[jerg]

Quote:

Jerg,
 
your comment had me thinking. I received the J$ pads around the time I got the 400 and I did not bother to give the stock pleathers a chance. Thus, I may not have familiarized myself with the strengths, weaknesses and signature of the 400. Is this an issue and should I "downgrade" ? After all, the J$ is a mod (compared to the stock), isn't it ?

 
J$'s are an improvement upon stock Hifimans (both velours and pleathers) in terms of resolution and dynamics, but it does not solve the tonal issues. In other words, the voicing of the HE400 (and to a lesser degree the HE500) is still not optimal with J$s.
 
The full jergpad mod gets to J$s in terms of most aspects of fidelity, but at the same time significantly attenuates the voicing, so that treble is much fuller and less peaked, and upper midrange is much more up-front and closer to natural levels. It is also much more transparent due to the corrected even voicing.

 

[M-13]

Just a question for those willing. How recessed are the mids of the HE-400? Specifically vocals.
 
Are they as recessed as the D2000? How much futher back than the HE-500, just slightly or way further back? Just wondering.

 

[mikewr]

Hmm, well thank you tmraven and mad lust envy for the responses.  I guess it depends on your taste whether or not it makes a difference.  See I'm coming from an HD595, and I don't know how good the mids on the 595's are compared to other headphones.  So I'm wondering if the HE-400, despite it's recessed upper mids, would be an upgrade over the HD595 in the vocals department.

See I like good mids especially for EDM because that's where all the melodies and most of everything is except the 4/4 kick, bass lines and high hats and all the other treble sounds.  So if the upper mids are very recessed I don't know how much I'll like that but I'm not going to speculate I get them tomorrow so I'll just have to see what I think.

Hope to haear your impressions here!

 

[mikewr]

 
The full jergpad mod gets to J$s in terms of most aspects of fidelity, but at the same time significantly attenuates the voicing, so that treble is much fuller and less peaked, and upper midrange is much more up-front and closer to natural levels. It is also much more transparent due to the corrected even voicing.

 
I was looking at the Jergpad's as well.  More more upfront upper mids sound promising.  I just have never moded headphones before, soI don't know if I'd mess up.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The HD595 is a very balanced headphone, with no real peaks anywhere. Not exactly energetic like the HE400, but the vocals should be pretty even, while the HE400 will have thicker male vocals, and thinner female vocals in comparison. The HE400 will still sound thicker and fuller overall, but the treble will be jarring coming off a 595. Still, overall, it's an upgrade for the most part.

 

[mikewr]

The HD595 is a very balanced headphone, with no real peaks anywhere. Not exactly energetic like the HE400, but the vocals should be pretty even, while the HE400 will have thicker male vocals, and thinner female vocals in comparison. The HE400 will still sound thicker and fuller overall, but the treble will be jarring coming off a 595. Still, overall, it's an upgrade for the most part.

Thanks for the quick reply mad lust envy.  I agree with you that the 595 is very even.  I hear no emphasis anywhere.  I'd actually be quite pleased with them, I just hate the bass rolloff that it has.  Though I don't know how I would respond to the extra treble.  Has anyone tried EQing the HE-400's uppermids up and the treble down to achieve more balance?  If so how much success did you have?

 

[mindflayz]

Hello, I'm about to buy an AMP and a DAC or a combined AMP/DAC.
 
Headphones: Hifiman HE-400
 
Budget: ~800 euro
 
I'm really confused right now and pick is even harder then when I chose what headphones to buy... 

 
I like punchy, fast and airy sound. I listen to Pop, Hip-hop and different Electronic sub genres.
 
I don't care about portability, the machines will be standing on my home desktop forever.
 
Music will be played from my stationary PC only.
 
Please help me out guys, my head is about to explode!

 

[jchu]

I know some of you guys rubbed off the Hifiman HE-400 logo on the side
What'd you did you guys do to get it off?

 

[Spiderman]

Quote:

I know some of you guys rubbed off the Hifiman HE-400 logo on the side
What'd you did you guys do to get it off?

You just gotta rub it the right way, don't be afraid to be rough with it.

 

[beaver316]

Thanks for the quick reply mad lust envy.  I agree with you that the 595 is very even.  I hear no emphasis anywhere.  I'd actually be quite pleased with them, I just hate the bass rolloff that it has.  Though I don't know how I would respond to the extra treble. Has anyone tried EQing the HE-400's uppermids up and the treble down to achieve more balance?  If so how much success did you have?

I have, it's called the jergpad mod

 

[beaver316]

Hello, I'm about to buy an AMP and a DAC or a combined AMP/DAC.

Headphones: Hifiman HE-400

Budget: ~800 euro

I'm really confused right now and pick is even harder then when I chose what headphones to buy... 

I like punchy, fast and airy sound. I listen to Pop, Hip-hop and different Electronic sub genres.

I don't care about portability, the machines will be standing on my home desktop forever.

Music will be played from my stationary PC only.

Please help me out guys, my head is about to explode!

I spent just under 800€ on my setup and I couldn't be happier. Refer to my sig. Imo the ODAC is a no brainer, it offers the best sound in it's price range. As for amps, there's a ton to choose from but for me the m-stage is perfect and a great bargain imo.

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

 
J$'s are an improvement upon stock Hifimans (both velours and pleathers) in terms of resolution and dynamics, but it does not solve the tonal issues. In other words, the voicing of the HE400 (and to a lesser degree the HE500) is still not optimal with J$s.
 
The full jergpad mod gets to J$s in terms of most aspects of fidelity, but at the same time significantly attenuates the voicing, so that treble is much fuller and less peaked, and upper midrange is much more up-front and closer to natural levels. It is also much more transparent due to the corrected even voicing.

I don't get this, I have read this before I think. But the J$s have by far the most neutral sound of all mods and pads I've tried. Vocals actually become somewhat forward.
There is also a bunch of treble, but still not as much as with the velours.

 

[catspaw]

I personally have the HE-400 with pleather still since im waiting for some beyerdynamic pads (cant use plether cus i sweat a lot).
 
I use the asgard amp and a Fiio E17 as a DAC for now (my plan is to get a bifrost when i can afford it).
 
All from Foobar and Optical In from my X-Fi titanium.
 
My next setup is probably going to be something like a LCD-3 or Stax SR-009. No point in making small upgrades at this point .
 
OFC ill have to wait about 5 years before i can afford it, but im in no hurry. Have to enjoy the HE-400 first .

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I don't get this, I have read this before I think. But the J$s have by far the most neutral sound of all mods and pads I've tried. Vocals actually become somewhat forward.
There is also a bunch of treble, but still not as much as with the velours.

Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. 

 
The distance that the J$s puts the ears away from the drivers accentuates treble and bass relative to midrange, it's not even a matter of damping. Midrange becomes more prominent (relative to treble and bass) when your ears are closer to the drivers, try it, it is an apparent effect even sans earpads. 

 

[Techno Kid]

Since I'm getting the He-400 I'm going to  buying pieces to start an at home system because now I use my Cowon i10 (had the J3 sold it to my friend, I like the i10 cuz I use it for music nothing more) and the C&C BH amp which has plenty of power for the 400's.  If I want to buy something like the HD800 or LCD2 I need a desktop amp like a good tube amp.