Incredible sound at a very low price .
Yes in the beginning the highs were a bit peircing on some songs but the foam tips and getting used to it clears that up for the most part .

Isolation is very good and the clarity is amazing .

I am suprizeed that these are as good as they are and they rival many i've used that were in the $300 range .

I waited a while to give an opinion on the Hifiman HE4XX because I had bought so many Headphones I did not want to unfairly compare them to something else .

So I bought the Original blue Hifiman HE400 and compared them to their earliest incarnation.

The 4XX has slightly less Bass but in my opinion better quicker bass .

The highs are great and with a reasonably flat mid-range withw a punchy Bass so these are exciting headphones and I was lucky enough to pick them up new on eBay for only $120

The build quality is much better than the blue pair which also were purchased new for twice the price .
At massdroops price of $169 it's really a no brainier these are to my ears wider in soundstage to the original also

I have every one of the Sennheiser 6 Series except for the 660s and these can be driven off of a DAP or decent phone but still could use a bit of Amplification to reach their potential .

Glad I never gave away my home built Cmoy because paired with these makes the combo hard to beat .

these are great but if you are a big fan of jazz or classical I would go for the 600s or 650s but if you like punk , classic Rock or Metal or even Hip Hop these will serve you well.

the Highs are great the midrange is not as forward as others in the 6 series but the Bass and Sub Bass is phenominal.

some wont like them just because of their sub $150 price but do some honest blind testing and you will be shocked just how good these are

First off mine are the earset 3i but this is as close as I can find .
these are something everyone should have on their bag of tricks , a extremely  comfortable pair of ear buds that are designed so not only are they comfortable but sound very clear and isolate very well .
 
I think that what these do well puts them in a class of their own sort of like the Bose QC25 although not the best sounding Headphones on the planet but because they do what they are designed to do better than anything else imho everyone should have both the QC25 and the Bang & Olufsen 3i.
 
Both Bose and Bang & Olufsen are known for style over substance and in most of their products are overlooked by me but with these two items mentioned by me just happen to be them getting it right .
 
Be careful alot of the cheap Bang & Olufsen 3Is are knock offs so buyer beware of cheap ebay offerings

For the price these are great when you want some boom and volume they really do well when pushed by decent Amplification .
 
I have found lately a lot of enjoyment buying much cheaper Headphones and finding good value and this pair fits the bill

i got mine for a reasonable price of only $150 and love them but a Headphone amp really improves the experience

I original bought most of my Headphones from Pioneer and Sansui back in the 70s and other than buying a few lightweight headphones and earbuds i was still satisfied but then i kept reading about the Audio Technica ATH-M50s and decided to buy them then i got some very soft earpads and although it made live performances sound great they leaked so much it now defeated the reason i have headphones which is so my wife would not be bothered.
 
then i saw the review of these on here and thought what the heck i will give them a shot.
 
they sound many times better than their price and bring real impact from my Adcom Stack without scaring the neighbors with my complete home system .
 
everyone should own a pair of these

the ASUS Xonar DSX  was one of those things i picked mainly because i needed a low profile card that had digital out and was 7.1 .
i have not swapped out the Opamp yet because it sounds pretty good.
 
I have had pretty much every audio card made since the late 90s and this will not compete with the $500 cards but for $29.99 from new egg ebay store it outperforms many of the mid priced cards i have had

I have passed on buying these because i generally do not play follow the leader well,so I was bidding on a set of Sennheiser HD 598s and was outbid at the last minute but wanted something new so after searching ebay i made an offer on a like new pair of ATH-M50s.
 
I should have gotten these years ago because they do everything well ,I have headphones that are better in certain aspects but none this well rounded

this is a great device at a a great price . if you want to drive your headphones from your pc or portable device you can not do better unless you pay triple the price .
 
I have not owned the E17 but it should be equally good value .

I use these everyday because I have yet to find any better in the sub $100 range .I plan to buy a pair of sony's  4 driver earbuds but until I do these are my favorites