[mikey1964]

Just got the HE500, and from a brief listen, I cannot agree that the HE400i is 'better' since it boils down to preference. Gonna listen more before I can render any sort of opinion on it. Mine was bundled with an Audeze Q Cable + HiFiman adapters, the cable is very soft and light, a pleasure to work with.

 

[politbureau]

The 400i certainly doesn't outclass the HE-500. Preference is preference but from a technical view thw HE-500 extends lower and further up top with better imaging and air.

I did find the HE400i to jave less body and sound a little cleaner in the mids as the HE500 has those luah liquid mids.

Preference is subjective, and dependant on amping, source, etc. I'm a DJ by profession, and beatmatching and low end is my stock and trade, and I felt the 400i was much better defined in this regard. Everytime I A-B'd the 500s, I came away feeling like they were 'flat' and missing something, but ultimately it's just that they weren't appealing to me. Also, the 400i's were way more comfortable, which was a big plus in my book.
 
I listened to the entire A-side of Coltrane's Blue Train, and selected tracks from Deadmau5' 4x4=12 LP, plus tracks from my X3. Also note I do not consider myself an audiophile, and will whole-heartedly admit to preferring a bright, warm (and therefore non-neutral) sound signature. I spent years telling myself I actually liked my old HD800s, but now consider myself old enough to say I know myself better.
 
On another note, I removed the fabric from the back of the screen this morning and it has transformed the cans. They've taken on some of that airiness that was the biggest thing I was missing from the 560s. Bass, if anything, seems to have firmed up and improved as well.

 

[DooberKnob]

How much harder to drive is the HE-500 compared to the HE-400i or even the 560?

 

[Danny86]

  How much harder to drive is the HE-500 compared to the HE-400i or even the 560?

Not sure vs HE-400i however vs HE-400 they are much harder to drive. 
My Schiit Lyr 2 had no problem however it is a 6W hybrid amp...some have even tried speaker taps into the HE-500.
 
But it's worth it...

 

[almoskosz]

The HE400i is much more refined IMO, in both build, sound quality and comfort

 

[Music Path]

Preference is subjective, and dependant on amping, source, etc. I'm a DJ by profession, and beatmatching and low end is my stock and trade, and I felt the 400i was much better defined in this regard. Everytime I A-B'd the 500s, I came away feeling like they were 'flat' and missing something, but ultimately it's just that they weren't appealing to me. Also, the 400i's were way more comfortable, which was a big plus in my book.

I listened to the entire A-side of Coltrane's Blue Train, and selected tracks from Deadmau5' 4x4=12 LP, plus tracks from my X3. Also note I do not consider myself an audiophile, and will whole-heartedly admit to preferring a bright, warm (and therefore non-neutral) sound signature. I spent years telling myself I actually liked my old HD800s, but now consider myself old enough to say I know myself better.

On another note, I removed the fabric from the back of the screen this morning and it has transformed the cans. They've taken on some of that airiness that was the biggest thing I was missing from the 560s. Bass, if anything, seems to have firmed up and improved as well.

So you say 400i is better for electronic? Thought 500s since having more extention they would be better suited.

 

[Music Path]

Not sure vs HE-400i however vs HE-400 they are much harder to drive. 
My Schiit Lyr 2 had no problem however it is a 6W hybrid amp...some have even tried speaker taps into the HE-500.

But it's worth it...

So you need at least a 6w amp to drive them? O.o Well i have a 4w one, but thought that he 500 would be an easier to drive phone, since they made it to be an drive easy "he-6".

 

[bassboysam]

he-500 doesn't need 6w. i use mine with a WA6 with no problems.

 

[catspaw]

Basically if you can drive a HP with 6W, 2W will do as well (remember guys, its logaritmic so you need ten times more power for twice the volume).
I Have an Asgard and a HE-400 and I tested a 560 on a 2W burston (I would not max the volume on the HE-560, but the LCD-2 did clearly say "we can do better than this" at mid volume).
 
One thing that surprised me was how well the LCD 2 sounded on low volume. The HE-400 on low volume simply vanishes some of the sounds, but the LCD 2 had everything in place (better than the HE-560, much better than he-400). If only they were not so freaking heavy, and asked for so much power!
Low volume quality is my go to quality test when Im ok with the signature and overall sound quality.
 
For those of you who dont know it, the LCD 2 will sound great with even 200mW, but it can take up to 15 F*nk Wats. Even thou thats for 200 ms, and you would probably not give them even 12W, im quite sure that 8-10 Watts make sense to get the full potential... and yet they dint lose anything when I was playing them form a 2W amp on low volume?
That is something quite amazing in my books. But again, heavy and I was unable to tell if there was no ssundstage at all or if it was just not clear enough.
 
The HE-560 was not up to par. As soon as I was at around 15% volume things were vanishing: The bass was loose, some parts of the mids started to sound higher than others and the highs... I was only hearing some notes, others were not even there anymore.
 
It was around 1 hour testing (I just brought up my favorite songs and tried them on on HP, then on another, etc).
 
Both the LCD-2 and HE-560 sounded better than my HE-400, that is no doubt. 

 

[NA Blur]

A few notes regarding how hard it may be to drive the HE-400i.
 
First here is the site's info.
http://www.hifiman.com/products/detail/178
 
HE-400i Specs
Frequency Response: : 20Hz-35KHz
Sensitivity : 93dB  ( not sure if this is per mW or mV )
Impedance : 35 Ohms
Weight : 370g
Cable Length : 1.5m
Plug : 3.5mm/6.35mm
 
Crunching the numbers shows that the HE-400i at 35 Ohms and with a sensitivity of 93dB assuming per mW can get to 110 dB SPL with 50mW / 1.32 Volts / drawing 37.8mA of power.  Just about anything out there can do this if it is designed for audio.  Perhaps the default PC stereo jack may struggle, but most PC's these days have some sort of enhanced audio output that should drive the HE-400i just fine.  Pro Tip: Because of its somewhat low efficiency it may prove better sounding from a beefier amp, but it is not like you need something crazy to drive the HE-400i.
 
You can follow along with the calculations here:
 
http://www.apexhifi.com/specs.html

 

[Sushi Ears]

I hear that many people who have owned both prefer the HE-500 without a doubt.  Although the drawbacks of older design, weight and less comfort are in the favour of the HE-400i, many users just use a wool headband wrap to make up for it.  
 
The price on the He-500 was the price of the 560 at the time.  Now the HE-500 and 400i are the same price even thought they are not consider equals by some. 
 
Now that the HE-500 is discontinued, I keep seeing repeated attempts and questions on where to buy one.  Including myself.  However, it's a subjective choice. 

 

[jkscherk]

I have a mint pair of HE-500s I am looking to sell.  Just don't use them much;  less than 50 hours.  Still like my big, self powered speakers too much!  I bought them brand new from Audio Advisor.  PM me if you're interested.

 

[NA Blur]

From the measurements they are almost the same headphone, check it out.
 
HE-500
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE500.pdf
 
HE-400i
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE4002014.pdf
( Note the link should be titled 400i as it is linked from the original data download page as such )
 
Any difference may well be in the way the pads couple to our ears. I do not claim that the measurements tell the entire story, but isn't it remarkable how similar they are?

 

[sK0pe]

You can't verse these things, it would make more sense to own both.
If you wanted to verse two headphones you would choose between HE-400i and the HE-560.
 
The 400i goes for a neutral sound.
The 500 from what I've listened to is going for party sound with exaggerations of the source.
 The 500 is heavier so I would recommend some mods for comfort, especially the headband and maybe the pads too.

 

[StanD]

So you need at least a 6w amp to drive them? O.o Well i have a 4w one, but thought that he 500 would be an easier to drive phone, since they made it to be an drive easy "he-6".

1 W RMS should take you to about 119 dB SPL - continuous. That would not be good for the health of your hearing. A Schiit Magni 2 or Asgard 2 will do the job famously, as well as a host of others.