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**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread**
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:48 PM Post #9,676 of 22,116
ohnoitztotoro said:
Haha I'm glad you're enjoying the pairing. I just received mine yesterday but only had about 30 minutes to give them a listen. Initial opinions are that the mids and highs sound incredibly great. That is some amazing clarity. However, the lower end (bass) didn't seem to punch as well as my Marantz. Maybe the lower end isn't Schiit's specialty or maybe I just liked how the Marantz handled the lower end more. 

Also I feel a little worried for my own well being because I found the early volume stages (7 o' clock to 9) to be pretty quiet so my volume was set at 10-12. I don't know if its my songs or the increase in volume is more gradual in the Lyr. No doubt it has plenty of power though. I just feel quite uneasy with the volume knob set so high on an amp that has been advertised to have stupid amounts of power underneath :p 

Since I'm not the only one whose recently received the Lyr, I'd definitely like to hear all the impressions so far :) I don't know if there is such a thing as burn in for amps. Even for headphones I don't think it affects the overall signature too much at all. Coming off my first listen though, I really hope the bass opens up a bit more.

The Lyr will open up in due time. I also had to crank up the knob to 11. For what it's worth it's now at 10.
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Apr 12, 2013 at 3:41 PM Post #9,679 of 22,116
I don't.  A lot of hip-hop/rap is brightly mastered and has lots of filters.  HE-400's treble spike tends to bring out the worst in those mastering decisions.  If you EQ the treble down though it's pretty good.
 
Apr 12, 2013 at 3:55 PM Post #9,680 of 22,116
I see where you're coming from. I do have quite a few bad masters in my library, but the ones that are mastered well (mainly old school) sound awesome imo, especially with the bass of the HE400.
 
Side note, the HE400's treble doesnt bother me at all even in brighter recordings, which may be why I still feel it sounds great on newer rap songs with below par mastering.
 
Apr 12, 2013 at 4:02 PM Post #9,681 of 22,116
I listen to some modern mainstream rap, but mostly old school & underground hip hop for those genres...I think they do pretty well overall, but TM is right about mixing in certain (mostly newer) songs and the HE-400's treble spike.  I was listening to Black Star yesterday, actually 
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Apr 12, 2013 at 5:06 PM Post #9,682 of 22,116
Originally Posted by beaver316 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

What's the general consensus on how the HE-400 does with hip-hop/rap? It doesn't get mentioned much around Head-fi for some reason... but I think it's a perfect fit. 
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Originally Posted by TMRaven /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I don't.  A lot of hip-hop/rap is brightly mastered and has lots of filters.  HE-400's treble spike tends to bring out the worst in those mastering decisions.  If you EQ the treble down though it's pretty good.
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I listen to a ton of hip hop (mainly of the independent, progressive, 'underground' variety).  The dark-ish midrange & (sometimes) bright treble can be an issue depending on the mastering/mixing of the track or album in question.. but I've found it to rarely be a problem for myself.  In fact, I've actually been quite impressed with a lot of (relatively recent) self-released albums from amateur beatmakers & artists.  With the steady digitization & affordability of good recording equipment, many of these artists are able to do it all by themselves or have access to fellow engineers who can professionally mix/master at affordable prices.
 
Much of the hip hop music I listen to is instrumental, complex, and often times, 'cinematic' in nature.  There are many layers and detail in the music and these artists understand that high quality mixing/mastering is needed to help the listener fully appreciate the quality & effort that went into making their art.  I've directly corresponded with some of these artists and many are, indeed, very mindful of the desires of audiophile communities (including HeadFi) as well as the rise of HQ portable audio (from DAPs, amps, to IEMs/headphones).
 
The HE-400 is the most forgiving of the full sized headphones I own.. and I keep it around, precisely for those times I listen to "less than ideally" recorded music.  Again, this goes back to having upstream gear that synergizes well with your headphones.  The HE-400 is fairly resolving of upstream gear, but not the the extent of other phones I use often.  Personally, I find that a full, smooth, neutral sounding amp offers the best balance of softening the enhanced upper treble, while maintaining transparency and good extension at the FQ extremes.  The PCSTEP portable (used as both a DAC & amp)  & O2 pair really well with the HE-400, too.  My (revised) Meridian Explorer is en route for delivery early next week.. but when I used the (original) ME as a DAC with the O2, it sounded terrific.
 
Apr 13, 2013 at 7:52 AM Post #9,684 of 22,116
Quote:
clarknova said:
Exactly. Some people claim you won't hear a true sounding headphone until you've "burned" or "broken" them in for hundreds if not THOUSANDS of hours which is equally absurd to someone arguing how the soundstaging is from one headphone to the next. 
 
Headphones are purely individual experiences because every pair of ear drums is different. I've had a friend claim and swear to me that $25 dollar headphones he bought at the Apple store sound the same as HD650's basically. Debating such experiences are pointless. No one person experiences the world exactly the same.
 
All you can do is share your experience with others and if you both happen to agree than that's great but it doesn't mean that they are the "Master Race" of all headphone enthusiasts. 
 
My personal opinion on the soundstaging of the HE-400's versus the HD650's? The HE-400's have better soundstaging and separation through what I've heard but I'm sure others with HD650's would completely disagree with me.
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Well that is why people such as Tyll Hertsens love doing what they do. To show people with measurements that there is a difference between certain headphones. In this case I dont think the HE400 or HD650 would win just by looking at the measurements, but $25 earbuds vs HD650 would definitely be a clear win for the HD650. 
 
Apr 13, 2013 at 7:52 AM Post #9,685 of 22,116
Whether there is or not, its common sense. Width is associated with left to right size.

Depth is associated with something in front/something that requires forward travel. Like how deep a tunnel is.
 
Apr 13, 2013 at 12:20 PM Post #9,686 of 22,116
Hmmm - well, anyone else have the current edition?  
 
I had the last one and went back for return due to blown channel, and the replacements are the current generation (afaik - with manual and 3 yr warranty).
 
The highs are much tamer as far as I can tell, but wanted to check to see if anyone else can confirm.  I only have about 30 hours on them but my last pair seemed way hot to begin with and then tamed down.  I had the EQ set down a bit at 8k to keep my ears from bleeding, but that was a defective pair, but I'm not the only one that thinks these are hot phones.  That said, I reset my eq and I could contemplate ticking it up a hair on the higher end.
 
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