**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread** - Page 598

Quote:

Originally Posted by AyeVeeN 

 

If the jergpad mod tames the treble further along with improving its mid-range to being on-par-ish with the Mad Dogs and improving its comfort then I think I definitely found my new headphone :). Open vs closed is not so much of a preference but I do think I like open more overall.

 

The HE-400 will always have elevated, slightly high pitched treble. No mod can counter that. 

If you really don't like the treble now, you should probably ask for a refund. Other than the elevated treble, I think the HE-400 is slightly better overal than the maddogs. 

Edit: that last sentence didn't say anything, what I meant was that the sound of the HE-400 is slightly better than the maddogs, even with the elevated treble (IMO).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marleybob217 

The HE-400 will always have elevated, slightly high pitched treble. No mod can counter that. 

If you really don't like the treble now, you should probably ask for a refund. Other than the elevated treble, I think the HE-400 is slightly better overal than the maddogs. 

 

Edit: that last sentence didn't say anything, what I meant was that the sound of the HE-400 is slightly better than the maddogs, even with the elevated treble (IMO).

Ah hard to decide.. thanks for that. Guess I'll just do some EQing and see how I like it then for now until I fully decide. Also I have to say the T50rp base model just looks down right horrid compared to the HE-400; another factor as to why it's so hard for me to decide :)

I do have to say, that even with the elevated treble, treble detail is pretty amazing on the HE-400. 

The drivers of the HE-400 are capable of more than the maddogs/t50rp, that is imo ofcourse. 

Different pads help to increase the sound quality, and I just placed an extra dust filter from another headphone in the pads. This dus filter is made of acoustic foam, and is about 5 mm thick, and helps smoothen out the treble a bit.

So there really are a lot of modifications available for the HE-400. Unlike the maddogs, they've already been modded to the fullest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AyeVeeN 

If the jergpad mod tames the treble further along with improving its mid-range to being on-par-ish with the Mad Dogs and improving its comfort 

The jergpads don't improve comfort unless you're talking about putting the velours on top of the pleathers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dryvadeum 


The only problem with using foam that thick is it creates more of a veil over the whole sound spectrum and makes it sound more recessed.

You mean by absorbing the "spikes" ? Or reducing both left and right side of the spectrum?

It makes the entire sound spectrum recessed?

Dude, turn up the volume. Problem solved.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaver316 


Dude, 5 mm? For me going from the really thin velour dust screen to the slightly thicker pleather dust screen caused the sound to become a bit darker and muffled, I can't imagine what 5mm would do.

Wel it's open cell foam, and it's about 5mm in it's thickest point, maybe a bit less. So far it reduces the treble very slightly. No difference in mids at all. I'm actually searching for a material that will reduce the treble a bit more.

But I absolutely do not want to lose clarity in the mids. 

It's probably because I'm getting used to the warm sound of the BA200, that the treble of the HE400 is bothering me again. 

Just upgraded my ATH m50s to the HE-400 and I'm loving it so far. 

I'm not currently driving the headphones through anything but my Asus Xonar STX soundcard with the factory default opamp. Would getting a dedicated amp do a huge improvement to sound quality? Would buying a separate opamp to replace the factory default JRC2114 opamp do much? 

Thanks! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Izzot 

Just upgraded my ATH m50s to the HE-400 and I'm loving it so far. 

 

I'm not currently driving the headphones through anything but my Asus Xonar STX soundcard with the factory default opamp. Would getting a dedicated amp do a huge improvement to sound quality? Would buying a separate opamp to replace the factory default JRC2114 opamp do much? 

 

Thanks! 

From what I've heard regarding opamps rolling, changes are very subtle. A dedicated amp would probably give more desirable results, but keep in mind the HE-400 is not hard to drive at all. 

Some pics of the fabric I finally attached to the J$ pads. Turned out pretty well I think. I had to cut up that one part a little so I could pull it tighter in that area.

After just listening to it I think I'm starting to like it more and more. Treble isn't as fatiguing anymore and IMO, EQing just makes it sound worse now. Tried putting +1dB on 2khz, +4dB on 4khz, -3 on 8khz and -2 on 16khz but default just sounds much better overall now. I don't understand why people find velours so comfortable though. I always found them too hard, even on Beyerdynamics.