[MrMateoHead]

   
When I lose 1 side of the headphones it continues on to any device for the next x minutes, about 5. I have to let it "rest", unplugged for it to come back. Seems like any sort of power won't let the side come back on.
 
OK -
 
I have tried switching the wires around, no help in the long term. I got the wire from Ted Allen from HeadphoneLounge, if that matters.
 
A non-stock wire? Do you have the original wire that came with it? IF so, I would install it and see if both channels work. It is at least possible that the custom wire has an issue.
 
The cable connections on one side do not ever secure. I'm not sure why, but it's been the case for a while now (Before this issue presented itself). I can keep spinning it forever and ever. It will stay on for a while before falling off again, Other side is fine.
 
Which side is broken? Is it the L Channel which is giving you the issue? I believe there is glue holding the SMC connector in place. If it has let go, that would help explain why you can never actually tighten the wire properly. IF you cannot tighten the connector properly, that could be a good reason the channel cuts out on you. You might be able to hold the SMC connector in place with pliers if you remove the grill ring / grill and reach in there carefully, then hand tighten. Worth a shot, perhaps.
 
Maybe it is the wire, I haven't been able to test it 100% one way or the other. Right now the issue has stopped happening since I made that post (And I don't want to meddle with it while its going good), but i'm 100% sure it's going to come back sooner or later.
 
Only thing I changed is switching the wires since that post, though I've done that before and it has never consistently fixed it all the other tens of times I attempted it.
 
> so that the R Channel is plugged into the L Channel. Does the issue move to the other side of the headphones?
 
I didn't realize that one side is specific to left and to right? Mine are just colored blue/red so I'm not sure which is which. Custom wire after all.
 
You have confused my instructions. What I meant was, simply disconnect the wire plugged into the R cup, and connect it to the L cup. THEN, connect the wire that was plugged in to the L Cup into the R cup. Stock wires for the HE-400 indeed have an L channel and an R channel. What you're doing is seeing if the problem is following the wire connected to the L or R cup. IF, when connected to the L channel, it does not work, but when connected to the R channel, it does work, that would rule out that you have a faulty wire.
 
> What color is your driver casing? There were certain older versions of these headphones that were prone to losing a channel, I thought.
 
 
I'm pretty sure I got mine after that was fixed, mine are white last I remember. I dont feel like opening the grill again, it's a pain getting it back on. Here it is: http://i.imgur.com/j0VXlEm.jpg
 
OK
 
I'll contact him thanks
 
It sounds as though you have a damaged pair of headphones, with the 'infinitely turning" SMC connector you describe. It can probably be re-secured and re-glued assuming the connections to it are not broken or breaking. First, I would try other wires, or run the test as I described on your custom wires. Failing that, I would remove the stock outer grill to see if you can hold the SMC connector and properly tighten the wire to it. When my wire gets just a little loose, it can give random-feeling cut outs. What is more, the plastic jacket, before it tore, would apply enough counter-twist to back the connection out over time. Caused me a lot of anxiety at one time.

 

[Bboy500]

> IF, when connected to the L channel, it does not work, but when connected to the R channel, it does work, that would rule out that you have a faulty wire.
 
Already tested this, once the left side stops working niether wire will make it work again. I have switched the wires constantly between the two and the left side is always going off no matter which wire is there.
 
> A non-stock wire? Do you have the original wire that came with it? IF so, I would install it and see if both channels work. It is at least possible that the custom wire has an issue.
 
I originally ordered these precisely because my original broke, and my replacement for the original broke as well. Got tired of wires breaking and ordered a good $100+ pair from headphonelounge.com as was recommended on here.
 
> I believe there is glue holding the SMC connector in place. If it has let go, that would help explain why you can never actually tighten the wire properly. 
 
It is the right side, the one that works fine that won't stay connected. I remember thinking this was it as well but it has cut out sound when it was 100% tightened.
 
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To give a very clear example of what was happening 4-ish days ago..
 
I was playing a game called FarCry 4, if I was to play the game at 30 volume I would have 0 issue, headphones would work.
 
If raised it to 35-40 volume I would start hearing the left side slightly break up from time to time. when I made a "Gunshot" sound it sometimes made a slight "pop" and the left side would cease to make noise until unplugged from power.
 
If I raised the volume to 45/50+ it had a extremely high chance of "popping" and turning off during a gunshot.
 
Switching wires did nothing to solve this.
 
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I just played for an hour at 50 volume with no issues. This comes and goes, and I have no idea what causes it or how to stop it aside from just waiting it out until it goes away. Has been going on and off for months.
 
It could be my soundcard, but I have no other way to amplify this headphone atm. This issue has never occurred anywhere else because I use these headphones exclusively with this PC. This does not happen to any other headphones I own with this soundcard, only these.
 
The card is Soundblaster Recon3D (PCIE)

 

[DavidA]

@Bboy500, you have one of the harder problems to trouble shoot since you can't replicate the issue with any consistency.  Is it possible to take your HE-400 to a store and ask to try them on another system?  This way you can rule out your system/sound card.

 

[MrMateoHead]

   
To give a very clear example of what was happening 4-ish days ago..
 
I was playing a game called FarCry 4, if I was to play the game at 30 volume I would have 0 issue, headphones would work.
 
If raised it to 35-40 volume I would start hearing the left side slightly break up from time to time. when I made a "Gunshot" sound it sometimes made a slight "pop" and the left side would cease to make noise until unplugged from power.
 
If I raised the volume to 45/50+ it had a extremely high chance of "popping" and turning off during a gunshot.
 
Switching wires did nothing to solve this.
 
--------------
 
I just played for an hour at 50 volume with no issues. This comes and goes, and I have no idea what causes it or how to stop it aside from just waiting it out until it goes away. Has been going on and off for months.
 
It could be my soundcard, but I have no other way to amplify this headphone atm. This issue has never occurred anywhere else because I use these headphones exclusively with this PC. This does not happen to any other headphones I own with this soundcard, only these.
 
The card is Soundblaster Recon3D (PCIE)

 
The Popping sound could be clipping. They are far more sensitive and resolving than a typical headphone, so I wouldn't be surprised if the static / pops are actually clipping from the audio playback. Try playing any song off Metallica's "death magnetic", the most badly compressed, clipped out album ever. Can you hear static/pops in either channel? That is what clipping sounds like played back through a speaker (you can hear it at any volume).
 
The HE-400s are about 50 Ohm impedance which is higher than what I think most standard devices expect (16 ohm - 32 ohm). The demand a lot of current compared to regular headphones (because they are not that efficient), and slightly more voltage too. If you have a hardware problem, it may be more manifest in your headphones. Are you positive your other headphones are 100% find at the same volume levels?
 
It sounds as though there might be a hardware problem with your card. It is possible that there is a problem with your left driver, but you'd need to inspect your driver and saudering carefully. I am wondering if there is a little spec of dust, or a hair in your driver casing creating a distortion you can hear when the volume reaches a certain level. You should remove your ear pads and your grill and gently blow is out / clean it. A tiny hair in my optical mouse sensor had me convinced it was failing a week ago. I cleaned it gently and presto-I'm a dummy my mouse was just dirty.
 
Also you should try using them with your phone and streaming music or whatever. Does your computer have a motherboard with built-in audio? I would disable the Sound Blaster, plug in to the to stock realtek or whatever chipset, and wait for the issue to re-emerge (or not). I would also delete the Sound Blaster Drivers and re-install, especially if you are on Windows 10.
 
Break-up / Popping is what I started to hear, infrequently, on my ODAC, until the thing died. I then had to do a back-n-forth with JDS Labs three times to get it fixed / replaced. I still here noises, and that is because of a design flaw in the ODAC that manifests in some of them. Because the DAC was malfunctioning, the channels would cut out etc. Luckily, my amplifier is separate so I could figure out that it wasn't the amp that was dying.
 
You really need to get another source and see if the issue manifests with it. Anything - a phone, a tablet, a Mp3 player, a computer at the library. Maybe even a friend's phone.
 
I'm going with a failing piece of hardware, or perhaps a 'dirty' left driver at this point.

 

[Oregonian]

I have found after owning 2 HE-400's and 2 HE-6's that the QC on the machining on some of the cable/phone combos of either the connectors (male threads) on the cups or the cable (female) were too "loose" when they meshed together.  I didn't get my calipers out and check them but you could tell they were not a good tolerance.  On my current HE-400 I literally put the cable ends in a lineman plier (with a "U" shaped crimp) and gently oblonged the portion that you screw onto the cup to make it fit tighter.  Is this a great method - NO - I get that, but it worked for me and solved my problem of never getting the cable to tighten.  Solved my intermittent sound dropout as well. 
 
Hope your issue is as simple as this - they are really good headphones when the connectors work as intended. 

 

[Bboy500]

The issue I have with trying to use my phone, onboard sound, and other sources is they really won't be able to get it to that same volume. I bought the SoundBlaster Recon specifically because it had a really powerful amp and has great soundstage for gaming.
 
Not that I listen to extreme sound levels, but I listen higher then my phone can output at max by a decent margin. Testing it with these would be no different then leaving it in my current soundcard on 30-ish volume.
 
I'll try to open up the grills and blow off some dust, see if that helps.I may try to order a pair of cables that are different and see if that does anything, return them if it doesnt. Maybe do the same for another soundcard. Or, just suck it up for a month and send it in to repair for the $90 they quoted me + Whatever shipping would be. If they were in America this would be so much easier....
 
Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys You guys rock.

 

[leo5111]

im debateing trying  a pair do these have good bass or are they kind of bass lite?

 

[DavidA]

  im debateing trying  a pair do these have good bass or are they kind of bass lite?

HE-400 is not bass lite

 

[SX3900]

If you really want BASS, then try a used pair of Denon AH-D2000 or Denon D600, otherwise the HE-400 has plenty of bass. Listening to the HE-400 in balance mode thru a good old classic receiver does not get any better than that.

 

[Oregonian]

  im debateing trying  a pair do these have good bass or are they kind of bass lite?

 
I've found them to be as bassy as your amp can feed them - out of a vintage speaker amp, especially from the speaker taps, is incredible. 

 

[ilmothedude]

I've seen vintage speaker amp mentioned now so many times that I finally had to try it myself. I hooked my HE400 to my AKAI receiver amps speaker taps... Amazing I must say! Sound is just so rich, big and full! Even my desktop headphone amp can't deliver sound like this with HE400.

Cheers guys!

 

[thefitz]

It blows my mind (particularly with the HE-6 mind you) how when someone asks "Is headphone amp X a good pairing?" people say "You're stupid! No synergy! Stop wasting my time!" or "Only these five headphone amps are good!"... yet any old "vintage receiver" will do. L-I-T-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y any one. As long as it's "vintage".

 

[leo5111]

does this pair well with a Fiio X5 V1 and a Fiio E12?

 

[thefitz]

  does this pair well with a Fiio X5 V1 and a Fiio E12?

I had good results out of my E12. Just put it in high gain.

 

[Pinoyjaa]

I get great sound using the Bravo tube amp.  Very detailed and soundstage is excellent.