olor1n
The Man. The Myth
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HiFiMan HE-300 Coming Soon!
- Thread starter ohhgourami
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MalVeauX
Headphoneus Supremus
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Austin Morrow
Headphoneus Supremus
Alright, updated impressions after 15 hours of burn in, a little more in depth (note that my final review will be much longer, and not formated like this):
Sound:
Not a lot of difference, but I'm having second thoughts about these, positive thoughts to say the least. That being said, let's discuss why my opinion has changed. I said in the beginning that they weren't very good for rock, fast paced, or metal music. Scratch that. To sum up, they aren't analytical, finely detailed, or anything like that. I listened to these for 2 hours today in a single session, playing all sorts of music out of my Lossless collection including, but not limited to: Chevelle, SoundGarden, All That Remains, SwitchFoot, Train, Rob Zombie, and many more. While I still highly enjoy listening to slower paced music (the Halo soundtrack is a good example, sounds amazing on those), the HiFiMan's really do excel pretty decently in every genre. While not a basshead headphone, it still has enough rumble, power, and body to satisfy most people. The midrange is a very nice compliment, and while being very smooth, it is extremely easy on the ears, and enjoyable to listen to. That same statement can go to the highs as well. Not amazingly extended, but warm, and easy to listen to for very long sessions (unlike the HD800, which, even though was very much to my liking, could only listen to for very short sessions at a time before actually feeling a little sore, and I am not kidding when I say that). It's laid back, and relaxed, which is one of the reasons I choose it over some more bloomy cans. Overall, it;s very musical, and can go far in every part of the spectrum, albeit a warm headphone overall.
Design,Build Quality, & Comfort
For a $300 headphone, it's average build quality. While the silver housing isn't exactly as perfect as say, the HD800's housing, the metallic paint is a nice addition and in my opinion, looks tasty and modern. The black grills are subtle to, and nicely built, despite being plastic. Comfort wise, the headband has added foam on the bottom for comfort, and both the headband and the ear cups are very comfortable, at least to me.
That's all for now, stay tuned for more!
Sound:
Not a lot of difference, but I'm having second thoughts about these, positive thoughts to say the least. That being said, let's discuss why my opinion has changed. I said in the beginning that they weren't very good for rock, fast paced, or metal music. Scratch that. To sum up, they aren't analytical, finely detailed, or anything like that. I listened to these for 2 hours today in a single session, playing all sorts of music out of my Lossless collection including, but not limited to: Chevelle, SoundGarden, All That Remains, SwitchFoot, Train, Rob Zombie, and many more. While I still highly enjoy listening to slower paced music (the Halo soundtrack is a good example, sounds amazing on those), the HiFiMan's really do excel pretty decently in every genre. While not a basshead headphone, it still has enough rumble, power, and body to satisfy most people. The midrange is a very nice compliment, and while being very smooth, it is extremely easy on the ears, and enjoyable to listen to. That same statement can go to the highs as well. Not amazingly extended, but warm, and easy to listen to for very long sessions (unlike the HD800, which, even though was very much to my liking, could only listen to for very short sessions at a time before actually feeling a little sore, and I am not kidding when I say that). It's laid back, and relaxed, which is one of the reasons I choose it over some more bloomy cans. Overall, it;s very musical, and can go far in every part of the spectrum, albeit a warm headphone overall.
Design,Build Quality, & Comfort
For a $300 headphone, it's average build quality. While the silver housing isn't exactly as perfect as say, the HD800's housing, the metallic paint is a nice addition and in my opinion, looks tasty and modern. The black grills are subtle to, and nicely built, despite being plastic. Comfort wise, the headband has added foam on the bottom for comfort, and both the headband and the ear cups are very comfortable, at least to me.
That's all for now, stay tuned for more!
Alright, that's it, screw the leather pads, I am ordering a pair right now.
MalVeauX
Headphoneus Supremus
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Heya,
Well shucks. I was hoping they were a detail monster with bass like someone else had mentioned. Oh well, I'm glad they're great!
How's it feel having a Hifiman that's not planar magnetic? Feel different?
Very best,
Well shucks. I was hoping they were a detail monster with bass like someone else had mentioned. Oh well, I'm glad they're great!
How's it feel having a Hifiman that's not planar magnetic? Feel different?
Very best,
Austin Morrow
Headphoneus Supremus
Quote:
Nope, not detail monsters in the slightest. Haven't tried any other HiFiMan's yet.
MalVeauX
Headphoneus Supremus
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Quote:
I look forward to your thoughts on the HE-500 then.
I'm looking for a headphone with the bright forward highs/mids and detail of the SRH940, with the bass of the Ultrasone Pro 900 (if such a thing exists).
Very best,
winkyeye
100+ Head-Fier
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Quote:
Hey MalVeauX, I'm not sure if you've seen Rebel975's impression of the HE-500 compared to the Pro 2900. It's in the high end forum.
koolkat
1000+ Head-Fier
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Hm, rumour's that Jaben carries Hifimans for auditions.. If they really do, I suppose I could head down to their store to audition.
Beagle
His body's not a canvas, and he wasn't raised by apes.
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Quote:
Sounds like good news to me. The last thing we need is yet another bass-light, treble-spike headphone with "amazing" detail.
I assume these are fairly easy to drive?
Voohoo
100+ Head-Fier
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Quote:
I used to lurk the Pro 900 Appreciation Thread for a while and saw that some guys "upgraded" from the Pro 900 to the Hifiman HE-4. Lots of HE-4 impressions are here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/522157/hifiman-he-4-impressions-thread
FWIR, a couple guys that owned the Pro 900 said the HE-4 was better across the spectrum! Although, when it comes bass quantity the 900 would definitely win. But as far as quality goes they should be comparable. The HE-4 is supposed to the bassiest of the Hifiman lineup, I think. It has a slight v-shape freq response.
In fact, because of what I've gathered on the HE-300 and HE-4 so far, I'm quite sure that the HE-4 is what I want. BTW, I'm an Ultrasone owner as well (Pro 2500).
rhythmdevils
Member of the Trade: rhythmdevils audio
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Quote:
There are A LOT of headphones with forward mids and treble, there's no need to be disappointed that this one doesn't happen to be like that.
Austin Morrow
Headphoneus Supremus
Alright, bad news. On the cable where the jack is, the actual housing of the jack is starting to come apart from the cable, it's only held together b a thin piece of glue. Looks like I'll be needing a replacement... 
Neosk
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Quote:
Alright, bad news. On the cable where the jack is, the actual housing of the jack is starting to come apart from the cable, it's only held together b a thin piece of glue. Looks like I'll be needing a replacement...
Ouch sorry to hear that. You can't glue it yourself right? Since that will void the warranty.
Loevhagen
1000+ Head-Fier
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After spending quite some time with the HE-300, I must admit that this headphone is really impressive. The sound signature is really easy to like, and you get drawn into the music. The comfort let's you do so for many, many hours. You forget they are even there due to the same comfort. It has it's lowlights, but the highlights outnumbers them.
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