I am one of the lucky ones to get a chance to be reviewer in the HE-400i "tour".
HiFiMAN has intrigued me since the start of my Head-Fi journey. The HE-400 was the first headphone I purchased where I thought to myself "now I'm getting serious about this headphone thing".
Fast forward to now and a lot of money thrown at gear I have gained some experience and heard a decent amount of headphones. I am ready to give my perspective on the HE-400i.
Packaging:
The HE-400i is one of my favorite packages for a headphone to come in. It comes in a simple but aesthetically pleasing case and seems well protected. I did have issues pulling out the headphone initially due to the tape wrapped around (which protects the gimbals) but I understand that HiFiMAN has done their best to address packaging concerns of the past.
Comfort:
As an owner of the HE-560 the comfort was no shock to me. Both of HiFiMAN's latest headphones are easily the most comfortable I've ever worn. That title was held by the TH-600 previously but the weight of Fostex's cable is the difference maker. I do think my HE-400i is more comfortable than the HE-560 due to less clamp. It's just the right amount where I don't feel like it'll fall off and will never squeeze my head too much in long sessions. The HE-400i does weigh a few more grams but it's nothing I can tell.
Sound:
There's a lot of reviews out there that break down each part of the sound in high detail so I'm just going to write about what stands out to me. I did most of my listening with the Oppo HA-1. I did try to use it with the WA7+tp but I found the HA-1 suited this headphone a little better. I used it balanced thru the XLR with a Q-Audio cable. I'm not really on either side of the cable wars, I got it for the aesthetics and it for sure does not degrade the sound.
My thoughts have been made after giving these headphones a week or so of burn in time and a week straight listening of head burn in time. From there I switched back to the HE-560 for a few days then back to the HE-400. I feel like that let get more accurate thoughts on the headphone's true sound vs what I can hear when I A and B.
I listen to various music from hip hop, r&b, pop, kpop, classical and so on. With these headphones I was satisfied with most of my music except classical. The first thing I noticed was the small soundstage of the HE-400i. It is a very intimate sound and that sound has stayed since my first listen. It's kind of an odd feeling since vocals sounded a bit recessed to me but the rest of the audio was still in a tight space. I like the presentation for a quiet night when I'm enjoying low level listening and trying to relax. It didn't match well when I was trying to get a more energetic feel.
The overall sound I feel caters well to casual listeners. It has a slight veil compared to the HE-560 but that can be a good thing when you don't feel like having every detail thrown at you. I do like the overall neutral sound and speed of the HE-560 a bit more but I never felt like the HE-400i was unlistenable in comparison.
Final Thoughts:
If the HE-400i was my only headphone I would be quite satisfied. It is different enough than the HE-560 to keep both but they're not that much different.
At $500 I think the HE-400i is an awesome value. I can't think of anything else at specific price but I would pick em over anything else in the $400-600 range.
At the end of the day, sound is always going to be subjective but the HE-400i will always win in comfort.
Don't over think, buy it! I'm purchasing my reviewer pair for sure.
HiFiMAN has intrigued me since the start of my Head-Fi journey. The HE-400 was the first headphone I purchased where I thought to myself "now I'm getting serious about this headphone thing".
Fast forward to now and a lot of money thrown at gear I have gained some experience and heard a decent amount of headphones. I am ready to give my perspective on the HE-400i.
Packaging:
The HE-400i is one of my favorite packages for a headphone to come in. It comes in a simple but aesthetically pleasing case and seems well protected. I did have issues pulling out the headphone initially due to the tape wrapped around (which protects the gimbals) but I understand that HiFiMAN has done their best to address packaging concerns of the past.
Comfort:
As an owner of the HE-560 the comfort was no shock to me. Both of HiFiMAN's latest headphones are easily the most comfortable I've ever worn. That title was held by the TH-600 previously but the weight of Fostex's cable is the difference maker. I do think my HE-400i is more comfortable than the HE-560 due to less clamp. It's just the right amount where I don't feel like it'll fall off and will never squeeze my head too much in long sessions. The HE-400i does weigh a few more grams but it's nothing I can tell.
Sound:
There's a lot of reviews out there that break down each part of the sound in high detail so I'm just going to write about what stands out to me. I did most of my listening with the Oppo HA-1. I did try to use it with the WA7+tp but I found the HA-1 suited this headphone a little better. I used it balanced thru the XLR with a Q-Audio cable. I'm not really on either side of the cable wars, I got it for the aesthetics and it for sure does not degrade the sound.
My thoughts have been made after giving these headphones a week or so of burn in time and a week straight listening of head burn in time. From there I switched back to the HE-560 for a few days then back to the HE-400. I feel like that let get more accurate thoughts on the headphone's true sound vs what I can hear when I A and B.
I listen to various music from hip hop, r&b, pop, kpop, classical and so on. With these headphones I was satisfied with most of my music except classical. The first thing I noticed was the small soundstage of the HE-400i. It is a very intimate sound and that sound has stayed since my first listen. It's kind of an odd feeling since vocals sounded a bit recessed to me but the rest of the audio was still in a tight space. I like the presentation for a quiet night when I'm enjoying low level listening and trying to relax. It didn't match well when I was trying to get a more energetic feel.
The overall sound I feel caters well to casual listeners. It has a slight veil compared to the HE-560 but that can be a good thing when you don't feel like having every detail thrown at you. I do like the overall neutral sound and speed of the HE-560 a bit more but I never felt like the HE-400i was unlistenable in comparison.
Final Thoughts:
If the HE-400i was my only headphone I would be quite satisfied. It is different enough than the HE-560 to keep both but they're not that much different.
At $500 I think the HE-400i is an awesome value. I can't think of anything else at specific price but I would pick em over anything else in the $400-600 range.
At the end of the day, sound is always going to be subjective but the HE-400i will always win in comfort.
Don't over think, buy it! I'm purchasing my reviewer pair for sure.
