**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread** - Page 179

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

Oh, I trust your judgement. It just bothers me, lol. When are you getting one? I dont even care what it is, just get one!

Eh I really don't want to bother TBH...these cans sound great as is out of my E17, I'd say HE400s sound like they are at their 90% potential while the HE500s are at their 75~80% potential (compared to how they sounded on amps like EF6 and BHA1), which is good enough for me out of a setup that's smaller than a calculator.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

I don't understand why people spend so much money on something they arent going to get a lot out of. I dont even think the E17 is a good pairing for the HE400, personally. Thats not even about power requirements.

People like me, you mean? We are having a conversation right?  No need for the accusatory tone.

Anyway, like I said, subjectively I did not find any "woah" improvement with some insane setup, sure there was broadband improvement across all fields, mainly imaging, soundstage, treble extension, and maybe a bit better dynamics, but even cumulatively they don't convince me that I need to upgrade the upstream. Now if HE400 or HE500 sound like trash out of my current setup, or if they can't reach sufficient volume without clipping or loss of dynamics, then it'd be a different story.

Let's not forget how amp pairing or 'synergy' is subjective.  Power requirements asside, which are mind-blowingly easy to achieve for most any headphone on the market, the sound of the amp is ultimately up to the person's preference.  Remember how you dislike the Lyr in favor of other amps, Mad Lust Envy.  Moreover, I like the O2 with the HE-400, while others think it's too shrill sounding.  Whitecrow thought the Lyr didn't do any major improvements to the HE-400 over the Little Dot MKII, which I had and personally liked the O2 ever so slightly over.  Lots of differing opinions.

Hopefully someone can give me some much needed assistance here, tried the Recommendations thread multiple times with no avail. I started off considering the Sony MDR-1R and a few similar phones in that range (Momentums and K550's). Quickly found myself escalating to the higher-range headphone market. Things I've heard about the HE-400 have sounded very attractive. Things I value most is neutrality in the sound, openness, distinction in instrument separation, essentially qualities that sound closest to live music (haven't familiarized myself as much as I should with the glossary of sound descriptions yet). Then again, I've also heard things about the HE-400 sounding shrill or sibilant, qualities I am most certainly not looking for. I'm easily off put by 'phones with too much emphasis in the upper register. Are the HE-500's $300 for someone like me? Mostly listen to all varieties of rock, instrumental hip hop, some electronic music, blues, jazz, bluegrass and very little pop. I'm open to most genres though so it's important the headphone be flexible. I'm considering the JSD O2+ODAC and NuForce HDP. How well do the HE-400/500 pair with those amps? Can anyone recommend one of those amps over the other?
 

How it compare with a HD650?

Hey Everyone,

I posted a question about some headphones to use for xbox gaming, ps3 movie watching and to serve as my one go to pair.  Am settled on the he-400 as one of my top choices, so wanted to see if you guys thought it would work well with my setup.

I have a pioneer vsx 1020 receiver, a mits 65 737 tv (no headphone jack).  I am very new to the audio world, and to date have only owned a pair of in ear senheisers that were like $20 bucks, but serve me well on my ipad, so forgive me my noob questions.

Will the he-400's sound good plugged into this receiver?  

Also, after some advice on the mle gaming headphone guide, I'm not quite sure what the best way to get chat in xbox 360 to come through the headphones.  My idea is to use the antlion modmic and connect it to the xbox controller with a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter and send the audio to the speaker option via the xbox, that way hearing everything through my headphones, and being able to chat through the mod mic.  

Would that work well?  Thanks for reading and thanks to PurpleAngel and Evshrug for their input so far

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

Lol, you guys are taking my words a bit too seriously. I wasnt accusing anyone of anything. Relax. Guess I need to add more smileys so people dont overthink what I wrote.
Just saying, the HE500 is one of those that is pretty well known to need some good power behind it, so it confuses me why people would spend 700 dollars on a headphone and settling for 75%. I didnt single Jerg out, because theres plenty of people that do it. They buy 600ohm headphones, and pair it to the E5 and call it a day. Its like...why? Just personally confused.
I dont even bother with the hyperbole behind amps, but I would at least have some form of power behind all my headphones. The E17 is a good amp, but powerful it is not. Hell, even an E9 would be whatd I have for something like that. Just sayan. $700... and a weakish amp. It makes no sense to me, thats all.

Thing is, I spent far far less than $700 to acquire my HE500 hehe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattTCG 

 

I think what you are looking for is a pair of Maddogs by Mr. Speakers with dogpads and comfort strap bonus vmoda cable...$299. 

 

Trust me. 

Only if he lives in the USA. Here in europe that would be about 400 euros.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMRaven 

Let's not forget how amp pairing or 'synergy' is subjective.  Power requirements asside, which are mind-blowingly easy to achieve for most any headphone on the market, the sound of the amp is ultimately up to the person's preference.  Remember how you dislike the Lyr in favor of other amps, Mad Lust Envy.  Moreover, I like the O2 with the HE-400, while others think it's too shrill sounding.  Whitecrow thought the Lyr didn't do any major improvements to the HE-400 over the Little Dot MKII, which I had and personally liked the O2 ever so slightly over.  Lots of differing opinions.

Don't forget about me and my mono blocks   Which are now back to Home Theater duties by the way since I got the a-100 mini X and a F1 on the way....  

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumsnspace  Then again, I've also heard things about the HE-400 sounding shrill or sibilant, qualities I am most certainly not looking for. I'm easily off put by 'phones with too much emphasis in the upper register.

Hey, I consider myself sensitive to sibilance, and I don't have any problems with the HE-400!