[Pingupenguins]

 
AW=Amazon Warehouse, unfortunately the pinks are $62 now for used very good, new $76, some of the other colors are down in the $42 range.

Oh ok, don't need them now. But thanks for the heads up!

 

[htr2d2]

 

 
Cute!

 

[ourfpshero]

  Anyone tried the new Hifiman HE400S Velpads  and the Aluminium Trim Rings with the HE400? The Velpads seem to be similar to the Jergpad mod.

I just got velpads today. they widen the stage slightly, a little more clarity across the spectrum, slightly less bass. Makes the he400 a little close to the he400i in sound

 

[earphiler]

i finally removed the grills on my couple year old he-400's
 
love the lack of reverberation!
 
im not savvy enough to make more porous grills, will keeping them off damage them in any way? 
 
if dust gets in, will they live?
 
this and jergpads are amazing
 
still love these cans so much

 

[Oregonian]

  i finally removed the grills on my couple year old he-400's
 
love the lack of reverberation!
 
im not savvy enough to make more porous grills, will keeping them off damage them in any way? 
 
if dust gets in, will they live?
 
this and jergpads are amazing
 
still love these cans so much

Congrats - those of us who have done the mod generally like it a lot.  I've been running open for about a year with no dust issues but I have Inspired Design 80mm grills installed that keep my fingers from hitting anything important in there. 

 

[MermaidMan]

Got a Pioneer SX 990 to drive my heavily modded HE400's and I couldn't be any happier. As I said on the vintage receiver thread, I've finally found a combo to where ALL the instruments have impact and weight and sound very physical, as if in the same room as the recording. Nothing except a speaker amped HE6 has given me this before. Pure auditory bliss.

 

[htr2d2]

Got a Pioneer SX 990 to drive my heavily modded HE400's and I couldn't be any happier. As I said on the vintage receiver thread, I've finally found a combo to where ALL the instruments have impact and weight and sound very physical, as if in the same room as the recording. Nothing except a speaker amped HE6 has given me this before. Pure auditory bliss.

Congratulations! You got a inclusive list of the mods you did and what each did? Curious and suppose there is probably a post that does exactly that somewhere.

 

[MermaidMan]

 
Congratulations! You got a inclusive list of the mods you did and what each did? Curious and suppose there is probably a post that does exactly that somewhere.

Yeah, here it is:
 
-Brainwavz HM5 angled velours, no mounting rings, secured to cups using double-sided tape (More bass impact, greater soundstage, somewhat toned down treble)
-Stiffened, self-adhesive felt ring the diameter of the pads, paper still attached, facing the driver side, not covering the earpad opening (More bass again)
-Open grill mod, using gold mesh with approx. 1/2 in. x 1/2 in. square holes (More openness, no ringing from stock grills)
-Suspension headband mod using parts from Michael's craft store (Better comfort)
 
Next up is the sorbothane mod to tackle resonance. I had also done the rug liner mod but found it killed all the impact and made the sound very soft. Could of been that my rug liner was much less open than the kind in the HE6/HE560 thread. I lurk on the HE6 thread, looking for mods, because an HE400 driven PROPERLY can sound very, very close to an HE6. The word here is visceral, which I'm finally getting with my HE400 and vintage receiver. Any other mods on this thread I would love to hear about, as I'm almost constantly trying to improve what I have without spending a ton of money. 

 

[htr2d2]

  Yeah, here it is:
 
-Brainwavz HM5 angled velours, no mounting rings, secured to cups using double-sided tape (More bass impact, greater soundstage, somewhat toned down treble)
-Stiffened, self-adhesive felt ring the diameter of the pads, paper still attached, facing the driver side, not covering the earpad opening (More bass again)
-Open grill mod, using gold mesh with approx. 1/2 in. x 1/2 in. square holes (More openness, no ringing from stock grills)
-Suspension headband mod using parts from Michael's craft store (Better comfort)
 
Next up is the sorbothane mod to tackle resonance. I had also done the rug liner mod but found it killed all the impact and made the sound very soft. Could of been that my rug liner was much less open than the kind in the HE6/HE560 thread. I lurk on the HE6 thread, looking for mods, because an HE400 driven PROPERLY can sound very, very close to an HE6. The word here is visceral, which I'm finally getting with my HE400 and vintage receiver. Any other mods on this thread I would love to hear about, as I'm almost constantly trying to improve what I have without spending a ton of money. 

Thank you.
 
I will have to look at the open grill mod. Folks seem to prefer the removal or replacement of the stock grill. I use a suspension headband for my Fostex T50RP headphones and it makes a world of difference. For the HE-400 did you use something like Lohb's suspension headband pad?

 

[MermaidMan]

Thank you.

I will have to look at the open grill mod. Folks seem to prefer the removal or replacement of the stock grill. I use a suspension headband for my Fostex T50RP headphones and it makes a world of difference. For the HE-400 did you use something like Lohb's suspension headband pad?

Yeah I followed his plan as best as I could tell from the pictures. Just some black leather from Michaels and some elastic, nothing too fancy.

 

[Oregonian]

  Yeah, here it is:
 
-Brainwavz HM5 angled velours, no mounting rings, secured to cups using double-sided tape (More bass impact, greater soundstage, somewhat toned down treble)
-Stiffened, self-adhesive felt ring the diameter of the pads, paper still attached, facing the driver side, not covering the earpad opening (More bass again)
-Open grill mod, using gold mesh with approx. 1/2 in. x 1/2 in. square holes (More openness, no ringing from stock grills)
-Suspension headband mod using parts from Michael's craft store (Better comfort)
 
Next up is the sorbothane mod to tackle resonance. I had also done the rug liner mod but found it killed all the impact and made the sound very soft. Could of been that my rug liner was much less open than the kind in the HE6/HE560 thread. I lurk on the HE6 thread, looking for mods, because an HE400 driven PROPERLY can sound very, very close to an HE6. The word here is visceral, which I'm finally getting with my HE400 and vintage receiver. Any other mods on this thread I would love to hear about, as I'm almost constantly trying to improve what I have without spending a ton of money. 

100% agree with you.  Sold my HE-6 and tho it's not as visceral, it's close to my 54 year old ears. 

 

[DavidA]

@MermaidMan, would love to see pictures of your mods.

 

[iamxLn]

Anyone using these with a project Polaris or ember? I'm really looking at the Polaris since I'm pretty happy with my little dot and don't want the ember to replace my little buddy.

 

[Fearless1]

Anyone using these with a project Polaris or ember? I'm really looking at the Polaris since I'm pretty happy with my little dot and don't want the ember to replace my little buddy.

 Both are very good with the 400, the Ember ​is better (to my ears).

 

[DavidA]

Anyone using these with a project Polaris or ember? I'm really looking at the Polaris since I'm pretty happy with my little dot and don't want the ember to replace my little buddy.

Never heard a Polaris the Ember is really good with the HE-400 IMO, next would be a Lyr2.  I've tried a LD 1+ and LD MkIII, the LD1+ is not bad for the price but not in the same level of the Ember and the MKIII is really only for high impedance headphones like the HD-650, didn't work well with HD-400.