**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread** - Page 67

Quote:

Originally Posted by RushNerd 

I forgot that Wilson is some kind of Live DVD production god, heard his 5.1 mixes are some of the best too. Sounds very good on the 400's and sounds like it should. P.T. drums always excel on the 400's all the spatial high-frequencies are pretty pronounced and feel natural. Wilson's voice and the chorus soundwall both are reproduced very well.

 

The whole Incident album is astoundingly well recorded (as expected from him) and incredible to take in.

Any of you PT  fans in here compared their stuff on any grado's relative to the HE400?

Got my HE-400's on the way, but I was meaning the warmer, bassier cans to be good for things other than PT... 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Errymoose 

Any of you PT  fans in here compared their stuff on any grado's relative to the HE400?

 

Got my HE-400's on the way, but I was meaning the warmer, bassier cans to be good for things other than PT... 

I got to AB the HE-400s and sr325is in store with the entire In Absentia album once. The HiFiMANs were much, much better than the sr325is, consistently. Futile and Trains were just so smooth, and the ambience was set so perfectly. Heartattack in a Layby, Blackest Eyes and other calmer, more acoustic stuff also shined. Grungy stuff like Strip the Soul and Drown with Me, the guitars just sounded so much sweeter than the Grados. Now, I happen to really like the sr325is, but the HE-400s just beat it hands down for PT.

Sounds like I'm going to have a wonderful time then, no matter which I prefer. :) 

The RS1i out of an upgrade Little Dot 1+ should be a better comparison than the 325.  I have every PT album here, so I'll have a lot of listening to do as soon as I receive the HE-400. 

I've had my 400's for about a month and the only comparable cans I have are Senns 595 and B&W P5.  The 400's take the same audio setup to a new level.  I hear an expansion of sound that I haven't heard on either of the other headphones.  On the 400's I can make out individual drops of rain they hit the ground where before it just sounded like rain hitting the ground.  The 400's are my first taste of Ortho technology and given their price point I suspect, that like me, there will be a lot of other newbies that will test these phones out.  Hopefully all the tweaking and revisions will get resolved.  The 400's seem to be burning in as they have sounded better and better, but that could just be my imagination.

I put on my Q701s earlier today, hopping to give some of my other headphones head-time, but when I started to listen to Fever Ray, my mouth involuntarily contorted into a frown. Once upon a time, I really  loved the Q701 too--what the heck has happened here!? I kind of think the He400 has rewired my brain to conform to its sound somehow. Objectively, I would still call the Q701 "great  headphones," but subjectively, and thus emotionally, I don't hear them in such a positive way anymore. No doubt, in time, I will rediscover what I once loved about those headphones, but in the meantime, I have a feeling that the He400 will continue to dominate my head and ears.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RUMAY408 

I've had my 400's for about a month and the only comparable cans I have are Senns 595 and B&W P5.  The 400's take the same audio setup to a new level.  I hear an expansion of sound that I haven't heard on either of the other headphones.  On the 400's I can make out individual drops of rain they hit the ground where before it just sounded like rain hitting the ground.  The 400's are my first taste of Ortho technology and given their price point I suspect, that like me, there will be a lot of other newbies that will test these phones out.  Hopefully all the tweaking and revisions will get resolved.  The 400's seem to be burning in as they have sounded better and better, but that could just be my imagination.

I bought the Schiit Lyr just for the 400's. I had some 650's I bought from best buy but I returned them today (was really just a trail), they don't pair super great with the Asgard. If I could only choose one forever it would still be the 400's, but I definitely will try the 650's with the lyr someday.  Not sure if they are made with exaggerated treble information or not, but they completely wafflestomp the 650's in that area, they have some of the best treble i've heard before. Pronounced, but just enough to give lots of detail to the music and make it involving.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuna47 

I had the k720 for almost 2 yrs with a goog amp and dac loved them but they where not engaging did not show the forest through the trees
The HE400 is just the fix almost as good sound stage much stronger bass and brings you into the music love them

Well said. I feel exactly the same way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMaestro335 


Hello,
When you say almost as good sound stage as the k702s, please elaborate on that.
In regards to soundstage width, depth, and imaging?

I have the Q701s actually and they have a very wide soundstage, indeed, which I love--but some might complain that the Q701's soundstage is too wide and too linear perhaps. The He400's, however, have a shoulder length soundstage but not in a linear sense. I would say the he400 has a more spherical and immersive soundstage, and consequently a more holographic one. I like both cans, but if you want to truly lose yourself in music, if you want to feel steeped in it so to speak, then the he400 is the way to go. Hope this helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMaestro335 


Thank you. You got me very curious and itchy to buy these. I to have 701s, and I think one of there strongest points is imaging. So you are saying the 400's have better imaging and spatial effects around the instruments?

Yes, I would say that they image better than my AKGs, mostly because they have a more three-dimensional or spherical soundstage, and this just sounds more realistic to me. On good recordings, I feel like I can almost mentally measure the virtual space between the vocalist and other band members. On some rare recordings, I even feel assailed by music form every direction of the compass!  Crazy, I know. The Q701s, imho, have an exaggerated and overly long soundstage,which I like a lot, but I will hear things only to my left or right, but never in front of me or behind me.  In this sense, the he400's seem very special to me, though, who knows, you may think otherwise (I can't promise you'll agree with me). For me, however, it's a no brainer: the he400s image better and have a better soundstage to boot.

I have my Senns 595 's sitting at my office and play them off my MacBook Air via a dragonfly DAC. The sound off the 595's are not bad more like a conventional stereo sound with the seperation and individuation of instruments and voices. I take the same setup home and play the HE400's off the same setup and it is like listening to the same music in 3D.  The sound comes out of every direction around my ears.  I am to the point slapping the 400's around my head and just taking them to work. They don't leak anymore than the Senns do.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by RUMAY408 
They don't leak anymore than the Senns do.  

Actually they really do lol. The planar drivers project the sound a lot farther and louder than the dynamic open ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RushNerd 

Actually they really do lol. The planar drivers project the sound a lot farther and louder than the dynamic open ones.

FWIW, the HE-400 is actually more "open" in terms of letting outside sound in, than the HE-6, though the HE-6 may leak more sound out due t the way planars work and the fact that HE-6 has a much larger diaphragm.  HE-400 has an odd habit in terms of leaking outside sound in of actually amplifying some low treble sounds if you have any motors around....it works like an echo chamber (the frequency is in the innerfidelity graphs.)