Hifiman HE-4 Impressions Thread

[rodweb]

The Schiit Vali is a great companion to the HE-4. I'm sure the O2 and Magni will work great as well.

Thanks! I'll see if I can find one around here.

 

[moriez]

I took the $100 plunge and have a Vali coming in on Monday which I'll test with the HE4. I bought it out of curiosity and the fact that it got praise for 2 of my headphones.

I'll report next week.

 
Cool. Like to hear your impressions.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I'll be honest, I'm skeptic and really wanting it for my AKGs and ATH. I'm coming from a 4W per channel Audio-GD dual Wolfson balanced amp/dac and is on the 2w per channel minimum boat.

If it plays nice then I'll be happy to report it.

 

[Thujone]

I'll be honest, I'm skeptic and really wanting it for my AKGs and ATH. I'm coming from a 4W per channel Audio-GD dual Wolfson balanced amp/dac and is on the 2w per channel minimum boat.

If it plays nice then I'll be happy to report it.

 
Understandable. I'm interested in your impressions either way.
 
One thing is for sure though, the efficiency (or lack thereof) of the HE-4 helps quite a bit with the microphonics on the Vali. If I plug my D2000's into it, it will ring for a long time (and very loudly) while the HE-4 remains very quiet in comparison. Sometimes I didn't even notice any ringing with the HE-4. It also helps to plug the headphone in first before powering up the amp though. Plugging/unplugging while powered up will cause it to ring quite a bit.

 

[rodweb]

For $449 new are they still a good value?

 

[Rinx7]

I would wait for the HE-400i unless you are a total treble head.

 

[hemipowered007]

They're not that bright...

 

[hemipowered007]

also, if the 400i ends up sounding better than a properly amped he4, I will be very very very suprised. I don't think the 400i is a competitive model against the 4. Remember. Its meant to be driven from a cell phone, they're giving up something to be able to achieve that goal for sure. The 560 is the he4 he500 competition, which is much pricier.

Edit- not saying to not wait. Wait for sure, but also wait until theres more than just hype reviews. I do think the 560 is an hp I want. But there will always be something special about this he4.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I've got a feeling the 400i will be a dark (er) phone. The impressions so far on the 560 makes it seem like it's closely related to the he4 as far as frequency response goes.

 

[hemipowered007]

Havnt really been on here Mich at all this week, if there's actually reviews now on the 560 ill have to catch up. And hey, let me know how that vali is compared to the audio gd...

 

[rodweb]

There's more treble on HE-4 than on DT880?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

No. The HE4 is smoother and fuller sounding. But the 880 is close in tonal balance.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Havnt really been on here Mich at all this week, if there's actually reviews now on the 560 ill have to catch up. And hey, let me know how that vali is compared to the audio gd...

Will do, color me skeptic though. There's a 3db difference the HE6 and HE4.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

  There's more treble on HE-4 than on DT880?

Here's the frequency response for the HE4, the top green line is smoothed like the smoothed DT880 below so keep that in mind when comparing the two.


 
 
Here's the DT880

 

[rodweb]

Here's the frequency response for the HE4, the top green line is smoothed like the smoothed DT880 below so keep that in mind when comparing the two.





Here's the DT880

Nice! Thank you for those graphics.