**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread**
Feb 6, 2013 at 6:10 PM Post #6,976 of 22,120
For people interested in the velour/leather mod read this:
 
This is a project where I'm stitching leather on the velour pads, covering all the velour.
 
I'm using real leather, but I'm not sure what the exact type is.
 
After cutting the patterns, and attaching them I just used double sided tape to attach them to the velour.
 
 
And first impressions: Holy cow.
Yes I used bold.
 
It sounds like a velour & jerg pad hybrid, which it is.... The sound seems to have more punch, it's less romantic than the jerg pads. Soundstage is bigger, and imaging is more obvious.
The overal balance of this hybrid pad seems to be the same as with the jerg pads, the high mids are still there!
Comfort? Meh, still hard as ever...
 
In the following days I will stitch these patterns to the velour (with I, I mean my so), I will probably add some damping holes, and apply the ingenious backvent minimod.
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 8:22 PM Post #6,978 of 22,120
Well I've had the HE-400 for quite some time now and it's time to say goodbye to the HE-400. They have served me brilliantly and really enjoyed my time with them. Now it's time to find me some HE-500s, my true love. Me being an avid Jazz listener, the HE-500 is just that much more intimate and... Perfect. While listening to Hiromi Uehara on the HE-400, all I can think about is the HE-500 
biggrin.gif

 
One thing for sure is I'll be missing the bass on these!
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 8:26 PM Post #6,979 of 22,120
Trying to be somewhat objective here :wink_face: .  Received the J$ Beyer pads from Wayne (1st class service, thank u very much).  Been burning in the 400's with some (A......Hem) restrained AC/DC (read that as 12 o'clock on the Schiit M


Don't forget to review Jerg's other thread and possibly use a few spots of tape on the underside of the pads.  Apparently, the tape works like magic pixie dust and can provide better definition in the sub-bass region as well some other possible frequency improvements, and finally, provide you with a "happy ending."  :eek:


Nothing like a happy ending :D
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 8:45 PM Post #6,980 of 22,120
Fiancee's sister and her boyfriend are staying with us and her boyfriend was listening to music out of his laptop speakers and I was like uhhh I don't mean to be a snob or anything but I have some headphones if you want something a bit better.
 
Comes into my office, where all of the headphones in my profile are. He made way for the HE-400.
 
I laughed at him for a solid minute.
 
He ended up with the Koss Pro DJ200 and a lecture on how touching the HE-400 will set off my booby traps that will collapse my office in on itself to trap potential thieves. As he walked away I shook my fist and yelled "TOUCH NOTHING BUT THE LAMP!"
 
I'm glad he thought I was only a little insane ...
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 9:01 PM Post #6,981 of 22,120
Quote:
Fiancee's sister and her boyfriend are staying with us and her boyfriend was listening to music out of his laptop speakers and I was like uhhh I don't mean to be a snob or anything but I have some headphones if you want something a bit better.
 
Comes into my office, where all of the headphones in my profile are. He made way for the HE-400.
 
I laughed at him for a solid minute.
 
He ended up with the Koss Pro DJ200 and a lecture on how touching the HE-400 will set off my booby traps that will collapse my office in on itself to trap potential thieves. As he walked away I shook my fist and yelled "TOUCH NOTHING BUT THE LAMP!"
 
I'm glad he thought I was only a little insane ...

You've just made him curious how good are they, right now he's watching you, thinking "I have to have them, is he ever going to bed, he's in his office for more than three hours now, I bet he's listening to those damn ugly pair of headphones..." he might break into your office and try them after you go to bed, hope you were not joking about the booby traps 
biggrin.gif

 
Feb 6, 2013 at 9:09 PM Post #6,982 of 22,120
Hi everyone! This is my first post here on the forums. I've been reading here for the past 4-5 months but never really thought to make an account since the search function almost always gave me the answer I was looking for. I was wondering if I could get some opinions on what would best compliment the HE-400. I mainly listen to 50% EDM and 50% Jazz (Diana Krall, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nora Jones etc.) with some classical/piano sprinkled in. 
 
I purchased both the Sennheiser HD600 & HD650 to compare and choose from as my first mid level headphone (will return/sell one back). These are my opinions on them and I would really appreciate if someone could give some input on which would be a better compliment to the HE-400 I've been eyeing for a while.  
 
Overall I found the HD600 to be the better performer. Everything I had sounded excellent  although a tad bit thin sounding at times. They are definitely what I'd consider as the jack of all trades. Although I also do enjoy their higher, more energetic sound signature a lot. At times though, I do feel myself wanting a bit more body in the sound while at other times they sound perfectly fine.
 
The HD650 in contrast sounded great with everything but the Jazz songs sounded so full and amazing. The sound really felt like a warm blanket that your mom would tuck over you as a child, bundled right up to your neck  and under your body on a cold winter night whereas the HD600 felt like she put it up just past your chest. The trade off is that IMO the HD650's falter in some genres. They sound great with EDM and other genres but I can definitely hear parts that just seem quite slow or off due to the full bodied sound. Sometimes it is just too smooth that the details get choked by the overall signature. So my dilemma currently falls under picking a headphone that has no faults but does not master any genre (HD600) or a headphone that has some faults but is a master at my jazz side (HD650).
 
This is where I would like some input. Do people who own the HE-400 feel that the HD650 are more of the same? I realize they are both colored headphones and I am not looking to get the HE-400 in the future only to have my HD650's sitting to the side neglected :p I have heard they are amazing at EDM which is why I have been eyeing these to buy in the relatively near future. Does it make sense to have the HD600 compliment the HE-400 instead since one is bright and one is on the darker tone? There have been quite a few conflicting descriptions of the HE-400's sound signature. Some say its quite neutral while others say its quite dark which has me scratching my head. I would just like to evaluate if it makes more sense to have an amazing all purpose HD600 with an HE-400 (neutral and dark headphones) or are the HE-400 and HD650 really different enough to own them as complimentary to each other? 
 
Thanks so much for your help everyone! It is a long write so I apologize but I did not want to start a new thread as a newbie, only to take upon the wrath of the entire forum D:  I figure this thread was the most impartial since if I tried asking this in either the HD650 or HD600 appreciation thread, I am sure they'd be incredibly bias haha. 
 
 
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 9:15 PM Post #6,983 of 22,120
The HE-400 and HD650 are great compliments to each other. The HE-400 is also a sort of jack of all trades, though it is a master (in its price range) in some genres. These should satisfy your EDM need, while, personally, they are amazing for Jazz as well (not quite at the level of the HD650, but not being blown out by it either)
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 9:19 PM Post #6,984 of 22,120
^^ Welcome to headfi!! Sorry about your wallet. 
 
I think that the hd600 are a good complement to the he400. BUT...if you want a true complement to the he400 and want a really special headphone for a bargain price, please consider the maddogs by Mr. Speakers. 
 
gL!!
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 9:34 PM Post #6,985 of 22,120
Well it's a material he likes now rather than pleather/leather, so of course he wants to hear positive reviews of its sound quality changes now.


Actually, I wanna see if just skinning the top layer with velour away from the 'sonic' pleather/leather wall where sound is bouncing off will keep the sound the same. I have no desire to do this for the HE-400, but every desire to do it for the D7000. I don't expect improvements. I HOPE that the sound remains unaffected. Hell, I was so happy with the stock pleather pad sound, I didn't wanna tweak it at all with J$ or Lawton pads, which would have altered the sound. I didn't want more midrange. That would have meant something else was taken away. I wanted the same exact sound, with different comfort.
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 10:21 PM Post #6,987 of 22,120
I doubt adding a layer of velour on the topside of the pleathers would change the sound at all, the main factors contributing to the way any of these earpads sound are 1) the size/shape/types of foams inside, and 2) the nature of the enclosure and how it damps (by material choice and/or structures like holes) the internal chamber of the earpad. 
 
By that logic adding a ring of velour on top would do nothing other than the comfort change. If however you transplant the pleather internal foam into a newly sewn velour enclosure completely, then the sound change would be drastic.
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 10:36 PM Post #6,988 of 22,120
Jerg, would some velour resting in the 'sound wall' affect the reflection of sound, if the velour were resting on top of the pleather/leather? I could see it being easier to add the velour and stitch it where the pleather/leather seams are, but that would make the velour portion be somewhat inside where sound reflects.
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 10:57 PM Post #6,989 of 22,120
Quote:
Jerg, would some velour resting in the 'sound wall' affect the reflection of sound, if the velour were resting on top of the pleather/leather? I could see it being easier to add the velour and stitch it where the pleather/leather seams are, but that would make the velour portion be somewhat inside where sound reflects.

I'm not sure what you mean by the "sound wall", but if you mean adding velour on the underside (where I added holes for the pleather mod), sound bouncing around might get a bit more diffused but it is not being diffused out of the earpad chamber so I doubt it'd be very effective in cleaning up the pleather's sound.
 
Like I said, adding velour on top where the pleathers touch your face should affect sound minimally.
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 11:07 PM Post #6,990 of 22,120
Quote:
The HE-400 and HD650 are great compliments to each other. The HE-400 is also a sort of jack of all trades, though it is a master (in its price range) in some genres. These should satisfy your EDM need, while, personally, they are amazing for Jazz as well (not quite at the level of the HD650, but not being blown out by it either)

Thanks for your input. It's really re-assuring if they can do Jazz great too. Do you feel the HE-400 handle jazz better than the HD600's? If they can do those more it seems like there is less reason to hang on to the HD600 D: 
 
Quote:
^^ Welcome to headfi!! Sorry about your wallet. 
 
I think that the hd600 are a good complement to the he400. BUT...if you want a true complement to the he400 and want a really special headphone for a bargain price, please consider the maddogs by Mr. Speakers. 
 
gL!!

Thanks for your advice. I would consider those but I definitely do like the sennheiser a lot. I'll take a look into it though :) Would you feel the HD600 & HE-400 combination cover more ground than the HD650? I was a bit confused if the two headphones were both dark to the point of being too similar or maybe the HE-400 and HD600 are both closer in terms of sound characteristics. I do find the bass to be more crisp and clear in the hd600 over the hd650 and it seems the HE-400 have a pretty neutral sound to an extent. 
 

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