[MarcelE]

Well I found a place where they had new ones and went ahead and bought the HE-400 today.
Yes, there's the 400i and 400s now but reading the impressions, I think I'm better off with the HE-400.
Looking forward to hearing them.

 

[DDDamian]

Well I found a place where they had new ones and went ahead and bought the HE-400 today.
Yes, there's the 400i and 400s now but reading the impressions, I think I'm better off with the HE-400.
Looking forward to hearing them.

Congrats. What are driving them with? Any treble sensitivity?

 

[Focker]

Well I found a place where they had new ones and went ahead and bought the HE-400 today.
Yes, there's the 400i and 400s now but reading the impressions, I think I'm better off with the HE-400.
Looking forward to hearing them.

 
You made a great choice. The 400i is a solid headphone, but the HE-400 is better...just my opinion. 

 

[richard51]

   
You made a great choice. The 400i is a solid headphone, but the HE-400 is better...just my opinion. 

i dont know the he 400i... but i understand that you love the he 400 ...this is an incredible headphone.......But wait to hear it with the sorbothane mod.....i prefer it to my stax basic system.....

 

[MarcelE]

Congrats. What are driving them with? Any treble sensitivity?

I want to buy an amp/dac as well, but I'm slowly browsing through this topic to see what others had tried with these phones.
Right now it's either from my laptop (which is a bit muffled) or tablet with wolfson dac (sound is great but definitely misses amp power).
Would a Magni2/Modi2 Uber combo be good?
I keep reading Lyr(2) but I'm not sure if I want to go the tube way.
 
Definitely going to check out the various mod options, first I want to know the 'basic' sound.

 

[DDDamian]

 
I want to buy an amp/dac as well, but I'm slowly browsing through this topic to see what others had tried with these phones.
Right now it's either from my laptop (which is a bit muffled) or tablet with wolfson dac (sound is great but definitely misses amp power).
Would a Magni2/Modi2 Uber combo be good?
I keep reading Lyr(2) but I'm not sure if I want to go the tube way.
 
Definitely going to check out the various mod options, first I want to know the 'basic' sound.

You really do need an amp with these - the difference is very real. For a low price SS option the Gustard H-10 pairs very well with them.
 
Can't comment on the M/M stack - I'm sure others will. But yeah, do give them an amp for sure.

 

[Oregonian]

Anyone else running the HE-400 out of the speaker taps on a speaker amp?  I did this with my HE-6 and figured I'd try it with the HE-400..............and it is outstanding.  It's how I listen to them now 100% of the time.  Almost as good as the HE-6 was................very very good bass.  May try the sorbothane idea soon.

 

[MarcelE]

You really do need an amp with these - the difference is very real. For a low price SS option the Gustard H-10 pairs very well with them.
 
Can't comment on the M/M stack - I'm sure others will. But yeah, do give them an amp for sure.

 


The Gustard H-10 looks interesting too, definitely taking it into consideration.
There will be an amp and dac, thats for sure as the tablet lacks power and the laptop...well I won't go into onboard audiocards.
Can't wait to listen to the HE-400.

 

[Fearless1]

  Anyone else running the HE-400 out of the speaker taps on a speaker amp?  I did this with my HE-6 and figured I'd try it with the HE-400..............and it is outstanding.  It's how I listen to them now 100% of the time.  Almost as good as the HE-6 was................very very good bass. 

:::::Raises Hand::::::

 

[Oregonian]

  :::::Raises Hand::::::

Somehow I knew you'd do it.................

 

[Fearless1]

 
Somehow I knew you'd do it.................

 
They sound fantastic out of vintage gear (tapped), though my vintage collection is no where near as nice as yours!
 
Also out of my HE-6 set-up ( First Watt J2) tight and low bass, almost on par with the HE-6 in that department.
 
Those who say they do not scale much, have never heard them as such. Same with the 400i, quite boring on a portable or low power amp, tapped they come alive and retain the mids. Bass is even more visceral then the HE400.

 

[DDDamian]

Sigh - I need a bigger desk lol. A vintage monster on it may just trigger the final collapse. I really do need to find an old gem and re-cap for a try.

 

[richard51]

  Anyone else running the HE-400 out of the speaker taps on a speaker amp?  I did this with my HE-6 and figured I'd try it with the HE-400..............and it is outstanding.  It's how I listen to them now 100% of the time.  Almost as good as the HE-6 was................very very good bass.  May try the sorbothane idea soon.

if you try sorbothane mod report on this forum please.....
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/744839/damping-mechanical-resonance-distortion-of-stax-phones-with-sorbothane-lambdas-srxiii-pro-sr003-sr007-and-finally-the-sigma
 
 
 
 
1/8 in  30 duro self-stick seems to work with a lot of phones, try also 40 duro....

 

[automaton]

  Anyone else running the HE-400 out of the speaker taps on a speaker amp?  I did this with my HE-6 and figured I'd try it with the HE-400..............and it is outstanding.  It's how I listen to them now 100% of the time.  Almost as good as the HE-6 was................very very good bass.  May try the sorbothane idea soon.

Not the same, but I am running from the headphone amp of an old Kenwood receiver (c. 1972 or '73).  I only have the E17 to compare it to--really made the switch b/c the heavy cable of the HE-400 was pulling the E17 off of my desktop constantly...don't notice much of a difference.  I have an old Creative X-Fi running to the Kenwood, so my DAC is OK.  Been considering grabbing this guy for a cheap DAC/amp combo but no idea how it'll play with the HE-400, or if it'll be any better than what I currently have on-hand. 

 

[kadrik0]

I have the original magni and modi combo with my he-400. Of course, like 4 months before the 2's came out. It sounds great with that combination. However, I started to read about their other products and wanted to try a tube amp. I ended up buying a vali amp and split the signal from my modi so I can use the he-400's with the vali and the ath-m50's (when I need closed back) with the magni. Hands down the vali sounds better than the magni with the he-400s. It's one of those 92/96 products where it is hard to tell right away if one is better than the other. I can hear more detail and the sound stage improves quite a bit with the vali. I'd definitely get the vali over the magni if you buy the he-400s. The magni is a great option if you have a broad range of headphones.