[Fearless1]

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Actually it's quite amazing just what Hifiman does with their planars.  I get the sense that the LCD-2 relies far too much on its (oh god, so comfortably fitted' sealing earpads) and a hefty damping scheme around its drivers.  Meanwhile the hifiman might as well not be sealed (although it does rely on a little bit of seal too, don't get me wrong.)  You can also get a sense of how the HE-400 fairs in its bass production compared to the LCD-2 if you just put your ear maybe a foot or so away from them.  You can clearly how the drum strikes on the LCD-2, but with the HE-400 you get a sense of pressurized air being thrown about further out.  I actually don't know how makes their headphones so open-air and bassy.  I don't know if it's from stronger magnets or excursion from the driver itself, but it definitely seems to be moving a crapload of air at times in comparison to the Audeze.  Judging by the size of the audeze cans, the driver has to be way bigger.
 
In terms of lack of air from being too damped, it's probably one of my biggest distractions from the LCD-2.  The HE-400 no doubt sounds very thin at times after coming from the LCD-2, but I just love the way it lets sound decay out deep into a virtual stage with many defined layers around your head.  The LCD-2 can do this at times too, and profoundly so, but not as all around as the HE-400.
 
Tomorrow I'm going to focus on EQ'ing the HE-400 to sound like the LCD-2.  Then I'll perhaps start a simple writeup and comparison of the two on friday after I ship them out.
 
 
At this point, I'm not sure I'll be getting LCD-2 as my end-game.  Despite my obvious love for its looks and earpads, I don't feel it's different enough for me.  I much rather get an LCD-3 or HE-6 with speaker amp or wait and see what new stuff Audeze and Hifiman come out with.  I would much like a closed LCD-2.  I get the sense that I might as well have a closed headphone with the LCD-2 as it stands.

J$ pads help in the process. That was my first thought when I tried them was "These sound identical to my Lcds". They add that bit of dark and a better seal for the bass impact

 

[korzena]

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That tizziness is the only downside to these headphones for me. A lot has been mentioned about the slight upper mids recession, but that was an intentional tweak by Hifiman and not one that takes anything away from the musical experience. It's just something that some people might like or not. But that tizzy sound around the treble which becomes really obvious when female vocals play can really bug me. Jergpads blunt it slightly though.
 
If and when I upgrade to something higher end and more expensive, that tizzy sound would be a major reason because honestly everything else this headphone does is perfect for me.

I suppose you would be very happy with LCD-2 rev.2.

 

[beaver316]

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I suppose you would be very happy with LCD-2 rev.2.

 
I thought so too, until the recent impressions of people in the headamp program. The LCD2, in comparison to the HE400, sounds less airy and less open. That's not something im willing to compromise when finally upgrading. Maybe the HE-500 or HE-6 would be the more logical upgrade.

 

[bareyb]

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I suppose you would be very happy with LCD-2 rev.2.

Why not just EQ the tizzies out? Wouldn't be tough. You'd just need a Graphic of the HE400s response curve and adjust accordingly. Personally, the tizzy thing you are talking about isn't present on my set, but I did feel they were a tad bright for the first week or so. Now I think they are perfect. I've tried cutting the way upper end with my EQ,  bit and for me, it was not worth the sacrifice of greater detail. 

 

[jerg]

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Why not just EQ the tizzies out? Wouldn't be tough. You'd just need a Graphic of the HE400s response curve and adjust accordingly. Personally, the tizzy thing you are talking about isn't present on my set, but I did feel they were a tad bright for the first week or so. Now I think they are perfect. I've tried cutting the way upper end with my EQ,  bit and for me, it was not worth the sacrifice of greater detail. 

This. You can EQ out tizziness, but you can never EQ in airiness/openness lol.

 

[jay567]

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From someone who downgraded from the HE-500 to the HE-400 (and was very happy with the decision), if you feel the 400 lacks warmth & musicality (in the mids), the HE-500 will suit you well.  More often than not, I actually found the 500's mids too lush & forward.  It closed the stage in too much for me.. I wanted something with similar technical capabilities but with a more open and airy stage.. the 400 fit the bill for me.  I found the 500's bass a little too centered around the midbass, too.  It's more technically capable than the 400's bass (not by much, IME).. but again, the midbass centered boost made the sound a bit too 'stuffy' for me.  The 500's treble is velvety smooth, too.. arguably too smooth for my tastes.
 
Despite all this, I still really like the sound of the HE-500.. I just ended up not liking it enough to own it.  I wish I knew an HE-500 owner nearby from who I could borrow it whenever I wanted.
 
Owning both the 400 & 500, I really came away with a lot of respect for both phones.. and the important thing to understand at this price point is that it's really about finding what suits your tastes.. technicalities are much closer (and source/amp dependent) than it may appear.

shouldda given the forgotten diamond HE-5LEs a go if you could get access to them. Should be what you are lookin for imo.

 

[jay567]

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Your explanation feels right to me.
Actually I wouldn't mind so much to listen louder if it wouldn't be for the 'tizziness' in treble that bothers me much more then.

It's not only the tizziness but actually the imagin location for this particular is... awkward imo

 

[jay567]

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This. You can EQ out tizziness, but you can never EQ in airiness/openness lol.

I did use EQ to try and neutralize the tizziness but I'm not an expert at getting the optimal result with EQing unfortunately haha But yeah, does help definitely as well as imaging.

 

[korzena]

This. You can EQ out tizziness, but you can never EQ in airiness/openness lol.

I could eq higher freq but i am afraid i would do it at the cost of detail and airness/openness - the very features of HE-400 which convinced me to get them as a complementary headphone to my LCD-2.2.

 

[Marleybob217]

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^^ Huh? Are you trying to seduce an Italian girl? jk

Lol

 

[korzena]

I did use EQ to try and neutralize the tizziness but I'm not an expert at getting the optimal result with EQing unfortunately haha But yeah, does help definitely as well as imaging.

Anyone proficient in eqing, please tell what exact freq should be cut down and by how much dB in oder to get rid of this tizziness , but without sacrifizing airness/openness/detail?

 

[korzena]

I thought so too, until the recent impressions of people in the headamp program. The LCD2, in comparison to the HE400, sounds less airy and less open. That's not something im willing to compromise when finally upgrading. Maybe the HE-500 or HE-6 would be the more logical upgrade.
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From what i read about He-500 ,it's not the most open/airy headphone and this feature is the reason i am looking for a complementary headphone to my LCD-2.
He-6 scares me off because of the need for a new amplifier.

 

[jerg]

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Anyone proficient in eqing, please tell what exact freq should be cut down and by how much dB in oder to get rid of this tizziness , but without sacrifizing airness/openness/detail?

 

 
This is waterfall plot of HE400 rev2 with velour pads. Note the emphasis in the mid~upper treble, and the slight recess in the upper midrange; basically the inverse of that would make them neutral on the same system.
 
You don't want to do such aggressive EQ though, just note the frequencies of interest (where you will EQ), and adjust to your liking.
 
My recommendation, purely based on that graph, would be to bump up 1750 Hz - 5500 Hz by 5dB, and to push down 9000 Hz - 18000 Hz by 5dB. Between 5500 Hz and 9000 Hz, just have a gradual downward EQ slope.

 

[beaver316]

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This is waterfall plot of HE400 rev2 with velour pads. Note the emphasis in the mid~upper treble, and the slight recess in the upper midrange; basically the inverse of that would make them neutral on the same system.
 
You don't want to do such aggressive EQ though, just note the frequencies of interest (where you will EQ), and adjust to your liking.

 
What do you recommend? Im not too sure where I should be EQing looking at that graph.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

From looking at that graph, I think all that would be needed is to reduce everything over 6500hz (6.5Khz) by about 4-5db.