[zachchen1996]

They are pretty bad on updating with head-fi in general LOL

 

[Ultrazino]

Hoping for a IE800 VS RE-600 comparison.

 

[gnarlsagan]

Also interested. I should have gone to that San Diego meet!

 

[project86]

I believe the official launch for both RE-400 and RE-600 is taking place at CES in Vegas next month. HiFiMAN was kind enough to send over a set of RE-400 for review and I just received it the other day. So far it's really impressive for a $99 product.
 
The build quality seems pretty good, especially at this price. The cable is extra nice, having a cloth sheathing from 1/4" jack to Y-splitter, and then being a thin rubber from there on up to the IEMs. The thin rubber at first seemed kind of cheap to me, but I quickly came to appreciate its flexibility. And it seems durable enough from my informal testing which consisted of tugging at it to see if it would cause problems. Obviously I need more time to see how it holds up.
 
Someone asked about these being ported, and I can confirm that they are. A small hole appears on the lower rear portion of the IEM housing. I still get fairly good isolation from them though. Speaking of isolation - I love these medium dual flange tips! These may be old news to other folks but this is my first time trying them and for my ears they fit very well, and allow for a quick insertion without hassle. The body of the IEM is such that it doesn't require much effort to adjust or angle properly - just jam it in there and I'm ready to go.
 
So, how about the sound? Well, at this point I don't have a lot of time on them, so I'll have more to say later. For now they seem relatively neutral with a slight warmth to the lows but still balanced overall, and they are definitely not super-bright which is something I had been worried about. I haven't heard a HiFiMAN IEM since back in the days of RE-0 and RE-ZERO so I'm probably not the best reference in that area. But I will say that these blow away all the sub-$100 models I've heard recently - and by a fairly large margin. Competition is incredibly strong these days, so we'll see how they compare to slightly more expensive stuff, but for now I find them very promising.

 

[JohannLiebert]

Why no Re-600 for review -.-
Isolation like Ex-1000 would be a dealbreaker for me. Would u rate it over them?

 

[shotgunshane]

Nice, I didn't realize the 400 was going to be a $99 earphone. Looking forward to finding out how it compares and possibly improves on the re0 and 262.

 

[Fernito]

Thanks for your impressions, sounds really good! I thought the RE-400 were going to cost a lot more, glad to know that they will be only a hundred bucks.

 

[project86]

I wouldn't really be qualified to review the RE-600 as most of my experience is with custom IEMs these days. So I don't have a good working knowledge of the various models which would be competing against the RE-600 in that price range. 
 
For isolation, I have to use them more to try. I only had them in a somewhat quiet house and have not taken them "into the wild" so to speak. 

 

[dleblanc343]

I was also told CES would be the official launch location, distributors will get to speak with fang in person and start bringing in some stock!

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

Nice, I didn't realize the 400 was going to be a $99 earphone. Looking forward to finding out how it compares and possibly improves on the re0 and 262.

 
I wish my RE0 still worked right now, I kind of wanted to compare the RE-400 to them...  Oh well...

 

[bhima]

Project86,
 
Thanks for  your initial impressions. I'm hoping the RE 400's sound like the 262's but have an easier fit. I am returning my 262's not because of the sound (they sound fantastic), but because their asymmetrical shape doesn't allow for a good fit. Also their newer bi-flange tips just don't fit my ears compared to the RE0's. Guess we'll have to wait until mid-Jan for more info.

 

[tinyman392]

Oh yeah, I should mention...  Actually, not mention, show:
 
 

 

[shotgunshane]

How far do they stick out?

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

How far do they stick out?

 
Really low quality photo, but it's below.  I'm using the single flange tip the sample came with (has a single bar down the center like the Heir tips, but no colored core).  Large dual flanges are also included (I don't have elephant ears though ).  I can get a seal with the medium dual flange, they actually sit deeper as well, but it compromises the highs  The housings are actually very small; the pictures make them seem larger.  The picture above that I took (in another post) shows them with small tips, not medium or large  Below is a picture of them in my ear.  Sorry about the noise, it's a webcam on my iPod  The little circle is the IEM  
 

 
I'm still tip rolling at this point between the dual flange and single flanges it came with, trying a shallow fit with the the dual flange seems to allow the highs to go through better  Additional bass response is also a good thing  I think I'll stick to them for now.

 

[shotgunshane]

Nice, they disappear.