[Skylab]

Quote:

This is a bit confusing. Are they as good as the HE-6? I'd sure like to save $500 and put it in a DAC.

Since the HE-6 are significantly better than the HE-5LE, I sincerely doubt the HE-4 will be as good as even the HE-5LE, much less the HE-6. 

 

[dw1narso]

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^^...yeah, except they do that and then quality plummets and you end up losing a good product. 
 
Glad Fostex is a Japanese company..the chances of production moving to China are that much rarer.

yeah... China companies need to catch up on the quality control... But hey, how do you categorized HifiMan then? American company with the production on China?
 
Actually a lot Fostex speaker drivers (like the famous FE206, 207, etc. except for the special sophisticated series) are made in Taiwan for close to 10 years already...
 
and not only Fostex... I have Visaton (Germany speaker company) that have their drivers made in China... and SB-Acoustic (a relatively new speaker driver company, which actually a venture from previous people at ScanSpeak/Vifa) have their drivers made in my country, Indonesia.
 
So, it's all about quality control... Fang can do that and proof that HifiMan is a world class product... but it doesn't mean that someone else cannot do the same, right...

 

[sachu]

AS far as commenting on HIfiman, I can't unless I want to get banned. THey have deep pockets on HF. I do believe HIFIMAN is a Chinese company (apologies if I have this wrong) but that really has no bearing on the discussion.
 
In an objective sense, the plain fact is that the HIfiman driver (haven't seen the HE6 yet, but i can't imagine them having improved it by THAT much) is hardly SOTA. THe T50RP driver is still in my mind up there with the LCD-2 driver. The two are what i consider to be SOTA ortho drivers.
 
we digress too far from the topic now..back to the HE4

 

[dw1narso]

 
Quote:

Quote:

This is a bit confusing. Are they as good as the HE-6? I'd sure like to save $500 and put it in a DAC.

Since the HE-6 are significantly better than the HE-5LE, I sincerely doubt the HE-4 will be as good as even the HE-5LE, much less the HE-6. 

That is one reasoning... but if you look at how Canon and HP drive their product development, sometimes they introduce some advantages on the lower grade product that even the higher grade product don't have... I recall that when HP introduced InkJet, a lot of people from their inside actually didn't like the idea, in affraid of that the InkJet printers would kill their LaserJet printers... But HP continue the development.. because they know.. If they don't do it, somebody else will do... It is better for HP to beat their own product with their other own product, as long as they are still the market leader on printer... and history tell us, the decision are right...
 
Look at HM801 and HM602/601... I bet, that regardless of the price and the size, some may prefer one over the other because of the sound signature that may feed to their preference.. 
 

 

[dw1narso]

Quote:

 
we digress too far from the topic now..back to the HE4

my pleasure, Sir... that's why I subscribe this thread... I want to know more about HE4
 

 

[.Sup]

It looks like the HE5 LE but with a pair of magnets less and better build quality. Lighter, meant for more portable use as it also comes with cable meant for portable devices. I wonder if the 350g weight is with the cable or not.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

It looks like the HE5 LE but with a pair of magnets less and better build quality. Lighter, meant for more portable use as it also comes with cable meant for portable devices. I wonder if the 350g weight is with the cable or not.

Always without the cable.

 

[b0unce]

So has anybody got these yet? I'm thinking about an xmas preset for myself  

 

[wumbo17412]

Quote:

It looks like the HE5 LE but with a pair of magnets less and better build quality. Lighter, meant for more portable use as it also comes with cable meant for portable devices. I wonder if the 350g weight is with the cable or not.

Portable devices? The Head-direct website says they need a powerful amplifier to drive them. I'm confused because if I could put them through an RSA or other high-end portable amp/dac and then my iPod classic it would be all the more incentive to buy one. But I am still skeptical of whether this would be tangible or would result in the phones being underpowered and underwhelming.

 

[ghahn]

Looking at the impedance (38 ohms) and efficiency (86 dB!!) I'd say it's absolutely not possible to drive them (properly) with an iPod...

 

[wumbo17412]

Quote:

Looking at the impedance (38 ohms) and efficiency (86 dB!!) I'd say it's absolutely not possible to drive them (properly) with an iPod...

 
That's what I thought, but I seem to be getting a few mixed signals now. Regardless I am new to the forum and don't know enough about amplification. I know what can and can't effectively be driven through and iPod alone and the basics of low-end amps and the cans they can drive, nothing advanced though.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

^^...yeah, except they do that and then quality plummets and you end up losing a good product. 
 
Glad Fostex is a Japanese company..the chances of production moving to China are that much rarer.

Their quality may have improved with their new square drivers, but in my experience with their older phones, they are hardly a good example of a quality made product.  They sound great and seem to be engineered well sonically, but 5/9 Fostex I've purchased have had connection issues in the driver or elsewhere and they were all in pretty good condition physically ie they weren't banged up or anything. 
 
Anyways, I'd love to hear some impressions of the HE4

 

[cnk15]

Hello everyone, new to the forums but I just ordered the HE-4's so I wanted to tag this thread.  Hope to get them soon. 

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

Hello everyone, new to the forums but I just ordered the HE-4's so I wanted to tag this thread.  Hope to get them soon. 

fantastic! keep us updated okay?

 

[cnk15]

Quote:

Quote:

Hello everyone, new to the forums but I just ordered the HE-4's so I wanted to tag this thread.  Hope to get them soon. 

fantastic! keep us updated okay?

Will do.  Hopefully I get them before Christmas as it's my wife's Christmas gift to me. . .only she doesn't know that yet.  LOL.