[Tetonpowskier]

What would a e12 do to these? I dont need it any louder.. I dont listen to my hp's loud. Will it bring a fuller sound, at the same volume?

The bass is actually better than the amperior, it sounds tighter and goes deeper, almost as deep as the vmoda m100, but its not painful. Quality and quantity. Mids arent as bad as i thought they would be either.

 

[HesterDW]

  Oh my gosh, these are just awesome! I just got the them in the mail, and I cant take them off. This is it, till next year atleast. Out of the box, from just my Iphone 5, They sound just like my amperior, but more open and airy obviously. However not as open as the hd600, but I like that, It wouldnt be as aggressive if It was any more airy.. The punch, and PRaT is crazyyyy for an open headphone, holy cow. There is some sibilance, same with the amperior/hd25, but I am a treble lover so nothing I cant handle. Its probably just my ears too. I have been finding my amperiors and ksc 75s to be more "zippy" in the highs lately, I had a neck injury a month in a half ago and my hearing is changing.. Itll heal. 2 months ago, I would have found the treble to be absolutely perfect. Bass is perfect, better than I could have imagined from a open headphone. It has the hit of my amperior, which is one of the punchiest cleanest (not overbearing) low end out of closed cans, nvm open.
 
At $300 on sale, these HE-400s are about 2x as good as my previous cans,which In my book is very worth it. The koss ksc75 already sounds so good to my ears, I thought Id have to spend $1000 to get any significant different. Im very pleased. So extremely pleased. I have heard an HD600, at Headroom (headphone dot com)in Bozeman, MT from a Fiio E11 w/ line out to Iphone 4s, and These sound better to me, from just my Iphone 5, no amp yet. I cant even imagine what these sound like out of a powerful amp. For anyone looking to buy a new headphone for home listening, under $400, I dont know if these can be beat for "Fun Listening". Rather than "accurate listening", but hey I like to jam, not look at my music with a microscope. 
 
As for comfort, I dont see what people are complaining about. These are much more comfortable than V moda M100s, and I dont notice much of a difference in weight between those either. I have long, thick curly hair that acts as cushion though, maybe that helps. I have had them on for an hour, and I would have already been bleeding from the M100s lol. I think I could handle these for 3 hours, which is about the max I ever want headphones on anyways. The build is great, and I kinda like the screw on cables, it feels secure. I dont think theyd handle too many drops from over 3 feet though, but they do feel like a $400 headphone quality wise. One thing that was wierd was one of my cups had a little rattling piece inside, before I first put it on to listen, then as I started playing it, the rattle went away. Wierd, hopefully it doesnt mean anything bad. 

 
I don't think I can say enough how surprised I was (and still am) by the bass coming from a pair of open headphones. And I don't mean that as an audiophile, I mean that as a basshead. I mean that as the guy at the red light with 2 12's in his trunk annoying everyone next to him. EQ a couple db in 60hz and they defy all logic. 

 

[HesterDW]

What would a e12 do to these? I dont need it any louder.. I dont listen to my hp's loud. Will it bring a fuller sound, at the same volume?

The bass is actually better than the amperior, it sounds tighter and goes deeper, almost as deep as the vmoda m100, but its not painful. Quality and quantity. Mids arent as bad as i thought they would be either.

What are you using now?

 

[Tetonpowskier]

Just my iphone 5. I noticed better SQ out of a vmoda m100, from a fiio e11. Will i get an even more dramatic effect from an e12 powering a he 400?

 

[HesterDW]

Just my iphone 5. I noticed better SQ out of a vmoda m100, from a fiio e11. Will i get an even more dramatic effect from an e12 powering a he 400?

I just tested "Ab-Soul - Showin' Love". I listened to it from my Droid 4 first then listened from my Icon HDP. It's probably not a completely fair comparison though because the Icon HDP is also a dac, but it's all I have. I wouldn't say the difference was 'knock your socks off' dramatic, but it was a very noticeable difference. Highs are smoother, bass is tighter, but it's also faster. When these are amped the planar magnetics start to show off the speed they're known for. The most notable difference was separation. When amped the trumpets, high hats, bassline, and voice all become separate entities, it feels like I can pinpoint each of their locations in space.
 
I also tested "Regis Chillbin" and the bass speed difference was even more noticeable. Where the bass notes begin and end are much clearer and controlled. Separation that I elaborated on earlier is present here as well. All those weird sounds are completely separated. Sound stage much bigger. Sounds in the background go farther back, but at the same time become more present. (Does that make sense?) What I mean is I'm noticing sounds that I barely heard or were muffled on my Droid 4, but the space has also widened between them.
 
I'm really horrible at doing these audiophile type impressions, sorry. But I'd say It's definitely worth it to amp these. You get cleaner highs, more controlled and faster attacking bass, and a wider spacial presence. That being said if I didn't have an amp I'd still enjoy these cans.

 

[Mani ATH 87]

What would a e12 do to these? I dont need it any louder.. I dont listen to my hp's loud. Will it bring a fuller sound, at the same volume?

The bass is actually better than the amperior, it sounds tighter and goes deeper, almost as deep as the vmoda m100, but its not painful. Quality and quantity. Mids arent as bad as i thought they would be either.

 
The E17 is pretty nice with the He-400's, they respond well to EQ so having the bass and treble adjustment is nice.

I'd imagine they sound pretty good with the E12 as well although I haven't heard this one.

 

[Tetonpowskier]

Awesome. I have decide between e12 n e17 now..

 

[Michael1026]

I wanted to buy some new pads, and I'm curious which ones you guys would recommend. Also, if someone could link me to a reliable site to buy them from, that'd be much appreciated.

 

[Honkytime]

  I wanted to buy some new pads, and I'm curious which ones you guys would recommend. Also, if someone could link me to a reliable site to buy them from, that'd be much appreciated.

head-direct.com is the official hifiman website and have all the pads you would want

 

[Hansotek]

So for those keeping up with focuspads impressions, I have more info. (compared to the velours) I maintain that the mids are lifted, and the treble peak is not nearly as pronounced. However, I must say that there is a definite perceivable shrinking of soundstage compared to the velours, IMO. While these pads are angled, the thickest part of the angle is still thinner than the velour pads. I am unsure if this is the cause of soundstage shrinking, or the fact that the pad opening is smaller, and my ears touch the inside of the pad (not the driver, no comfort issues). I do have big ears though. soundstage isn't small, still. Maybe other smaller-eared focus pad users can shed light on whether the soundstage shrunk to them too
Edit: After listening to some of the Chesky tracks, I think a lot of the issue is a perception because the ear pads hug my head tighter. Still good soundstage and better imaging with the Chesky tracks

I ran a variety of A/B tests with the FocusPads and velours. (For all of the observations below, I'm referring to the FocusPads.)

I agree with your assessment that the imaging is better. Rear location accuracy was the most noticable improvement, IMO. No surprise with the angled drivers. Height perception seemed a tad more specific to my ears. Cener transition area from left to right seems a touch more specific as well.

I didn't notice any notable change in overall soundstage size. Panning different sounds to test for width, I found the maximum L/R distance to be almost exactly the same.

I just noticed your edit about the pads hugging your head tighter. My theory was that your observation about the soundstage was actually due to an increase in presence. Because of the boost in the 2-5khz region, your brain may perceive certain instruments as being closer to you. It's kind of like taking a couple steps coser to the stage. One could argue that since that area of the frequency range is now closer to neutral, those instruments are now more positionally accurate.

If you want to test this theory for yourself, simply try EQing the frequencies in this region down a bit and see what you observe. (-2db at 2khz and -4db at 4k should get you back in the neighborhood of the velour sound, if memory serves.)

 

[Saoshyant]

head-direct.com is the official hifiman website and have all the pads you would want

Must resist urge to be a smartass...

 

[Honkytime]

Must resist urge to be a smartass...

I kinda what to hear it might be for a good laugh 

 

[Mani ATH 87]

Awesome. I have decide between e12 n e17 now..

 
The e12 is a more powerful amp then the e17, but the e17 is also a dac, so it depends on your needs.

Fiio also has an e18 out which is an apparent upgrade to the e17, but I have no experience with this one.

 

[Michael1026]

  head-direct.com is the official hifiman website and have all the pads you would want

Thank you very much, but isn't $40 a little overpriced? Or is that the best I'll find?

 

[Hansotek]

 
head-direct.com is the official hifiman website and have all the pads you would want

Thank you very much, but isn't $40 a little overpriced? Or is that the best I'll find?

I've seen some on the FS forums at head-fi. I believe Head-direct is the only place selling them new at this point. They are still cranking to meet supply and demand issues from what I understand. (My order was delayed by 3-4 days, but shipping was very quick once they got back in stock).

If you are wondering if the product is worth the $40 they are charging... In my opinion, unquestionably. Especially if you enjoy rock.