[preproman]

Yeah - I keep forgetting.  Again, my bad.  What are people using anyway.  iPods?

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

Yeah - I keep forgetting.  Again, my bad.  What are people using anyway.  iPods?

^^ haha...I do have to admit that with the he4, it was the first time I felt like the lyr was really pushed by a headphone. 

 

[catspaw]

Quote:

 
There are a few ways to get more comfort. Maybe the easiest is to add a headband over the existing one. I think that this one is the flavor of choice for the guys here:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Leatherette-Universal-Sennheiser-Beyerdynamic/dp/B00862522A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358166204&sr=8-1&keywords=beyerdynamic+headband+replacement
 
Secondly, the headband is metal and can be reshaped. You must exercise caution but it is easily done. This works well if the clamp is too much. You can bend the headband completely flat by grabbing it and stretching it to a completely flat position and holding it there for a few seconds or more. Then try it to see if the clamp is where you want it.
 
I think that the addition of cotton is something that wje did, but he eventually went to the aftermarket headband. Correct me if I'm wrong. 

Unfortunatelly for me reshape wont work since i have a small bump right at the top of my head (yeah ... i gotta be an alien or somethin).
 
 
I guess ill just rip off the leather around the headband when i got some good material for it and decide on the go .

 

[MattTCG]

^^ yeah, the headband cushoning is not the best, although it works for me. Hence the reason that you see guys opting for the aftermarket hb. If you find a better solution please share it with us!!
 
gL!!

 

[catspaw]

As a curiosity, HE4 are better than HE-400 if properly driven?
I mean, i got the HE-400 for about the same price as the HE-4, and i wanted the LYR anyway. Have i made a mistake? TT

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

They are different. The HE-4 is more technical, balanced, and airy. The HE400 is more fun oriented with bigger bass and stronger treble.

 

[MattTCG]

Better is tough to qualify. Better you my not mean better for me. You just have to look at the overall sound signature and then comfort, amp requirements ect and decide what's best for you.
 
Personally I thought the he4 was great. It has the HFM house sound but it has smoother treble and more accurate mids. The bass is toned down a bit so overall it's more balanced. Great headphone IMO.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

As a curiosity, HE4 are better than HE-400 if properly driven?
I mean, i got the HE-400 for about the same price as the HE-4, and i wanted the LYR anyway. Have i made a mistake? TT

 
 
I don't think you made a mistake.  It's just what do you prefer.  Both are good at what they do.

 

[catspaw]

I guess i see your point of view. I was looking at the technical specs (20hz to 35Khz for HE-400 and 10hz to 60khz for the HE-4) and was thinking that the HE-4 should be a bit better at least.
 
I dont think ive overpayed for those HE-400, just that maybe i could have gotten a better deal .
 
Ill check the HD600 from senn also since i somehow feel id like to have them as well.
 
On the comfort side, anyone knows some really nice soft padding for the headband i could get? (I mean the raw material, as i plan to make a custom headband).
Appart from simple cotton, what other materials are really good for this ?

 

[FuzzyD]

Quote:

Yokken has long since left the HE400 family I'm afraid, you won't get a response from him.
 
But yeah some people opted to work the headband padding and snap in all the buttons, it IS doable, you just gotta really squeeze the stock headband into the wrap. I don't see how it is good other than aesthetics though, because bunching it up in the middle like that will only make the padding in the middle hard and compressed which is stupid because the whole point of adding this additional padding is to have more softer cushioning.

 
I'm going to have to have a talk with my mother-in-law about crafting a custom fitted headband. She is a master with the sewing machine and I'm sure we could put something together with about $5 worth of supplies from that Jo'Anns store. I'm thinking basically the same design as the Beyer pad but with a black velour fabric and maybe velcro instead of snaps. She even hand stitched a PSP case for me back in the day that was real nice.

 

[MrMateoHead]

In the future - when people are having a conflict or otherwise not enjoying their HE-400 to the max, can we start to identify the tracks we are listening to when that happens?
 
I have been getting curious about the extent to which recording variance impacts enjoyment with these. I swear these phones have been "teaching" me more than other audio systems I've used in the past.
 
I've also noticed that I no longer experience much fatigue during longer listening sessions. That partly follows adjusting the ear cups slightly.
 
If you post the songs you hate, and why, I may even put them into a spreadsheet and share later.
 
Frankly, I am tired of living in the 21st century, and realizing that many of the best recordings I have were made in the 1990s.

 

[ninjames]

Not-so pro tip: Don't ever sit and wonder what the hell that airy sound is coming into your left cup and obsess over it for ten minutes. Just turn around and notice the desk fan behind you blowing directly into the open headphones.
 
Whoops.

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

Excited to join the HE-400 family soon 

.
 
I've had my eye on it for a long time (even when I owned the HE-500) & finally ordered it (from HeadRoom) last week.. it arrives tomorrow.  Picked up the velour pads (from HeadRoom) & J$ pads (from Jeremy).. as well as a snazzy Skuld 4 cable from Trevor (Norse Audio).  I plan on driving it with the Lake People G109-S.. which I'm ordering from Fried/Lake People, atm.
 
I'm excited & curious to hear the HE-400.. being that I'm actually coming to it from an HE-500.  While the HE-500 was terrific in terms of technical prowess, I grew a bit tired of the thick, slightly midforward nature of the midrange.  The mids were quite smooth.. but they certainly had a bit of Grado-y aggressiveness to them (certainly nowhere near fatiguing in the way some Grados can be, though).  The HE-500's bass was excellent.. but it sounded a little thick through the midbass for my taste.  I was driving the HE-500 (properly) from a variety of amps.. Objective2, Tube-DAC-11 (both the ss & tube outputs.. in the latter outputs, the O2 served as the front end), as well as a class-T speaker amp (which sounded fantastic).  DACs used was the ODAC in most cases (along with the TD-11's well implemented, Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC chip).
 
Removing the HE-500 grill's fabric backing helped with flattening the midbass, toning back the midrange's forwardness, and creating a touch of air to the treble (but it could get sibilant in some cases).. ultimately, I still wanted something less 'thick' sounding through the mids and flatter through the midbass.  I opted for the trusty HD600 (which I've long loved) instead and have been quite happy.  That being said, I definitely missed the 'ortho' sound and now that HiFiMan has worked out the build issues with the HE-400, saw it as a perfect opportunity to jump on it.
 
I've done plenty of reading about the HE-400.. I'm more than a little confident I'll enjoy it.  It seems to be a fairly neutral phone with just the right touch of (modest) coloration in the "right" places to make it a fun, musical, engaging phone.  Genre diversity is very important to me as I listen to everything from liquid DnB to jazz, soul, blues, rock, Indian classical music, hip hop.. and everything in between.

 
Between the 4s, 400s and 500s I own, the 400s are clearly the least neutral of the 3. It is a dark sounding headphones with sparkly treble.
 
In term of sound signature, I would say:
- HE-400: dark with sparkly treble and recessed upper mids. Maybe not as thick sounding as the 500s but definitely closer to the 500s than the 4s.
- HE-500: warm with mids emphasis. Lush and thick mids, smooth treble and slight bass emphasis (less so than the 400s but not by a great margin). Bass is similar to that of the 400s, maybe a bit more bloomy.
- HE-4: neutral/bright with recessed mids. Airy sounding, energetic treble and sub-bass ('U-shaped" signature), natural mids (yet somewhat recessed). Tighest bass of the 3 but less prominent overall.
 
From the 3, the 4s are best described as neutral IMO.
 
I never listened to the HD-600 but from what I could read here and there, their sound signature is closer to the 4's than the 400's.

 

[catspaw]

I Normally have issues with music like Nickleback, Papa roach, Paramore (Before the HE-400 they were some of my favorite).
I lean much more to Music like David guetta type of music. (I am also starting to enjoy clasical music faaaaar more with those cans)
Fortunatelly HE-400 Is a monster when it comes to gaming (my main hobby).
 
The reasons i dont like them so much for rock is becuse i get the strange feeling like some songs have the sound distant away from me. I read already somewhere that this might be due to lack of amp, but it sounds weird, since other songs do not suffer from this issue.
 
Ive been using CDs so its hard to say its the recordings fault.
 
I wont be able to really test them for a while since untill i get some free time from work, my free time is consumed by gaming .
 
I hope i will be able to compare them to some otehr cans, like the HE-500 or the HD600/700 after the 25th of January (especially since its when the store i visit will get their shipment of Shiit Lyr).
 
Ill be taking my Papa Roach CD just to test it on their setup and see if its the recording or not .

 

[wje]

Quote:

I dont think ive overpayed for those HE-400, just that maybe i could have gotten a better deal .
 

 
The price of $399.00 for the HE-400s is an excellent bargain as it is.  Compared to many other headphones out there, the price for these is astonishing.