[stang]

   
 
Probably, but my wallet says otherwise    If someone wants to lend me one for a review I would be open to that too
 
If you are looking for 10% more bass than the HE-4 then I would agree that the 400 is definitely too much, and the 400i would be as well.  I would say the 400i has closer to 50% more bass the HE-4.
 
Which amp are you using?  My preferred amps for the HE-4 are the WA6 with 6DF7 tubes and the Fiio A1 speaker amp.

 
I'm sure the HE-400 and HE-400i would definitely have too much bass then, thanks. I'm sure they would be great fun for a little while then I would get annoyed from them. 
 
I am using my Little Dot MKVI+. Currently doing a little research on some possible tube upgrades. Currently single ended due to using a turntable. Though to be fair I compared my old balanced LCD-2 rev 2.2 to single ended on my original rig and only noticed in balanced it was slightly louder, no difference in SQ to my ears with my music. Might get a balanced DAC again in the future but not a priority at the moment. 

 

[jaxz]

Quick question:  My Project Ember just came in.  I'm getting ready to test it for the first time.  What jumper settings do you guys use with the HE-4?

Sorry. I don't have the ember but I'm sure there are a dedicated thread in the full size amps about Ember tube rolling. Difficult to find it from my phone to link it but it's there.

 

[Makiah S]

really enjoying these after spending a lot of time with my LA D5k 
 
so glad I have them  

 

[hemipowered007]

Anyone have any suggestions on tubes for the Project Ember that pair well with the HE-4?  I'm not really feeling the ones I have right now.  The best is an Aperex 6DJ8.  It smooths out the sound and tames the highs a bit, but it does weird stuff to the bass... it loses a lot of that awesome planar detail.

Thujone and soundsgoodtome need to step in! One of the ones thujone has that I heard sounded real nice with the ember. Hell have to chime in to tell you make/model

 

[stang]

My local audio store has the HE-500 and HE-400i so I might go in next week (finally) and compare to my HE-4. Currently recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction so I doubt it will be this week. The HE-4 are truly impressive in the imaging department but I can't get used to the treble and I would rather not spend all my time and money experimenting with mods and tubes etc. My LCD-2 rev 2.2 were fantastic but I felt that they were lacking in the upper treble region. The HE-4 goes too far with this for my tastes. I'm thinking the HE-500 might be what I am looking for (though it's a shame they are so heavy). So if anyone is interested in purchasing my HE-4 from me, send me a PM. I won't know for sure if I want to sell them until I've at least heard the HE-500, though. 

 

[Jack Smyth]

I'm searching for an upgrade to my AD700s with the HE-4 + NFB 11 in mind, mainly because of its soundstage and stronger treble (hopefully not too strong) compared to its HE competitors. The thing is I'm seeing a few good deals on the HE-5LE and HE-500 but none for the HE-4. I know how the HE-4 and HE-500 compare but I can't find nearly as many reviews to properly place the HE-5LE. Can someone give me a quick comparison on the HE-4 vs HE-5LE?

 

[stang]

  I'm searching for an upgrade to my AD700s with the HE-4 + NFB 11 in mind, mainly because of its soundstage and stronger treble (hopefully not too strong) compared to its HE competitors. The thing is I'm seeing a few good deals on the HE-5LE and HE-500 but none for the HE-4. I know how the HE-4 and HE-500 compare but I can't find nearly as many reviews to properly place the HE-5LE. Can someone give me a quick comparison on the HE-4 vs HE-5LE?

I own the AD700 and the HE-4 if that helps. Been using them exclusively the last few weeks. I've unfortunately had no experience with the HE-5LE. 

 

[Jack Smyth]

I really like the AD700 and my only complaint would be the lack of bass which actually doesn't bother me that much. But the thought of something significantly better has got me excited.

 

[stang]

Without analysing too much, in short, I would say the HE-4 would be like the AD700 with some actual bass (to me AD700 have almost zero) but with a soundstage around 75% the volume and present more intimate vocals. A much better headphone, imo. I only use the AD700 for games really, but I just compared the two quickly then with music. 

 

[Jack Smyth]

Thanks for the comparison. Before I started looking that description was what I had in mind for what I wanted in an upgrade.

 

[stang]

  Thanks for the comparison. Before I started looking that description was what I had in mind for what I wanted in an upgrade.

 
If you want, shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to go into detail between the two tomorrow with a couple of songs and let you know the results. 

 

[Jack Smyth]

Thanks for the offer, but I don't think it'll change my mind on what to get so there's no need. I really appreciate it though.

 

[stang]

Alright. Went down to the headphone store today and listened to my HE-4, some HE-500, HE-400i and also some Alpha Dogs. 
 
First of all, I listened to the Alpha Dogs right before I packed up as I didn't think closed headphones would do it for me. But wow are they impressive, bigger soundstage than the HE-400i I think! Roughly the same mid-high treble level to me as my HE-4 but it definitely has more bass and smoother and more body to the mids (though I wouldn't say they are any more forward than on the HE-4). They are very comfortable and when listening I really didn't think I was listening to closed headphones. 
 
Anyway, onto the Hifimans. First off, the differences between the HE-4, HE-400i and HE-500 are far from night and day to my ears. 
 
Summary
 
HE-4: Large soundstage, great imaging, great attack, quite a lot of life to higher notes on guitars and drums sound fantastic
HE-500: Relatively large soundstage (smaller than the HE-4 but I feel instruments blend in well together whereas HE-4 leaves large gaps between each), very smooth and relaxing mids (especially male vocals; can sometimes be boring), highs aren't overwhelming like HE-4 can be but are still prominent
HE-400i: Small soundstage, good amount of bass but strange low to mid-bass which can be fatiguing, vocals sit behind instruments, great impact, fatiguing highs
 
Overall, the HE-400i definitely are not what I want. They sounded the best out of the lot with poorly mastered recordings which lacked life and detail, but that was it. I found them engaging, however quite fatiguing like some Grado's (to my ears). They also sounded quite congested with some tracks and it's like it failed to play all the bass notes from the bass guitar smoothly and clearly. 
 
The HE-500 weren't as good as I was expecting. For some reason I really enjoyed the LCD-2 but not the HE-500. The vocals on some tracks truly sounded great but not amazing like some describe (could be poor synergy with my amp but regardless I'm not going to get another/different amp). The highs were nice and smooth but I think it's the upper mids which are still too sharp for my liking like the HE-4. They just seem too smooth and relaxed in the mids/lower mids and too edgy later on until we get to the cymbals (from the drum kit). 
 
As for the HE-4, which I of course own, they sound by far the worst with the poorly recorded/mastered songs. The large soundstage made them sound even worse due to the fact all the instruments and even the vocals lacked life completely (probably due to prominence of treble and lack of lower frequencies) which made the sound very flat and lifeless with little engagement. On some tracks it also sounded like there was no sound coming from the centre and only from left and right. 
 
Also worth mentioning that on a scale of 0-100 on my amplifier's volume control, the HE-4 needed to be about 20 higher than the other HifiMAN's. 
 
Overall the HE-400i aren't what I am looking for and the HE-500 weren't exactly what I am after either and thus I don't think it is worth while to go through the hassle of selling the HE-4 and purchasing HE-500 to just be content and not happy/excited about new headphones. 
 
I might go back next week to try out some more headphones. 

 

[bassboysam]

Alright. Went down to the headphone store today and listened to my HE-4, some HE-500, HE-400i and also some Alpha Dogs. 

First of all, I listened to the Alpha Dogs right before I packed up as I didn't think closed headphones would do it for me. But wow are they impressive, bigger soundstage than the HE-400i I think! Roughly the same mid-high treble level to me as my HE-4 but it definitely has more bass and smoother and more body to the mids (though I wouldn't say they are any more forward than on the HE-4). They are very comfortable and when listening I really didn't think I was listening to closed headphones. 

Anyway, onto the Hifimans. First off, the differences between the HE-4, HE-400i and HE-500 are far from night and day to my ears. 

Summary

HE-4: Large soundstage, great imaging, great attack, quite a lot of life to higher notes on guitars and drums sound fantastic
HE-500: Relatively large soundstage (smaller than the HE-4 but I feel instruments blend in well together whereas HE-4 leaves large gaps between each), very smooth and relaxing mids (especially male vocals; can sometimes be boring), highs aren't overwhelming like HE-4 can be but are still prominent
HE-400i: Small soundstage, good amount of bass but strange low to mid-bass which can be fatiguing, vocals sit behind instruments, great impact, fatiguing highs

Overall, the HE-400i definitely are not what I want. They sounded the best out of the lot with poorly mastered recordings which lacked life and detail, but that was it. I found them engaging, however quite fatiguing like some Grado's (to my ears). They also sounded quite congested with some tracks and it's like it failed to play all the bass notes from the bass guitar smoothly and clearly. 

The HE-500 weren't as good as I was expecting. For some reason I really enjoyed the LCD-2 but not the HE-500. The vocals on some tracks truly sounded great but not amazing like some describe (could be poor synergy with my amp but regardless I'm not going to get another/different amp). The highs were nice and smooth but I think it's the upper mids which are still too sharp for my liking like the HE-4. They just seem too smooth and relaxed in the mids/lower mids and too edgy later on until we get to the cymbals (from the drum kit). 

As for the HE-4, which I of course own, they sound by far the worst with the poorly recorded/mastered songs. The large soundstage made them sound even worse due to the fact all the instruments and even the vocals lacked life completely (probably due to prominence of treble and lack of lower frequencies) which made the sound very flat and lifeless with little engagement. On some tracks it also sounded like there was no sound coming from the centre and only from left and right. 

Also worth mentioning that on a scale of 0-100 on my amplifier's volume control, the HE-4 needed to be about 20 higher than the other HifiMAN's. 

Overall the HE-400i aren't what I am looking for and the HE-500 weren't exactly what I am after either and thus I don't think it is worth while to go through the hassle of selling the HE-4 and purchasing HE-500 to just be content and not happy/excited about new headphones. 

I might go back next week to try out some more headphones. 

isn't the he-5le supposed to be similar to the he-4 but with less treble?

 

[stang]

isn't the he-5le supposed to be similar to the he-4 but with less treble?

I've read the HE-500 is warmer sounding than the HE-5LE so I doubt the HE-5LE would do it for me either.