Hifiman HE-4 Impressions Thread

[Thujone]

Your system is just flushing itself out so that you can experience the headphones at 100% health!

 

[hemipowered007]

Haha ya I suppose. This happened when I got my magnums too, my body can't take all the excitement I guess.

 

[hemipowered007]

Opened em up, threw em on. Sick and all, I have a smile on my face. These right off the bat are what i have been going for. They are a tad bright, but in a good way, no tizz as on the he400.  Its not exhausting like the 400 is. So much air, just so much air in between the instruments. The bass!!! I honestly am going to go out on a limb here and be the guy everyone says is crazy, but i believe the bass to be better on these than the 400. BUT!!!, here's the reason, the spectrum isn't so just crazily overshadowed by bass and tizz treble, so it fits in better. Yes the 400 does seem to have a tad more quantity, but this is by memory, it could also be that the upper mid recession made it seem that way. Its that recession that always made the 400 seem off completely to me. Vocals are vastly improved, im sure not up to 500 status from what ive read, but much better than the 400. Overall presentation is just more engaging for rock and metal. I dont know if i am remembering the 400 perfectly but these sound more detailed,better imaging for sure. Listening to porcupine tree- blackest eyes currently, it just seems so much more natural, there is still a v shape to it, but it sounds fantastic to me. Guitars have more realism to them, not as much as my magnums, but the 4 does EVERYTHING else better, so i will take that "imperfection" as a gain.  Im listening to Mark lanegan - ugly sunday, right now, and just remember the 400 and the magnum sounding so unnatural that i couldnt enjoy the song. Now I can just close my eyes, tilt my head back and sink into the mood of the music. These things do like their power! im at 12 to 1 o clock on my pioneer, the magnums and he400 would never get past maybe 10. I wonder what the emotiva would bring to these.....i wonder. Sorry for the rant, blame it on the flu fellas!!! A huge thanks to magicman preproman and matttcg amongst others for giving me the recs to trade up. I dont think ill be gunning for the he500 anymore,

 

[hemipowered007]

Oh my, just put on infected mushroom, jaw dropping as we speak.

 

[Thujone]

  Oh my, just put on infected mushroom, jaw dropping as we speak.

My favorite 

. I'm glad you enjoy them, I agree with your impressions vs. the 400. These cans are spectacular. 

 

[MattTCG]

plus one on the agreement about these versus the 400. They are truly special and I don't think many around here know it. The bass is just absolutely amazing and in my opinion is better than the bass on the 400. The he4 has always been better than The 400 in my opinion.

 

[hemipowered007]

My favorite  . I'm glad you enjoy them, I agree with your impressions vs. the 400. These cans are spectacular. 

I meant to thank you to bud! Sorry, I said I was sick...

 

[Thujone]

Haha, no worries. Anytime someone mentions Infected Mushroom, I get excited. Those guys are so awesome.

 

[hemipowered007]

plus one on the agreement about these versus the 400. They are truly special and I don't think many around here know it. The bass is just absolutely amazing and in my opinion is better than the bass on the 400. The he4 has always been better than The 400 in my opinion.

The bass texture seems better to me for sure. And the quality in general. So so so glad I made this choice. Now I can sell my magnums after a cosmetic remodel. I do not know if I need the emotiva. I really wany to hear these with a tube preamp though ..still very interested in the tubemagic d2 for that as it improves on my dac as well. Just using the dacdestroyer right now. I have no problem with it, just lookin for a reason to make my setup look/sound better and more diverse

 

[hemipowered007]

And not to mention, the cable is fantastic. So much better than the 400s.

 

[MattTCG]

Get the emotiva or totl pioneer. I will sell you one of mine but you have to pickup locally.

 

[Thujone]

And not to mention, the cable is fantastic. So much better than the 400s.

It's silly that they don't just make that cable for all of them... I don't like the HE-500 cable either since it's too stiff.
 
I will be selling my D1 Plus here soon if you're interested. It has the GE5670W tube upgrade. I know it's a little different from the D2, but it's in great condition since I never opened it and only took it off my desk more than a couple times. Check out their comparison sheet to compare the D1 Plus to the D2 and PM me if you are interested: http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tube_magic_d1/dac_comparison1

 

[kothganesh]

  ............. I wonder what the emotiva would bring to these.....i wonder. Sorry for the rant, blame it on the flu fellas!!! A huge thanks to magicman preproman and matttcg amongst others for giving me the recs to trade up. I dont think ill be gunning for the he500 anymore,

+1. The combination of Preproman, Magicman and Matt (three wise men) has sold more HE4s than Hifiman ! 

 Hemipowered, do what I did...before Matt twists your arms further, go get the Emotiva for $169 (if still available)... I got it a week ago.
 
This is the right protocol

 

[hemipowered007]

+1. The combination of Preproman, Magicman and Matt (three wise men) has sold more HE4s than Hifiman !   Hemipowered, do what I did...before Matt twists your arms further, go get the Emotiva for $169 (if still available)... I got it a week ago.

This is the right protocol

More of an improvement than upgrading my dac? I think the 727 is a great receiver but I am also skeptical if its up to par. Maybe I should just buy the emotiva...its my Xmas gift to myself "from my wife"

 

[john57]

Yes the Emotiva mini-X a-100 is still available at $169. There is a thread:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/629352/he-500-lcd2-d5000-dt770-sr80-on-a-speaker-amp-emotiva-mini-x-a-100-project
 All about the Emotiva mini-X a-100 2483 posts with 110,989 views not bad for a speaker amp.