[mogulmaster]

Nevermind y'all, I'm too satisfied with my current setup. I don't want to think about upgrades for some time. It will be the lcd2 or 3 tho, I can promise that. 

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

Nevermind y'all, I'm too satisfied with my current setup. I don't want to think about upgrades for some time. It will be the lcd2 or 3 tho, I can promise that. 

 
My mentality as well. I was thinking about upgrading, but why would I when Im so happy with the sound? Like I mentioned before with the right pads and EQ settings these headphones can challenge others double the price.
 
A little off topic story I thought some might find this interesting. I decided to EQ some really generic Nokia earphones that came with my phone seeing as I saw such good results with the EQing my HE-400. I would say I transformed the sound from $5's worth to maybe $50, maybe more. I'm astonished. The nokia headphones suffer from badly recessed mid bass, non-existent sub bass, and really poor treble extension which hampers the higher registers of vocals. Mids are congested too but not much you can do about that. By EQing downwards, I managed to effectively increase the bass by a good 12db and increase the treble at a linear rate between 6-20Khz. As a result music has much more body because of improved mid-bass and vocals benefit immensely because of the lower treble bump I assume. 
 
I'm actually enjoying these so much I haven't even touched my HE-400 yet today. I know totally off topic but maybe this can help convince people who are on the fence about EQing their HE-400, it really works wonders.

 

[TMRaven]

EQ'ing bass into headphones without it might be more difficult than normal because it's usually a physical limitation, but with headphones like HE-400 that can reproduce virtually 20hz-20khz with minimal thd, it's easy to EQ with great results.

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

EQ'ing bass into headphones without it might be more difficult than normal because it's usually a physical limitation, but with headphones like HE-400 that can reproduce virtually 20hz-20khz with minimal thd, it's easy to EQ with great results.

 
But it should not be impossible if the headphone still produces it. If your amp has enough headway then it's perfectly doable.

 

[greyhamster]

I have a schiit asgard amp and I'm planning to get the HE 400. Should that be ok or should i get another amp?
ps: I currently have a bottlehead crack (which i know isn't a good match with he 400) and the asgard. So if I get a new amp I will have to sell the asgard.
 

 

[TMRaven]

Should be great.

 

[Mani ATH 87]

Quote:

 
My mentality as well. I was thinking about upgrading, but why would I when Im so happy with the sound? Like I mentioned before with the right pads and EQ settings these headphones can challenge others double the price.
 
A little off topic story I thought some might find this interesting. I decided to EQ some really generic Nokia earphones that came with my phone seeing as I saw such good results with the EQing my HE-400. I would say I transformed the sound from $5's worth to maybe $50, maybe more. I'm astonished. The nokia headphones suffer from badly recessed mid bass, non-existent sub bass, and really poor treble extension which hampers the higher registers of vocals. Mids are congested too but not much you can do about that. By EQing downwards, I managed to effectively increase the bass by a good 12db and increase the treble at a linear rate between 6-20Khz. As a result music has much more body because of improved mid-bass and vocals benefit immensely because of the lower treble bump I assume. 
 
I'm actually enjoying these so much I haven't even touched my HE-400 yet today. I know totally off topic but maybe this can help convince people who are on the fence about EQing their HE-400, it really works wonders.

Interesting story Beaver. I almost always EQ every headphone I own/use, tailoring sound to your own tastes with those small adjustments always makes music more enjoyable.

 

[Mani ATH 87]

I have to say that I've never really been someone who believed in the whole "burn in" time with headphones. After having the HE-400 now for about 2 weeks I have to say that to my ears I can hear a clear difference in the sound now as opposed to fresh out of the box.

I've been listening to them for at least an hour or two a day, some days up to 5 hours. I don't think I'm near the 150 hour recommendation from HiFiMAN but I already hear a positive difference in the sound. The bass is more impactful and overall the "fullness" of the music is more noticeable.

Also, the velours have gotten a lot softer and more comfortable having used them exclusively. I haven't used any mods really, but I did trim around the inside of the velour pads so the holes in the plastic rings are fully exposed. Not sure if this really made a difference, but I'm very satisfied with these headphones.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I have to say that I've never really been someone who believed in the whole "burn in" time with headphones. After having the HE-400 now for about 2 weeks I have to say that to my ears I can hear a clear difference in the sound now as opposed to fresh out of the box.

I've been listening to them for at least an hour or two a day, some days up to 5 hours. I don't think I'm near the 150 hour recommendation from HiFiMAN but I already hear a positive difference in the sound. The bass is more impactful and overall the "fullness" of the music is more noticeable.

Also, the velours have gotten a lot softer and more comfortable having used them exclusively. I haven't used any mods really, but I did trim around the inside of the velour pads so the holes in the plastic rings are fully exposed. Not sure if this really made a difference, but I'm very satisfied with these headphones.

Bingo. The velours becoming softer means your ears get slightly closer to the drivers, which makes midrange and bass bloom more, and treble less prominent. Very small differences ofc, but should be noticeable to the attentive ear.

 

[ethan7000]

Quote:

Huh, didn't know that. My bad if it's supposed to be something not meant to be revealed, will edit my original post.

Yeah, it's a TOS item:
 
"Group Buys can not be promoted on Head-Fi's Main Forums, or via Head-Fi's Private Messaging, without first receiving authorization from Jude via Head-Fi Private Messaging or e-mail. Please note, though, that it is not our desire to see Group Buys used by Members of the Trade as a primary method of distribution and advertising on Head-Fi's forums--so, for this and other reasons, they are usually not approved. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis, and most often for DIY-related parts that might otherwise be unreasonably difficult to obtain."

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Yeah, it's a TOS item:
 
"Group Buys can not be promoted on Head-Fi's Main Forums, or via Head-Fi's Private Messaging, without first receiving authorization from Jude via Head-Fi Private Messaging or e-mail. Please note, though, that it is not our desire to see Group Buys used by Members of the Trade as a primary method of distribution and advertising on Head-Fi's forums--so, for this and other reasons, they are usually not approved. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis, and most often for DIY-related parts that might otherwise be unreasonably difficult to obtain."

I thought it'd be something more Hifiman-related, e.g. Hifiman issuing a statement that they won't allow the new units to be sold at prices significantly below MSRP or something. They still might enforce this though.

 

[ethan7000]

Quote:

Bingo. The velours becoming softer means your ears get slightly closer to the drivers, which makes midrange and bass bloom more, and treble less prominent. Very small differences ofc, but should be noticeable to the attentive ear.

The argument is always, is it burn-in, or is it your brain growing accustomed to the sound signature.  Have any conclusive tests been done to measure frequency output before and after burn-in?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

The argument is always, is it burn-in, or is it your brain growing accustomed to the sound signature.  Have any conclusive tests been done to measure frequency output before and after burn-in?

What I'm describing is neither burn-in (some hypothetical "settling in" and loosening up of the physical drivers) nor brain getting accustomed.
 
The simple fact is that at least with HE400 and HE500, the distance between the drivers and your ears modulate the sound signatures a lot. If you don't believe me, try it if you get a chance to audition / own a pair of HE400 or HE500; press down the cups when the cans are on your head, vs having the cups at their natural distance, vs pulling the cups very slightly away.

 

[ethan7000]

Quote:

What I'm describing is neither burn-in (some hypothetical "settling in" and loosening up of the physical drivers) nor brain getting accustomed.
 
The simple fact is that at least with HE400 and HE500, the distance between the drivers and your ears modulate the sound signatures a lot. If you don't believe me, try it if you get a chance to audition / own a pair of HE400 or HE500; press down the cups when the cans are on your head, vs having the cups at their natural distance, vs pulling the cups very slightly away.

Right, I was more speaking in response to Mani's post.  When I hit the quote button on yours, I thought it would include his too.

 

[Bogatyr]

Is this the right way to go about EQing HE-400 in order to achieve deeper bass and tamer treble?