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This is my first pair of high end headphones and I just have a few questions (hifiman he-400) - Page 3

post #31 of 41
1/18/13 at 9:38pm
Agreed. Get the amp. And be wowed.
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post #32 of 41
1/18/13 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghostchili View Post


Until you get an amp i think you would be better off just using the headphone jack on your computer :-)

+1

 

There is very little power flowing into your headphones wit tis rig.  At least you computer or mp3 player have a built in amp...

 

That being said, return it all and be content with your old headphones.  It will save you hundreds to thousands of dollars biggrin.gif

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post #33 of 41
1/18/13 at 9:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hifi Man View Post

 

There is always secret option C. which is that maybe high end headphones just aren't for me. One of the biggest reasons I decided to order these is in the first place was because I listen to a lot of music, except I learned that low quality produced music doesn't necessarily sound better on headphones that produce more revealing sound. Who uses high end headphones anyways? What is the purpose of high end headphones? Am I just completely on the wrong course here, or what? What do people usually use their headphones for, and what are some common things people expect to get out of spending hundreds of dollars on headphones, because I find it hard to tell the difference. That's what I want to know before I go ahead and keep going through the process of returning and then re-buying. 


Before I say anything, I want to fully emphasize again what has already been said about there not being that huge of a difference if we were to really start being honest with ourselves, so don't knock yourself for not feeling the value in any high-end phones, it's a totally reasonable opinion to have. The thing is that when you get really into something, you naturally start noticing and picking apart smaller and smaller details, to the point where you might start dropping some serious cash on things that make such a marginal difference that they could be considered placebos. Why do people get to that point? Who knows... why do people obsess about cars? wine? fashion? anything? It's the same nonsense, just in different form.

That being said, it's not terribly useful to categorize headphones into either 'good/better' or 'bad/worse' really, there's just closer to achieving what you want/like, and not; which makes knowing what you want/like pretty important. Unfortunately, even if we're talking about listening to the same genres (I'm a metalhead too), opinions could still wildly vary here. Not to make things even more complicated for you, but just though I should point that out. redface.gif

Also, I would argue that a lot of this "poorly produced music sounds bad on these headphones" stuff is all relative. Sure, the flaws in the recording might be more apparent, and it may sound significantly worse compared to other better recordings now, but that doesn't mean it sounds objectively bad. Cause even as 'bad' as it may sound, it could still sound better than listening to the same thing on 'lesser' headphones (whatever those may be), this just isn't mentioned a whole lot. I know I prefer listening to Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger and Ulver's Nattens Madrigal more on my brutally revealing HD 800's than I do on my 'forgiving' Sony 7506's for example, not because those albums don't sound like crap (cause they really do), but just because I like the sound of the HD 800's better overall. So yeah, just another grain of salt to take in when reading the threads on here...


Anyways, I'll still add to the chorus here and suggest you get an amp as well. lol

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post #34 of 41
1/18/13 at 10:36pm

I think you would be much better off if you sent the Modi back and bought the Magni instead.  Connect your laptop's audio out to the Magni, then plug your headphones in the front of the Magni.

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post #35 of 41
1/18/13 at 10:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by oblique63 View Post


Before I say anything, I want to fully emphasize again what has already been said about there not being that huge of a difference if we were to really start being honest with ourselves, so don't knock yourself for not feeling the value in any high-end phones, it's a totally reasonable opinion to have. The thing is that when you get really into something, you naturally start noticing and picking apart smaller and smaller details, to the point where you might start dropping some serious cash on things that make such a marginal difference that they could be considered placebos. Why do people get to that point? Who knows... why do people obsess about cars? wine? fashion? anything? It's the same nonsense, just in different form.

That being said, it's not terribly useful to categorize headphones into either 'good/better' or 'bad/worse' really, there's just closer to achieving what you want/like, and not; which makes knowing what you want/like pretty important. Unfortunately, even if we're talking about listening to the same genres (I'm a metalhead too), opinions could still wildly vary here. Not to make things even more complicated for you, but just though I should point that out. redface.gif

Also, I would argue that a lot of this "poorly produced music sounds bad on these headphones" stuff is all relative. Sure, the flaws in the recording might be more apparent, and it may sound significantly worse compared to other better recordings now, but that doesn't mean it sounds objectively bad. Cause even as 'bad' as it may sound, it could still sound better than listening to the same thing on 'lesser' headphones (whatever those may be), this just isn't mentioned a whole lot. I know I prefer listening to Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger and Ulver's Nattens Madrigal more on my brutally revealing HD 800's than I do on my 'forgiving' Sony 7506's for example, not because those albums don't sound like crap (cause they really do), but just because I like the sound of the HD 800's better overall. So yeah, just another grain of salt to take in when reading the threads on here...


Anyways, I'll still add to the chorus here and suggest you get an amp as well. lol 

It seems like you pretty much hit the proverbial nail on the head. I plan on ordering the amps tomorrow. I want to say thanks to you, and thank you to everyone in this thread. I don't take all of your responses for granted. Those are two awesome top tier black metal albums btw. You can't go wrong with the classics.

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post #36 of 41
1/18/13 at 11:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by brokenthumb View Post

I think you would be much better off if you sent the Modi back and bought the Magni instead.  Connect your laptop's audio out to the Magni, then plug your headphones in the front of the Magni.

I was planning on having both actually. I was going to order the amps tomorrow.

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post #37 of 41
1/18/13 at 11:04pm

Bro go pick up the Magni... It will turn you whole setup upside down! The HE-400's are amazing, my next set. Putting in my Schiit order for the same gear very soon.

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post #38 of 41
1/19/13 at 7:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hifi Man View Post

I was planning on having both actually. I was going to order the amps tomorrow.

Make sure to follow up on this post, Let us know what you think.

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post #39 of 41
1/19/13 at 8:17am
Subbed..
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post #40 of 41
1/19/13 at 8:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by brokenthumb View Post

I think you would be much better off if you sent the Modi back and bought the Magni instead.  Connect your laptop's audio out to the Magni, then plug your headphones in the front of the Magni.

 

^^ this...and yes you'll be wowed when you plug that hp into the magni. wink.gif If you can swing it to get the magni and keep the modi, then you're done and will have great setup!!

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post #41 of 41
1/19/13 at 8:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hifi Man View Post

I totally overlooked this post. I missed some posts because I wasn't on this site all day. That is an excellent point. In that case, would you recommend the grado 325is? That seems like what everyone else here is suggesting. Also, I'm glad I finally figured out what people meant about plugging the headphones into the DAC. It sounds like given the fact that my headphones aren't good for metal, it's a better idea to go for cheaper headphones. Okay, except that feels a bit ironic to me. Also, I'm glad to see at least some people on this forum share relatively the same taste in music as me.

 

I actually haven't ever heard the SR-325is, but I have heard both the SR-80i and 225i. In this case, I would recommend the SR-225i as I do think Grado's perform the best with black metal, death metal, etc.

 

That being said, I have never heard the HE-400.

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