**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread** - Page 383

The line out signal is a constant level of power.  It's a 100Ω impedance, meaning it's very high for the HE-400.  I'm not saying it'll sound horribly wrong because of this, but you should at least want the amp for volume control.

Quote:

Originally Posted by modulor 

Looking good!  I've got my wooden stand in the works right now - here is the unstained, untreated top.  Still deciding if I should mount it on a base, or add a wall bracket underneath...

 

Woah awesome. Where do you get wood like that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMRaven 

The line out signal is a constant level of power.  It's a 100Ω impedance, meaning it's very high for the HE-400.  I'm not saying it'll sound horribly wrong because of this, but you should at least want the amp for volume control.

I actually just ordered an amp yesterday, I'm happy to say. Hopefully it will get here in to that I still have time to make a decision if I want to keep everything. I think I'm really starting to feel like I do, because I think these headphones are really cool.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzyD 

 

Woah awesome. Where do you get wood like that?

I took 3 pieces of 1/4" thick basswood (any hobby/craft store should carry it in various sizes) and soaked them in boiling water for about 30 minutes to soften the fibers, then wrapped them around a pvc pipe with some ratcheting straps to bend them into shape.  I let them dry overnight to retain the shape, and applied wood glue and re-strapped the following day.  I then cut and sanded the edges smooth.  It needs a little more sanding before I apply stain, then I'll finish with some tung oil.  Honestly, I'm pretty pleased how it turned out, I was expecting a few attempts before I got it right, but overall it was a pretty easy project to jump into.  I'll definitely be posting the finished project sporting some beautiful blue cans! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okamoto 

By the way, i just found out that the HE-400's are stellar with reggae.

 

I'm jizzin' on my pants hearing some bob marley here.

LOL - I found the same when some FLAC rips from Legends came on... uh, were playing in foobar...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hifi Man 

I actually just ordered an amp yesterday, I'm happy to say. Hopefully it will get here in to that I still have time to make a decision if I want to keep everything. I think I'm really starting to feel like I do, because I think these headphones are really cool.

Don't ya think you should have determined if you like the HifiMAN headphones before selecting the name that you did for the site here?  

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozarkcdn 



You all are so fancy.. $2.49 FOR 2 Oil rubbed bronze door stoppers from wally world. One for my home office and one for my real office. Hey, MacGyver was my hero.

PS - what do you guys use for your gain setting on the e17?
And... What does the e9 dock do for performance? Cleaner sound or just louder?

Just make sure you get a screw long enough for those door stoppers so they can go all the way into the stud.  If you're just inserting the screw into regular drywall, you might come home someday and find your beloved headphones on the floor.  Yikes!

Or a drywall anchor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearWant 

Hey all,

 

Weighing back in on the sibilance issue after spending some time with these and getting to experience them at proper volume.  I hate to say it, but its still very prominent.  I have an o2/odac on the way, but I have got to try them with a few different combinations.  I've used as sources my work hp probook6460b, my friends old macbook, an iphone4, galaxy nexus in combination with my friend's amp (I believe a pioneer, cheap nothing too special), and a vintage marantz 2270.  So yes I have been double amping.

 

Right now I'm using my friend's astro mixamp as both a dac and amping solution.  Despite all these various combinations I am still experiencing significant sibliance.  Yes at times the treble can be a little bright, but  for the most part I'm enjoying it.  I'm talking about the vocals.  It ranges from mildly distracting to piercing and harsh and is present in nearly every song.  While I don't know that I would consider the mids the strong point there are times when I felt the vocals sounded very good extremely natural and often times I can make out lyrics that I never heard clearly before.  But I am always bearing with the sibliance.  

 

Here are some offenders.  Avenge Sevenfold's, self entitled album is piercing.  Snow Patrol's 'Run' was equally bad.  The chorus of Killer's 'All the Things I've Done' where they sing "I've got soul" was very sibliant.  Coldplay 'Square One' and Deathcab's 'Soul Meets Body', also are affected.  As I stated in my earlier post, Chris Cornell's album Song Book is riddled with sibliance on my pair.  On the song 'Like a Stone' I can clearly hear his voice and its sounds great, but it seems like it is wrapped in a layer of tizziness, and his 's' 'c', etc. are just harsh. Matt had given the Song Book album a listen and did not experience this issue with his setup.

 

Is this a matter of me just being midcentric and unwilling to accept the flaws of this headphone, am I sensative to sibliance, or is this perhaps an issue with my particular pair of he-400.  I am using MOG 320 kbs files for music.  Though I have tried cds and still experience this issue.

 

Also, one other question.  Does anyone feel some give on the grill on the outside of their headphone.  My right grill is very flush with the cup; however, my left grill sticks out slightly and when I press lightly on it there is some give.  It doesn't seem to affect sound at all, but I was just wondering.

 

With the exception of the sibliance, I am falling in love with these headphones; however, I just can't stomach this issue.  And now unfortunately that my awareness is raised I'm always attending for it rather than immersing myself in the music. Help!! I want to love these!

It can be because you have got bad recordings. Like 128 kbit/s. But the HE-400 tend to be slightly sibilant IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearWant 

 

With the exception of the sibliance, I am falling in love with these headphones; however, I just can't stomach this issue.  And now unfortunately that my awareness is raised I'm always attending for it rather than immersing myself in the music. Help!! I want to love these!

I think we have the same experience and i have same feelings.

I'm using a Aune T1 Tube DAC/AMP  ( Like RMac http://www.head-fi.org/t/604583/hifiman-he-400-impressions-and-discussion-thread/5700#post_9077560)  and fortunately, it seems I found a tube which does a good job to tame these sibilant , sparkly trebles . IMO the problem is not only with trebles but with recessed mids. A bit lack of mids gives the focus on trebles ant that's hurting me. I tried to EQ my he-400 and the results is +2 for midrange and -2 from  8 KhZ to highest frequencies. Then I change the tube for a 6DJ8 instead of my 6N23p-EB .. and it made a kind of miracle.

Forwarder mids and a bit tamed trebles tend to eliminate sibilance in most cases. I listened to very different music yesterday and  I think I could now keep my he-400 . Not sure yet but I think I can  :)

I should be honest and say that it could only be a "brain and ears"  burn but he-400 stays quite hard to listen from another source (my living room gear) 

SIGH!!!!!!!!!

I've got the worst luck... so im listening to music on my he-400s e9+e17 as usual, i go to turn up the volume a bit on a bassy song.. then all of a sudden the left driver loses sound completely sounded like someone just unplugged it........ i switched the wires etc, seemed like the drivers dead? no smell no nothing, the connection can't be dead either as it looks fine
 

have to send them back to the US all the way from australia.. no headphones for over a month i presume....... sigh, i havent even had these for a week

on second thoughts it probably is a connection issue since I've heard the same static "disconnection" sound before in the left driver.. the driver should be fine, nothing DIY solvable though, could anyone suggest how turning the volume up can somehow mess up the connection?

headamp "The customer is responsible for shipping charges if an item is sent in for service.  Products from other manufacturers have their own warranties."

so i probably will lose like $50 and 2 months without headphones just because the pair i got decides to be faulty, nice.