Thanks all. I will continue to break these in and enjoy them. First open headphones. May look into the grill mod since it is very easy to do. Do not think I will venture into the jergpad mod.
i do agree with everyone's praise of spotify & the fact that i personally cannot tell the difference between 320kbps files vs loseless. however, i have noticed a lot of very subtle source-related distortion on some spotify tracks using my hi-fi set-ups. doesn't really detract from the listening experience & i also wonder if the distortion is present in the original mix. anyone else feel me (lol have similar experiences)?
Is it only when listening with the HE-400? I've only experienced some slight distortion in the low end on a handful of tracks. And it's mostly on overproduced pop songs anyway, so I suspect it's probably in the mastering. The chorus on Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey is one example off the top of my head. It gets a tad messy.
Q: Are these the Rev 2 drivers? Thanks for your time. A:
Depends on when you bought the HE-400. I checked at HiFiMan & was told that I got the revised version as Audio Advisor only had the revised version as the originals were recalled. Getting the HE-400 from Amazon will most likely have the later/revised drivers as reported elsewhere. Don't know if it is labeled "rev 2" as there weren't any distinguishing markings as that was the reason I checked with the manufacturer; also don't know if the label of "rev 2" is the same as revised/fixed from the original.
Congrats, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with listening to music on Spotify. The difference between Spotify set to high quality and FLAC is marginal and not worth the time and hard drive space needed to amass what you already have available to you now. (I love Spotify, BTW) If it sounds good to you, then enjoy it, don't worry about lossless. The only time I'd consider it is if I upgraded to the HD 800. Luckily the HE-400 is much more forgiving.
i do agree with everyone's praise of spotify & the fact that i personally cannot tell the difference between 320kbps files vs loseless. however, i have noticed a lot of very subtle source-related distortion on some spotify tracks using my hi-fi set-ups. doesn't really detract from the listening experience & i also wonder if the distortion is present in the original mix. anyone else feel me (lol have similar experiences)?
I use Spoitfy a lot too, but they definitely have bad rips in there. I know that for a fact. One example is that I have the CD recording of Shostakovich's 4th symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Myung-Whun Chung. That is a demonstration recording in every sense, yet on the Spotify version, there is noticeable distorion/compression at the first big orchestral hit at about 17 seconds in. I found this quite disturbing. It makes it impossible to say without comparing directly to the original whether the compression/artifacts you hear on there are down to the original or the ripping process. Some of Nick Drake's stuff also sounds noticeably worse on Spotify. Sorry to bring such news.
Just my luck, no sooner have i ordered these phones ( awaiting custom clearance in UK since sunday ) then Hifiman go and unveil rhe 400i. My gagging for these has diminished now, and i feel disatisfied even before hearing them. I recenly returned a pair AKG 702 Annies to purchase these instead. Wondering if i'm going to regret this.
Just my luck, no sooner have i ordered these phones ( awaiting custom clearance in UK since sunday ) then Hifiman go and unveil rhe 400i. My gagging for these has diminished now, and i feel disatisfied even before hearing them. I recenly returned a pair AKG 702 Annies to purchase these instead. Wondering if i'm going to regret this.
Don't worry too much, the HE-400 is still a fantastic headphone. Besides, barely anyone has given the HE-400i a really in depth listen to post any real comparisons to the HE-400. And from very early reports, it seems the HE-400i and HE-560 both have different sound signatures than any previous models, so you may not even prefer it as much as HE-400 anyway.
I use Spoitfy a lot too, but they definitely have bad rips in there. I know that for a fact. One example is that I have the CD recording of Shostakovich's 4th symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Myung-Whun Chung. That is a demonstration recording in every sense, yet on the Spotify version, there is noticeable distorion/compression at the first big orchestral hit at about 17 seconds in. I found this quite disturbing. It makes it impossible to say without comparing directly to the original whether the compression/artifacts you hear on there are down to the original or the ripping process. Some of Nick Drake's stuff also sounds noticeably worse on Spotify. Sorry to bring such news.
I guess in my case I don't have any CD recordings of any of the music I am currently listening to. So I guess as long as I don't hear the original raw version than I am ok? Also my ear isn't very good but I'm sure if I am on the lookout for bad recordings then I will surely find it.
I guess in my case I don't have any CD recordings of any of the music I am currently listening to. So I guess as long as I don't hear the original raw version than I am ok? Also my ear isn't very good but I'm sure if I am on the lookout for bad recordings then I will surely find it.
Mp3s are sufficiently hi-fidelity to tell you if a recording is good or bad. My CDs that clip, become Mp3s that clip, if you catch my drift. But I don't know if Spotify (or Pandora) mess with the sound in any audible way - since undoubtedly they must be doing a lot of compression. I wonder if they are like radio stations, which often EQ the sound before it ever hits your radio.
Yup I agree with you all. I just assumed that spotify would do compression to handle the bandwidth of streaming the audio. I have noticed that Spotify quality is much better than Pandora and that's pretty much why I stick to Spotify for my audio when at work. If at home I do a mixture of both Spotify and my media library.
Spotify do compress their content, but I was under the impression that you get 320k mp3 quality with a premium account. I'm not convinced now. Having said that, the vast majority of music I listen to on there is of great quality and I am more than happy with the service for the money spent. It's just the odd recording here and there that I've noticed to be not up to par with the original.
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