[jaywillin]

  Well guys, here I was riding a high of satisfaction with my HE-400s...thinking that my concerns about them were unfounded, and finally opening up to the possibility of another HifiMan headphone...but it happened...
 
I hate to say I told you so, especially when I am saying it to myself...but, self...I told you so. 
 
The L driver seems to have just gone *poof*. I was watching an episode of Bloodline when all of a sudden the L cup starting cutting in and out. I took off the headphones, reattached the cable, and it was all gone. I then switched the cable to see if the outage followed, but unfortunately it didn't. It's definitely the L driver
 
I sure hope HifiMan has a US repair center, otherwise the shipping cost is going to almost make a warranty repair cost prohibitive. 
 

you killed it !!   

 

[Focker]

  you killed it !!   

 
First Kenny, now THIS!  
 

 

[MrMan]

Does anyone know the size of the cups on the he400 ?

 

[DavidA]

  Well guys, here I was riding a high of satisfaction with my HE-400s...thinking that my concerns about them were unfounded, and finally opening up to the possibility of another HifiMan headphone...but it happened...
 
I hate to say I told you so, especially when I am saying it to myself...but, self...I told you so. 
 
The L driver seems to have just gone *poof*. I was watching an episode of Bloodline when all of a sudden the L cup starting cutting in and out. I took off the headphones, reattached the cable, and it was all gone. I then switched the cable to see if the outage followed, but unfortunately it didn't. It's definitely the L driver
 
I sure hope HifiMan has a US repair center, otherwise the shipping cost is going to almost make a warranty repair cost prohibitive. 
 

Bummer, I guess I've been lucky so far, haven't had any problems with any of my headphones yet, Knocking on a lot of wood.

 

[Focker]

 
Bummer, I guess I've been lucky so far, haven't had any problems with any of my headphones yet, Knocking on a lot of wood.

 
That's partly why I'm so disappointed. I take excellent care of my headphones, and the only issue I've ever had with any of them was the slider on one side of my Sennheiser Amperiors. The HE-400s had two issues within the first three weeks and are now unlistenable. Oh well...

 

[Kodhifi]

So planars are much simpler in design than dynamics. If it were a dynamic I'd suspect that your cone turned inside out or the coil exited the magnet area and needs to be gently worked back in. But a planar has no ring shaped magnet hole for the voice coil, it's built into the entire sheet. So the chances of a magnet suddenly losing it's magnetism are also pretty slim. That leads to 1 possible conclusion for no sound, the signal is not making it to the planar driver.
 
It could be your connector, or the wire between the connector and the voice coil (the flat piece of metal twisting and turning over the surface of the plastic sheet. Unless you are very handy with a soldering iron and have experience working on delicate things, I would do a warranty repair. I think Hifiman has a repair facility in California.
 
Their warranty site says to email customerservice@hifiman.com for warranty or returns. Depending on where you bought your headphones, you may also be able to exchange them. Amazon for instance has an official policy of 30 days, but if you are a good customer (spend a lot of money with them) they will sometimes make exceptions if it's not too far over. I've had returns authorized after 45 days.

 

[money4me247]

  Does anyone know the size of the cups on the he400 ?

@MrMan,
 
here you go: http://www.head-fi.org/t/653032/size-matters-earpad-hole-measurements-for-over-ear-headphones/15#post_10112757
 
edit: that is the inner earpad dimensions. for people wondering if their ears will fit comfortably.

 

[MrMateoHead]

  Well guys, here I was riding a high of satisfaction with my HE-400s...thinking that my concerns about them were unfounded, and finally opening up to the possibility of another HifiMan headphone...but it happened...
 
I hate to say I told you so, especially when I am saying it to myself...but, self...I told you so. 
 
The L driver seems to have just gone *poof*. I was watching an episode of Bloodline when all of a sudden the L cup starting cutting in and out. I took off the headphones, reattached the cable, and it was all gone. I then switched the cable to see if the outage followed, but unfortunately it didn't. It's definitely the L driver
 
I sure hope HifiMan has a US repair center, otherwise the shipping cost is going to almost make a warranty repair cost prohibitive. 
 

Not to suggest the obvious, but you are sure this didn't happen at the source / amp, correct? I mean, you can plug something else in, and both channels are fine correct? Worth a shot.

 

[Kodhifi]

He's getting sharper on headphone troubleshooting and had swapped the cables, he said it followed the driver not the cable.

 

[Focker]

  So planars are much simpler in design than dynamics. If it were a dynamic I'd suspect that your cone turned inside out or the coil exited the magnet area and needs to be gently worked back in. But a planar has no ring shaped magnet hole for the voice coil, it's built into the entire sheet. So the chances of a magnet suddenly losing it's magnetism are also pretty slim. That leads to 1 possible conclusion for no sound, the signal is not making it to the planar driver.
 
It could be your connector, or the wire between the connector and the voice coil (the flat piece of metal twisting and turning over the surface of the plastic sheet. Unless you are very handy with a soldering iron and have experience working on delicate things, I would do a warranty repair. I think Hifiman has a repair facility in California.
 
Their warranty site says to email customerservice@hifiman.com for warranty or returns. Depending on where you bought your headphones, you may also be able to exchange them. Amazon for instance has an official policy of 30 days, but if you are a good customer (spend a lot of money with them) they will sometimes make exceptions if it's not too far over. I've had returns authorized after 45 days.

 
 
Thanks, yeah I did send an email to that address last night, but no response. Jan Meier has been helping me out, though, and someone who identifies as a HifiMan rep sent me a PM here on head-fi. Going to try and send them back under Hifiman's 30 day money back guarantee policy listed on their website. 

 

[Disembodied]

Hello everyone, I might be purchasing one of these, and I'd really love to know how they perform, if they require a specific amp to sound well and if I'll ever need to EQ them.
 
I'm looking for a good allrounder that can play mostly any genre. I listen to anything from Classical, Jazz, Rock, Ambient, EDM to the most extreme and Brutal realms of Metal. That being said, I'm really looking forward to a can that will handle both Vocals and Instrumentals properly with a good amount of soundstage and detail.
 
I'd like them to perform nicely and be smooth or delicate when needed, but also fast and aggressive at times. I am no bass-head at all, I just love a nice accurate tight bass. 
 
I'm currently running my headphones with a HiFIMeDIY Sabre DAC 2 (+ integrated amp).
 
Is this a good choice? I would buy them used so approx. half price.

 

[DavidA]

  Hello everyone, I might be purchasing one of these, and I'd really love to know how they perform, if they require a specific amp to sound well and if I'll ever need to EQ them.
 
I'm looking for a good allrounder that can play mostly any genre. I listen to anything from Classical, Jazz, Rock, Ambient, EDM to the most extreme and Brutal realms of Metal. That being said, I'm really looking forward to a can that will handle both Vocals and Instrumentals properly with a good amount of soundstage and detail.
 
I'd like them to perform nicely and be smooth or delicate when needed, but also fast and aggressive at times. I am no bass-head at all, I just love a nice accurate tight bass. 
 
I'm currently running my headphones with a HiFIMeDIY Sabre DAC 2 (+ integrated amp).
 
Is this a good choice? I would buy them used so approx. half price.

I don't think these will satisfy all of your requirements.  They don't do female vocals very well IMO and for classical the sound stage is not very wide and the mids and upper-mids are to recessed.  With that said they are great for some types of jazz, I love rock, classic rock, new age and EDM on them.  I use either a UD-301 or Bifrost as my DAC, the Project Ember is the best match for the HE-400 that I have found.  Also tried a Asgard2, Lyr2, Magni, headphone output from UD-301, AH-01 and Xonar STX with the HE-400, second best to drive the HE-400 is the Lyr2 to me.
The other thing you may want to do is get either velour or focus pads for the HE-400 if you do decide to get it.
Good luck

 

[520RanchBro]

Hello everyone, I might be purchasing one of these, and I'd really love to know how they perform, if they require a specific amp to sound well and if I'll ever need to EQ them.

I'm looking for a good allrounder that can play mostly any genre. I listen to anything from Classical, Jazz, Rock, Ambient, EDM to the most extreme and Brutal realms of Metal. That being said, I'm really looking forward to a can that will handle both Vocals and Instrumentals properly with a good amount of soundstage and detail.

I'd like them to perform nicely and be smooth or delicate when needed, but also fast and aggressive at times. I am no bass-head at all, I just love a nice accurate tight bass. 

I'm currently running my headphones with a HiFIMeDIY Sabre DAC 2 (+ integrated amp).

Is this a good choice? I would buy them used so approx. half price.

I quite liked the 400 for various genres. Nothing about it ever bugged me. But the 400i might be a better choice, does vocals better, tighter bass and the mids are excellent for metal music. The 400 was better for electronic music and jazz for me as it has a slightly wider soundstage and more bass.

 

[nmatheis]

I quite liked the 400 for various genres. Nothing about it ever bugged me. But the 400i might be a better choice, does vocals better, tighter bass and the mids are excellent for metal music. The 400 was better for electronic music and jazz for me as it has a slightly wider soundstage and more bass.

I haven't heard HE400i, but I agree about HE400 being better for instrumental music. I think it's good for black & death metal, since the HE400 can keep up well. I'm a fan of the \m/ \m/ so please don't take this the wrong way, but honestly who the hell can understand those growling / shrieking vocals anyway :wink_face:

Curious what the difference between HE400 and HE400s will be...

 

[Oregonian]

As always, YMMV but I had the 400i and the 400 side by side during my month long audition of the i last year and to me the 400 was more my style - better bass, scaled up better with vintage speaker amp driving them, and the comfort improvement to my view was only a minor upgrade.   For the cost, the 400 @$200ish (used) is a great value as well.