[Magnepansordie]

Does he have anything else? Where is this?

He's got another pair of he-4 for the same price still, and three pairs of sr-80's. The rest of his shop is vintage speakers and amps/tube amps. The place is Mizfitzs audio in grand rapids, michigan. If you're within range. Get there early on friday and I'm pretty much certain he still has both the he-4 and 560 in stock (I bought my pair virtually at closing time last sunday). He's a super awesome dude. Will let you unplug and plug any and all of his gear in the listening room he has. And people often bum around for hours just chatting and listening to stuff. Highly recommend. Where he got these headphones from, and why they're so cheap I've got no clue. Just crazy good prices on some stuff

 

[hemipowered007]

He's got another pair of he-4 for the same price still, and three pairs of sr-80's. The rest of his shop is vintage speakers and amps/tube amps. The place is Mizfitzs audio in grand rapids, michigan. If you're within range. Get there early on friday and I'm pretty much certain he still has both the he-4 and 560 in stock (I bought my pair virtually at closing time last sunday). He's a super awesome dude. Will let you unplug and plug any and all of his gear in the listening room he has. And people often bum around for hours just chatting and listening to stuff. Highly recommend. Where he got these headphones from, and why they're so cheap I've got no clue. Just crazy good prices on some stuff

Wow, I wish I had something like that here in southern/central oregon. It seems as of the last 6 years or so, everyone knows the values of everything because of Google/ebay/Internet in general. I can't believe anyone is selling an he4 for under 250 or so. 89 is just insane. If I were you, I would buy that 2nd one and sell it on ebay. Or, buy it and I'll pay you back plus extra. I would love to give a pair to my brother.

 

[Makiah S]

I know, I saw it and nearly did a triple take. I didn't really have the money at the moment but could hardly pass it up. so you know I made it work. He actually had a pair of he-560 for 175 too. But I literally didn't have that much money on me. So I couldn't force that to work. It's tempting to go back in and buy the 560's(he's only open on the weekend) but I feel like someone else deserves that deal.

ooh, I just got an OG HE 560 and I like it... a small but noticeable step up from the HE 4 imo

 

[Magnepansordie]

Wow, I wish I had something like that here in southern/central oregon. It seems as of the last 6 years or so, everyone knows the values of everything because of Google/ebay/Internet in general. I can't believe anyone is selling an he4 for under 250 or so. 89 is just insane. If I were you, I would buy that 2nd one and sell it on ebay. Or, buy it and I'll pay you back plus extra. I would love to give a pair to my brother.

The only possible issue with doing it that way, is I don't have paypal/it doesn't function for me. If you would be to willing to send me the money via simple(online bank) I'd be willing to do that. How about 150, and I'll pay the shipping?

 

[Magnepansordie]

ooh, I just got an OG HE 560 and I like it... a small but noticeable step up from the HE 4 imo

Yea, I noticed the same thing in my listening session in the audio shop. But, in the end it just wasn't a big enough difference to spend the extra money

 

[hemipowered007]

Actually I'm good man, no offense or anything but I noticed your very very new here, and I've been burned on things before. Anyways, I hope you really enjoy that he4, what are you driving it with anyways?

 

[hemipowered007]

ooh, I just got an OG HE 560 and I like it... a small but noticeable step up from the HE 4 imo

Really? I always heard it was more of a different flavor, not an upgrade so to say. That's why I never bothered once they started going on super sale. I still want an he500 though, I think I've given up on the he6 because really, if I'm going to spend 1k it'll be on in ears, since that's what I listen to 90% of the time nowadays. They can't do what full size can, but, I can't listen to an he4 where I listen to iems, so, it works.

 

[Magnepansordie]

Actually I'm good man, no offense or anything but I noticed your very very new here, and I've been burned on things before. Anyways, I hope you really enjoy that he4, what are you driving it with anyways?

That's totally fair m8. I understand the skepticism, new account claiming a crazy deal on a pair of headphones. I get it. I'm driving them with a JDS labs element. It seems to do the trick very well. In fact I'm usually below half on the volume know(high gain)

P.S: If you call the shop during business hours I'm pretty sure he'd be willing to ship them to you. Just explain your situation. The number is on his google store page

 

[hemipowered007]

That's totally fair m8. I understand the skepticism, new account claiming a crazy deal on a pair of headphones. I get it. I'm driving them with a JDS labs element. It seems to do the trick very well. In fact I'm usually below half on the volume know(high gain)

That looks like a cool amp/dac. Jds is pretty flat on sq most of the time so that should sound good at 1.5w output to the he4.

Side note here, my coworker who is an audiophile but of the speaker side, gave me his custom amp/preamp to take a look at for him. Has some static in a channel apparently. It's a 150 wpc bedini amp and a preamp, which is a really nice piece of gear. I have to make a new custom cable to drive the he4 out of it once I clean it out eventually, but, from everything I gather, it'll be a damn beast with the he4, most likely much better than my sx1010. Going to have trouble giving it back I bet

 

[Makiah S]

Really? I always heard it was more of a different flavor, not an upgrade so to say. That's why I never bothered once they started going on super sale. I still want an he500 though, I think I've given up on the he6 because really, if I'm going to spend 1k it'll be on in ears, since that's what I listen to 90% of the time nowadays. They can't do what full size can, but, I can't listen to an he4 where I listen to iems, so, it works.

Well pads make a difference, my HE 4 had Very Worn & Angled DT 880 Pads and an OFC Copper cable. Two things that added body and made it a little darker

My HE 560 has the BrainWav Pads Angle that remove body and further flatten bass response, I've also got a full silver cable which again helps to remove body and improve... impact and Clarity. So in stock form they are a little different.

Though frequency response is simmilarish but the presentation is different, though again with some slight tweaks you can upgrade from an HE 4 to the HE 560. Though I can't speak for the V2 or V3 variants as I think they are different, both in fit and tuning

 

[hemipowered007]

My he4 are uo for sale, if anyone is near southern oregon i may also part with my pioneer sx1010, just dont use anything anymore, may as well go somewhere and get enjoyed.

 

[Fegefeuer]

hey guys,

I'm looking for a HE-4 as mine has a driver defect that cannot be repaired. I'm based in Germany/EU but of course I'm open for overseas as I really miss this headphone. If you have a broken headphone but working drivers that's fine too.

thank you for your efforts

 

[.Sup]

hey guys,

I'm looking for a HE-4 as mine has a driver defect that cannot be repaired. I'm based in Germany/EU but of course I'm open for overseas as I really miss this headphone. If you have a broken headphone but working drivers that's fine too.

thank you for your efforts

Ah now you got me thinking... dont want to sell it but I ordered the Sundara. There isnt a headphone that has this smooth of a sound Like HE-4. You can send me a PM with an offer if you like Fegefeuer.

 

[hemipowered007]

So, since im sitting here in the exact same spot as where this pic was taken, listening to the he4 on this rig i figured i would share a pic from a month or so ago that i shared on other boards. I still very much love the he4, and added the audio gd r2r11 as a dac into the sx1010 recently. It resulted in optimal results at the price point for me. I am now interested in going much higher in r2r gear in the far off future. For now, its definitely more than enough of a rig to enjoy for a long time. My issue is, i have gotten so used to the absolute clarity i get from my iems, that full sized headphones sometimes lack in that area. I swear the sony ex1000 was both the best and worst thing i ever bought. That damn iem has really screwed up my full sized game. My fostex build is euphoric in its presentation so it stays, the denon d2k build is amazing for bass heavy stuff, the he4, is great, but, man i know i can get MORE. I have a feeling the dharma d1000 by enigmaAcoustics would be a logical upgrade. I swear ive put the he4 up for sale 10 times and never sold it. It never has worked out. So, if anyone out there has a d1000 and wants to do a temp trade for some gear i would love to audition them. Until then, im sitting here in my garage, listening to an old The Human Abstract prog metal album, and still loving the he4s absolute aggresive fast brilliance. The textures, the speed, the authentic pure rendering of electric guitars and all the distortion, just great. But damnit i know theres more, just like always, but is anything going to really be that much "better" than this now rare piece? I really need to keep them as a memento if anything, if anyone has found another hp with a similar tuning that you truly believe is a worthwhile upgrade to the he4 please let me know. If i absolutely knew that dharma d1000 was a true upgrade id sell the he4 tomorrow. Im just scared of selling them because i know how hard it is to find them again now. Head-fi is a curse of the unknown. Anyways yal, longwinded rant as always from me, keep rocking, music is what matters and i promise im about to just get lost in some progressive crap for a while tonight. Takes my mind off the reality of this world.

 

[hanouk]

I have a pair since end of summer.
The left diaphragm is perforated (tiny 1mm² hole), so when loud bass notes are played, there is a rattle noise. I have been using them for 3-4 months, I wonder how long they will last with a torn diaphragm. Sometimes I push them around 85 dB. I paid little money for them because of that issue (+ channel imbalance) so I really dont mind.

I usually don't EQ headphones. I have done so during many years, often seeking good tonalities without weird dips or peaks in the FR.
The HE-4 is honestly a very bright headphone in stock form, and the upper-mids are missing some energy. The mid and upper-treble are very nasty, the whole 7-13 khz region is very elevated and gets on my nerves very quickly.

I have owned some classic Hifimans in the past, such as the HE-6, HE-500 and HE-5LE. Always liked the punch and speed of these cans. The HE-500 had by far the best tonality in stock form, but it was the most compressed sounding of the bunch, with unrefined treble and slightly (but still impactful) loose bass. The HE-4 definitely has a solid combination of fast transients with great attack and dynamics. One of the best "blackground" and clarity I have ever heard in a headphone. The HE-4 reminds me of a baby 4-screw HE-6 with less bass and mids body.

Considering the issues my pair has, and the annoying stock FR, I decided to keep them and play a bit with EQ. They respond nicely to EQ, especially in the bass and treble. They aren't the cleanest headphone, with some distorsion in the upper-mids & treble, and the zippy treble is still there after EQ, but the results are so satisfying that I decided to EQ them by ear with my HD580 next to them and get as close as I could. Of course, it won't ever have the nice timbre of the Sennheiser, and the sweet midrange, but I got good results. The bass is very taut and can slam relatively nicely after a boost.

With proper amplification (Bryston BHA-1, but they would actually also benefit from a good speaker amp that rolls off a bit in the upper-treble), and some additional modding (felt/dampenings), they're really a treat. I use mine with stock velour pads (the old Hifiman velour pads with fragile tabs). These pads have a larger opening than modern Hifiman velour pads and are softer ; more comfort and slightly better stage. They do sound a bit brighter though, so an EQ is definitely mandatory for my personal use.

Pic of "modern" velour pads on left, old velour pads on right :