Hifiman he-400i Impressions and Discussion | Page 740 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

fjrabon · Jan 16, 2017 at 11:12 PM

rpl88 said:
How have you found (Ori, HM5, Audeze, etc.) pads to affect soundstage and imaging, if at all, in the 400i? Does distance from the drivers, or non-angled pads increase or change soundstage? My only complaint with the 400i (as a noob to hi-fi currently using the stock focus pads) is that the music feels like its near the back of my head. I find myself prying open the phones at the front while I'm listening, which seems to deepen the bass, broaden the stage, and move the plane of the soundstage from the back of my head toward the front. I feel like I'm constantly pushing the pads forward almost subconsciously. This is my first set of open-backs and planars. Any other suggestions (for pads, mods, or tricks)?
Thanks

https://goodhertz.co/canopener-studio

gunwale · Jan 16, 2017 at 11:40 PM

rpl88 said:
How have you found (Ori, HM5, Audeze, etc.) pads to affect soundstage and imaging, if at all, in the 400i? Does distance from the drivers, or non-angled pads increase or change soundstage? My only complaint with the 400i (as a noob to hi-fi currently using the stock focus pads) is that the music feels like its near the back of my head. I find myself prying open the phones at the front while I'm listening, which seems to deepen the bass, broaden the stage, and move the plane of the soundstage from the back of my head toward the front. I feel like I'm constantly pushing the pads forward almost subconsciously. This is my first set of open-backs and planars. Any other suggestions (for pads, mods, or tricks)?
Thanks

In general, velour gives better sound stage (air-er), more leakage, lower bass while leather is the other way around.

I do not really know the correct term but air-er to me means I can hear the sound escapes from my velour pads which gives it a better decay?

Leather pads tends to bounce off and have some resonance kind of decay?

The stock is a hybrid velour / leather. (more towards leather sounding for me)

I have not really get to compare like cowhide vs lambskin vs sheepskin though.

Distance between the ear and driver is important too.

I do prefer the stock 400s angled velour pads on my 400i but none of the pads will actually shift the ultra wide and V soundstage of 400i.

You can also try changing the direction of the thicker part (facing back by default) of the stock pad to see if it fits your liking.

You can try using software crossfeed like canopener (like suggested) or maybe dac/amp like ifi / m9xx / sound blaster.

Most closed headphone actually bounces the sound to the front while most planar mags are actually extra wide causing the vocal to be elongated side ways and instruments behind the ears.

Movies are awful without any kind of virtual surround sound and crossfeed.

justin w. · Jan 16, 2017 at 11:42 PM

phthora said:
At $300 when added to cart.

i'm not sure if your comment is good or bad

CoFire · Jan 17, 2017 at 12:10 AM

fjrabon said:
https://goodhertz.co/canopener-studio

What's your impression of CanOpener compared to the Crossfeed circuit on the m9XX?

fjrabon · Jan 17, 2017 at 12:52 AM

cofire said:
What's your impression of CanOpener compared to the Crossfeed circuit on the m9XX?

Canopener is a bit better and a bit more flexible. the m9XX crossfeed is nice in a "just turn it on and don't worry about it" way. But canopener is better, and allows you to customize it. I use the m9XX as my bedside rig, which is fed by my phone, so its built in crossfeed is great in that scenario . For my desktop and listening chair rigs I use canopener.

peter123 · Jan 17, 2017 at 2:55 AM

mrs1986 said:
Any one ever tryed the Little dot I+?? I'm really looking for a desktop amp and desktop dac... Any recommendation??

The LD I+ is very good with the HE400i imo. You may have to do some tube and/or op amp rolling to get the best out of them though (I haven't used the stock LD for years). I'm using my LD I+ with the Burson V5i op amp and some Mullard tubes and it's really a good match for the HE400i. DAC used is the one in the Burson Conductor V2+ or the Advance Acoustic mda-503 tube dac.

To people looking for as big soundstage as possible the HE400i might not be the best solution (although I still find it to have a adequate width). The HD598, AKG Q/K7XX series or Fidelio X2 are safer choices (although I find the first two to be inferior in overall presentation, especially the HD598). As always ymmw....

mib91 · Jan 17, 2017 at 4:57 AM

Being a guy with relatively large head shape, I find the 400i's headband is a little small. I wonder if anyone has encountered the same issue and got to figure out a way to, I don't know, perhaps stretch the rubber band or mod the headband in a way that could house a slightly bigger shaped head than it's intended to by default.

mrs1986 · Jan 17, 2017 at 5:26 AM

davida said:
I've had the M/M stack in the pass, good for the price but as @mandrake50
noted it might add to the brightness. The Polaris is a much better amp for the price since its much more flexible since you can change the out put resistance/impedance to better match your headphones if you ever decide to get another pair down the line.

I'm quite limited in the budget of what I can import to my country :/ I have a max of 200 USD so that's why I was seeing the Little Dot... I can may buy used, and that would give me some more options in the price range...

peter123 said:
The LD I+ is very good with the HE400i imo. You may have to do some tube and/or op amp rolling to get the best out of them though (I haven't used the stock LD for years). I'm using my LD I+ with the Burson V5i op amp and some Mullard tubes and it's really a good match for the HE400i. DAC used is the one in the Burson Conductor V2+ or the Advance Acoustic mda-503 tube dac.

To people looking for as big soundstage as possible the HE400i might not be the best solution (although I still find it to have a adequate width). The HD598, AKG Q/K7XX series or Fidelio X2 are safer choices (although I find the first two to be inferior in overall presentation, especially the HD598). As always ymmw....

I heard about tube rolling, again, not an option for myself, Is impossible to get these things in my country and the amount of packages I can import a year is limited too :/

I should go with a solid state amp and keep that as long as I can

DavidA · Jan 17, 2017 at 5:45 AM

@mrs1986, $200 budget is really tight. Are their stores in your country that you can buy from that would not be limited by import fees?

mrs1986 · Jan 17, 2017 at 6:09 AM

davida said:
@mrs1986
, $200 budget is really tight. Are their stores in your country that you can buy from that would not be limited by import fees?

Not a single one, not with these kind of products... Probably could find some really main stream amp but not sure... The people i know in this world usually get the things in US, again, limited by the budget :/

I'm going to US in august, I guess I could buy in the vacations and take it with me... But anyway, I can't spend thousands on equipment :/

DavidA · Jan 17, 2017 at 6:27 AM

mrs1986 said:
Not a single one, not with these kind of products... Probably could find some really main stream amp but not sure... The people i know in this world usually get the things in US, again, limited by the budget :/

I'm going to US in august, I guess I could buy in the vacations and take it with me... But anyway, I can't spend thousands on equipment :/

I live in Hawaii and there are no stores that have anything better than beats, bose, low end sony and if you are lucky some low end senns. Only benefit is I can order online but even then many companies don't ship to Hawaii and Alaska.

If you are coming to the US you might want to do the research and find if there are stores where you will be visiting, might even be able to audition some gear.

Dopaminer · Jan 17, 2017 at 6:53 AM

spookanide said:
Somebody else said their 400is became mid-congested with alpha pads. Considering how similar the audeze LCD pads look to the alphas, could you elaborate more on your findings? How are the mids and highs affected? I'm really itching to do some pad rolling, especially to gain some low-end, but having to order each pair of these pricey pads I want to be sure it's a signature change I could be interested in.

I first used the Audeze pads on my HE-6, and they were fabulous. I sold them with my HE-6, and realized the mistake after getting the HE-400i, so I just bought another pair from audeze. They ship them fast, with double-sided adhesive rings so you can dispense with the plastic holders altogether. Both times I have bought the `vegan` pads, a kind of synthetic suede material (alcantra?) that is not sticky in hot/humid weather. Comfort is out of this world - like beds for my hears.

Sound-wise I do not notice any detriment to the highs or mids; I just notice bass boost, and it`s quality bass. But this will be variable for each individual - moving the drivers away from the ear increases bass incrementally, while incrementally decreasing bass quality - increasing muddiness, mushiness, whomp and blimp.

I think I have mine right exactly at growling thunder rumbles.

The pads are $80usd and I`ve bought them twice directly from Audeze`s webstore; they`ve shipped them to me fast here in Tokyo without issue. It`s ironic that I have never liked their headphones - I freaking LOVE their pads, and their service, and I`ve met them - their nice guys.

Anyway if you`re after bass, and comfort, don`t hesitate to get the audeze pads, they are really well made IMO and IME, and I have rolled a lot of pads on my HE headphones : STAX leather, Fostex leather, etc.

mrs1986 · Jan 17, 2017 at 7:02 AM

davida said:
I live in Hawaii and there are no stores that have anything better than beats, bose, low end sony and if you are lucky some low end senns. Only benefit is I can order online but even then many companies don't ship to Hawaii and Alaska.

If you are coming to the US you might want to do the research and find if there are stores where you will be visiting, might even be able to audition some gear.

Yes, you are lucky enough to be in Hawaii and have some chances of buy online, I only have 3 ships to buy overseas, and all three packages are limited to a 200 USD max, I could manage to get he400is and the fiio x1 but that cost me 2 ships... so I have only one left hehe, it should be something to make it count

dopaminer said:
I first used the Audeze pads on my HE-6, and they were fabulous. I sold them with my HE-6, and realized the mistake after getting the HE-400i, so I just bought another pair from audeze. They ship them fast, with double-sided adhesive rings so you can dispense with the plastic holders altogether. Both times I have bought the `vegan` pads, a kind of synthetic suede material (alcantra?) that is not sticky in hot/humid weather. Comfort is out of this world - like beds for my hears.

Sound-wise I do not notice any detriment to the highs or mids; I just notice bass boost, and it`s quality bass. But this will be variable for each individual - moving the drivers away from the ear increases bass incrementally, while incrementally decreasing bass quality - increasing muddiness, mushiness, whomp and blimp.

I think I have mine right exactly at growling thunder rumbles.

The pads are $80usd and I`ve bought them twice directly from Audeze`s webstore; they`ve shipped them to me fast here in Tokyo without issue. It`s ironic that I have never liked their headphones - I freaking LOVE their pads, and their service, and I`ve met them - their nice guys.

Anyway if you`re after bass, and comfort, don`t hesitate to get the audeze pads, they are really well made IMO and IME, and I have rolled a lot of pads on my HE headphones : STAX leather, Fostex leather, etc.

Wow those pads look amazing! If the sound will be the same, not less quality they may be a good bet for these... Anyway, So many things to buy and so little chances of doing so hahaha

fjrabon · Jan 17, 2017 at 7:16 AM

mib91 said:
Being a guy with relatively large head shape, I find the 400i's headband is a little small. I wonder if anyone has encountered the same issue and got to figure out a way to, I don't know, perhaps stretch the rubber band or mod the headband in a way that could house a slightly bigger shaped head than it's intended to by default.

Not sure what rubber band you're talking about or if that was a metaphor. But anyway, yes, you can just stretch the steel band, a little at a time, until it's perfect for you. You have to pull really hard on it, because it's spring steel, but after a hour or so of firm, but careful pulling, it should be perfect.

Marburger · Jan 17, 2017 at 7:22 AM

why can't Hifiman do the same quality pads. That's interesting.

Latest Thread Images

fjrabon

Headphoneus Supremus

gunwale

100+ Head-Fier

justin w.

Sponsor: HeadAmp

CoFire

500+ Head-Fier

fjrabon

Headphoneus Supremus

peter123

Peter123's Reviews

mib91

Head-Fier

mrs1986

100+ Head-Fier

DavidA

Headphoneus Supremus

mrs1986

100+ Head-Fier

DavidA

Headphoneus Supremus

Dopaminer

Member of the Trade: Audio Dopamine

mrs1986

100+ Head-Fier

fjrabon

Headphoneus Supremus

Marburger

100+ Head-Fier

Users who are viewing this thread