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Hifiman he-400i Impressions and Discussion
Sep 8, 2014 at 1:23 PM Post #1,801 of 14,386
I trust Matt with his impressions far above many others. Listen to the man.
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 1:23 PM Post #1,802 of 14,386
matttcg said:
  ^^ Yes from razordogaudio...
 
http://www.razordogaudio.com/pages/return-policy
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Not only that, but RazorDog does sell "open box" items that have been returned and they adjust the price accordingly - more along the lines of 20%.  Normally when we see open boxed items, the discounts seem to be in the range of 10%, or at least that's been my experience.
 
Through some communications with Matt, I did submit my order last night for the HD-400i.  The reviews - along with Matt's comparison for me, sealed the deal.  I liked the HE-400 - enough to buy the model 3 times, which also turned into 3 sales.  For me, the sibilants in the female vocals turned out to be the deal breaker.  I went for months ... or nearly a year with the HE-400 with other genres and artists for music, and they made me happy.  I transitioned into a period of female vocals and that's where the weakness in the HE-400 became apparent.  In my view, the HE-400 did well with other types of music, as long as it wasn't female vocals.  While we've had the debate on providing some EQ to level them out a bit and correct some shortcomings, I realized I didn't always have access to an EQ, so the "fix" was only available to me part of the time.
 
I'm looking forward to the HE-400i, which should get to me by Thursday.  I've got to say, I'm quite impressed by what I see in the pictures and comments regarding the newer ear pads.  I don't think any of that would have been possible without the input, energy, and trial and errors by Jerg with the Jerg Pads, Ryan who dedicated a big amount of time to make the pads available to members along with the input from all of who had suggested some small tweaks based upon your own trials and findings.  Nicely done!
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 2:13 PM Post #1,803 of 14,386
manbear said:
 
Thanks. Yeah--sounds like another Hifiman is probably up my alley. I do like an aggressive rendition of texture. Aside from just wanting something new, the main thing that bothers me about it is that the treble gets fatiguing even after EQ. Something about it is just very hard and not delicate, which got me thinking LCD-2 treble would be up my alley. But if I'm going to cough up the big bucks, I want better texture, soundstage, and imaging than the HE-400 too. I don't particularly care for the HE-400 coloration but I mostly listen to electronic so it's not a big deal.

LCD-X sounds nice but that's more expensive than I can justify. I'm leaning towards HE-560 and just getting used to a little less bass. I had and enjoyed the Q701 for a while so the bass is probably not a big deal. 

I realize that auditioning the headphones would be best, but I'm not quite ready for that yet.
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If you listen to electronic, I would suggest the HE-400i over the 560, simply because it has more weight to the bass. After owning the HE-400 for nearly two years now, and having electronic music as my main genre in my library, I can say I have been spoiled in the electronic music department with the HE-400's bass. But imo the HE-400i does a fine job at rendering bomb-ass bass. Not as good as the 400 of course, but pretty damn close actually.
 
Just my 2 cents of course.
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 2:19 PM Post #1,804 of 14,386
wje said:
   
Not only that, but RazorDog does sell "open box" items that have been returned and they adjust the price accordingly - more along the lines of 20%.  Normally when we see open boxed items, the discounts seem to be in the range of 10%, or at least that's been my experience.
 
Through some communications with Matt, I did submit my order last night for the HD-400i.  The reviews - along with Matt's comparison for me, sealed the deal.  I liked the HE-400 - enough to buy the model 3 times, which also turned into 3 sales.  For me, the sibilants in the female vocals turned out to be the deal breaker.  I went for months ... or nearly a year with the HE-400 with other genres and artists for music, and they made me happy.  I transitioned into a period of female vocals and that's where the weakness in the HE-400 became apparent.  In my view, the HE-400 did well with other types of music, as long as it wasn't female vocals.  While we've had the debate on providing some EQ to level them out a bit and correct some shortcomings, I realized I didn't always have access to an EQ, so the "fix" was only available to me part of the time.
 
I'm looking forward to the HE-400i, which should get to me by Thursday.  I've got to say, I'm quite impressed by what I see in the pictures and comments regarding the newer ear pads.  I don't think any of that would have been possible without the input, energy, and trial and errors by Jerg with the Jerg Pads, Ryan who dedicated a big amount of time to make the pads available to members along with the input from all of who had suggested some small tweaks based upon your own trials and findings.  Nicely done!
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Good to see you active again in these parts Wayne. 
biggrin.gif

 
Sep 8, 2014 at 2:32 PM Post #1,805 of 14,386
beaver316 said:
If you listen to electronic, I would suggest the HE-400i over the 560, simply because it has more weight to the bass. After owning the HE-400 for nearly two years now, and having electronic music as my main genre in my library, I can say I have been spoiled in the electronic music department with the HE-400's bass. But imo the HE-400i does a fine job at rendering bomb-ass bass. Not as good as the 400 of course, but pretty damn close actually.

Just my 2 cents of course.
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Don't you lie to me BOY.




You and I have similar needs, so if you say it's good, it's a good sign.
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 2:39 PM Post #1,806 of 14,386
beaver316 said:
If you listen to electronic, I would suggest the HE-400i over the 560, simply because it has more weight to the bass. After owning the HE-400 for nearly two years now, and having electronic music as my main genre in my library, I can say I have been spoiled in the electronic music department with the HE-400's bass. But imo the HE-400i does a fine job at rendering bomb-ass bass. Not as good as the 400 of course, but pretty damn close actually.

Just my 2 cents of course.
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I agree the bass on the HE-400i is really great for electronic music as well as most other genres. I would love to do the mod on the 400I and see if the overall sound signature opens up. I have heard the grill mod, takes away a veilness from the sound, thus the bass should have more impact.
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 2:50 PM Post #1,807 of 14,386
mad lust envy said:
Don't you lie to me BOY.


You and I have similar needs, so if you say it's good, it's a good sign.
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Yeah Im plenty happy with it. It doesn't rumble as much as the HE-400 and slam is ever so slightly less, but it's more than enough for me. I actually think the bass has improved slightly since I first put them on. Not sure if it's in my head, but it seems to extend a little lower than at first. I'm getting more satisfaction from the bass and the overall sound the more I listen though. It's been nearly two weeks now and I'm enjoying them more and more. Maybe my brain is adjusting to the new sound, I'll have to give my HE-400 a listen on some bassy tracks just to make sure I'm not imaging the apparent diminishing discrepancies in the bass between the two. I havent felt the need to listen to my HE-400 in over a week now haha
 
All in all I'm in love.
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 3:25 PM Post #1,808 of 14,386
matttcg said:
Good to see you active again in these parts Wayne. :D
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No kidding!

beaver316 said:
 
Yeah Im plenty happy with it. It doesn't rumble as much as the HE-400 and slam is ever so slightly less, but it's more than enough for me. I actually think the bass has improved slightly since I first put them on. Not sure if it's in my head, but it seems to extend a little lower than at first. I'm getting more satisfaction from the bass and the overall sound the more I listen though. It's been nearly two weeks now and I'm enjoying them more and more. Maybe my brain is adjusting to the new sound, I'll have to give my HE-400 a listen on some bassy tracks just to make sure I'm not imaging the apparent diminishing discrepancies in the bass between the two. I havent felt the need to listen to my HE-400 in over a week now haha
 
All in all I'm in love.
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Same here. I have a strangely euphoric reaction to these cans!
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 5:11 PM Post #1,809 of 14,386
manbear said:
 
Thanks. Yeah--sounds like another Hifiman is probably up my alley. I do like an aggressive rendition of texture. Aside from just wanting something new, the main thing that bothers me about it is that the treble gets fatiguing even after EQ. Something about it is just very hard and not delicate, which got me thinking LCD-2 treble would be up my alley. But if I'm going to cough up the big bucks, I want better texture, soundstage, and imaging than the HE-400 too. I don't particularly care for the HE-400 coloration but I mostly listen to electronic so it's not a big deal.

LCD-X sounds nice but that's more expensive than I can justify. I'm leaning towards HE-560 and just getting used to a little less bass. I had and enjoyed the Q701 for a while so the bass is probably not a big deal. 

I realize that auditioning the headphones would be best, but I'm not quite ready for that yet.
Click to expand...

If you can swing the difference, go for the HE-560. I listen to mostly electronic music and have both the HE-400i and HE-560 right now. I prefer the HE-560 for electronic. A bit less midbass punch than the HE-400i but it has better bass extension and more detail/clarity there. The soundstage is quite a bit better too. Otherwise you will be very happy with either, but I think the HE-560 is worth the price over the HE-400i.
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 5:30 PM Post #1,811 of 14,386
Yeah, HE400i's bass extension is decent (on par with HE400, no surprise as they share similar driver materials / magnets), but the production HE560's extension is truly extended, I think because they improved the baffles and the driver coupling to the cups; it's close to pre-Fazor Audezes in terms of clean extension.
 
Take a look at Tyll's measurements, pay attention to the low frequencies of the FR plot. HE560 / LCD2r2 / HE500 / HE400.
 
To get it to Audeze's level of extension, it may be time to revisit the "sub-bass adhesion mod" but for the Focus/Focus-A pads. The key to pushing out the sub-20 Hz extension is 100% full air-tight seal.
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 6:10 PM Post #1,813 of 14,386
Is that surprising? It's almost twice as expensive - no wonder it sounds better :D
 
Sep 8, 2014 at 6:20 PM Post #1,814 of 14,386
ekul61 said:
So your saying the 560 basically sound better than the 400i
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If you are a sub-bass-head, then sure. Otherwise, no, sub-bass extension is a minuscule part of the overall performance.
 
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