[amandarae]

Quote:

I used the ld with the he400. It's actually a pretty nice pairing. I liked it with high gain...gotta change the jumper inside the case. For around $100 it's a good setup and you can have a go with tube rolling!!

Excellent!  Thank you for your response.

 

[amandarae]

Quote:

I used an MKII OTL with the HE-400 for the longest.  I slightly prefer the O2 to it.  No sacrifice to bass, but a cleaner sound.

Uh-oh!  Man, when am I going to stop, or at least slow down, spending on this hobby.  I can still remember, just a month ago, how simple my life was until I stumbled on this site.

 

[TMRaven]

You should stop!  Just as with that statement of mine about the two amps, I'm sure many other statements could wrongfully lead you to spend more.  I liked the O2 over the MKII, but it was maybe like a 5% gain in sound quality.  
 
Just don't let amp/dac/cable/tube rolling statements get to you, and you'll be fine.  The real advances in sound come from the headphones themselves.

 

[RushNerd]

Officially in the HE-400 club now! And I have to say this Q-Audio cable is the nicest cable i've ever seen, it won't kink!

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

Officially in the HE-400 club now! And I have to say this Q-Audio cable is the nicest cable i've ever seen, it won't kink!

 
Congrats!! And welcome to the club...

 

[amandarae]

Quote:

You should stop!  Just as with that statement of mine about the two amps, I'm sure many other statements could wrongfully lead you to spend more.  I liked the O2 over the MKII, but it was maybe like a 5% gain in sound quality.  
 
Just don't let amp/dac/cable/tube rolling statements get to you, and you'll be fine.  The real advances in sound come from the headphones themselves.

Point taken!  Thanks!

 

[Errymoose]

Since we're talking about LD/HE-400 combos...  I am currently rocking a LD1+/RS1i combo that is just superb for a lot of the rock/jazz that I listen to a lot.  But I've been listening to a fair bit more orchestral/classical style stuff lately, and the RS1i doesn't really cut it there.  I listened to my friends foam modded 558 (supposed to sound pretty much like a 598...) and it was nice.  The darker/warmer sound was nice (especially with the tube amp).
 
Been reading a bit about the HD650 and HE-400.  I like what I've read about a fairly similar sound signature with a little more bass on the HE-400 end of things (that bass rumble with some of the orchestral music is what I would really like, without sacrificing too much else for it).  Anyone done the HE-400 and LD1+ combo to comment on it for me?
 
I've heard the RS1i still sounds great with the Lyr, but you know the whole thing with wallets and all.  I'd like to give it a shot with the Little Dot first if it's going to work (then I might decide to upgrade later on... )

 

[Madmollusk]

Well, folks, I've been listening to the He400 for about a week now, attempting to steep myself in their dark but sumptuous sound, and I have to say: these are some genuinely impressive headphones. At first I wasn't so thrilled with them, though; in fact, my first few listening sessions left me somewhat underwhelmed and a little sullen. I guess my expectations were unrealistically high. But crazy expectations are not the whole story here: the he400, to my ears at least, do falter a little. At first, I was only aware of the vaguest of problems, a troubling something I couldn't quite define. But then again, how could I concentrate on anything negative with the he400 seducing me with its incredible bass reproduction.
 
Regarding the bass, let me just say "wow!"  I can't add too much more than that;  the  consensus view is pretty much dead-on. But there was one aspect of the bass that did, in fact, surprise me: the imaging. Many headphones, especially bass-centric headphones, blur the imaging in the bass department, but the he400, somehow, reproduces the entire gamut of bass--drums, cellos, Leonard Cohen's  gravelly voice, etc.--with impeccable clarity, precision and dimensionality. I really think that these headphones (even when subjected to poorly recorded rap or pop music) are incapable of producing an amorphous thud or boom. The only other headphones in my collection capable of this sort of imaging is the HD800.  (The HD800, of course, is the undisputed the champ  of imaging.) 
 
But now back to that subtle but intractable problem I mentioned earlier; it took me a good while to figure it out, but after a few days of extended listening sessions, it finally dawned on me: when it comes to the human voice, the he400's are male-centric headphones. That's to say, they'll reproduce Nick Cave's voice with startling clarity, but not PJ Harvey's. Indeed, female voices often sound veiled and sometimes even a little nasally. Once I realized this, I almost returned these headphones to the retailer. Out of sheer curiosity, however, I decided to pull out my old Behringer 10 band graphic equalizer. Equalizers, I know, are generally  frowned upon; moreover, I've never satisfactorily eq'd any of my headphones before. Such fiddling usually injects an artificial something into the sound, so as a rule, I don't use eqs.  But a modest 3db boost between 1khz and 6khz worked magic with the he400. I'm not kidding. Now, with the help of Lisa Gerrard, these headphones are singing angelically to me.  I am very happy indeed. 
                                                                                             

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Well, folks, I've been listening to the He400 for about a week now, attempting to steep myself in their dark but sumptuous sound, and I have to say: these are some genuinely impressive headphones. At first I wasn't so thrilled with them, though; in fact, my first few listening sessions left me somewhat underwhelmed and a little sullen. I guess my expectations were unrealistically high. But crazy expectations are not the whole story here: the he400, to my ears at least, do falter a little. At first, I was only aware of the vaguest of problems, a troubling something I couldn't quite define. But then again, how could I concentrate on anything negative with the he400 seducing me with its incredible bass reproduction.
 
Regarding the bass, let me just say "wow!"  I can't add too much more than that;  the  consensus view is pretty much dead-on. But there was one aspect of the bass that did, in fact, surprise me: the imaging. Many headphones, especially bass-centric headphones, blur the imaging in the bass department, but the he400, somehow, reproduces the entire gamut of bass--drums, cellos, Leonard Cohen's  gravelly voice, etc.--with impeccable clarity, precision and dimensionality. I really think that these headphones (even when subjected to poorly recorded rap or pop music) are incapable of producing an amorphous thud or boom. The only other headphones in my collection capable of this sort of imaging is the HD800.  (The HD800, of course, is the undisputed the champ  of imaging.) 
 
But now back to that subtle but intractable problem I mentioned earlier; it took me a good while to figure it out, but after a few days of extended listening sessions, it finally dawned on me: when it comes to the human voice, the he400's are male-centric headphones. That's to say, they'll reproduce Nick Cave's voice with startling clarity, but not PJ Harvey's. Indeed, female voices often sound veiled and sometimes even a little nasally. Once I realized this, I almost returned these headphones to the retailer. Out of sheer curiosity, however, I decided to pull out my old Behringer 10 band graphic equalizer. Equalizers, I know, are generally  frowned upon; moreover, I've never satisfactorily eq'd any of my headphones before. Such fiddling usually injects an artificial something into the sound, so as a rule, I don't use eqs.  But a modest 3db boost between 1khz and 6khz worked magic with the he400. I'm not kidding. Now, with the help of Lisa Gerrard, these headphones are singing angelically to me.  I am very happy indeed. 
                                                                                             

 
I agree wholeheartedly with your impressions.
 
There seems to be a considerable amount of upper midrange / lower treble information in female vocals, and the peculiar voicing of HE400s causes it to be intrinsically weak at presenting female vocals to their full glory, un-EQ'd. A shame really, as this voicing works extremely well with just about everything else, in my opinion better than a more neutral frequency response even.

 

[RushNerd]

Quote:

 female voices often sound veiled and sometimes even a little nasally. Once I realized this, I almost returned these headphones to the retailer.

Lol, I didn't quite have that reaction, but you are right they are somewhat off, but still very well reproduced. Bjork's Medulla Works pretty damn good on them, and I've tried that album on a lot of things. Definitely the male voice shines a little more,  such as baritones like Till from Rammstein.
 
Like you mentioned, they do take a little while to warm up to, you think they are going to be like uber powerful, but you warm up to it.

 

[Madmollusk]

I should stress that I have no regrets about buying the he400 whatsoever--they really are fantastic headphones. But there's always at least one thing with every headphone I buy that makes me say, "Hmmm, now that's not quite right." With the He400, it just happens to be female voices. But what really surprised me is how easily I resolved that problem with my graphic equalizer. That being said, I'm happy to have a reason to reemploy such a spiffy looking eq; it was just gathering dust in my closet, all but forgotten. On another note: I just discovered how awesome these cans are for gaming! I have no doubt: the He400 is going to get a lot of head time. 

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

I should stress that I have no regrets about buying the he400 whatsoever--they really are fantastic headphones. But there's always at least one thing with every headphone I buy that makes me say, "Hmmm, now that's not quite right." With the He400, it just happens to be female voices. But what really surprised me is how easily I resolved that problem with my graphic equalizer. That being said, I'm happy to have a reason to reemploy such a spiffy looking eq; it was just gathering dust in my closet, all but forgotten. On another note: I just discovered how awesome these cans are for gaming! I have no doubt: the He400 is going to get a lot of head time. 

 
Yeah I love them for gaming.

Unfortunately Asus figured there was no possibility that anyone would want to use the RCA out for headphones so I can't use Dolby Headphone and my Asgard at the same time 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

What are you using? Asus what? If it's a good souncard, you can just use a 3.5mm to RCA cable from the headphone jack to the Asgard. I assume you're using an Asus card with Dolby Headphone. Plugging in from a headphone jack may be the only way to keep virtual surround. Much more beneficial than any technicalities of plugging in from a headphone jack. Essentially using the Asus as a pre-amp.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

What are you using? Asus what? If it's a good souncard, you can just use a 3.5mm to RCA cable from the headphone jack to the Asgard. I assume you're using an Asus card with Dolby Headphone. Plugging in from a headphone jack may be the only way to keep virtual surround. Much more beneficial than any technicalities of plugging in from a headphone jack. Essentially using the Asus as a pre-amp.

The Xonar STX. So the headphone out is amplified, although maybe it doesn't matter if I set it to normal gain.

 

[Madmollusk]

Quote:

 A shame really, as this voicing works extremely well with just about everything else, in my opinion better than a more neutral frequency response even.

 
I've come to the same conclusion, though once upon a time I was rather overzealous about the whole neutrality thing. I'm now somewhat of a convert; that's not to say, I prefer an overtly colored sound signature.  Rather, I like small, controlled injections of color in an otherwise neutral presentation: a little extra bass depth and slam, and a touch of shimmer in the treble. With regard to that very elusive target, the he400 manages to hit the bull's-eye (or very nearly hits the bull's-eye, due to its issue with female voices). Indeed, they have replaced my dt880, which were my go-to phones for this type of sound signature. My HD650s, however, are not going anywhere.