**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread** - Page 120

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

Very bright? That's nonsense. I guess people are just used to warm DACs, because the ODAC is really neutral.

Any good DAC should be neutral IMO. The sound should be warmed up elsewhere.

People do seem to consider neutral stuff as bright though... STX is considered to be bright but it's measurements are as neutral as possible and the treble actually slightly rolls off(to like -.125 dB)

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaver316 

 

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

Sure.

Foobar bar EQ, and below that the Electri-Q parametric EQ file.

Thanks a lot dude

Is the default equalizer app in foobar accurate though? It's only 18 bands.

This plugin enables a 31 band equalizer, maybe you can get a more intricate result?

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaver316 

Is the default equalizer app in foobar accurate though? It's only 18 bands.

 

This plugin enables a 31 band equalizer, maybe you can get a more intricate result?

Why don't you just get Electri-Q? It's for foobar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattTCG 

 

While I found the o2 somewhat thin and bright, the odac is neutral and a great dac IMO. I have it connected to the lyr and it's a very good pairing. 

I don't doubt that it's great, i have one on order in fact, it's just that i've read more than a few times that it's a little fatiguing. Not sure what to make of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

Why don't you just get Electri-Q? It's for foobar.

^ This.

For reference, here is what you can do in a proper parametric equalizer like Electri-Q (this was my old EQ setting for Audio Technica M50 before I gave those headphones away) :

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

Why don't you just get Electri-Q? It's for foobar.

Ah i thought it was for Winamp only. I'll have a look

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiderman 

Yeah, you are probably right, I'll probably try out some other headphones and see how those fit me. I'm probably gonna start looking into Grado's, this experience made me realize that I want fun sounding headphones probably some where the bass and highs accentuated.

Ok, what you need is some eq-ing. Fun sounding headphones have a V curved frequency response, and you can easily apply this sound to your HE-400 by boosting the highs and lows with an equalizer.

I find the stock EQ of foobar quite good. If you have some problems with sibilance, just cut the eq in the 6khz region (the defected rev3 version has sibilance) and than boost the highs and lows.

Just try boosting al frequencies below 200 hz, and everything above 10 khz in a gradual manner.

But hey, maybe you've already tried this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

^ This.

 

For reference, here is what you can do in a proper parametric equalizer like Electri-Q (this was my old EQ setting for Audio Technica M50 before I gave those headphones away) :

 

Goodlord remind me to never buy the M50's....

I actually did not like this equalizer, it made foobar crash all the time ! :(

I finally got the plugin set up. It looks nice. I'll certainly test it when my gear arrives.

For all the people with the sibilance issue, I heard it too, but this was on the defect rev3 drivers not sure how the normal ones sound.

But yeah, there is a solution for which you do not need to use the equalizer.

You can apply the paper mod:

1.Get a tissue with multiple layers.

2. Peel off one layer.

3. Check if layer is see through.

4.???

5.Tape the thin piece of paper in front of the driver and place foam on top, and reinstall the ear-pad, carefully.

6.Profit

This works wonders for my closed gmp 8.35D, it does not lose any detail, it just smooths out the highs very nicely. But does not affect the mids at all.

I'm planning on doing this mod on my HE-400 when I get them :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattTCG 

 

Interesting. I'm sure this could be done with some more durable material as well. 

I tried cotton, details were impaired, as were the mids (so that's less detail in higs and mids).

Actually paper cuts just the high frequencies while all other materials filtered the mids too.

So paper has been by far the best filter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

 

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

Lol.

Well, my theory is, I'll have enough power to make movies and HDR recordings a lot louder and more fun. On the other hand, I don't think the laptop can give better than 1V RMS at line-level. I am hoping the SPDIF will work, but I'll try the stereo out too.

If somehow the sound seems vastly improved (or makes me realize my onboard DAC sucks) I'll surely report it. I just can't resist the long write ups - I will try hard to keep it tidy and short.