[TMRaven]

I have heard an XB700 in fact.  Their bass is fairly distorted.  But there it's an issue of decay moreso than distortion.

 

[modulor]

It's hard to keep up with this thread if you miss a day or two 

 
 
 

 
You just have some guy like me working on getting some proper acoustic fabric / protector, so it can be shipped out with the leather BeyerDynamic pads.  

 

 

 I'd be interested to know what you find works best.  I've been researching different sheer fabrics (nylon, cotton, silk, wool), so I may test a few types that look like they'd work best and report back.  I can see this leading into trying to design a pad (I've thought about it) but only if time permits.  
 

Hey guys
So I'm dying to get a pair of these.  So I convinced myself to stop shopping and finally start saving up for a pair.  Really excited 

 
Anyways, I'm now just considering the amp for these babies.  I have three options right now.  I want to use these for both at home and portable use (by portable I mean moving around the house).  So I could get;
 
1.  Fiio E17:  would give me the option to use it both on the go and on my laptop. Plus it's a amp+dac in one.  The main reason I'm considering the E17 is because it also portable.  I currently own the fiio E11 which I use with my ipod.  I'm not sure if it would do well with the HE-400's.  If so I could just use that as my portable amp...
 
2.  Schiit Magni:  May get the Modi with it as well in the future, but based on my budget I that wouldn't happen any time soon.  I know I wouldn't be able to use it portable (would be nice to know if my E11 would drive the HE-400's well)
 
3.  Fiio E10:  Based off the review it sounds like it would a good/cheaper option.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is both an amp and a dac correct?  If so, would it do better or on par with the E17 for the He-400's?
 
Would appreciate any opinions on which of the three would do best.  I have an ipod touch and ipod classic, my music is all 320 mp3 (if it helps to know that).
 

Wait and see how you think they pair with the E11.  I tried this first while I was waiting for my Magni to arrive and I thought it sounded pretty great.  That said, the Magni for a desktop solution has been a perfect pairing.
 
 

For those looking at getting the Schiit Modi/Magni stack,
I'm coming from the Fiio E17. 
 
I feel like the M&M resolves better than the E17, but it makes some stuff sound too "bright" to me, also, brings forth some awful hissing on certain songs. 
I don't hear the hissing on most electronic based music (pop, hip-hop, EDM).  I mostly hear hissing with indie rock stuff.  I do not hear the hissing with the E17.
 
I just bought the Aune T1 today.  Expected delivery is Friday.  Gonna have an amp/dac shootout between the three.
 

 
I had thought about getting a small tube amp to sample at some point, and noticed a few people talking about the T1 - I'd be interested to see your showdown for sure!  I'm thinking of going the DIY route for a tube amp when the time comes, but that's a project for another time. I've been enjoying the HE-400/Magni combo so far, but always interested to see what other small desktop solutions have to offer.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
so headphones with very tight bass (like he-400s) can produce nice deep subwoofer like club bass.. but only at moderate volumes, since they lack the 1) that looser/basshead headphones get at higher volumes which replicates something you'd hear in a loud boomy car subwoofer system, something he-400 can't do? so even with no eq or anything, turn a deep dubstep song to HIGH club volume.. on any amp and the he-400's bass will sound like crap/distortion opposed to deep subwoofer rumble that loose headphones can provide? Even if you've heard something like a sony xb700 on high volumes(with bass eq, as they respond to eq VERY well)/bassy song you'll know what i mean
 
Even my ie8's can go reach LOUD volumes of deep bass with ZERO distortion, I guess that's a bit different though

 
I think what I was trying to hint at with the earlier post is that I'm not sure if you are experiencing a distortion due to the headphones' limitation, or due to your upstream setup being insufficient in power to deliver full bass at high volumes with the HE400 drivers.
 
If the latter is true, then the only reason why XB700 is able to crank out the bass at high volume is because it is easier to drive, so your setup is able to deliver enough power for its driver to move freely, but not the HE400 (insufficient power causing the HE400 driver not to vibrate at what it could potentially crank out with a more powerful setup at the same high volume).
 
One thing you'll note when people upgrade to more powerful amps with planar headphones, is that they observe a more well-controlled, tighter, and better extended/textured bass, because the boost in power reins the driver membranes in control and bass notes can be delivered in very ordered vibrations.

 

[TMRaven]

Also I'll mention that a lot of the impact and rumble people tend to associate with bass power (especially beats by dre owners) is relative to the sturdiness of the frame of the headphones.  Some like having a frame that isn't too rigid, allowing for the driver's movement to be carried throughout the entire cups themselves, to help add tactile feedback.  Some headphones take great strides to reduce as much vibration as possible to get as clean a sound as possible (queue the HD800 and its specifically engineered headband).  
 
You could also liken it to a subwoofer producing bass on a concrete backed floor, or a subwoofer producing bass on a raised wooden floor (home theater guys love those because it gives additional bass feel)
 
As it stands, HE-400 has a pretty rigid frame.  Even though the drivers themselves move lots of air, you don't really feel the headphones themselves vibrate unless you're at really, really high volume levels.

 

[wje]

Quote:

Also I'll mention that a lot of the impact and rumble people tend to associate with bass power (especially beats by dre owners) is relative to the sturdiness of the frame of the headphones.  Some like having a frame that isn't too rigid, allowing for the driver's movement to be carried throughout the entire cups themselves, to help add tactile feedback.  Some headphones take great strides to reduce as much vibration as possible to get as clean a sound as possible (queue the HD800 and its specifically engineered headband).  
 
You could also liken it to a subwoofer producing bass on a concrete backed floor, or a subwoofer producing bass on a raised wooden floor (home theater guys love those because it gives additional bass feel)
 
As it stands, HE-400 has a pretty rigid frame.  Even though the drivers themselves move lots of air, you don't really feel the headphones themselves vibrate unless you're at really, really high volume levels.

 
For years, I could never deal with many subwoofers for use in my basement with the cement floor and walls. Then, I invested in a SVS "waterheater" subwoofer.  Granted, it doesn't provide the rumble that one would get on a wooden floor as you've described.  However, it does fill the air with bass and if I don't watch it, all that bass moving around in the air of my listening environment can quickly cause a headache in me.  I've always thought that it was sloppy and bloated bass that would give me a bad headache.  Instead, it happened to be quality bass in the form of waves that were present in my listening that can get to the point where the sub-bass while not rattling anything is just present with a high build-up of pressure in the air.  Amazing stuff!

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
For years, I could never deal with many subwoofers for use in my basement with the cement floor and walls. Then, I invested in a SVS "waterheater" subwoofer.  Granted, it doesn't provide the rumble that one would get on a wooden floor as you've described.  However, it does fill the air with bass and if I don't watch it, all that bass moving around in the air of my listening environment can quickly cause a headache in me.  I've always thought that it was sloppy and bloated bass that would give me a bad headache.  Instead, it happened to be quality bass in the form of waves that were present in my listening that can get to the point where the sub-bass while not rattling anything is just present with a high build-up of pressure in the air.  Amazing stuff!

A well-controlled strong tight bass is analogous to staring at a monochromatic (e.g. bright red) screen, your sensory system just gets overloaded by very narrow pure bands of sensory frequency (whether it be optical or sound waves) and ends up tiring out, giving you bad feels.

 

[FuzzyD]

Quote:

Since we're uping some 400's friendly tracks... I think I posted this in the wooow thread and not this one, sorry if it's a duplicate. 
 
These cans are nice on horns - I find horns hot in the real world, and this track sounds on to me.  Good exercise on both ends of the scale and well recorded.
 

 
Now this is more like it. Something about the soundstage on this recording makes it sound very between the ears to me though. That sax player looks like Jim from American Pie.
 
Check this out.  This whole album is one of the best recordings I've ever heard. This particular upload sounds a bit veiled though.
 
This is good too. http://youtu.be/WCOP7dPlDtw

 

[Jabse]

Quote:

 
I think what I was trying to hint at with the earlier post is that I'm not sure if you are experiencing a distortion due to the headphones' limitation, or due to your upstream setup being insufficient in power to deliver full bass at high volumes with the HE400 drivers.
 
If the latter is true, then the only reason why XB700 is able to crank out the bass at high volume is because it is easier to drive, so your setup is able to deliver enough power for its driver to move freely, but not the HE400 (insufficient power causing the HE400 driver not to vibrate at what it could potentially crank out with a more powerful setup at the same high volume).
 
One thing you'll note when people upgrade to more powerful amps with planar headphones, is that they observe a more well-controlled, tighter, and better extended/textured bass, because the boost in power reins the driver membranes in control and bass notes can be delivered in very ordered vibrations.

I hope the latter is true, what do you think i should match up with my e17 ?

 

[brokenthumb]

Quote:

 
For years, I could never deal with many subwoofers for use in my basement with the cement floor and walls. Then, I invested in a SVS "waterheater" subwoofer.  Granted, it doesn't provide the rumble that one would get on a wooden floor as you've described.  However, it does fill the air with bass and if I don't watch it, all that bass moving around in the air of my listening environment can quickly cause a headache in me.  I've always thought that it was sloppy and bloated bass that would give me a bad headache.  Instead, it happened to be quality bass in the form of waves that were present in my listening that can get to the point where the sub-bass while not rattling anything is just present with a high build-up of pressure in the air.  Amazing stuff!

 
I have two of those SVS "waterheaters" in my home cinema and I will often have headaches from watching movies with a lot of sub bass.  Also I added a Buttkicker LFE for more of a theme park ride feel. 

  I love it... just not the headaches.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I hope the latter is true, what do you think i should match up with my e17 ?

The cheapest upscale in power would be for you to get the Schiit Magni ($99) which gives about 6 times the power of E17 (1.2W instead of 0.2W into about 32Ohms).

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I must say the HE-400 LOVES the Compass 2.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I must say the HE-400 LOVES the Compass 2.

Sure ain't cheap though. Would you say it's even better synergy than HE400+Lyr?

 

[earphiler]

Do you guys think HiFiMan will have new models this year and/or another revision to he-400?

 

[Sniping]

Quote:

Do you guys think HiFiMan will have new models this year and/or another revision to he-400?

I don't think so.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Sure ain't cheap though. Would you say it's even better synergy than HE400+Lyr?

I wasn't a fan of the Lyr, so I'm biased against it, and I didn't own the HE-400 at the time (HE-4 though, which did sound stellar off it).

The Compass 2 is the dream amp/dac for me. It has an an amazing volume knob, analog input, usb, spdifs, and line/variable out. It's pretty powerful too, and the signature A-GD sound signature is just wonderful here. Neutral with a slight edge off the upper range. I even hooked up the ODAC to the Compass 2 and favored the internal DAC. I mean it's basically identical, but the internal DAC is INTERNAL, and doesn't have to worry about analog cables hampering sound quality.

I found the amp section to sound identical to my SA-31, so that's even more of a bonus.

$500 for an amp+dac you can tweak and upgrade later on... yes please.

I did pay extra for the TXCOs and OCC wiring. Wanted to get everything now, as I'm definitely done with amp/dac purchases. I may yet again get another portable amp/dac, but not until I get a laptop, that's it.