[catspaw]

So... after a good weekend with my new HE-400 i realized that with the Fiio E17 i need to lower the treble by -6 and up the bass to +4. 
 
Its not like it sounds "worse" if i dont, i just enjoy my gaming more this way.
 
Ill be trying them with my PC as soon as i can get it to Poland (I moved from Spain) with the X-fi Titanium, with optical cable as soon as i can, but im quite impressed by their performance in general.
 
The seller at my local shop told me to come in after a few weeks (when they will burn in), to test some aftermarket cables (ill probably want a short one ).
 
The only part that is a bit bothering is that the headphones pick up distorsions very clearly. When i watch streams, if the streamers are using a regular microphone, its unwatchable. There is this one streamer who tends to have distorsion on his stream and also hits his microphone a lot for some reason, and id really like to kill him (he streams my favorite matches, but he is a terrible, terrible caster).
 
Granted these are NOT for stream watching, but its a bit bad.
 
On the weight, the first time i used them i had to take them off after 20 minutes. Now (3 days later) i can play 4 hours straight np. Funny enought, my neck hurts less now than when i didnt use them (they exersice my neck or somethin?).
 
 
I found out my general sweetspot is setting the Fiio E17 on gain 6 volume 25-40, treble -6, bass +4. (Does this mena im a Bass head?).
 
So far i played : Dragon Age Origins, Just Cause 2, Summoner 1, Tribes Ascend, Starcraft 1 and 2, Diablo 2, FEAR 1 (Persus Mandate), Crysis 1 and Stalker Clear Sky.
I was Positivly impressed by all except Summoner 1 (didnt know sound quality was that bad in this game... and i love the soundtrack) and FEAR 1 (got more scary..).
 
In general, everything sounds better. The extact words that are good to define this is "Separated" and "Detailed". I am capable to disterning movement in the mids of explosion sounds, so the feeling f realism is significanly improved.
 
The Pads are very good qualiy leather as far as i can tell, since i normally sweat a lot wiht my sennhesier HD 380, and with theres, its not been an issue yet. They do however "move" a bit when slightly pressed, so i got the feeling they might not last very long.
 
I will be changing them for Beyerdynamic pads later on (saw on this thread they do fit nicely).
 
On the bad side, they fatiguated me till now (with treble at 0), will comment more on after further testing.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I found out my general sweetspot is setting the Fiio E17 on gain 6 volume 25-40, treble -6, bass +4. (Does this mena im a Bass head?).

Yes, somewhat. That's a basshead HE-400 curve. Anymore and the HE-400's bass gets downright sloppy.

I'm moving away from basshead trendencies, but I did like the HE-400 alot with the E17 at +4 bass and treble at -2. In stock form, I felt the E17 didn't have an ideal signature for the HE-400. For a more balanced sound, I used +2 bass and -2 treble. That's SORT of how my SA-31 sounds stock in terms of tonal balance.

 

[catspaw]

Quote:

Yes, somewhat. That's a basshead HE-400 curve. Anymore and the HE-400's bass gets downright sloppy.
I'm moving away from basshead trendencies, but I did like the HE-400 alot with the E17 at +4 bass and treble at -2. In stock form, I felt the E17 didn't have an ideal signature for the HE-400. For a more balanced sound, I used +2 bass and -2 treble. That's SORT of how my SA-31 sounds stock in terms of tonal balance.

Im unsure as of now.
I just got them, and this is crazy, but those are my specs, so enjoy them maybe. 
We will see later on if i change them, but since gaming does get better with strong bass, i might keep it there.
On the other side, the treble is very irriating at the current stage if left on 0, but if i remmber roccrectly it will stabilize after the burn in a little.
 
Do not forget that i have not had the chance to use they for long enought (Thou i did not see a huge diffrence from my fiiio E17 and the Icon HDP, yet this might change later on when my ears get used to the quality).

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

You're right though, the HE-400's treble is a bit jarring with the E17 set on 0 for treble. It needs some rolling off there, for sure. I don't even have that issdue with the 990s. In fact -2 still sounds screechy, but I didn't wanna smother it too much.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

Yes, somewhat. That's a basshead HE-400 curve. Anymore and the HE-400's bass gets downright sloppy.
I'm moving away from basshead trendencies, but I did like the HE-400 alot with the E17 at +4 bass and treble at -2. In stock form, I felt the E17 didn't have an ideal signature for the HE-400. For a more balanced sound, I used +2 bass and -2 treble. That's SORT of how my SA-31 sounds stock in terms of tonal balance.

 
Earlier on I really enjoyed deep accentuated bass with phones such as the d2k. Now the bass of the he400 is much more satisfying to me. I don't think my journey is headed towards true neutral phones...I still prefer hd650 over hd600, so I do like the coloration of warmth. 
 
Right now, aside from the lcd2 which I don't own, the he400's bass is the most enjoyable to me. It's textured with good visceral impact and doesn't bleed into the rest of the signature. Hard to beat to my ears. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Well, I will always love emphasized bass, but the HD650's bass was satisfying to me, and the mids really shocked me.

Yes though, the HE400's bass is pretty much perfect. I just wish it had a little more mids, and a little less upper range.

I do like it more than the HD650's slower, more reserved tone, but I wish there was a marriage between the two. Perhaps the HE500, but I sure as hell ain't going to put that weight on my head. The HE400's weight bothers my neck as is.

I miss the HD650 though, but there's a few headphones I'd like to hear before going back to the 650. Philips X1, K702/65. If neither of these satisfy me, I'll definitely go back to the HD650 as my 2nd full-sized.

The only thing that scares me about the X1 is the size... I feel I may have to do this...



Just waiting on it to be sold on Amazon (even if it's through a 3rd party). I'll buy them Asap.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Well, I will always love emphasized bass, but the HD650's bass was satisfying to me, and the mids really shocked me.
Yes though, the HE400's bass is pretty much perfect. I just wish it had a little more mids, and a little less upper range.
I do like it more than the HD650's slower, more reserved tone, but I wish there was a marriage between the two. Perhaps the HE500, but I sure as hell ain't going to put that weight on my head. The HE400's weight bothers my neck as is.
I miss the HD650 though, but there's a few headphones I'd like to hear before going back to the 650. Philips X1, K702/65. If neither of these satisfy me, I'll definitely go back to the HD650 as my 2nd full-sized.
The only thing that scares me about the X1 is the size... I feel I may have to do this...
Just waiting on it to be sold on Amazon (even if it's through a 3rd party). I'll buy them Asap.

It's all about conditioning. Once your neck can take it then it is a non-issue. I'd say HE500s are the sonic synthesis you are looking for.
 
For me, optimizing HE500's comfort was through 1) adding the extra headband cushion and 2) using HFM pleather earpads instead. The second point sounds a bit strange, but I found that the velours were too thick which exacerbated the weight of the cans through excessive clamping force, while the thinner pleather pads just sort of gently rest around my ears. Basically the end result is that I feel next to no pressure anywhere on my head, the only place being stressed is my neck/upper back but it's fairly minor as I'm getting used to the 500g.
 
Also to elaborate further on the pleathers + HE500, I actually found it to be a pleasant sonic change, unlike pleathers + HE400. HE500s have fairly forward upper mids and a "nice" treble with a gentle peak at 9kHz, and the pleathers are able to attenuate down the upper mids as well as the mid-treble peak slightly, which make their tonality a bit warmer and natural IMO. Before with velours, I wasn't able to really engage in a few vocal tracks (e.g. Eva Cassidy's Field of Gold), but that was remedied by this pad change.

 

[catspaw]

True, but you are talking about music mostly. 
In the gaming department, an analitical headphone normally kills some of the fun (thou ofc, this is subjective).
Also i had a far worse setup before so its no surprise that i enjoy these so much (thou i doubt ill go any furher in quality, as the sound is quite "perfect" for me as it is).
 
But we will see after i had the chance to listen to them for 2-3 months.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

It's all about conditioning. Once your neck can take it then it is a non-issue. I'd say HE500s are the sonic synthesis you are looking for.
 
For me, optimizing HE500's comfort was through 1) adding the extra headband cushion and 2) using HFM pleather earpads instead. The second point sounds a bit strange, but I found that the velours were too thick which exacerbated the weight of the cans through excessive clamping force, while the thinner pleather pads just sort of gently rest around my ears. Basically the end result is that I feel next to no pressure anywhere on my head, the only place being stressed is my neck/upper back but it's fairly minor as I'm getting used to the 500g.

 
You didn't loose anything sonically with the pleather on the he500?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
You didn't loose anything sonically with the pleather on the he500?

Read my edit of the post

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Have you listened to Live at Blues Ally by Eva Cassidy on the he500? I'd be interested in how that recording sounded with the 500. 

 

[preproman]

Quote:

^^ Have you listened to Live at Blues Ally by Eva Cassidy on the he500? I'd be interested in how that recording sounded with the 500. 

 
 
"Spectacular"  in a word.  that's my favorite Eva Cassidy cd.  I wish HD tracks had it in high res. 

 

[preproman]

I'm I the only one here that prefers the HE-4 over the HE-400 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm I the only one here that prefers the HE-4 over the HE-400 :blink:

I think the HE-4 is superior too in every way other than bass, but I like that the HE-400 is more 'fun'. It helps that the HE-400 is a LOT easier to drive too. The HE-4 is real picky, and needs a substantial amount of power to sound proper, IMHO.


As for getting used to the weight... no. The HE-400 does bother me a bit still. I doubt I can ever adjust to the HE-500.

The reason I gave up the HE-400 the first time and went back to the 990 was for comfort. Then I missed the sound, but the HE-400 is still borderline too heavy for me. I can't wear for an extended period. I would hate the HE-500. The sonic boost doesn't outweigh the weight issues I'd undoubtedly have.

 

[MattTCG]

^^ And people call me crazy because I couldn't bear the weight/comfort of the lcd2. The he400 is as heavy as it can get for me and still enjoy that hp without the comfort being a real issue. 
 
I would have liked to audition the he4...maybe someday.