**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread** - Page 119

It would probably be a little tricky given how narrow the treble spike is.

It could probably done with certain equalizers but not any normal 8 band one. There's a 120 band one for Winamp that might work if you were precise enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

It would probably be a little tricky given how narrow the treble spike is.

 

It could probably done with certain equalizers but not any normal 8 band one. There's a 120 band one for Winamp that might work if you were precise enough.

Where do you pinpoint the treble spike? The two suspects for me seem to be 7500 Hz and 11500 Hz, but I'm not sure which is actually the source of the tizziness.

I wonder how much upgrade HE-500 would be. I read that the mid and high of HE-500 are better controlled and presented compared to HE-400. Now that I just got my HE-400, I'm already starting to think about the future upgrade, lol.

Interestingly, my Denon AH-D2000 also has harsh tremble, very similar to HE-400.

I am using the velours. Whatever impact it makes on the sound seems to be very slight. Overall I do not find the treble to be harsh at all, other than I do NOTICE it more as a result of having a laid back phone more recently.

The comfort of the velours is better for me overall, a little cooler on the ears, but they are stiff and thicker than the stock leather. Then again, today I find that the more time I spend with the 400s, the more I like them. Also, I have been wearing them all day and other than the constant slight pressure near my cheeks, they have been comfy.

I have an Objective 2 on the way to hopefully pump up my power output. Give time to adjust to the HEs sound, there is so much to like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrMateoHead 

I am using the velours. Whatever impact it makes on the sound seems to be very slight. Overall I do not find the treble to be harsh at all, other than I do NOTICE it more as a result of having a laid back phone more recently.

 

The comfort of the velours is better for me overall, a little cooler on the ears, but they are stiff and thicker than the stock leather. Then again, today I find that the more time I spend with the 400s, the more I like them. Also, I have been wearing them all day and other than the constant slight pressure near my cheeks, they have been comfy.

 

I have an Objective 2 on the way to hopefully pump up my power output. Give time to adjust to the HEs sound, there is so much to like.

I'm quite interested in how the O2 renders the HE400s still, looking forward to your (hopefully extensive ) impressions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

 

Where do you pinpoint the treble spike? The two suspects for me seem to be 7500 Hz and 11500 Hz, but I'm not sure which is actually the source of the tizziness.

I have no idea, I haven't tried to get rid of it myself.

I haven't really noticed a tizziness, granted I don't listen to much with female vocals, but it can be harsh at times. So far on only three songs it has been harsh though: "Unreal Square" by Squarepusher, and then a song by Mount Kimbie off Crooks and Lovers and one by Aphex Twin from the Richard D James Album, can't recall the names right now though. But none of them have anything to do with female vocals. Just synths at exactly the wrong frequency.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

It would probably be a little tricky given how narrow the treble spike is.

 

It could probably done with certain equalizers but not any normal 8 band one. There's a 120 band one for Winamp that might work if you were precise enough.

I have a foobar plugin with a 31 band equalizer. Hopefully that would be good enough, but yeah i guess the trick is to pinpoint the problem area.

About the treble spikes, maybe a warm SS amp would help in that regard, or even a tube amp. I have a Matrix m-stage on the way which has a warm, tube-like signature.

With regards to the tizzy treble; this EQ seems to be the one that works best in resolving it:

Basically a broadband EQing down of mid~upper treble, centered around 13000 Hz, with the maximum amplitude at -5 dB from baseline, and extending to approx 7000 Hz and 20000 Hz.

Not surprisingly, it coincides well with actual CSD measurements of the HE400s (velour pads); basically the EQ shaves off all the "red" part of the below plot in the treble region:

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

 

I'm quite interested in how the O2 renders the HE400s still, looking forward to your (hopefully extensive ) impressions.

I'm pairing them with O2+ODAC combo. The sound is very transparent and straightforward with no heavy feeling(muffled, veiled sound). Mid and low are exceptionally good. I listen to metal so there are a lot of deep fast bass and distortion guitar. The sound all comes very clean and weighty. That being said, the tremble sounds a bit piercing to me. Maybe I will get used to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

With regards to the tizzy treble; this EQ seems to be the one that works best in resolving it:

 

 

 

Basically a broadband EQing down of mid~upper treble, centered around 13000 Hz, with the maximum amplitude at -5 dB from baseline, and extending to approx 7000 Hz and 20000 Hz.

 

 

 

 

Not surprisingly, it coincides well with actual CSD measurements of the HE400s (velour pads); basically the EQ shaves off all the "red" part of the below plot in the treble region:

Hmm, I'll have to try and mimic something in the Winamp equalizer and see if I like it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

Hmm, I'll have to try and mimic something in the Winamp equalizer and see if I like it.

It definitely shaves off a bit of the "air" of the sound, but IMO that air is just excess upper treble as shown by measurements. Sounds quite a bit smoother though, I'd say it gets rid of 100% sibilance, and cuts the tizziness down by 90% (still not completely gone).

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbkmog 

I'm pairing them with O2+ODAC combo. The sound is very transparent and straightforward with no heavy feeling(muffled, veiled sound). Mid and low are exceptionally good. I listen to metal so there are a lot of deep fast bass and distortion guitar. The sound all comes very clean and weighty. That being said, the tremble sounds a bit piercing to me. Maybe I will get used to it.

I've read many times how the ODAC is a very bright and fatiguing dac, and since the O2 is designed to be as transparent as possible, combined with the HE400's treble spikes, this is probably what's causing the piercing sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

With regards to the tizzy treble; this EQ seems to be the one that works best in resolving it:

 

 

 

Basically a broadband EQing down of mid~upper treble, centered around 13000 Hz, with the maximum amplitude at -5 dB from baseline, and extending to approx 7000 Hz and 20000 Hz.

 

 

 

 

Not surprisingly, it coincides well with actual CSD measurements of the HE400s (velour pads); basically the EQ shaves off all the "red" part of the below plot in the treble region:

It would be awesome if you could create this EQ mod in foobar and share the config file here.