nykobing
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2013
- Posts
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- 35
Is there any stores that audition Hi-Fi man headphones? I am in San Francisco.
I think Audiovison at Pine at Van Ness does.
Is there any stores that audition Hi-Fi man headphones? I am in San Francisco.
To be honest the HE400 sounds decent even out of my Sansa Clip+ I would not bother spending loads of money on amps and dacs for them.
Also if you are looking for portable headphones, do NOT buy the HE400, they are about the least portable headphones I could possibly think of.
I purchased these headphones a little over a year ago (alongside a Schiit Magni), and I have to say that I have trouble imagining a better purchase for the money. I'm still blown away by the sheer clarity of everything that I hear, from all genres of music, at all sound levels. I put the velours in over the stock pads after about 2 days, and never looked back.
My biggest complaint comes from the build quality. The screws that attach the cables to the ear pieces are now chronically loose, and I find myself having to fiddle with them almost every time I put the headphones on to get a solid connection. The screws attaching the headband to the ear pieces have also come loose on several occasions, and when they pop out it kind of freaks me out because it feels like I just broke my $400 (now $300) piece of equipment. I'd be obliged if anyone has any suggestions concerning the loose screws, because they are the only thing that interrupt me from having a near-perfect experience.
Cables - unscrew both cables out of the headphones and turn each cable in the opposite direction you are going to screw them in (several times)....so there is a bit of tension in them once you insert into the screw hole. The tension should disappear as you screw them fully into the 400's as you are winding back the opposite way.
Gimbal screws - epoxy them in or use a dab of a medium glue. You don't want to lose those small screws whatever you do. Make sure your screwdriver fills the entire phillips cross style screw hole as various smaller screwdrivers can fit in the hole but it can shred the thread if you do.
I appreciate the comment. I already do that trick with the cables, since it's the only way to get them to stay put, and yeah I do have a nice set of jewelry screwdrivers for the small screws. I hadn't considered epoxy before. Is there some sort of adhesive I could use on the cable nuts to get them to stay, but wouldn't be too hard to get off if I needed a different cable down the road?
I agree with the second part of your post. However a quality amp and\or DAC will greatly improve the sound of every audiophile grade headphones and the HE-400s are no exception. Of course it depends on what you consider to be too much money. My DAC/Amp combo was about $650.(HeadRoom Micro Amp and DAC) which have been discontinued.
i think that one of the reasons why the HE 400s sound so much better for me then my sennheiser 598s is the earpads, i think they better frame my ears and lets me hear a lot more detail in most music along with making music sound much fuller.