[jerg]

Quote:

will the e17 reach the he-400s full potential or will a good desktop amp + DAC sound better?

Latter of course, but the HE400s are quite forgiving in terms of amping, so inversely a huge amp/DAC investment might not improve it so night-and-day unlike certain other headphones that absolutely require synergy.

 

[Warrax]

I've had HD598, HD600, HD650 and SRH1440, 've been testing them for some time at home, DAC/preamp - NFB12.1
You will not get bored with HD600... never. It's just ********. They sounds one level better, than HD598. I didn't heard many tones, that I've heard on HD600, and they gave me much more chills. They are pretty balanced, but for my taste, have little bit more hights and brightness. I think, it can be EQ down. Their basses are nice, strong, punchy, for me, it's plus, it gives really power in tracks, especially rock.
HD650 are more warm, dark, their lows roll... it makes mids and highs to less shine. I don't like this aspect. Well, another point is, they need very good amp, to get all from them. Count 500$ and more. HD600 are little less demanding, but don't get anything under $250 with good power amp. I've tried them on onboard sound, and it just cannot match NFB12. In other way, HD598 has sounded out of the onboard still pleasing... the drop out in quality was not so big, as in HD600/HD650.
Now, to the SRH1440... they are bright. They mids are like highlighted, highs are very nice, but it's very bright. Not as DT880 (i'm speaking of highs), but I would say, very close. SRH1440 are very weak in bass. (less than DT880, I would say, around the same as K701 - Q701) They have nice basses, detailed, but punch and energy is missing in drums. Not even match HD600. This is reason, why I don't like them... when I am listening to rock and fast metal - HD600 - energy SRH1440 - almost no energy.
But there's a mod... dalethorn mod, that should lessen brightness a little, and help basses. They should sound closer to SRH 1840. Didn't tried it yet, but if that's true, then SRH1440 can be really better than HD600 with this mod, except basses. Basses can be EQ up a little, but they just cannot play that "precise punch with impact (from HD600)", it's just missing. Maybe they need even better amp? Don't know.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The irony. Some say the E11 isn't enough, others say the E17 is enough. The E11 is a slightly better/stronger AMP than the E17's amp portion.

The HE400 sounds damn good out of my onboard soundcard, and a lot better with my NFB5.

I don't think the E11 would be bad for the HE400 at all.

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

The irony. Some say the E11 isn't enough, others say the E17 is enough. The E11 is a slightly better/stronger AMP than the E17's amp portion.
The HE400 sounds damn good out of my onboard soundcard, and a lot better with my NFB5.
I don't think the E11 would be bad for the HE400 at all.

 
An iPod is "enough" for HE-400....it's just degrees of good that are different.  E11 is enough for HD650 as well, but that doesn't mean I'd pick the sound of them on either can on E11 versus my O2 or Lyr.   Not a big Headroom fan, though.  I still prefer HD650 on E11 to my Micro.  I only tried HE-400 on the Micro once and it paired with it better than HD650 did, but still wasn't my favorite amp for them.
 
It's an efficient planar, but it's still a planar.  It'll sound good on everything, it's a great design. But it still rewards you a bit for moving up the power ladder. 

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
An iPod is "enough" for HE-400....it's just degrees of good that are different.  E11 is enough for HD650 as well, but that doesn't mean I'd pick the sound of them on either can on E11 versus my O2 or Lyr.   Not a big Headroom fan, though.  I still prefer HD650 on E11 to my Micro.  I only tried HE-400 on the Micro once and it paired with it better than HD650 did, but still wasn't my favorite amp for them.
 
It's an efficient planar, but it's still a planar.  It'll sound good on everything, it's a great design. But it still rewards you a bit for moving up the power ladder. 

 
Efficient (relatively) AND scales well? Best of both worlds I'd say.

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 
Efficient (relatively) AND scales well? Best of both worlds I'd say.

 
It sure is!
 
By the way, I stumbled across an old quote from Fang that I thought might be of interest to you.  This was 2 years ago or so, but he was talking about before the HFM cans when he was doing the Jade DIY ortho project.  The thing that apparently turned out to be the downfall of the project was humidity sensitivity.  Not that most people's HFMs have humidity sensitivity issues, but after your defective pair I found it curious that humidity issues were an issue with some of Fangs earlier experiments and prototypes.  I wonder if they have a treatment for the diaphragm that solves it and if your bad pair didn't get the treatment or it never dried or something.  It just stuck out as interesting to me.
 
My second pair has been having an interesting effect sometimes where when I first plug them in for the first minute or two there's a bit of imbalance, but it resolves itself just fine after that. But that might be cable too, I just swapped the cable recently. 

 

[daniel521]

Quote:

I've had HD598, HD600, HD650 and SRH1440, 've been testing them for some time at home, DAC/preamp - NFB12.1
You will not get bored with HD600... never. It's just ********. They sounds one level better, than HD598. I didn't heard many tones, that I've heard on HD600, and they gave me much more chills. They are pretty balanced, but for my taste, have little bit more hights and brightness. I think, it can be EQ down. Their basses are nice, strong, punchy, for me, it's plus, it gives really power in tracks, especially rock.
HD650 are more warm, dark, their lows roll... it makes mids and highs to less shine. I don't like this aspect. Well, another point is, they need very good amp, to get all from them. Count 500$ and more. HD600 are little less demanding, but don't get anything under $250 with good power amp. I've tried them on onboard sound, and it just cannot match NFB12. In other way, HD598 has sounded out of the onboard still pleasing... the drop out in quality was not so big, as in HD600/HD650.
Now, to the SRH1440... they are bright. They mids are like highlighted, highs are very nice, but it's very bright. Not as DT880 (i'm speaking of highs), but I would say, very close. SRH1440 are very weak in bass. (less than DT880, I would say, around the same as K701 - Q701) They have nice basses, detailed, but punch and energy is missing in drums. Not even match HD600. This is reason, why I don't like them... when I am listening to rock and fast metal - HD600 - energy SRH1440 - almost no energy.
But there's a mod... dalethorn mod, that should lessen brightness a little, and help basses. They should sound closer to SRH 1840. Didn't tried it yet, but if that's true, then SRH1440 can be really better than HD600 with this mod, except basses. Basses can be EQ up a little, but they just cannot play that "precise punch with impact (from HD600)", it's just missing. Maybe they need even better amp? Don't know.

Many people on head-fi say the hd600 sounds laid back, do you think the NFB12 made it a bit less laid back or do you think the hd600 isn't laid back at all? Do you think its more exciting and sounds more alive than the he-400? 

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
It sure is!
 
By the way, I stumbled across an old quote from Fang that I thought might be of interest to you.  This was 2 years ago or so, but he was talking about before the HFM cans when he was doing the Jade DIY ortho project.  The thing that apparently turned out to be the downfall of the project was humidity sensitivity.  Not that most people's HFMs have humidity sensitivity issues, but after your defective pair I found it curious that humidity issues were an issue with some of Fangs earlier experiments and prototypes.  I wonder if they have a treatment for the diaphragm that solves it and if your bad pair didn't get the treatment or it never dried or something.  It just stuck out as interesting to me.
 
My second pair has been having an interesting effect sometimes where when I first plug them in for the first minute or two there's a bit of imbalance, but it resolves itself just fine after that. But that might be cable too, I just swapped the cable recently. 

I wouldn't call it humidity sensitivity actually, to be honest I don't know what exactly caused the symptoms with my first pair. My best guess is sudden atmospheric pressure changes when a storm comes in, and somehow one of the drivers couldn't accommodate with that for some reason (soldering bubble maybe? or poor contact between tracing and diaphragm?) and would exhibit the imbalance issues that go away after the weather reverts back. It's definitely a very isolated defect though, nothing systematic about it.

 

[olegausany]

I tried my still not sold HD650 as well as D600/D7000 with both E17 and Audioengine D1 and still prefer both Denons over HD650

 

[Slaughter]

daniel, I got the NFB12 when it was first released and I found it to be a terrible combo with the HD580/600. Not sure about the 12.1 but I believe a lot of AudioGD's gear has a similar sound. I quickly sold it because my DIY tube hybrid amp and 14yr old Entec DAC are a much better match. The HD600 is by no means laid back. "Accurate" would be a better description. I would also like to know how it compare to the HE400? From what I read, the 400 might be able to dethrone my HD580 as my preferred cans. I might just have to bite the bullet and try it...

 

[olegausany]

Quote:

daniel, I got the NFB12 when it was first released and I found it to be a terrible combo with the HD580/600. Not sure about the 12.1 but I believe a lot of AudioGD's gear has a similar sound. I quickly sold it because my DIY tube hybrid amp and 14yr old Entec DAC are a much better match. The HD600 is by no means laid back. "Accurate" would be a better description. I would also like to know how it compare to the HE400? From what I read, the 400 might be able to dethrone my HD580 as my preferred cans. I might just have to bite the bullet and try it...

Yes that is the only right way to find out if they are FOR YOU not just others but there is definitely something to impress you

 

[daniel521]

just a quick question: Since the he-400 is kind of a bassy headphone, will it do worse than other cans in the same price range for rock? And is the e11+HRT MusicStreamer (the red one which costs 150) a good setup for the he-400?

 

[TMRaven]

It doesn't have a bloated bass that loses texture and hides a lot of the mids in rock music.  The keyboard and bass were crisp and clear on Jethro Tull songs.  The double bass had amazing texture and added a natural warmth to Mumford & Sons, and the kick drum had great impact and dynamics on Rage Against the Machine.  I say as long as the bass remains controlled and textured, having more of it is always a plus for rock.  I also don't really consider the HE-400 a very bassy headphone either.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

just a quick question: Since the he-400 is kind of a bassy headphone, will it do worse than other cans in the same price range for rock? And is the e11+HRT MusicStreamer (the red one which costs 150) a good setup for the he-400?

 
It's not bassy, its bass is flat and well-extended. It's a different and more accurate (and IMO plain better) type of bass response than the typical grado-style midbass hump followed by a huge roll-off bass response.

 

[daniel521]

thanks, and do you know if the e11+HRT MusicStreamer II is a good setup for it? I already own the e11 so I was planning on buying the 150 dollar HRT MusicStreamer as a DAC