[bixby]

  These are my first open back headphones, and I'm really enjoying the airiness or space these give to the music.  Compared to my PSB M4U 2s, there is less bass and more treble - it's a much different sound, but I find both are enjoyable. 
 
They sound fantastic driven just by my Sony NWZ-ZX1, which is not a particularly powerful device.  I use a Fiio E17 as a desktop DAC/Amp, and while the E17 is certainly a huge improvement over my laptop's headphone out, it doesn't sound nearly as good as the ZX1.  Any suggestions for a compact DAC/amp around $200 Canadian, that would do these phones justice?  One with an EQ or bass boost would be nice, just to bump up the lows a touch.

forget another amp for now just get the Focus A pads

 

[Vigrith]

  Any suggestions for a compact DAC/amp around $200 Canadian, that would do these phones justice?  One with an EQ or bass boost would be nice, just to bump up the lows a touch.

 
Got my wife an O2ODAC, it's around $200 as far as I'm aware in the US, I don't know how much it would be in Canada right now seeing as your currency is not having the best of times. Swapping out the standard velours for HM5 pleathers by Brainwavz is a super simple solution and I (as well as practically everyone else that's done it afaik) can tell you it improves bass particularly, as well as smoothing out the super highs - either get the plastic rings separately or cut them off of the stock pads, they are glued for to them on the 400S but I can almost with 100% certainty say you will not want to go back so cutting the rings won't really be an issue. Great overall improvement and they are cheap, like 20 dollars or something on amazon and they come in all sorts of different colours.
 
PS: If you're in the US I guess getting the HFM focus pads is just as easy as the Brainwavz, as far as I'm aware they are almost identical in terms of sound improvements, but the focus are velours while the HM5s come in pleather also.

 

[csoledade]

So as my burn-in time with the HE-400s increases, I am loving their sound signature more and more each day. Yesterday I got Focus Pads in the mail and the bass improvement is amazing. I am hearing distinctions in the bass I never heard with my previous Grado SR-125s. These headphones are fantastic!
 
 
After reading this thread, I have been wondering about the grill mod. I also looked at the grill mod thread.
 
Could someone more experienced with the HE-400s comment if HIFIMAN modified the design of the HE-400s mid production?
 
Early pictures in the grill mod thread show a black material under the grills that almost looks like felt. Like in this post (my login can't upload pictures yet):
 
http://www.head-fi.org/content/type/61/id/498096/width/500/height/1000/flags/LL
 
My headphones came from HIFIMAN without that material. Upon close inspection there is a thin nylon like material under the grill pattern but it is definitely pass through. You can see the entire driver and wires on my set. They look like the picture in this post instead:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/content/type/61/id/1576936/
 
If HIFIMAN changed the design, and the felt like material is gone, is there any point to the grill mod anymore? Does opening up the pass-through percentage (hole size) in the grill pattern help that much? Maybe I misunderstood, and the felt material was only in other older models and not the HE400s?
 
Thanks!

 

[jnak00]

  forget another amp for now just get the Focus A pads

They are on the way.  I'm just looking to get something closer to the ZX1 sound out of my desktop rig.

 

[Vigrith]

Quote:

  snip

 
HIFIMAN and their nomenclature make lives hell when comparing their different models. The first picture you linked are definitely not 400S' (the headphones this thread is dedicated to), maybe you were just using the picture just to illustrate your point about the grill mod but that felt material is not in new 400S (mine at least).
 
In the 400S I have there is a thin dust filter-like material, I live in an extremely windy part of a very windy country meaning taking that out is not an option for me. As far as I'm aware the grill mod is more of a thing with the old 400's (not 400S) and 400is; I assume taking the filter out still improves sound slightly but it's probably minimal, I have also read replacing it with organza is a minimal upgrade. As for the hole sizes given the pattern on the 400S grill I doubt that would be a big deal - if anything some people may want to replace it with aluminum or metal seeing as the stocks are (or were) plastic.

 

[Terrynj]

  These are my first open back headphones, and I'm really enjoying the airiness or space these give to the music.  Compared to my PSB M4U 2s, there is less bass and more treble - it's a much different sound, but I find both are enjoyable. 
 
They sound fantastic driven just by my Sony NWZ-ZX1, which is not a particularly powerful device.  I use a Fiio E17 as a desktop DAC/Amp, and while the E17 is certainly a huge improvement over my laptop's headphone out, it doesn't sound nearly as good as the ZX1.  Any suggestions for a compact DAC/amp around $200 Canadian, that would do these phones justice?  One with an EQ or bass boost would be nice, just to bump up the lows a touch.

I agree with the openness and airiness these HP's..I absolutely love them. I added the Focus Pads A and have modded the grills. Ive since added a Creative Labs E5 Dac/Amp and an APPJ 1502A tube amp. I am not familiar with the amps you have (other than I started with an E11 and everything I have now is much better)
 
If I could only have one, it would be the E5 ($200 USD) ..it has booth boost and EQ and I love it. I can change the sound on the fly and I get awesome bass...not bloat, but good bass.. even into sub bass...if I just want the natural sound of the 400s, the touch of a button bypasses everything... The E5 is very clean. I have even gone back to my stock pads, because they have more mids and the highs come out more, but I find them to be a little shrilly sometimes. I can EQ them out if a need to, but I like the better mids...overall I dont use the EQ much...400s dont need much.
 
The tube amp just adds a sweetness to the sound. I use the E5 for the DAC.
The modded grill are still on, I tried the stock grills last week as a sanity check and the soundstage drops...anything you put over the ear openings starts to close down the openness. I am running the large open space wire grills made from the letterbox trays for your desk. I do not have any material covering them, because I dont want the degradation. I can definately tell when I put the stocks grills back on, they dont stay there very long.

 

[jnak00]

   
Got my wife an O2ODAC, it's around $200 as far as I'm aware in the US, I don't know how much it would be in Canada right now seeing as your currency is not having the best of times. Swapping out the standard velours for HM5 pleathers by Brainwavz is a super simple solution and I (as well as practically everyone else that's done it afaik) can tell you it improves bass particularly, as well as smoothing out the super highs - either get the plastic rings separately or cut them off of the stock pads, they are glued for to them on the 400S but I can almost with 100% certainty say you will not want to go back so cutting the rings won't really be an issue. Great overall improvement and they are cheap, like 20 dollars or something on amazon and they come in all sorts of different colours.
 
PS: If you're in the US I guess getting the HFM focus pads is just as easy as the Brainwavz, as far as I'm aware they are almost identical in terms of sound improvements, but the focus are velours while the HM5s come in pleather also.

 
The O2+ODAC is $380 here, so quite a bit more than I want to spend.  The currency exchange really does blow right now. 

 

[csoledade]

  Quote:

  snip

 
HIFIMAN and their nomenclature make lives hell when comparing their different models. The first picture you linked are definitely not 400S' (the headphones this thread is dedicated to), maybe you were just using the picture just to illustrate your point about the grill mod but that felt material is not in new 400S (mine at least).
 
In the 400S I have there is a thin dust filter-like material, I live in an extremely windy part of a very windy country meaning taking that out is not an option for me. As far as I'm aware the grill mod is more of a thing with the old 400's (not 400S) and 400is; I assume taking the filter out still improves sound slightly but it's probably minimal, I have also read replacing it with organza is a minimal upgrade. As for the hole sizes given the pattern on the 400S grill I doubt that would be a big deal - if anything some people may want to replace it with aluminum or metal seeing as the stocks are (or were) plastic.

Thank you!

 

[Noldir]

These are my first open back headphones, and I'm really enjoying the airiness or space these give to the music.  Compared to my PSB M4U 2s, there is less bass and more treble - it's a much different sound, but I find both are enjoyable. 

They sound fantastic driven just by my Sony NWZ-ZX1, which is not a particularly powerful device.  I use a Fiio E17 as a desktop DAC/Amp, and while the E17 is certainly a huge improvement over my laptop's headphone out, it doesn't sound nearly as good as the ZX1.  Any suggestions for a compact DAC/amp around $200 Canadian, that would do these phones justice?  One with an EQ or bass boost would be nice, just to bump up the lows a touch.

Look into the schiit or o2/odac stack. Both very nice with my personal preference of the o2/odac combo. I believe mayflower sells them reasonably close by your location.

As a recommendation : don't equalise at the amp or dac but at the source. You'll regret choosing a heavily coloured amp when you try another pair of phones...

 

[wpiaz]

I love the 400s but I just ordered the MrSpeaker Ether C. According to the reviews, the Ether C offers most of the benefits of a open can in a closed design. Not to mention, in terms of overall sound quality,  they promise to be the best high end headphone on the market. Of course, this is not a fair comparison but I wonder how close will the 400S get. If the Ethers don't clearly show themselves superior they will be going back to Mr. Speaker.

 

[nwavesailor]

  I love the 400s but I just ordered the MrSpeaker Ether C. According to the reviews, the Ether C offers most of the benefits of a open can in a closed design. Not to mention, in terms of overall sound quality,  they promise to be the best high end headphone on the market. Of course, this is not a fair comparison but I wonder how close will the 400S get. If the Ethers don't clearly show themselves superior they will be going back to Mr. Speaker.

Spent some time last night between my 400S (mesh mod and Brain Wavz pads) and the Ether (open) hp. I enjoyed them both but was not 'wowed' by the Ether particularly at $1500 +/- retail. They do call the Ether a more 'rounded' sound compared to the C model:
 

 

[wpiaz]

 
Spent some time last night between my 400S (mesh mod and Brain Wavz pads) and the Ether (open) hp. I enjoyed them both but was not 'wowed' by the Ether particularly at $1500 +/- retail. They do called the Ether a more 'rounded' sound compared to the C model:
 

I got a screaming deal on my 400S making them truly a tremendous value. I ordered the Audeze EL-8 twice. Each time they were DOA. I called the factory and they told me that they had issues with the driver. Too bad, because I was able to get a $200 off deal for a new set. Now I don't trust the quality. Exterior quality seem top notch, however.

 

[Noldir]

Spent some time last night between my 400S (mesh mod and Brain Wavz pads) and the Ether (open) hp. I enjoyed them both but was not 'wowed' by the Ether particularly at $1500 +/- retail. They do called the Ether a more 'rounded' sound compared to the C model:

What amp (and dac?) did you use for them?

 

[nwavesailor]

What amp (and dac?) did you use for them?

Prototype tube amp

 

[BenWaB3]

  I got a screaming deal on my 400S making them truly a tremendous value. I ordered the Audeze EL-8 twice. Each time they were DOA. I called the factory and they told me that they had issues with the driver. Too bad, because I was able to get a $200 off deal for a new set. Now I don't trust the quality. Exterior quality seem top notch, however.

When I got the 400S's I was able to compare them with a pair of Audezes in the same store. It may have been a blessing in disguise that the Audezes had to go back, at least to my ears anyway.