[beaver316]

  I usually nevery listen to EDM.. But now I've heard the new Linkin Park album and I do agree the HE-400 excels with EDM. Although it does a lot of genres a lot of justice!

 
A new electronic Linkin Park album? I'm all over that!
 
@nicholars, that's an interesting EQ curve you've got there. I'll give it a try the next time I put on my HE-400 which unfortunately won't be tonight. But just to give some thoughts on it based on what it looks like, it seems a little too excessive for my tastes in the bass region and even the treble dip at 12Khz. A lot of people already consider the HE-400's bass forward, so having that big a gain would cause my head to rumble lol. Great for the wow factor, but in the long run would get tiring. Also from my experience I find most sibilants to be in the 8-9 Khz region where you haven't lowered much. Maybe this is why you say you still experience some sibilants? 
 
Not too long ago there was a discussion here about purists vs non-purists, or something along those lines. I'd side myself on the purist side which explains why imo and for me most importantly your eq is a little excessive, even though I have some EQ of my own going on. Mine is just a pure treble fix, no other region is touched. If I change the entire frequency spectrum, then it won't even feel like im listening to an HE-400. I don't want to stray too far off the sound Hifiman intended. Keep in mind I'm not criticizing your EQ nicholars, just pointing out how we have different tastes and how it suits some more than others. I admire your dedication though to get the best sound for your tastes.
 
And while we're on the subject, I may as well post my latest effort on my config. I've changed it a little since my last revision. I took a huge scoop out of the treble. I really don't know what Hifiman was thinking putting that huge spike in there. This works great for me...
 

 

[MikePortnoy]

Hi there

Has anyone tried he400 on Rsa Predator? how is listening sound level? I consider using it as a dac-amp directly connected to a MacBook.

 

[nicholars]

I think you are right about not doing too much EQ because it starts to sound weird if you do too much... But with my EQ I posted you are missing the point, It is a template.... I went through all the frequencies using Sinegen and made that EQ.... I thought it would be a good template to give to people because as long as you only change the gain on the points (do not move the points left / right).. you can change it to any sound you want..... You could make it flat if you want and make the dips smaller... as long as you keep the same shape it will always sound better because it is lowering the treble peaks and the glare only......
 
It took me quite a lot of fiddling about with it to get it the right shape and so that it can easily be adjusted.... I use a similar one to that but with less EQ on the midrange for harsh or bad recordings because that is very good for smoothing out really bad quality songs.  For better quality I use one which has more treble and I have one with less bass for some genres. Try the EQ but move the points up and down only to make it how you want... I guarantee it will sound better, unless your HE400 sounds different to mine. Alternatively you could measure your own headphones with Sinegen. For example I just did this one in about 1 minute by keeping the same shape but changing only the gain on the points...
 
Your EQ looks alright but you can leave that lump around 8-9khz area higher because there is no treble peak there... whereas there are 2 obvious peaks at about 7.5khz and 12.5khz as you can see there. Also a little dip in the midrange like on that one makes them sound better because of the ringing.
 
 

 
The good thing about the EQ is that all the points are in the right place so that you can make it sound however you want by just keeping the same shape but changing the gain setting on the points only... Both of those example took me less than one minute.... Whereas mapping all the frequencies using Sinegen was a pain in the ****!

 

[nicholars]

Here is another one for you, flat but with treble reduction...  It has almost as much detail as no EQ setting but the pain inducing "tizz" from the treble and the sibilance is almost gone....
 
http://www.filedropper.com/eqflat1310_1
 
 

 
I am bored of EQ'ing now so that is the last one

 

 

[beaver316]

Thanks a lot, I'll test out those EQs and get back to you

 

[MrMateoHead]

Nicholars -
 
I didn't DL your EQ file because I use Easy-Q, and don't want to switch to Electri-Q. I have been using about the same EQ curve for months already, but 'copied' your slopes as much as I could. Some day I'll invest in an SPL meter / Mic / test tones and sweeps so I can get more precise, but anyway.
 
Some comments.
 
Your bass curve is basically a shelf curve - you can cut down on the number of points if you just pick 'low shelving' and play with that. I personally use a 'peak' style curve @45hz. 2.5db boost, about about 1.75 Q. Bass is not really audible to my ears starting at around 30hz or so (certainly not when using headphones), so boosting a lot in that region is really just stressing out drivers and possibly risking damage to your ears. That which you can't hear still contributes to SPL.
 
Otherwise I think the tweaks work great. I personally don't use so drastic a spread. I am +- about 5 dB from peak to trough. I may change that to about 6dB, but your peaks are pretty aggressive!
 

 

[BeBop Lives]

Your combo of Schitt Modi to Schiit Magni to HE-400s after leaving the computer is wonderful if your stationary.  However, if you're on the go and need a portable amp to use with the 400's.  Well, I have tried several and surprise, the C&C BH2 seems to do the job......Wonder if anyone else has experienced this little hard working amp?

 

[hifimanrookie]

Nicholars -

I didn't DL your EQ file because I use Easy-Q, and don't want to switch to Electri-Q. I have been using about the same EQ curve for months already, but 'copied' your slopes as much as I could. Some day I'll invest in an SPL meter / Mic / test tones and sweeps so I can get more precise, but anyway.

Some comments.

Your bass curve is basically a shelf curve - you can cut down on the number of points if you just pick 'low shelving' and play with that. I personally use a 'peak' style curve @45hz. 2.5db boost, about about 1.75 Q. Bass is not really audible to my ears starting at around 30hz or so (certainly not when using headphones), so boosting a lot in that region is really just stressing out drivers and possibly risking damage to your ears. That which you can't hear still contributes to SPL.

Otherwise I think the tweaks work great. I personally don't use so drastic a spread. I am +- about 5 dB from peak to trough. I may change that to about 6dB, but your peaks are pretty aggressive!

Guys..i am wondering a thing..those various eq softwares u use...how much does that cost? I suppose its not for free. :rolleyes:

 

[Textfeud]

I use Audirvana + for Mac and I believe I paid 71 or 72 euro with BTW (VAT/Taxes)

 
By the way if there are other A+ users please share EQ!!

 

[hifimanrookie]

I use Audirvana + for Mac and I believe I paid 71 or 72 euro with BTW (VAT/Taxes)

By the way if there are other A+ users please share EQ!!

Sooooo.. U paid 499 euro for the he400 and another 72euro to solve some of its iggies... So thats a total of 571 euros.

.but for around 100 euros more (sometimes even less) u have a new he500 for which u dont need to equalize anything... Who says the he500 isnt a steal huh? oopsie.

 

[Textfeud]

I would have bought A+ for SQ reasons also and I didn't overpay 100 euro on the HE-400 new in the store obviously

 

[manbear]

Guys..i am wondering a thing..those various eq softwares u use...how much does that cost? I suppose its not for free.

 I use EasyQ (with VST wrapper) and Foobar. All three are free.

 

[nicholars]

  Nicholars -
 
I didn't DL your EQ file because I use Easy-Q, and don't want to switch to Electri-Q. I have been using about the same EQ curve for months already, but 'copied' your slopes as much as I could. Some day I'll invest in an SPL meter / Mic / test tones and sweeps so I can get more precise, but anyway.
 
Some comments.
 
Your bass curve is basically a shelf curve - you can cut down on the number of points if you just pick 'low shelving' and play with that. I personally use a 'peak' style curve @45hz. 2.5db boost, about about 1.75 Q. Bass is not really audible to my ears starting at around 30hz or so (certainly not when using headphones), so boosting a lot in that region is really just stressing out drivers and possibly risking damage to your ears. That which you can't hear still contributes to SPL.
 
Otherwise I think the tweaks work great. I personally don't use so drastic a spread. I am +- about 5 dB from peak to trough. I may change that to about 6dB, but your peaks are pretty aggressive!
 

 
Yeh I did not use an SPL meter, I did it by ear... which sound accurate to me anyway, not sure how much of a difference an SPL meter would make, maybe be more precise to like 0.1db accuracy, you can get a decent result just with sinegen, your ears and frequency sweeps though (for your own ears at least).. I do used a low shelf for the bass if you look at the second EQ, I might try and find some way of making the bass curve sound better.
 
My EQ is quite aggressive because I find the HE400 physically painful to listen to at mid / high volumes (if you have this problem then try that EQ and adjust it how you want) and sometimes I like to listen loud, with the more agressive EQ I can crank up the volume and no ear pain! I don't necessarily think it sounds better than a brighter EQ... but it is more like the best sound / detail that I can get which I can actually listen at mid-high volume  without ear pain! For lower volume I use a flatter one. The first EQ file I posted is pretty nice because you can adjust it to any balance you want in like 1 minute....

... I made a whole EQ  tutorial for electriQ in another thread and all that effort making the EQ / template and not even a single reply to say thanks (in the other thread)... cheek of it!

 

[nicholars]

Heres another link to the guide I made if you missed it before and want to try EQ'ing yourself, your headphones / hearing might be a bit different to mine.... Combined with the other guide on head-fi that I linked to in that thread it should be pretty simple....
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/687845/how-to-equalise-your-headphones-using-electriq-parametric-equaliser

 

[MrMateoHead]

Guys..i am wondering a thing..those various eq softwares u use...how much does that cost? I suppose its not for free.

Foobar + Easy Q = $0.
 
Fahreeeeeeeeee!
 
Lol. NOT the world's most perfect or elegant software but it works for me and arguably is a superior combination (for hi-fi) compared to iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. Especially when you factor in WASAPI and ASIO support and so on. All I want now is a really good, basically non-intrusive cross-feeder to play with.
 
While we're at it, I also use Audacity (free) to analyze / play with audio tracks (and verify clipping CDs so I don't go nuts thinking something is wrong with my phones) and Burnaware (free) to make CDs/DVDs. Burnaware is awesome because I no longer have to type in CD-Text when making disposable/lose-able copies of my CDs, it generally does this automatically.