[AyeVeeN]

What I find weird is that at first I espdcially hated the pleathers treble. I put them on again after us7ng Alpha Pads for a few days and I notice no treble peaks that pissed me off before. Finally concluded that the HE400 does indeed have less midbass with Alpha Pads. Noticed after listening to the ES3X and then swapping alphas to velours/pleathers.

Wish I can find an exact replica of the ES3X in a headphone with a headphone's soundstage / imaging / immersion. Its mid range is just too perfect with balanced bass and perfect / non sibilant highs. Everything I like in the HE400 the ES3X doesn't have and everything I like in the ES3X ths HE400 doesnt have (asides from its more fun bass, though depends on my mood / genre im listening to)

 

[clarknova]

I seriously bought a pair of these on a lark since I was itching to try something planar magnetic and figured HiFiMAN is so well liked for their high end models I would give it a shot.
 
God , I'm glad I did. I've been on a quest for ages to find something to replace my HD650's or at least offer a different sonic perspective to the "dark" but wonderfully smooth sound of the HD650's. 
 
I've been listening to my HE-400's nonstop since they arrived and I can't believe what a spatial difference there is between the two. In my mind I'll always love the HD650's , that sound signature has been a true companion in my sonic quest. I've yet to throw something at my 650's that I didn't like but these HE-400's somehow improve upon what I thought only gobs of money could improve. I've listened to plenty of higher end cans and for the most part the differences aren't grand enough to justify the expense. I'm a fickle man who spends a lot of time researching before I splurge.
 
But after looking at what my next can would be and pondering my budget I was searching Amazon and read the various glowing reviews one after another about the HE-400's. Its pretty rare to actually read that many glowing reviews without a single sound critical opinion (other than random internet stupidity) so I just clicked buy and figured if they didn't work out I would return them.
 
 
I will NOT be returning these. In fact now that I've heard the HE-400's I want to try higher end planar magnetic cans. Perhaps I will be "splurging" after all but until that time comes , I'm damn happy with these. Scratch that DAMN DAMN happy..

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I took the protection grill off of the left channel and found out that this bit of metal (in the picture), when I slightly blow at it, flutters WAY MORE than the same bit on the right channel.. Could that be the problem? 

That's not metal, bro, it's an extremely thin stretched mylar (it's a type of polyester) film that acts as the diaphragm.

 

[FlySweep]

Originally Posted by Fearless1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Would have been all over that a week or two ago, I picked up a Headroom desktop (always wanted to try it) and the allocated funds need replenishing.

 
Nice.. looking forward to hearing how the HE-400 sound with it.  I've wanted to hear the Headroom desktop amps, too.. they've got a sort of "tried & true, time tested" aura about them.  Hope it works out for ya.

That's high praise for the HE-400 Flysweep. I really want to try the V200 but I just can't justify spending so much on an amp right now, but anyway it sounds like an awesome pairing.

 
I know the feeling.. in all honesty, I wasn't planning on getting the V200.  I happened to get an incredibly generous offer on the V800.. so my (snobbish) audiophile tendencies kicked in and I decided to get the V200 for aesthetics sake.  Unless i"m ready to drop cash on an EC or DNA amp, the V200 will most likely be the last solid state amp I get for the foreseeable future (famous last words, right?).  Hope you get a chance to hear the Vio stuff (again, most definitely with the HE-400 or another ortho).. I think you'll be impressed.
 
I've typically found that neutral-ish phones tend to sound best with tube amps.. so it was a welcome surprise to hear how nicely the HE-400 paired with a good Amperex tube (in the TD-11).  It does wonders for that midrange.
 

Originally Posted by KetchupNinja /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Different strokes for different folks I'd say.  I wasn't a fan of the treble but I still consider the HE-400 a great can.  Got the HE-500's earlier today and couldn't be more happy.  

.  While it wasn't an issue for me, I can certainly see how the HE-400's treble could rub people the wrong way.  I've been fortunate enough to find gear that smooths it out without taking away from it's resolving ability or masking what I find to make the HE-400 sound special/unique.  The HE-400 certainly couldn't be my only phone.. but as a "change of pace" type of can, it's excellent.. and why I've kept it around.  I find it quite complimentary to something like the HD600, HE-500, or the HD800.
 
Glad you like the HE-500.. I actually went the opposite way of you.. I owned the HE-500 for a good part of last year.. I really enjoyed it and it was, no doubt, quite technically impressive.. but I found the signature too warm, thick, and closed in: the midbass centered boost, forward mids, and treble that rolled off too soon (for my tastes) made the soundstage feel a little too confined in terms of width (but the phones had terrific soundstage depth).  I opted for the ageless wonder, the HD600.. and couldn't have been happier (until the HD800 came calling).

 

[davidsh]

^you think they have a DEEP sondstage? I'd say the HE-500 does not have a deep soundstage, but have a fairly wide soundstage.

 

[dryvadeum]

^you think they have a DEEP sondstage? I'd say the HE-500 does not have a deep soundstage, but have a fairly wide soundstage.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with this statement.

 

[beaver316]

What exactly is meant by deep soundstage? Backwards to forwards?

 

[pp312]

Or forwards to backwards even?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

That's what I'd call deep. Like the LCD2. It has depth, but not much width.

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

What exactly is meant by deep soundstage? Backwards to forwards?

Depth is the distance of the sound from your ear. And soundstage width is basically how far the soundstage moves forward, back, up and down from your ear. 
So in summary, depth is how far the a sound cue can be away from your ear. And soundstage width points to how good rear and front sound cues come through.
 
I'm pretty sure this is the definition, I hope I got it right.

 

[mlxx]

I tested the v200 when I was buying an amp, I tried my he-400 with about 5 different amps.
The v200 had a big problem, compared to the others.. straight away it sounded like I was listening sitting in a closet.
It has a very closed in soundstage but otherwise it sounded good. I wouldn't recommend it with the he-400.
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

That's not how I defined those at all.

Depth: front and rear distance of sound. Width: how far sounds travel to the sides of you.

 

[InCreD1Ble]

Quote:

As far as your pads go, you don't even need to include them in your RMA, from what I've heard. I remember a distributor suggesting that people not include their pads because HiFiMan will likely replace your headphones with a new pair in a retail box with extra sets of pads.

 
hmm, interesting. What about modded grills then? 

 

[InCreD1Ble]

Quote:

That's not metal, bro, it's an extremely thin stretched mylar (it's a type of polyester) film that acts as the diaphragm.

Ah, I could never tell this. Thanks!

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Think of it as like depth perception...

The ability to perceive the relative distance of objects in one's visual field.

Distance in one's depth perception, is usually associated with something in front of you.

When you tend to explain to others how wide something is, you will extend your arms to the sides of you, right?

Not that hard to figure out.

Then there is soundstage height, which is pretty self explanatory.