**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread** - Page 201

Haha finally no more e17!

Because i just bought a new HE-500 for $600 like 5 minutes ago.
Do you think the MAGNI would be good enough to drive it? My NuForce Icon HDP does fine driving the HE-400 with 288mW.

Especially if your FiiO ends up breaking. Good luck waiting for it to be fixed from China.
Edited by cssarrow - 12/12/12 at 2:03pm

I didn't mean to drop a Period bomb on you. My sincerest apologies for that. I suppose this is just one of those head-fi mysterious then: two people hearing things dramatically different. But just out of curiosity would you mind playing something from Leonard Cohen's new album or something from Andrew Bird maybe? These guys have very different voices but, to my crazy hearing, their vocal presentations are so prominent, so incredibly textured that I sometimes have to do a double-take. These guys are great on both the he-400 and he-500, of course, but the he-400 seems to lend Leonard some extra depth and texture, while Bird benefits from the extra upper-mids on the 500. Regardless, they sound great on both headphones. Just wondering how different these artist sound to you when you compare them on your hifiman cans?

Sweet baby Jesus. That and the Modi. I want them. NOW.

These devices cant be ignored. Looks like Schiit heard all that smack talk by the O2 crowd, and made this specifically to combat it.

Not sure on the Modi, but I may just end up with both... but Magni comes first. Time to put my E17 up for sale...again. If I ever need the portability, I may end up buying it for the 3rd time. Itd be nice to keep the Magni next to my gaming setup to help power my Mixamp. The SA-31 is too big, and too stationary for that.
Edited by Mad Lust Envy - 12/12/12 at 10:57pm

LOL. I also re bought the E17 and sold it various times.
It's pretty great, until you obtain more expensive gear waiting for you at home and brush off leaving the premises.

If I had a laptop or tablet that allowed an external dac/amp, I'd keep it. However, I have a desktop (hooked up to my ODAC and A-GD SA-31), and my Note II. I really dont have much use for the E17, though I do love it.

The Magni would get constant use in my gaming setup. Just wondering what gain it has.

for someone who loves mids and sub bass... which is better... he400 or he500??

 

HE500 definitely.

 

Much better sub-sub-bass (<30 Hz) extension and flat out better midrange.

 

Although HE400's overall bass response is a bit flatter and tighter. HE500's bass is great, but it can sound a tad loose compared to the best of the best in terms of visceral hard-hitting bass (e.g. LCD2/3, HE-6, and IMO HE400s). It shouldn't matter unless you are really into EDM that requires supreme bass tactility and speed though.

Edited by jerg - 12/13/12 at 12:37am

Definitely the HE-500 for the mid's when looking back at all the people who's had both.

Now that i feel as if my HE-400's are burned in more, there is a slight lack of mid/treble. (IMO)

The resolution and swiftness of these planar headphones blows all my headphones out of the water.

Biggest downfall that i've realized again and again that haunts me is the weight of these things. (Heavy)
They aren't so comfortable, but they will make up for it in music production.

I'm already using it over all my other headphones 80/20 ratio. Would be 90/10 if these things weren't so dang stiff/heavy.

Jeeez... Can't wait for the HE-500 to come in Saturday.... Even heavier... ouchies.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Will have to buy the Schiit Magni or Lyr also.
Orthodynamic headphones need more current to sound good. Perhaps after the amp, the HE-400 will improve further. Fingers crossed.
 
Edited by cssarrow - 12/13/12 at 12:59am

well i am more into western and eastern classical music with no vocals... for edm i just put on my two xb series headphones or the d2000s

 

No offense taken, don't worry :p

 

My dad sould have the new Cohen in his library, I'll have to check. I do have the Field Commander Cohen, I will try this one. Funny enough, this particular live album was among my favorites back when I got my first dedicated DAC (NFB-3.1) and, first and foremost, my first planars (HE-4)! The voice, though distant in the case of HE-4, was just gorgeous!

 

I think my first impression was not that great because I listened to a particular song of The Wall that highlighted this little """"flaw"""". Maybe The change in sound signature was too abrubt because of that?

Anway, when I listen to Dire Strait or, even, Wish you were here, I don't hear the "heavy voice". It certainly does not have the magic of the HE-500 (I just prefer its voicing, that's not really surprising) but I didn't take it as a "flaw".

 

I will give it more time, anyway ;)

Edited by Clemmaster - 12/13/12 at 1:49am

 

They certainly do! I'm not a big fan of the new velour pads, comfort-wise. I keep adjusting them because they often rotate, plus the feel of them is miles away from the former mellow velour pad (which were a PITY to mount, but, once mounted, stood still!).

 

The audio-bliss always makes up for this little "inconvenience" anyway, and the sound of the new velours is better than the old ones, cause they're deeper and less mellow.

 

If they could fix the aforementionned issue and bring back the soft feel of the old velours, that would be great ^^

Hehe

I don't have any adjustment problems with my velours, however i agree with you about their feel.

The AKG Q701's have the same material like the Velours, but they feel a lot more cozy.
(probably just because it's lighter and doesn't push against the head as much as the HIFIMAN headphones in general)

Next time people ask me how much i lift, i'd answer "HE-500" because they are going to be quite the adjustment.

By the way, what amp are you using for your HE-400's?
Edited by cssarrow - 12/13/12 at 9:39am

So far I used the HE-400 with my main rig (SBT -> Stello U3 -> Metrum Quad -> Audio-GD SA-31), and the Fostex HP-A3 USB-powered DAC/head-amp combo.

 

I slightly perfer the latter for it's more neutral sound and the fact that they sound VERY good (in a technical standpoint) off a USB-powered combo!

 

I think the 400s don't scale up much with my better rig, but its performance with the cheaper Fostex is already - truly -  excellent! In comparison, the HE-500 is, technically, much better on my main rig. But it sounds damn good on the Fostex already :D