[DJBunyan]

So guys, I ordered my HE-400s and Schiit M/M stack last year (lol) and I got them around the 3rd... I've been meaning to post up my opinion since then but i've been preoccupied listening to all of my music again!!!
 
 
To introduce myself, my names Dan. I play football at Michigan and just finished my freshman season and I am a total music addict. Both my dad and I are big into audio, though my dad is more into speakers than headphones. 
 
 
I am coming from my Denon D2000s which I absolutely love.
 
 
Now, enough with the boring stuff, and on to the HE-400s. The Schiit M/M stack didn't arrive until the day after I got the headphones, so I was faced with a bit of a quandary - do I listen to them unamped, or wait an ENTIRE DAY to listen to them? I decided to try them out right out of my iPhone 5, and it drove them ok. More on the sound later. I tried driving them out of my brother's Droid Razr Maxx, and it didn't seem to have the juice necessary to drive them. sounded weak and was pretty quiet. 
 
So, after listening on my iPhone for a while, I ventured into my dad's office and plugged them into his NAD Monitor Series 5000 CD Transport and NAD 1600 preamp and loaded up Return to Forever's "Romantic Warrior". 
 
 
WOW.
 
 
In my estimation, this track is a great track to audition headphones with - if you haven't heard it, check it out. What struck me first was the sharpness and imaging - the attack on these headphones is unlike anything I've ever heard. Next is the fantastic instrument separation. It's just so easy to follow one of a instruments in a song. The bass, though! Even coming from the Denons, I just cant see how anyone could possibly be disappointed with the bass on these cans. It goes down looooowwww, not quite as low as the Denons, but it gets down there. The impact isn't *quite* as much but I'll be damned if anyone is disappointed with it! It just replicates the acoustic bass in this song with such clarity and detailing - it's amazing. You can hear the bow sliding over the strings, every last little detail. Then the more"funky" electric bass later in the song comes in and it is replicated wonderfully once again. The mids are smooth and forward in a very pleasant manner, much better than the denons. The highs are great - they have a great "zing" to them, gives the music an edge, a liveliness.
 
 
Couldn't be happier at this point. Then my M/M stack came, and I couldn't be happier with those either. They really sound good and have plenty of power to drive the headphones. Usually hang around 1/3 way up on the volume knob, or slightly more. I couldn't comment more on the amp, cause I don't really have anything top compare it to, but I LOVE it and would definitely recommend it.
 
 
 
Overall, just so happy!
 
 
 
My little family:
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Very nice DJ and welcome!! Your impressions seem about spot on with what others have found with the he400. You get some serious hi-fi for four bills. I was gonna ask if you're okay with the weight and comfort but since you're a football player I suppose the weight won't bother you...unless your the punter. 

 
Try the velour pads if you want to get a nice improvement on the sound quality all for $10!!

 

[justin w.]

is there an official headphone of the Michigan football team?

 

[justin w.]

Quote:

 
Try the velour pads if you want to get a nice improvement on the sound quality all for $10!!

 
i have a feeling he has them

 

[DJBunyan]

Quote:

^^ Very nice DJ and welcome!! Your impressions seem about spot on with what others have found with the he400. You get some serious hi-fi for four bills. I was gonna ask if you're okay with the weight and comfort but since you're a football player I suppose the weight won't bother you...unless your the punter. 

 
Try the velour pads if you want to get a nice improvement on the sound quality all for $10!!

I am a 6'7 300lb offensive lineman so the comfort was something i was worried about - you got regular people complaining about the clamping force, and I wondered if my massive noggin would even fit in them... but I actually find the force to be pretty nice. Now when I put my Denons on, they just feel like theyre going to fall off. The weight is actually a positive for me.
 
 
 
I ordered from Justin and put the velour pads on right away. One of the pleather pads that came on it was actually broken. I would have had to send them back if they didnt come with the velours. Luckily I wanted to put the velours on anyway

 

[DJBunyan]

Quote:

 
i have a feeling he has them

I wonder why.....
 
 
 
As you'd imagine, most of my teammates have beats lol

 

[justin w.]

Quote:

I ordered from Justin and put the velour pads on right away. One of the pleather pads that came on it was actually broken. I would have had to send them back if they didnt come with the velours. Luckily I wanted to put the velours on anyway

 
this is why i wont actually install the velours if people ask me to.  the way the packaging is designed, it crushes the pad on the side with the plastic window on the box.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The he400 box is terrible really. That clear window is a mistake.

 

[brokenthumb]

Quote:

 
this is why i wont actually install the velours if people ask me to.  the way the packaging is designed, it crushes the pad on the side with the plastic window on the box.

 
 
Yeah, one of my pleathers was also crushed out of the box.  It's shape has returned to normal now though.
 
I have the pleather pads sealed away in the bag the velour's arrived in... they will never return to the HE-400 as long as I own them. 

 

[BrokeStudent]

Quote:

 
 
Yeah, one of my pleathers was also crushed out of the box.  It's shape has returned to normal now though.
 
I have the pleather pads sealed away in the bag the velour's arrived in... they will never return to the HE-400 as long as I own them. 

 
 
I keep reading about these velours like they are a godsend. Luckily, I ordered from Justin W so they were included for free, but my question is, why are they hyped so much? Obviously I'm a noob, but can pads really make that much of a difference or is this one of those finicky things?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
 
I keep reading about these velours like they are a godsend. Luckily, I ordered from Justin W so they were included for free, but my question is, why are they hyped so much? Obviously I'm a noob, but can pads really make that much of a difference or is this one of those finicky things?

They are ok, but specifically they "fix" a few sound signature issues inherent with HE400, and boosts upper midrange a bit and smooths out the peakiness of the upper treble. Otherwise it is a preference thing.
 
For instance, those sonic "fixes" don't quite apply with HE500, which is why even though I repeatedly tried to like the HE500s + velours, I never did. It's always HE500 + pleather for my preference.

 

[TMRaven]

With the pleathers, the HE-400 (rev2) are seen as dark and syrupy.  The early adapters (including me) to the velours noted that with them on the HE-400's mids sounded more focused and fleshed out.  CSD graphs provided by Purrin demonstrated that the Velours brought out the mids and reduced some peaks and troughs centered around 1khz-- in other words it smoothened the HE-400's response out.
 
If you switch back and forth between the two, you might not notice much of a difference, as it takes a while to change the pads out, and our audial memory sucks.  However, if you listen to the HE-400 for weeks on end, then switch over to the velours with songs you're very familiar with, you just might go WOW.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

 
 
I keep reading about these velours like they are a godsend. Luckily, I ordered from Justin W so they were included for free, but my question is, why are they hyped so much? Obviously I'm a noob, but can pads really make that much of a difference or is this one of those finicky things?

I personally just like them because my ears get too hot with the pleathers. 

 

[brokenthumb]

Quote:

They are ok, but specifically they "fix" a few sound signature issues inherent with HE400, and boosts upper midrange a bit and smooths out the peakiness of the upper treble. Otherwise it is a preference thing.
 
For instance, those sonic "fixes" don't quite apply with HE500, which is why even though I repeatedly tried to like the HE500s + velours, I never did. It's always HE500 + pleather for my preference.

 
I also liked the pleather more on the HE-500.

 

[sbtruitt]

I guess I am the contrarian here. I just got thru (again) A/Bing both of them for over an hour.
With the velours - for me it adds bass and makes it stronger (but no necessaily cleaner) but takes away from the soundstage and clarity. I think.
 
The pleathers have a bit less bass impact but the overall sound just sounds a bit brighter and with more clarity and sounstage, so again, I tried to like'm with all the endorsements for them, but just like the pleathers better. YMMV.
 
I'm actually waiting on some Denon leather angled pads from Mark Lawton to see what they will do.