**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread** - Page 545

You should try that Yamaha with a set of HD650s, I have the 1020 and it is just sublime with the 650.

I was finally able to try the HE-400 with the FiiO E07K. There is a clear improvement over the integrated sound card in my Vaio notebook. The extra loudness makes it a much more intimate experience. I'm loving it. I've got Buddy Guy's album Bring 'em In playing and it sounds fantastic. The tracks with Tracy Chapman and John Mayer sound particularly great. M83's Wait was a great song to listen to with the FiiO's bass boost up a couple of notches. To be honest, just about everything I throw at this setup is impressive.

 

I still haven't gotten around to ordering the velour pads but it's on my list. I might just bite the bullet on those tonight.

Has anyone heard the HE-400 balanced? Wondering if it'd be worthwhile to pick up a balanced cable....

HI guys, 

I got a question about the HE-400 cabe. See, here is the thing, i want to get 2 cables (one short and flexible and one long).

1 for travel, 1 for home.

 

So i did that, but unfortunatelly i missed to realize how fragile the connectors to the HP are.

 

So far im only using the long original canare, to make sure i dont break the connectors, but is there a way to have a safer, more effective connector half way so i can switch from one cable to another on the fly, keeping it safe?

 

The idea is to have one stiff cable at home and one flexible cable on the go, and alternate from one to another.

 

I dont know if im explaining myself well :D.

 

I believe there are adapters available, Matt posted one a few pages back.

 

But just curios, how can you break the connectors? I don't find them that fragile, they seem really solid to me.

Ill check back.

 

I dont mean the Adapters themselves, but the small conector inside them that actually transmits the sound. Its a very thin copper pin.

I havent broken it yet, but i know its a posibility, and id like not to.

 

I was hoping to get something like a XLR connector so i can feel safe with chaneging it, but that might be a bit too heavy.

Here also want a short, flexible (curly?) cable.

Head-direct don't offer one, just the connectors.

Is there another way other than buy the connectors and make a DIY cable?

Thanks,

Eduardo

I'm really loving this CR2020. The detail and trasparency is just amazing for when it was built and it has a lot more power. The lower end is filled out more compared to the Asgard and all the detail to my ears is still there. My friend also agreed during A/B testing. It's definitely a keeper! And it looks gorgeous in person.

I'm going to bring it to a meet once it gets finalized and I will try it out with some HD650s then.

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but, what's the latest revision of these phones and how do you differentiate between them? Also, does it have any cons compared to the other revs?

All you have to do is open up the ear pads. The newest revisions have a translucent clear binding in the drivers. 

 

For awhile I believe they changed their manufacturing process and had a bone yellow binding (which had extremely high trebles and gave me a headache) but I believe all of those have been recalled. 

 

So all you gotta do is open up one of the ear pads and look :)

I don't own them yet, and whenever I ask sellers what revisions they sell, they just tell me "the most recent one".. Is there any way of making sure that it's not rev3 before purchasing?

 

If you buy from an official distributor then there's no chance of getting rev3. The reason why dealers call them "the most recent version" is because Hifiman never made these different revision numbers official, that started online i believe. 

Oh, okay. Is head-direct on amazon considered an official distributor? And if not, how do I find one?

Edited by InCreD1Ble - 3/4/13 at 8:45am

Glad to hear that you are getting the pads tested. Also sounds as though there is room for a follow-up to see if 2.0 is any better.

 

I am sometimes harsh on the objective/subjective line but lately have been fiddling with my car, and I am reminded how important a lot of non-audio aspects are to good sound. The door rattling may not show up in the measurements, but they will drive you nuts. I am just not willing to knife up my pads for hope of a better sound without some "proof" that an impact will be made. I have similar ambivalence toward buying tons of dynamat for my car in the expectation that it will really be more quiet. In some cases, sure. In others, what a waste.

 

Also, the velours are just good to my ears - better than the pleather despite only making a fairly slight measured change.

Edited by MrMateoHead - 3/4/13 at 9:02am