Hifiman HE-300 mod removes the dark sound

[Transformatron]

So what's your plan Trans? Send it back for a new version or get in contact with Hifiman directly?

The he400 had a bad revision and hifiman offered an exchange.

I'm going to purchase a used Revision 3 from the FS forums when they inevitably start popping up. My pair was actually purchased by a friend back in 2011, and I traded for them.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Just got mine in today and all I gotta say is these are a ridiculous deal. Hifiman just continues to impress... which is not going to go well for my wallet in the future.

Seriously, $149 for this SQ just blows me away. At $249 they'd be a great deal and competition to $300-$400 phones.

 

[karlsonklam]

just got mine and driving with a Behringer UCA-202 - initial feeling on just a few songs - I like the perspective and "in room" (assume open back plus more energy in 2-6K region) tonality of the lowly UR40 better. (material dependent)  HE300 under these conditions with high output Z 202 is nicer sounding and more comfortable than my DJ100.  Does a thinner cloth primarily affect the upper treble?   Once I try EQ then will know more.   A "better" UR40 would be to my liking. 
 
- Soundsgoodtome - did your pair come with the thin twisted/silver cables and velour pads?  It would be interesting to see a headphone offered with interchangable screens of different absorption characteriscs to allow for varying tastes.
 
these are beautifully made - what's a good budget amp match?  - I have SMSL and Indeed - latter works well with my FUBAR and T50RP

 

[Transformatron]

Just got mine in today and all I gotta say is these are a ridiculous deal. Hifiman just continues to impress... which is not going to go well for my wallet in the future.

Seriously, $149 for this SQ just blows me away. At $249 they'd be a great deal and competition to $300-$400 phones.

How do these sound straight out of the HiFimeDIY Async DAC?

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

  How do these sound straight out of the HiFimeDIY Async DAC?

I don't think the HifimeDIY U2 will have enough juice to power the HE300s properly tbh. As of now, I'm using the Yulong D100 with the high impedance output with relative decent travel on the volume pot. Event at 50ohms, I find the HE300 to not be as efficient. I keep the HifimeDIY at work to use with Altec Lansing speakers but I'll take it home with me to test later tonight.

 

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

 
- Soundsgoodtome - did your pair come with the thin twisted/silver cables and velour pads?  It would be interesting to see a headphone offered with interchangable screens of different absorption characteriscs to allow for varying tastes.

Yes it did, I've yet to open the cans to remove the felt. They're burning in right now and I'm really liking the dark sound with my D100 (which do amazing things to dark phones), just a tad of brightness will probably be favorable but I want to get the burn-in out of the way first, do several listening sessions then go from there. If that felt is super heavy, you can experiment with microfiber cleaning cloth (non-woven) with painters tape to hold it on, thinner felt or ones from cheaper (Sony for example) replacement pads, etc.

I'm really digging the laid back sound with the treble a bit down, all that with staying analytical. The treble end does have some weirdness to the way it executes certain instruments but I'm hoping a proper burn-in will take care of that.

 

[karlsonklam]

 Inner Fidelity's test data frequency response suggests a dark balance for HE300 -  - also,elevated harmonic distortion  beow 100Hz may (?) darken timbre.   How well does Inner Fidelity's compensated response setup correlate with the way we're supposed to hear and other's measurement methods? - their raw data looks somewhat rough but compensated, pretty good.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/headphone-data-sheet-downloads

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Hmm, removed the felt and replaced the pads with pleathers. I don't think the sound is to my liking... it makes the lower mid region sounds as if I'm listening in through a hollow chamber. It does clear up the treble but to the sacrifice of the pronounced lower mids.

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Now with the velours the hollow chamber sound is gone. The darkness is gone as well with the treble being clear but the sound seems thinner vs with felt. Bass impact has also decreased with better control which I find favorable for classical music. This is sounding most neutral of the three setups (velour/felt vs pleather/no felt vs most neutral velour/no felt)

A lighter weight felt plus velours might just be a happy median of being on the dark side of neutral with a bit more bass impact.

I might try going back to stock with the felt and velours just to rule out burn-in but the phones have been getting music for about 48hrs prior to any modding

 

[ryant]

I must say im really enjoying the stock configuration. I do want to try the pleather pads. Really my biggest issue is the lack of a good amplifier and source. I just have my computers onboard sound card and my droid DNA (which sounds better). I know I have heard people say you don't NEED an amp with these which I do agree with based on how they sound out of my phone. I can't help but wonder how much better they would be out of a DAC and amp. (I'm thinking of getting a modi vali (or Asgard 2, or mstage matrix) combo around Christmas. I really want to revisit the felt mod once that happens

Sent from my DLX using Tapatalk

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Modi would be a good candidate. Transformer is getting a Vali, ask him on impressions. I feel the felt mod and vali woild be a good combo while stock and magni would too

 

[alterndog]

For the computer, if it's a laptop, I just got the Audioquest Dragonfly from best buy for $100 and it does a pretty good job as a DAC/AMP, while being portable. 

 

[Transformatron]

For the computer, if it's a laptop, I just got the Audioquest Dragonfly from best buy for $100 and it does a pretty good job as a DAC/AMP, while being portable. 

Are yours modded? I was thinking the HiFimeDIY for work but like soundsgoodtome said I don't think it has enough power. I may get the Dragonfly since it has become so cheap.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I tried the Hifimediy Asynchronous this morning with the he300 and it is not a good pairing. There is 0 headroom and will only go to moderate listening levels. The mids are recessed and highs are super thin.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

For $100, you might look into an e17 (ok so its $120). The digital eq would be nice to play with on the 300.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

There's the Pyle rebranded Fiio E7 for $45. Amazon has that as well.