[buke9]

My He-400's should be here Monday. I bought them on eBay in a deal with a EF-2A amp. I have read that it does not pair well with the 400's .So would it be wise to get another amp? There is a local store that has a used Bellari HA540 and Matrix m Stage for $125 each. Would these be better for the 400's? I'm going to reset my main audio setup so I don't want to spend too much. I think i'm going to get a new dac and amp setup (if my E-MU 0404/usb doesn't dive the 400's enough). I listen to mostly rock and acoustic music and just about everything else . I'm already planning on buying a different set of cans just to get different sound profiles. I don't have endless funds but I want to get a good sounding rig. After playing the difference of 24/96 and 24/192 files for my wife(biggest impediment for fund outlay) she is on board for a better setup. I was reading a article that said the ears could not hear the difference between the two I totally disagree . Well back to the subject what would be a good amp for the 400's. I have a set of Senn HD-280's I just hope these sound better. I just sent back a pair of Nad MP-50's. They just didn't fit my head. They didn't sound that much better than my HD-280's. They sounded better but not $200 better. I don't know if burn in would make it that much better.The HE-400's are supposedly only been run 10 hrs along with amp( you don't know for sure on eBay). knock on wood I have never bought anything on eBay that wasn't what it was. I can't wait for Monday. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated .
Thanks ,   Brent

 

[jodgey4]

I'd stick with the amp you bought for a while and see if you like the sound. The local store may let you audition as well, I'd ask them.

 

[jazzwave]

Basically HE400 easy to drive, 35Ohm , 92.5DB efficiency, you can connect directly to laptop, DAP ,iPhone without amp.
If you have amp already, just burn- in for couple week. Then you decide, do you like the sound or not (with your amp).

It's good idea to put good external DAC in your system, it will improbe SQ.
HE400 deliver good sound for any music genre, little bit complain from me is about hi/treble to bright.
Need to set up the equalizer in your software (ie: Foobar), you can find how to set up Foobar equalizer for HE400 in other threads.

 

[cel4145]

I don't find the HE-400s "easy to drive," but the amp you have coming might work quite well. Wait and see what you think

 

[billybob_jcv]

I wouldn't call 92.5dB very sensitive - regardless of what HiFIMan says. If I see sensitivity under 100 dB/mW, I usually assume they might benefit from an amp, and below 95 dB/mW, I assume they probably need an amp. Below 90 dB/mW, I assume they need a fairly powerful amp. Of course, these are not "rules", and it's actually much more complicated than this to determine the amount of voltage & current the headphones actually need, but it is just my personal guidelines.

 

[buke9]

Just received these today. They are hard to drive. They need an amp. I tried them out with my E-MU 0404 and at max volume were just about low listening volume to me. With my HD-280 my ears would be ringing after . Hooking up the EF2A now that's another story. I had to eq the heck out of my 280's to get bass that come out of these things flat. The HE-400's I bought came with both the pleather and velour pads . Most people I read prefer the velour I have not listen long enough to make that decision yet but the velour pads are very hard to me. The pleathers give from a cursory give a lot more pronounced bass. I think I made a good purchase . If they get better with burnin I can't wait. I believe the guy I bought them from on eBay. He said he only listened to them for ten hours. There was not even fingerprints on them. Why would he give these up I don't know. I am just impressed by the bass from open phones. The old Senn's I had had no bass to them(might needed an amp don't know). The only thing I don't like about the amp/dac is that it is only 16bit/48 (my EMU is 24/192) . Well anyway I have said enough for now. Thanks for your comments.
Brent   

 

[cel4145]

Congrats! They do have nice bass, don't they

Planar magnetics are a completely different technology than dynamic driver headphones. I wouldn't expect any "burn-in" to happen with them.

 

[billybob_jcv]

OP: Don't forget that unless you are actually using digital music files encoded at 24/192K, your 24/192K DAC isn't really doing anything extra for you. If you feed 16/44.1K music to a 24/192K-capable DAC, you still get the same 16/44.1K music.

Also, if you still want to use your 0404 as a DAC, you can. Just use the 3.5mm stereo line-out jack on the 0404 to connect to "CD Input" RCA line-in jacks on the EF2A.

 

[buke9]

The manual says they need a 150 hour burn in. Not to argue that's what the manual says. I like the way they sound now. Going to try out the different pads to see which I like but the pleather are softer and more comfy to me. Yes the bass is great listening to King Crimson Discipline Tony Levin's Stick bass sounds awesome. 

 

[buke9]

If you believe that the 16/44 dac is doing what it suppose to do I'll take my chances on the 24 bit getting all of the sound it can out of whatever source. My motto is Overkill is Underrated ! 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  If you believe that the 16/44 dac is doing what it suppose to do I'll take my chances on the 24 bit getting all of the sound it can out of whatever source. My motto is Overkill is Underrated ! 

 

Actually there were some findings before that point to oversampling and/or upsampling algorithms causing distortion in the signal and what people think was "better" or at least "more true" sound is actually messed up sound. Best get one that won't up/oversample whatever you feed it (unless it's necessary, as in some direct digital designs that use digital level volume control) but will at least be compatible with high-res in case you buy them later (I mean, 24/96 FLAC is the same price as 16/44.1 FLAC anyways).

 

[buke9]

Thanks BillyBob for the heads up on the output of my E-MU. I only used the headphone out for recording monitoring never hooked up to an amp for monitoring . The He-400's make 24/192 /96 files sound so much better.I download a sampler from HD tacks awhile back and they sounded good but now they sound awesome. I don't know if the Emu ups or oversamples . I tried putting the sample rate to the file being played and can't tell the difference between from using the 24/192 rate. Thanks again all for your advice.
Brent

 

[dauhak]

hI,
 
Can you suggest me a good desktop/portable amp that is more powerful than fiio e12a, as this distorts very easily at high volume.
 
I want a warm sounding amp, E12a is really good , but just not my cup of tea as its really bright, improves detail in the upper region, makes male vocals very edgy and prone to sibilant.
 
I would want an amp to drive my he400, with reducing some treble, while boosting sub bass. More warm sounding amp.
 
Of course the clipping should be eliminated.
 
 
No price contstraints, but of course PRICE/PERFORMANCE is what im looking at.
 
Thank You all

 

[jodgey4]

E12 (not the A), Cayin C5, Schiit Magni.

 

[buke9]

  hI,
 
Can you suggest me a good desktop/portable amp that is more powerful than fiio e12a, as this distorts very easily at high volume.
 
I want a warm sounding amp, E12a is really good , but just not my cup of tea as its really bright, improves detail in the upper region, makes male vocals very edgy and prone to sibilant.
 
I would want an amp to drive my he400, with reducing some treble, while boosting sub bass. More warm sounding amp.
 
Of course the clipping should be eliminated.
 
 
No price contstraints, but of course PRICE/PERFORMANCE is what im looking at.
 
Thank You all

I have an E12 not a and it drives the 400's just fine for me I don't know about the a model but if I drive the E12 to clipping I wouldn't be hearing much after that. Also you bought the wrong cans if you want warm sound. Just my opinion. I have both the 400 and 400s and I think you might like the 400s better as they are a bit darker with better mids.