[kenshinhimura]

  no, HE-500 is not better according to that HE-6 is better and that surprised me a bit ...

meant compared to he-4

 

[148124]

  I can only imagine how they sound out of your vintage Pioneer... I envy you. It saddens me that the HE-4 will likely go out of production (if it hasn't already) due to being overshadowed by the HE-500 and the HE-400.
 
As far as preproman's impressions on air, I completely agree. Only my AKG's can compete with that amount of air (and quite unnaturally at that) but they don't touch the HE-4's when it comes to imaging and separation.
 
I agree, magicman. Though, I wouldn't say that the HE-400's are organic (at least in comparison). They are just too unnatural sounding, but I don't know what to contribute that to. All of the HFM cans have an upper mid recession, the HE-400 more than the rest, but is that the reason vocals and guitars sound so much better on the HE-4, because of less dB recession? I don't know. What I do know is that I'm putting up my HE-400's for sale. I am a lover of bass impact, but I'm not a lover of being restricted to EDM with those cans.
 
Also, just in case anyone is interested, I did some pad swapping between the jerg pads made by modulor and the velours on the HE-4's and I think I'm content with the stock velours. The jerg pads are a requirement on the HE-400's in my book, because the treble is crazy. I'm going to try to sell them as a pair to hopefully help someone out since modulor may not be making anymore. It might be kind of fun to add some bass vents to the velour pads on the HE-4 though!

 
organic - ultra fluid, smooth, warm, saturated (it sounded like that on my previous rig but mids were out of micro/macro details and a bit dull - death to piano, cello and other instruments I love to listen so I sold it really fast)

he-400 is a nice HP when driven by some portable - very easy to drive and you can still have some enjoyment although background noise isolation is almost non existing

 

[148124]

 
meant compared to he-4

there is no doubt
 
Just surprised HE-6 can beat HE-500 in this area ...

 

[hemipowered007]

Just do me a favor thujone, dont go selling the 400s for super cheap. I'm getting enough ridiculous low ball offers on mine as is!!! Drive up the value please!

 

[MattTCG]

^^ rofl...

 

 

[hemipowered007]

Its real funny going back and reading first impressions when these came out. Folks saying they dont scale, and they work perfectly out of low end hp amps. Somewhat like the 400, only we all know that's true for the 400, I at least know with the e17 from experience. I just really really can't wait. I believe for the sake of experimentation, I'm going to listen to the 4 First only on the e17. Maybe an entire album. Then jump to the 727, I want to hear the difference, as I feel never hearing it fully first, will truly let me hear it scale. I just love the fact that this hp seems to he so so underrated because only a few have unlocked its true potential. I'm truly excited I get to own one of the last remaining new in box he4s. Not sure how many are left but it doesn't seem like a ton. Anyhow, glad I was able to join the clan, hopefully Justin gets em out to me asap!!! Another thanks to him and headamp for being a great small outfit selling mid to high end gear for extremely reasonable prices. And no I wasn't pursuaded to say that, I just have a ton of respect for smaller outfits who still do things the "right" way.

 

[Thujone]

Just do me a favor thujone, dont go selling the 400s for super cheap. I'm getting enough ridiculous low ball offers on mine as is!!! Drive up the value please!

You read my mind, haha. The FS forum is saturated with HE-400 threads... ugh. I'll probably be lucky to get $320 out of them WITH modulors pads.

 

[jerg]

  You read my mind, haha. The FS forum is saturated with HE-400 threads... ugh. I'll probably be lucky to get $320 out of them WITH modulors pads.

You should definitely try to sell the pads separately. Paradoxically headphones sell more completely stock second-hand, even if the mods are fantastic.

 

[WNBC]

The HE-4 was my first ortho back when I had a Lyr.  Since then I moved on to other orthos like the LCD-2, HE-500, and Alpha Dog.  I have been thinking about adding an open ortho again to the lineup.  This thread has definitely got me re-thinking the HE-4.  When I had one it was at the start of this audiophile journey and I didn't appreciate it as much as I would now.  And now my DAC and amp chain have improved.  Hearing the HE-4 again could be something special.  Problem is nobody is selling them used 

.  May have to go the new HE-4 route.

 

[Thujone]

  Why get rid of the modulor jergpads? You could always save those for use on future HFM cans, or even sell them separately for quite a bit (since they are quite exclusive, I think only about 15 pairs in circulation, plus another 40 or so coming in later this month).

Well, I don't feel they are as much of a necessity with the HE-4's. In fact, I didn't notice much of a difference. With the numerous HE-400's FS, selling a pair with his pads may help with the sale. Plus it's always a bonus to say that the measurements were done on these headphones with these pads. Buuuuut, you're right. It's always a good thing to have on hand just in case. I still have my old pair of jergs that I'll likely hold on to and if I decide the velour top mod is necessary, I might give it a try myself.
 
Worst case scenario, I'm begging modulor to make me another pair, haha
 

 

[hemipowered007]

You read my mind, haha. The FS forum is saturated with HE-400 threads... ugh. I'll probably be lucky to get $320 out of them WITH modulors pads.

I just don't get where people get off all the sudden thinking the 400 is a
$250 hp. Ill keep mine in that case, can still use it for some NIN and the likes!

 

[jerg]

I just don't get where people get off all the sudden thinking the 400 is a
$250 hp. Ill keep mine in that case, can still use it for some NIN and the likes!

Just lay low for a while and wait for when the FT/S HE400s start drying up, and then post your ad.

 

[hemipowered007]

Oh I will, I'm not letting it go for dirt cheap, its a great headphone. Just isn't perfect with the genres of music I'm into. But, with some albums, it still amazes me. Anyhow, it'll be nice having the re400 he400 and he4 all hangin out together for a while. I'm not broke I don't NEED to sell anything.

 

[cheuh]

  I'm am a proud new owner of the HE-4. Since the HE-400 has been the king of my cans ever since I got it, I figured I'd post my impressions of the HE-4 vs. the HE-400 to show how the HE-400 has been dethroned. (This is copied from a PM I sent to modulor who was interested in the impressions):
 
 
First and foremost, these HE-4's are freaking light! Holy cow, I didn't think it would be this noticeable. Anyway, when I first plugged them into the Ember (35 ohm output resistance), I had to crank the knob up quite a bit, but it still powered them relatively well. Out of curiosity, I immediately switched to the low output impedance (0.1 ohm) for higher power. Ooooooo, there we go, much better. I started with some Savant, moved into some Chevelle, Infected Mushroom, etc. Back and forth between the HE-4's and HE-400's (both with velour pads). Almost right away I find a large difference, and to no surprise either. The treble on the HE-400 is much worse. Don't get me wrong though, I kept a treble reducing EQ on the entire time since the HE-4's benefit from it as well, but the HE-400's just have too much tizz that cannot be saved with EQ. HE-4: 1, HE-400: 0. The next thing I noticed came as a great surprise. The unnatural sound of the HE-400 is not shared with the HE-4. In fact, I typically stay away from rock music in general on the 400's because they can't reproduce guitars and vocals in a natural way -- making EDM a perfect candidate. Yet, here I am, jamming out to some rock on the HE-4's and giddy as hell because they sound so much more natural. HE-4: 2, HE-400: 0. Now, as I'm digging the new organic ortho sound, I notice something else that catches me by surprise: imaging. I've put the HE-400's on a pedestal ever since I got them because they just make my dynamic cans sound muddy in comparison. Maybe that's the treble adding crispness (where the HD580's are "veiled" hehe) or maybe it's just what we've all contributed it too: the speed of orthos. Well guess what. The HE-4's make the HE-400's sound congested. Picking out specific instruments or voices is even easier now. These cans are very airy in comparison to the 400's. HE-4: 3, HE-400: 0. Things are looking pretty dismal for the 400's, so I decided to do some critical listening on bass, their strong suit. I listened to a bunch of hard hitting EDM tracks and it's definitely clear that the HE-400's win this battle. The more congested (or closed, if you will) sound helps these bad boys punch with more weight. I wouldn't say there is more texture or that the bass is clearer, but it hits harder for sure.
 
Final score:
HE-4: 3, HE-400: 1.
 
Now, just some other things that you may want to consider: the HE-4's come in a sweet HFM hard case (not the traveler case), one braided (long) cable, one short cable, and they are significantly lighter. Since I only wanted to compare the sound, I didn't tally those up as points for the HE-4's, but wow. These are an incredible bargain. However, the HE-400's remain much easier to drive. I could tell just from the difference between medium and low output impedance that you are going to need a powerful amp to do these justice. This would obviously be a point towards the HE-400's, but who cares? I have Project Ember 

.

 
Thanks for the impressions. It's a shame that they are so hard to drive... because I would love to try these out if they beat out the HE-400s.
 
What's the minimum / low cost amp requirement to drive these?
 
Oh and I was wondering how does the mid range for vocals compare to your HD580 and AKG K702 65th AEs?

 

[Thujone]

   
Thanks for the impressions. It's a shame that they are so hard to drive... because I would love to try these out if they beat out the HE-400s.
 
What's the minimum / low cost amp requirement to drive these?
 
Oh and I was wondering how does the mid range for vocals compare to your HD580 and AKG K702 65th AEs?

I think the best amp for the money is the Emotiva mini, or at least that's what seems to be the general consensus. Emotiva sells it new for ~$170 if it's on sale.
 
I think the midrange is fantastic. Vocals are great on the HD580 and HE-4 with the HD580 being more laid back for sure. The K702/65 has an upper midrange glare (I'm guessing it's the 2kHz hump on the FR of all the AKG cans of that body style) that makes some vocals rather fatiguing for me personally. You're also going to get some sibilance with the HE-4 depending on the recording, but you can count on not having those issues on the HD580. Also, the soundstage/air on the HD580/600 is rather pathetic in comparison to the HE-4.