[fishymamba]

So I got my pair a couple days ago and I have a question: Where should the headphones be placed over my ears? Should my ear be in the middle or toward the back of the headphones? Its makes a pretty big difference moving them around my ears. 

 

[nmatheis]

So I got my pair a couple days ago and I have a question: Where should the headphones be placed over my ears? Should my ear be in the middle or toward the back of the headphones? Its makes a pretty big difference moving them around my ears. 

Where it sounds best to you is where you should put them. I imagine this is a bit different for everyone.

 

[coletrain104]

  So I got my pair a couple days ago and I have a question: Where should the headphones be placed over my ears? Should my ear be in the middle or toward the back of the headphones? Its makes a pretty big difference moving them around my ears. 

I think the general rule is try not to squish your ears against the pads in any direction. The tissue of the ear does conduct a certain amount of sound, and I find if earpads touch my ears (mostly the hard part, I find touching earlobes acceptable) some of the soundstage dies out. If you are using a big pad like the velour or pleather, this will probably be pretty easy. With the focuspads it is harder. If you find the changes even within this make differences, I would let your ears go as far backwards as possible in the cups so that it imitates sound that would come from in front of you, like a performance.

 

[nabwong]

So I just auditioned a bunch of headphones. Looking to see if there are any "better" than the he400. Here's some I tried, he-400i, he500, he560, lcd 2, lcd x, lcd xc, hd700, hd800, t70p, t1, mdr-z7, nad, b&w. There may be others but I can't recall. Best 2 hours in a long time. I guess I can't go in depth as i didn't take a long time or write notes. 
 
Here's what I thought. The amp used was a McIntosh MHA 100.
1. There aren't too many headphones that are instantly "better" than the he-400 for my preference. 
2. The ONLY one that jumped out and told me to take them home was the LCD-XC. The 2nd (more like a high 3rd. No one was 2nd) was the MDR-Z7. 
3. I was surprised that I didn't like any of the other hifimans. They sounded top heavy.
4. I've heard of the legendary bass of the lcd2. Yes, lots of bass extension and volume but it didn't seem tight. Maybe it was the match.
5. No low end on the sennheisers.
6. I have always hated beyers. Re-confirmed it for me. The highs are not focused.
7. I'm still super happy with the HE-400. Didn't make me wanna buy something else, besides the LCD-XC.
 
 
Dear Santa, Can you give me a pair of LCD-XC for christmas? 

 

[BaTou069]

  So I just auditioned a bunch of headphones. Looking to see if there are any "better" than the he400. Here's some I tried, he-400i, he500, he560, lcd 2, lcd x, lcd xc, hd700, hd800, t70p, t1, mdr-z7, nad, b&w. There may be others but I can't recall. Best 2 hours in a long time. I guess I can't go in depth as i didn't take a long time or write notes. 
 
Here's what I thought. The amp used was a McIntosh MHA 100.
1. There aren't too many headphones that are instantly "better" than the he-400 for my preference. 
2. The ONLY one that jumped out and told me to take them home was the LCD-XC. The 2nd (more like a high 3rd. No one was 2nd) was the MDR-Z7. 
3. I was surprised that I didn't like any of the other hifimans. They sounded top heavy.
4. I've heard of the legendary bass of the lcd2. Yes, lots of bass extension and volume but it didn't seem tight. Maybe it was the match.
5. No low end on the sennheisers.
6. I have always hated beyers. Re-confirmed it for me. The highs are not focused.
7. I'm still super happy with the HE-400. Didn't make me wanna buy something else, besides the LCD-XC.
 
 
Dear Santa, Can you give me a pair of LCD-XC for christmas? 

Needless to say that auditioning so many headphones in such a "short time" isn't ideal. I guess it also was at some shop and not at your home. Did you at least listen to your Source, brought some DAP with your songs you know for auditioning?
 
I did the same too when I was in germany once, went to a shop that had many headphones to audition I cant listen to where I live, brought a DAP with me and just listened to a lot of stuff, AKGs, Senns, Beyers and high end stuff including Stax 009, Beyerdynamic T1, 
 
I didnt liked most stuff but on the other side, I know this is only first impression after listening to Shure 846 all day/all travel long.
 
On the other side, I know that once I preferred the He400 over the NAD HP50 (ordered both online in the same time so got them together), and today after first impressions are over its the other way around.
 
I had a short listen some time ago to the XC and after reading your post, I have a hard time to imagine why youd like them if your preference is the he400. 
 
HE400 is very particular sounding in my opinion and I havent yet heard something similar. I think that my next headphone wont be something that is like a headphone I already own but better, instead it will be something different that will complete the collection of different sounding HPs

 

[nabwong]

Needless to say that auditioning so many headphones in such a "short time" isn't ideal. I guess it also was at some shop and not at your home. Did you at least listen to your Source, brought some DAP with your songs you know for auditioning?

I did the same too when I was in germany once, went to a shop that had many headphones to audition I cant listen to where I live, brought a DAP with me and just listened to a lot of stuff, AKGs, Senns, Beyers and high end stuff including Stax 009, Beyerdynamic T1, 

I didnt liked most stuff but on the other side, I know this is only first impression after listening to Shure 846 all day/all travel long.

On the other side, I know that once I preferred the He400 over the NAD HP50 (ordered both online in the same time so got them together), and today after first impressions are over its the other way around.

I had a short listen some time ago to the XC and after reading your post, I have a hard time to imagine why youd like them if your preference is the he400. 

HE400 is very particular sounding in my opinion and I havent yet heard something similar. I think that my next headphone wont be something that is like a headphone I already own but better, instead it will be something different that will complete the collection of different sounding HPs

I used their sonos which was streaming music. It wasn't the best quality but I had access to all the songs I'm familiar with. This is not different than a quick test drives of cars at a dealership. You can't really know how the car reacts under stress but you can get for the overall feel and what instantly sticks out to you. It's more like, you know there are some cars you just hate driving when you sit in it. It's the same thing for me. I'm just bothered by one thing and I will not like the cans.

The LCD-XC had the ideal balance of Prat, timbre, soundstage, isolation and smoothness for me. The best way to describe it is that the headphones just disappeared. It was also comfortable. It's like the smoothest hazelnut gelato.

 

[BaTou069]

I totallt get you, since when I listen shortly to a HP, i know very fast what I like about it and what not.
I guess with a car its the same.
But my experience with the NAD and he400 showed me different, there is brain burn in for me, and I need to get used to something before knowing for sure. The gap between my first impressions between these two and my opinion now is so huge, that Im a bit afraid to listen to a HP for a short while and dismiss it because of first impressions. At the beginning the he400 was just WOW, so detailed, warm, crisp highs, fat and deep bass. HP50 first impression was: boring, lifeless
 
Now the he400 feels artificial to me, with disturbing highs and dry midrange, but still mostly enjoyable
HP50: natural organic feel through all the range, efortless, detailed. warm mids, nice lows.
 
 

I used their sonos which was streaming music. It wasn't the best quality but I had access to all the songs I'm familiar with. This is not different than a quick test drives of cars at a dealership. You can't really know how the car reacts under stress but you can get for the overall feel and what instantly sticks out to you. It's more like, you know there are some cars you just hate driving when you sit in it. It's the same thing for me. I'm just bothered by one thing and I will not like the cans.

The LCD-XC had the ideal balance of Prat, timbre, soundstage, isolation and smoothness for me. The best way to describe it is that the headphones just disappeared. It was also comfortable. It's like the smoothest hazelnut gelato.

 

[nabwong]

I totallt get you, since when I listen shortly to a HP, i know very fast what I like about it and what not.
I guess with a car its the same.
But my experience with the NAD and he400 showed me different, there is brain burn in for me, and I need to get used to something before knowing for sure. The gap between my first impressions between these two and my opinion now is so huge, that Im a bit afraid to listen to a HP for a short while and dismiss it because of first impressions. At the beginning the he400 was just WOW, so detailed, warm, crisp highs, fat and deep bass. HP50 first impression was: boring, lifeless

Now the he400 feels artificial to me, with disturbing highs and dry midrange, but still mostly enjoyable
HP50: natural organic feel through all the range, efortless, detailed. warm mids, nice lows.

Haha. Maybe it's like the gti. You love it at first until you realize you can't turn off stability control and it'll be in the shop more than on the road. Just kidding VW owners. I love the gti.

I also think our listening goes through phases, it evolves. I'm a musician and I know first hand that the sound I produce evolves all the time, not only generally, but also genre specific. Something I may not like before, I embrace later. I suppose my headphone preferences might also evolve in line with my profession.

 

[nmatheis]

^^^

Former Jetta owner here...

Too much time in the shop :eek:

 

[DavidA]

  So I just auditioned a bunch of headphones. Looking to see if there are any "better" than the he400. Here's some I tried, he-400i, he500, he560, lcd 2, lcd x, lcd xc, hd700, hd800, t70p, t1, mdr-z7, nad, b&w. There may be others but I can't recall. Best 2 hours in a long time. I guess I can't go in depth as i didn't take a long time or write notes. 
 
Here's what I thought. The amp used was a McIntosh MHA 100.
1. There aren't too many headphones that are instantly "better" than the he-400 for my preference. 
2. The ONLY one that jumped out and told me to take them home was the LCD-XC. The 2nd (more like a high 3rd. No one was 2nd) was the MDR-Z7. 
3. I was surprised that I didn't like any of the other hifimans. They sounded top heavy.
4. I've heard of the legendary bass of the lcd2. Yes, lots of bass extension and volume but it didn't seem tight. Maybe it was the match.
5. No low end on the sennheisers.
6. I have always hated beyers. Re-confirmed it for me. The highs are not focused.
7. I'm still super happy with the HE-400. Didn't make me wanna buy something else, besides the LCD-XC.
 
 
Dear Santa, Can you give me a pair of LCD-XC for christmas? 

The sound is really influenced by the McIntosh MHA-100, when I was at a friends house I tried many different headphones on it and didn't care for most. 
Changing to a BH Crack the HD-800, T1, T90, HD600, HD-650 sounded great, also BH SEX was just a little better but seemed a touch light in the bass.
The HE-400i/560, LCD-2/3/X all sounded better on his Lyr2 or Eddie Current Zana Duex than the MHA-100

 

[nabwong]

 
The sound is really influenced by the McIntosh MHA-100, when I was at a friends house I tried many different headphones on it and didn't care for most. 
Changing to a BH Crack the HD-800, T1, T90, HD600, HD-650 sounded great, also BH SEX was just a little better but seemed a touch light in the bass.
The HE-400i/560, LCD-2/3/X all sounded better on his Lyr2 or Eddie Current Zana Duex than the MHA-100

 
No doubt about that. The guy at the shop was really nice and told me to bring my gear back to try them again. It's nice to have a place to try all these high-end cans without blowing my wallet. 

 

[coletrain104]

Haha. Maybe it's like the gti. You love it at first until you realize you can't turn off stability control and it'll be in the shop more than on the road. Just kidding VW owners. I love the gti.

I also think our listening goes through phases, it evolves. I'm a musician and I know first hand that the sound I produce evolves all the time, not only generally, but also genre specific. Something I may not like before, I embrace later. I suppose my headphone preferences might also evolve in line with my profession.

used 2006 GTI owner here. Unfortunately you're not wrong Still love it though.
 
The thing that surprises me here is that you found 400i top-heavy, but didn't find the HE-400 to be so. I find the opposite to be true. I'd try them with some tracks that have slightly offensive qualities to make sure you're okay with that treble spike.

 

[nabwong]

  used 2006 GTI owner here. Unfortunately you're not wrong Still love it though.
 
The thing that surprises me here is that you found 400i top-heavy, but didn't find the HE-400 to be so. I find the opposite to be true. I'd try them with some tracks that have slightly offensive qualities to make sure you're okay with that treble spike.

 
With my current setup (Sony UDA-1), I don't find the treble of the HE-400 harsh or peaky at all. When I was using the Vali, it was terrible. I will have to go back to the shop with my gear and give the 400i more time. 

 

[DavidA]

   
No doubt about that. The guy at the shop was really nice and told me to bring my gear back to try them again. It's nice to have a place to try all these high-end cans without blowing my wallet. 

Wish I had a place in Hawaii that I could demo stuff, only beats and bose available, maybe a cheap sony but not much else.

 

[nabwong]

 
Wish I had a place in Hawaii that I could demo stuff, only beats and bose available, maybe a cheap sony but not much else.

 
You live in Hawaii. There should always be a mic drop after that. lol.