their own right, no preference for now.

Ok maybe a slight edge to the HE500s .

 

Another hour of listening and I've finally begun to notice some subtleties with regards to the "black background" thing people yap about, the HE500s do allow some more background microdetails through.

 

I'm still not hearing any symptoms of them being underpowered by my FiiO E17 though. They sound mighty fine to me, maybe a hair lacking in dynamics compared to the HE400s but I'm pretty sure that's due to the difference in FR.

Do you notice a change in comfort due to the differences in weight?

Nope.

 

It does clamp more though because I've flexed my HE400 headband so much it is much looser compared to these HE500s, which the original owner barely used.

 

 

 

Anyway, photo of the HE500 driver with my grill mod, compared to how it looked on the HE400

 

 

 

There seems to be less of a positive effect with the grill mod here compared to how much the HE400s improved, not sure why.

Edited by jerg - 11/23/12 at 2:54pm

I have a quick question before I buy these.

I'm upgrading from Ultrasone Pro 900's (The sibiliance is unbearable for me) and am wondering how good these are for movies and games?

I looked into the music part enough, to see music fits my needs. Cant find much info on the movies/games aspect.

Also, who do I have to e-mail to get the velour pads in my purchase? Can I still buy from amazon or do I need to order direct from their website?

Thanks.