-All headphones and gear mentioned are mine with the exception of HE400i which is a loaner from a friend. No freebies by Takstar or Hifiman (please send me some). I'm quite familiar with HE400i as I used to own it for a while and now I've had the loaner unit for about four months. I've had HE400 for a long time, I have not listened to it that much though. HE-4XX is a newcomer as is HF580. HF580's were my go to cans for about 3 weeks so I know them quite well. Comparative listening was done with Hegel HD10+Gustard H10. Besides that system I've mostly used Hegel hd10+Spl Phonitor or Phone/tidal + Chord Mojo.
Few months ago when I received the highly anticipated Takstar HF580, most commonly asked question was: How does it compare to HE-4XX? At that that time I could not answer. I allready had HE400 and HE400i (and Sundara+HE560) so I acquired a set of HE-4XX so I could answer the question. Then I realized I actually have a setup here that could be more than just a Takstar review. Hence the shootout of sub $200 planars. It would have been nice to include monoprice M1060 or M565 but in europe it is impossible to get those for a proper price. Hifiman Sundara is a lot cheaper than M1060.
So starting from the eldest, some impressions on sound and build quality with fr response measurements
Hifiman HE400
Build and Comfort:
Oldie but goodie? Not so much really... Stiff vinyl like pleather earpads. Headband is barely padded. SMC connectors are even worse than mmcx. Cable is even worse than average Grado cable. It is stiff, bulky, get's twisted easily. HE400 is quite heavy. I don't mind it but for some it will be an issue. Headband adjuster is smooth but does not have any "clicks" on it so it is up to user to determine if both cups are evenly adjusted. Overall construction is bulky, feels durable but it is not user friendly. It is more like a tool more than a device you want to use when relaxing on a sofa.
Sound Quality:
HE400 has an average planar soundstage. Imaging is quite good. However HE400 is not very good at distinguishing different sound sources. With these headphones you can't really have the intimate moment with the vocalist because he/she is just a part of the larger "blanket" of sounds. On positive not mids are nicely rolled of after 1khz giving female vocales some body. Unfortunately these sound quite sibilant on occasion. Highs lack the final shimmer. People have complimented older Hifiman models for their bass response. I personally disagree on that. Perhaps that reputation is created by HE500 and HE-6 but bass on HE400 is nothing exceptional.
Generally these are great sounding headphones. Definately on par with headphones such as Sennheiser HD650 and in my opinion better than likes of Shure SRH1840 or Sennheiser HD700. HE400 does not excell at anything but it does not have any glaring faults either.
Here is HE400 measured with mini dsp h.e.a.r.s 1/12 smoothing
Amping: I'm not in the crowd that believes how an amp can perfectly transform headphones. However I understand the basic facts. HE400 is not that easy to drive. It takes some juice and desktop amp is recommended.
Overall: These days you can buy a used unit for 100 euros. For that it is an absolute bargain. However there are more even better options available if you are willing to pay a bit more.
Hifiman HE400i
Build and Comfort:
Of all the lower end Hifiman offerings HE400i is propably my favorite. That huge headband looks dorky but I find it more comfortable than old designs or the newer Sundara headband. There have been a lot of reported cases with broken yokes on HE400i and I'm not fan of the plastic either. But speaking of comfort, it is top notch. Especially coming from original HE400.
Cable is detachable 2.5mm terminating in angled 3.5mm. It's nice but a bit short. Of course it is definately an improvement over the SMC cable of old HE400.
Pads have also been upgraded. These pads had some fancy name which I don't recall... Focus pads? Anyway they're nice pads. Nothing special but upgrade over HE400 nonetheless.
Sound Quality:
Clarity and lack of bass. Those are two things that first come to mind when listening to HE400i. Luckily that is not the whole story
Like mentioned these are really clear sounding headphones and not just because of limited bass. Best way I can describe it is lack of grain. There is no edgyness atleast not much for a headphone of this price. However there is some ”haze” over the whole presentation, veil of sorts which might be bad or the source of that grain free sound. Overall the midrange is detailed but quite thin. These are not headphones to evoke emotion. These don't quite work with Adele's vocals neither do these have the ”grunt” to make Metallica as fun as it can be. Despite it flaws it's not bad. If you're into monitoring style presentation I'm sure you will love he400i.
Bass gradually rolls of from 100hz and for me it is the biggest flaw with he400i. Even if mids lack a bit off body better bass would have filled the overall sound spectrum nicely. I have no complaints about the bass quality, I just want more of it!
Like mids the highs are not quite what I'd like. I usually never complain about this but I actually feels that HE400i lacks top end extension. Highs lack resolution some of the competition have at the price range. Good news is that treble is very smooth and non fatiguing. I often use The Prodigy's Voodo People (pendulum mix) test harshness of highs. I't is horrible, shrill recording and HE400i's manage to be listenable even at very loud volumes. Same goes for U2's ”With Or Without You”. There are some parts in that track that can make your ears bleed if listened loud, HE400i once again has none of those issues.
Soundstage on HE400i is quite poor, something I find to be an issue with most of lower end planar headphones. This is another thing that makes HE400i quite uniwolving to listen.
Conlusion:
I know it seems I don't like HE400i much but that is not quite true. There are alot of things wrong with HE400i but at current price of $200-250 these are actually really good. HE400i is more clear sounding than Sennheiser HD650, has none of the treble issues of Beyerdynamic DT880/DT990 and sounds more real than AKG K7XX series. With the original msrp of $499 I would not recommend these to anyone. HE400i was released in 2014, since then bar has risen a lot not least because of hifiman themselves introducing new models . However now that these are discontinued and discounted I think these are a great value. I can not think of a better headphone for less than $250 for someone who is new to the whole idea of high end headphones and wants to hear what is there beyond Beats™.However I'm not entirely sure if HE400i is an upgrade over original HE400. HE400 has a tad bit harder hitting bass...somewhat clearer sound and better micro details. Surprisingly I like the sound of original HE400 better.
HE-4XX
So... a massdrop edition of the forementioned Hifimans. The ultimate bang for your buck at $180 and even for european buyers it is not much over 200 euros?
Build and comfort:
For someone who only has experience with plastic HE300/350/400i(s) and HE560 metal yokes might ooze luxury and seem like an improvement. However for anyone familiar with old hifimans it is obvious that 4XX is a stripped out version of the old headphones. Compared to HE400 the bolts(word?) are very fragile plastic. Fragile is the word in general. Of course detachable 2.5mm cables are an upgrade and the pads are better...Stil im quite disappointed that old HE400 feels more luxurious. And it is not luxury headphone at all. There have infact been quite a few reports HE4XX breaking on the bolts. I'm not surprised because it takes quite a bit of force to adjust the headband.
Enough of that. Pads are quite nice, not as nice as on HE400i. HE400i pads have perforated pleather on the inside but HE4XX pads have just some plain fabric. Part that faces the cheek looks quite similar... Maybe I'm imagining it but I'd still say HE400i is nicer to touch.
Basically HE-4XX is HE400 with cheap materials mixed with more modern parts of HE400i. I'ts not bad for the money. Not that any of the hifiman models are going to win any best build quality awards anyway.
Sound quality:
When I measured the headphones, I thought I had something mixed up. These measure so close to HE400i that it could be a measurement deviation. I checked and yeah... These sound very much alike. I think HE400i is a tad bit brighter sounding but differences are so small that I would need to do volume matching if I wanted to say anything credible. So yeah... HE-4XX=HE400i. My choice would be HE400i because of better comfort.
Here are both headphones measured. My measurements are not very accurate so in reality the differences might be even smaller.
Takstar HF580
I was going to say; finally the challenger from China. Then I realized Hifiman is also Chinese. It's so mainstream these days that the "chi-fi effect" has worn out years ago. Anyway... Takstar HF580, Whoo! This is a headphone I had been waiting for years. I've been a fan of Takstar headphones ever since the release of their somewhat iconic HI2050 and PRO80. Allmost ten years ago those two models among Superlux offerings molded the field of cheap headphones and reshaped the idea what was thought possible for budget headphones. Very much in the same sense Hifiman did with higher end headphones years ago.
Build and comfort:
Unlike "some people" say you don't definately need to buy Dekoni Audio Nuggets for the headband. I'ts true that the headphones are heavy but the headband padding is atleast as good as on my $500 fostex TH-X00 ebony. And guess what... HF580 weights less than the Fostex.
HF580 comes with two set of earpads. To be honest I did not pay much attention to the first set of pads, the ones with perforated pleather. I quite fast noticed that the fabric pads sounded better and that also seems to be the general consensus. The fabric cloth pads are really nice, bit thin and opening could be larger but for the price I'd say they're more than adequate.
Cable is not detachable as many of you know. That is an upgrade over SMC detachable cable of HE400. Yeah... I really hate that. Cable itself is ok. It's not a Grado like stiff garden hose.
Overall build is lot of metall and plastic. HF580 is heavily inspired by the design of original Hifimans. Unlike HE-4XX, HF580 manages to improve on that design. Everything is SMOOTH. There are no hard edges on the metal and you can easily adjust the headphones on your headband without fearing you would break them. It's a huge contrast against HE-4XX which force you to remove the headphones for adjustement and still you can't be quite sure if you end up breaking them because they're so darn stiff.
HF580 is not as well build as I hoped it would be. There are some incredible build chi-fi headphones by Msur and Bosshifi so I was secretly hoping new Takstar would be on par. I understand they had to skip costs somewhere to be able to use such a fancy driver.
Sound quality:
That driver.
This topic has been throughly discussed on Takstar thread but for people new to this I'll walk you through it. At this point it is not known who actually manufactures the Takstar drivers. They are the same drivers that are used on Sendy Aiva($599),Acoustic Research AR-H1($599) and Bosshifi B20 ($450).
In that sense $199 is a great deal. That much is obvious. However now we are back to the question I started my ramble with: How does HF580 compare to HE-4XX?
HF580 has the better bass extension compared to all of the Hifiman's here. HF580 has the most planar bass...and also the most dynamic bass so to speak. HE-4XX and HE-400i don't particularly excell at bass reproduction so it's kind of a hand over to HF580. HE400 does better with bass and with bass test blasting it is able to lure out more nyances of music than HE400i, HE4XX and HF580. It's yet another win for HE400 here.
So back to HF580. Regarding soundstage I can't really make a much difference between Takstar and Hifimans. Average .No more, no more less. When we look at the whole picture some flaws on HF580 come apparent. HF580 has this sort of "zingy" tone to it. I call it zing, others call it reverbs or ringing but whatever you call it, it is definately there.
For a first couple of weeks I was in love with HF580 emotional aproach to music. Now after few months I can say that what I first loved has become quite unbearable glare over sound. HF580 is not a bad headphone for $200 but it is my least favorite of the bunch.
Wrap up:
I'm quite surprised by the results. I infact expected HF580 to have a tough contest with HE-4XX, followed closely by HE400i with HE400 hanging in there. It was the complete opposite. For me the old HE400 is the best sounding headphone. HE-4XX and HE400i are so close that it falls on comfort, and on that HE400i is superior. HF580 takes the last place.
This makes me wonder what I have missed, since I have never heard HE-500 or HE-6. So the original question, HE-4XX or HF580? HE-4XX definately. However instead of getting HE-4XX save $50 and get used HE400. Or better yet upgrade to Sundara.
There was a time when people in US could get Adorama versions of HE560 for $250. Those were notorious for bad quality control but the ones who scored a functioning unit got a good deal. HE560 is a clear upgrade over HE400 series and in my books Sundara is a clear step up from HE560. Sundara gives away some bass but for me more balanced sound (less highs) and added transparency is well worth it.
Here are HE400, HE400i, HE4XX and HF580 in same graph
Few months ago when I received the highly anticipated Takstar HF580, most commonly asked question was: How does it compare to HE-4XX? At that that time I could not answer. I allready had HE400 and HE400i (and Sundara+HE560) so I acquired a set of HE-4XX so I could answer the question. Then I realized I actually have a setup here that could be more than just a Takstar review. Hence the shootout of sub $200 planars. It would have been nice to include monoprice M1060 or M565 but in europe it is impossible to get those for a proper price. Hifiman Sundara is a lot cheaper than M1060.
So starting from the eldest, some impressions on sound and build quality with fr response measurements
Hifiman HE400
Build and Comfort:
Oldie but goodie? Not so much really... Stiff vinyl like pleather earpads. Headband is barely padded. SMC connectors are even worse than mmcx. Cable is even worse than average Grado cable. It is stiff, bulky, get's twisted easily. HE400 is quite heavy. I don't mind it but for some it will be an issue. Headband adjuster is smooth but does not have any "clicks" on it so it is up to user to determine if both cups are evenly adjusted. Overall construction is bulky, feels durable but it is not user friendly. It is more like a tool more than a device you want to use when relaxing on a sofa.
Sound Quality:
HE400 has an average planar soundstage. Imaging is quite good. However HE400 is not very good at distinguishing different sound sources. With these headphones you can't really have the intimate moment with the vocalist because he/she is just a part of the larger "blanket" of sounds. On positive not mids are nicely rolled of after 1khz giving female vocales some body. Unfortunately these sound quite sibilant on occasion. Highs lack the final shimmer. People have complimented older Hifiman models for their bass response. I personally disagree on that. Perhaps that reputation is created by HE500 and HE-6 but bass on HE400 is nothing exceptional.
Generally these are great sounding headphones. Definately on par with headphones such as Sennheiser HD650 and in my opinion better than likes of Shure SRH1840 or Sennheiser HD700. HE400 does not excell at anything but it does not have any glaring faults either.
Here is HE400 measured with mini dsp h.e.a.r.s 1/12 smoothing
Amping: I'm not in the crowd that believes how an amp can perfectly transform headphones. However I understand the basic facts. HE400 is not that easy to drive. It takes some juice and desktop amp is recommended.
Overall: These days you can buy a used unit for 100 euros. For that it is an absolute bargain. However there are more even better options available if you are willing to pay a bit more.
Hifiman HE400i
Build and Comfort:
Of all the lower end Hifiman offerings HE400i is propably my favorite. That huge headband looks dorky but I find it more comfortable than old designs or the newer Sundara headband. There have been a lot of reported cases with broken yokes on HE400i and I'm not fan of the plastic either. But speaking of comfort, it is top notch. Especially coming from original HE400.
Cable is detachable 2.5mm terminating in angled 3.5mm. It's nice but a bit short. Of course it is definately an improvement over the SMC cable of old HE400.
Pads have also been upgraded. These pads had some fancy name which I don't recall... Focus pads? Anyway they're nice pads. Nothing special but upgrade over HE400 nonetheless.
Sound Quality:
Clarity and lack of bass. Those are two things that first come to mind when listening to HE400i. Luckily that is not the whole story
Like mentioned these are really clear sounding headphones and not just because of limited bass. Best way I can describe it is lack of grain. There is no edgyness atleast not much for a headphone of this price. However there is some ”haze” over the whole presentation, veil of sorts which might be bad or the source of that grain free sound. Overall the midrange is detailed but quite thin. These are not headphones to evoke emotion. These don't quite work with Adele's vocals neither do these have the ”grunt” to make Metallica as fun as it can be. Despite it flaws it's not bad. If you're into monitoring style presentation I'm sure you will love he400i.
Bass gradually rolls of from 100hz and for me it is the biggest flaw with he400i. Even if mids lack a bit off body better bass would have filled the overall sound spectrum nicely. I have no complaints about the bass quality, I just want more of it!
Like mids the highs are not quite what I'd like. I usually never complain about this but I actually feels that HE400i lacks top end extension. Highs lack resolution some of the competition have at the price range. Good news is that treble is very smooth and non fatiguing. I often use The Prodigy's Voodo People (pendulum mix) test harshness of highs. I't is horrible, shrill recording and HE400i's manage to be listenable even at very loud volumes. Same goes for U2's ”With Or Without You”. There are some parts in that track that can make your ears bleed if listened loud, HE400i once again has none of those issues.
Soundstage on HE400i is quite poor, something I find to be an issue with most of lower end planar headphones. This is another thing that makes HE400i quite uniwolving to listen.
Conlusion:
I know it seems I don't like HE400i much but that is not quite true. There are alot of things wrong with HE400i but at current price of $200-250 these are actually really good. HE400i is more clear sounding than Sennheiser HD650, has none of the treble issues of Beyerdynamic DT880/DT990 and sounds more real than AKG K7XX series. With the original msrp of $499 I would not recommend these to anyone. HE400i was released in 2014, since then bar has risen a lot not least because of hifiman themselves introducing new models . However now that these are discontinued and discounted I think these are a great value. I can not think of a better headphone for less than $250 for someone who is new to the whole idea of high end headphones and wants to hear what is there beyond Beats™.However I'm not entirely sure if HE400i is an upgrade over original HE400. HE400 has a tad bit harder hitting bass...somewhat clearer sound and better micro details. Surprisingly I like the sound of original HE400 better.
HE-4XX
So... a massdrop edition of the forementioned Hifimans. The ultimate bang for your buck at $180 and even for european buyers it is not much over 200 euros?
Build and comfort:
For someone who only has experience with plastic HE300/350/400i(s) and HE560 metal yokes might ooze luxury and seem like an improvement. However for anyone familiar with old hifimans it is obvious that 4XX is a stripped out version of the old headphones. Compared to HE400 the bolts(word?) are very fragile plastic. Fragile is the word in general. Of course detachable 2.5mm cables are an upgrade and the pads are better...Stil im quite disappointed that old HE400 feels more luxurious. And it is not luxury headphone at all. There have infact been quite a few reports HE4XX breaking on the bolts. I'm not surprised because it takes quite a bit of force to adjust the headband.
Enough of that. Pads are quite nice, not as nice as on HE400i. HE400i pads have perforated pleather on the inside but HE4XX pads have just some plain fabric. Part that faces the cheek looks quite similar... Maybe I'm imagining it but I'd still say HE400i is nicer to touch.
Basically HE-4XX is HE400 with cheap materials mixed with more modern parts of HE400i. I'ts not bad for the money. Not that any of the hifiman models are going to win any best build quality awards anyway.
Sound quality:
When I measured the headphones, I thought I had something mixed up. These measure so close to HE400i that it could be a measurement deviation. I checked and yeah... These sound very much alike. I think HE400i is a tad bit brighter sounding but differences are so small that I would need to do volume matching if I wanted to say anything credible. So yeah... HE-4XX=HE400i. My choice would be HE400i because of better comfort.
Here are both headphones measured. My measurements are not very accurate so in reality the differences might be even smaller.
Takstar HF580
I was going to say; finally the challenger from China. Then I realized Hifiman is also Chinese. It's so mainstream these days that the "chi-fi effect" has worn out years ago. Anyway... Takstar HF580, Whoo! This is a headphone I had been waiting for years. I've been a fan of Takstar headphones ever since the release of their somewhat iconic HI2050 and PRO80. Allmost ten years ago those two models among Superlux offerings molded the field of cheap headphones and reshaped the idea what was thought possible for budget headphones. Very much in the same sense Hifiman did with higher end headphones years ago.
Build and comfort:
Unlike "some people" say you don't definately need to buy Dekoni Audio Nuggets for the headband. I'ts true that the headphones are heavy but the headband padding is atleast as good as on my $500 fostex TH-X00 ebony. And guess what... HF580 weights less than the Fostex.
HF580 comes with two set of earpads. To be honest I did not pay much attention to the first set of pads, the ones with perforated pleather. I quite fast noticed that the fabric pads sounded better and that also seems to be the general consensus. The fabric cloth pads are really nice, bit thin and opening could be larger but for the price I'd say they're more than adequate.
Cable is not detachable as many of you know. That is an upgrade over SMC detachable cable of HE400. Yeah... I really hate that. Cable itself is ok. It's not a Grado like stiff garden hose.
Overall build is lot of metall and plastic. HF580 is heavily inspired by the design of original Hifimans. Unlike HE-4XX, HF580 manages to improve on that design. Everything is SMOOTH. There are no hard edges on the metal and you can easily adjust the headphones on your headband without fearing you would break them. It's a huge contrast against HE-4XX which force you to remove the headphones for adjustement and still you can't be quite sure if you end up breaking them because they're so darn stiff.
HF580 is not as well build as I hoped it would be. There are some incredible build chi-fi headphones by Msur and Bosshifi so I was secretly hoping new Takstar would be on par. I understand they had to skip costs somewhere to be able to use such a fancy driver.
Sound quality:
That driver.
This topic has been throughly discussed on Takstar thread but for people new to this I'll walk you through it. At this point it is not known who actually manufactures the Takstar drivers. They are the same drivers that are used on Sendy Aiva($599),Acoustic Research AR-H1($599) and Bosshifi B20 ($450).
In that sense $199 is a great deal. That much is obvious. However now we are back to the question I started my ramble with: How does HF580 compare to HE-4XX?
HF580 has the better bass extension compared to all of the Hifiman's here. HF580 has the most planar bass...and also the most dynamic bass so to speak. HE-4XX and HE-400i don't particularly excell at bass reproduction so it's kind of a hand over to HF580. HE400 does better with bass and with bass test blasting it is able to lure out more nyances of music than HE400i, HE4XX and HF580. It's yet another win for HE400 here.
So back to HF580. Regarding soundstage I can't really make a much difference between Takstar and Hifimans. Average .No more, no more less. When we look at the whole picture some flaws on HF580 come apparent. HF580 has this sort of "zingy" tone to it. I call it zing, others call it reverbs or ringing but whatever you call it, it is definately there.
For a first couple of weeks I was in love with HF580 emotional aproach to music. Now after few months I can say that what I first loved has become quite unbearable glare over sound. HF580 is not a bad headphone for $200 but it is my least favorite of the bunch.
Wrap up:
I'm quite surprised by the results. I infact expected HF580 to have a tough contest with HE-4XX, followed closely by HE400i with HE400 hanging in there. It was the complete opposite. For me the old HE400 is the best sounding headphone. HE-4XX and HE400i are so close that it falls on comfort, and on that HE400i is superior. HF580 takes the last place.
This makes me wonder what I have missed, since I have never heard HE-500 or HE-6. So the original question, HE-4XX or HF580? HE-4XX definately. However instead of getting HE-4XX save $50 and get used HE400. Or better yet upgrade to Sundara.
There was a time when people in US could get Adorama versions of HE560 for $250. Those were notorious for bad quality control but the ones who scored a functioning unit got a good deal. HE560 is a clear upgrade over HE400 series and in my books Sundara is a clear step up from HE560. Sundara gives away some bass but for me more balanced sound (less highs) and added transparency is well worth it.
Here are HE400, HE400i, HE4XX and HF580 in same graph
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