[scizzro]

I was just using them to listen to my favorite Dave Matthews album, Live at Luther College and I was really missing something. Just sounded off. Switched over to the X2's and there it is...the missing mids. Still excited to see what the velour pads bring to the table. Hoping they get here soon.

The HE400 isn't the best can for mids without EQ IMO. My HD600 crushes them with vocals, guitars, etc. Songs with engaging treble and bass do better, like a lot of dubstep/EDM. If you're into that sort of music, let us know how they compare in that regard!

 

[Tempest228]

The HE400 isn't the best can for mids without EQ IMO. My HD600 crushes them with vocals, guitars, etc. Songs with engaging treble and bass do better, like a lot of dubstep/EDM. If you're into that sort of music, let us know how they compare in that regard!

Yeah I'm noticing that the more I listen to the 400s. The mids feel like they are recessed. Do you have any recommendations on what eq to do?

Also I'm curious to the guys with the x2, what do the mids sound like on them compared to the 400s

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Yeah I'm noticing that the more I listen to the 400s. The mids feel like they are recessed. Do you have any recommendations on what eq to do?

Also I'm curious to the guys with the x2, what do the mids sound like on them compared to the 400s

Better. Fuller and smoother. But the X2 has recessed treble so it's a trade off.

 

[Tempest228]

  Better. Fuller and smoother. But the X2 has recessed treble so it's a trade off.

 
Hmm. Maybe the X2 might be for me. Might have to give them a go.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Definitely worth giving them a try. They are great headphones without a doubt. I'm listening to Sia right now through the X2's and getting chills up and down my body.

 

[htr2d2]

   
Hmm. Maybe the X2 might be for me. Might have to give them a go.

Over time, you will probably own two or more headphones for listening to different types of music.
 
The HE-400 is my go to cans for most things and I use them 90% of the time but I still listen to my Grado SR80e due to being relatively portable and forward. More, recently, I have been loving my T50RP cans for they are tunable. I have tuned them to be somewhere between the SR80e and HE-400.
 
Pace yourself, however, or you will have an emaciated wallet.
 

 

 

[Ryman86]

It's interesting to hear ArmAndHammer's impression of the HE-400 vs X2s, I'll also be interested to see what jigglyp has to say on the matter.  I listen to a lot of trance, house and hip-hop and am debating between these two cans.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Well, in a nutshell...both are awesome headphones. The HE-400 is very V shaped with forward bass and treble and recessed mids. They feel very open and spacious. Bass is nice and controlled and not bloated or boomy.
 
The X2's have a little more bass but still not bloated. Mids are forward and very full and lush. Treble is recessed but there's still plenty of details. It's said the X2 responds well to burn in which I can believe as these do seem to be getting better. We went into town today shopping so I left them playing for about 5 hours at a comfortable listening volume plus the time I have with them so far so I should be around 10+ hours. I haven't listened to them tonight since I left them play to see if there's any changes but I'm getting ready to listen to some stuff. 
 
I don't do trance, house, or hip-hop but if you can give me some suggestions I'd be more than happy to listen to some stuff with both and tell you what I think.

 

[Tempest228]

I'm guessing you still haven't decided which ones your going to keep?

As for me. I decided to sell off my he-400s. They mids are just to recessed for me, even with eq. They are also very fatiguing on my head. Probably going to give x2 a shot next after the 400s sells.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I have not. I want to wait until the X2's have more hours since they supposedly respond to burn in...figure can't hurt and might as well give them the chance. And I want to try the HE-400's with velour pads which I ordered but haven't received yet. So, IMO, they are still equal in how good they sound but they just sound so different. I haven't played with EQ yet. I need to get a player that has EQ so I can. Perhaps if a little more treble can be added to the X2's, they'd be killer. Of course so would the 400's with a little added mids...lol

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Just realized I'd still had Voodoo2000 on this computer and with a bunch of music on it. I'll just say that the X2's respond very well to EQing the upper range.

 

[retskrad]

The frequency response and CSD plots shows that the treble of the dt990 and he-400 is similar in quanity, but the he-400 straight up hurts your ears its like a razor when playing songs with sibliance, it plays sibliance louder than any other frequencies I feel, while the dt990 is also very very bright, but its sibliance doesnt hurt my ears nearly as much.

What the hell! This makes the he-400 quite flawed product to be honest, its not reliable. When the source is great, youre in heaven, its sounds so energetic and awesome. Once the recording is less than subpar (which 90% of modern mainstream music is), you can barely listen to them without major headache. This is unacceptable for a $400 "audiophile" premium headphone.

I find it weird that the upper frequencies are so similar to other bright headphones like the dt990, while the he-400 puts out massively more sibliance.I have tried velour and focuspads, its the same. Is this a planar issue?

 

[money4me247]

The frequency response and CSD plots shows that the treble of the dt990 and he-400 is similar in quanity, but the he-400 straight up hurts your ears its like a razor when playing songs with sibliance, while the dt990 is also very very bright, but its sibliance doesnt hurt my ears nearly as much.

What the hell! I have tried velour and focuspads, its the same. Is this a planar issue?

I would check your source files first. Try upgrading to at least 320kbps mp3 for the songs that are giving you silibance. Silibance issues are usually more related to the source file.
 
If you don't already have a budget amp & dac, you may consider getting smtg cheap. That is generally more helpful to subtly improve sound quality. A warmer amp/dac may help reduce the silibance & overt brightness. budget tube amps include the bravo v1/v2/v3/ocean. The bravo v3 may be a decent choice as it has an EQ that you can use to boost the bass & reduce the treble if desired.
 
You can finally also try fiddling with software EQ to get a darker sound signature & reduce the sharpness of the treble.
 
after that, if you are still experiencing a lot of issues, I think it's time to find a different pair of headphones. gl. hope that was helpful.

 

[scizzro]

 

sort of OT... I saw you auditioned the PM1's. How do you think they compared to the he400? Stupid question for a headphone triple the price, but I'm trying to keep the question on topic 

 

[money4me247]

  sort of OT... I saw you auditioned the PM1's. How do you think they compared to the he400? Stupid question for a headphone triple the price, but I'm trying to keep the question on topic 

PM1s have a very enjoyable and forgiving warm sound. Perhaps consider the PM2s as the prices are a bit more comparable (& I have heard that the PM2s with the right earpads will sound identical to the PM1s). They are definitely quite nice.
 
Depends on what you are looking for in your headphones I guess. I personally prefer Hifiman as I feel like you get better sound quality per dollar from a value perspective & their new headphones have great ergonomics for me, so I personally prefer the HE-400i/HE-560 over PM1/PM2s if upgrading from the HE-400s (that was actually what I had to decide on a while back hahaha).