New Hifiman Headphone HE-400 is out - Page 375

What does the silver coating do if it's a copper cable?

Hello all,

So I've been sucked into the black hole that is head-fi and lurking for a while now though the endless threads and spending countless hours on research.  I think I finally have come to the determination that the he-400 is what I'm seeking; however, I am not totally sure what I need to complete my setup.  

I will use music from the MOG at 320 kbps as my source from both my Galaxy Nexus and PC.  On my pc I have onboard sound which I don't think too highly of.  I would like some portability, so I'm considering the e17/e09k combo.  That way I could use the e17 as a dac when at my PC and use it as an amp for my phone.  The dac in my Nexus does not seem half bad for when I go portable (waiting for someone to hopefully figure out that micro usb issue so I can output to a dac).

The other detail here is my father has an old NAD receiver I'm not sure what model, but it has a headphone jack and plenty of inputs on the back.  Is it 1) possible and 2) advisable to output SPDIF from PC to the e17/e09k combo using the e17's dac and the e09k as a preamp then using the rca outputs on the back of the e09k to the back of the NAD receiver for some extra juice? I apologize if this has been answered before, but my search found nothing.

Or can someone envision a better alternative?  As I said I would like some portability, but with that said I don't need to be walking around town and would stay confined to a desk while I listen.  Thus, I would be happy to lug around a manageable dac & amp for when I go out of town or when I'm working from the office on weekends.  Money is an barrier.  I'm not looking to spend much more than 650 and would like to make my purchase through Amazon so I can get the 12 month financing.  I'm a poor social worker so its a must.  The only other thing I would say is that I'm hoping this envisioned setup would provide some future proofing in that I would be able to drive some other headphones which may be more difficult to drive if I am to expand my collection in the future.  I have the head-fi bug so I'm sure it just a matter of time before I get the itch again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

What does the silver coating do if it's a copper cable?

All I know is that it makes it better.

http://www.abccables.com/info-copper.html

My eyes kinda glazed over halfway through the article so I'm just going to assume the silver improves the cable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sniping 

All I know is that it makes it better.

http://www.abccables.com/info-copper.html

My eyes kinda glazed over halfway through the article so I'm just going to assume the silver improves the cable.

But WHY does it make it better? I can't just take people's word at face value like that.

Looks neat though, definitely wins for me aesthetically. 

I have the 'silver cable' from the HE500 I bought; it doesn't look that silver though...just looks like spun copper strands sleeved in polyethylene. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

I have the 'silver cable' from the HE500 I bought; it doesn't look that silver though...just looks like spun copper strands sleeved in polyethylene. 

The thing's really unwieldy though. Don't know how people could stand using that. Got it caught on the cupboard in the shop I tried them in. Good thing the store owner didn't find out!

These are an immediate and definite improvement over my HD 558 sonically, particularly in the bass. But the tradeoff is comfort. The HD 558 feels like nothing compared to these. The headband mod should help a bit, but there's no getting around the weight. The clamping is too tight also. I've tried stretching the headband but I'm afraid of it breaking...

A few users have managed to stretch the headband with no problem, but i can see how it would worry you. I guess im lucky in that the clamp is just perfect for me, i think this is helped by the fact that i'm coming from the Sennheiser HD 280 pros which feels like its trying to crush your skull.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sniping 

All I know is that it makes it better.

http://www.abccables.com/info-copper.html

My eyes kinda glazed over halfway through the article so I'm just going to assume the silver improves the cable.

cables are controversial, there's a lot of threads about them on head fi.

my position is that they only matter to a point....my favorite cables i've ever made are twisted pairs of CAT5 cable.  i don't believe that silver or gold or any fancy metal is better than another...what does make a difference is good shielding, and twisting to cancel EM interference.  beyond those (well proven) techniques it's all up to you and your ears.  but my opinion is just one of many out there...

If you own the HE-400 (or really anyone) listen to this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIwzRkjn86w

Hooray Halifax!!!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by olsenn 

If you own the HE-400 (or really anyone) listen to this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIwzRkjn86w

 

Hooray Halifax!!!
 

If I knew them lyrics I'd be singing along. Hohay, arrr aye laddie. :D (sounds good out of the HD650 too ;) 

Hi everyone - hope some others owners can help me get some clarity on an issue.

My 400s seem to have light distortion on certain pieces. Both on classic music (piano) and on rock albums. I'm using pleather pads and ALO The National amp with the UD100 DAC.

First of all I turned off all Amarra EQ settings which weren't having a good impact. Furthermore, It might be that I'm listening too loud... I doubt this since my previous headphones (ATM 50s) didn't distort at the same level.

Its only when i'm listening at louder levels, but still... it is bugging.

Does the headphone have some natural distortion at higher levels? Any way to counter this?

Thank you!