**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread**
Mar 7, 2015 at 12:03 AM Post #19,726 of 22,116
If you're talking specifically about with the HE-400s, no problem.  
 
Some thoughts though: Most recently designed amps (or products designed to drive headphones) will have sufficient specs for most common headphones. My experience with amps and planar headphones is that if the amp isn't capable enough to consistently supply current to the headphones that you get compression when the music gets complex. It is pretty easily audible and isn't indicated by any kind of specification or measurement. The rest of the this amp or that amp discussion is just personal preference. 
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As always, I suggest more impressions of different types of music with the HE-400s. People find that most helpful when looking to buy a pair of headphones. Music is more important than wall-warts. 
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Mar 7, 2015 at 12:09 AM Post #19,727 of 22,116
   
Because there's so many blanket statements being thrown around about the O2 and amping in general, and there's a couple wrong ways about looking at things.
 
First off, the O2 is a good little amp for its money, and when it was released as an open-sourced schematic, it had a clever campaign behind it through the use of measurements to brainwash people into thinking it's the end-all-be-all in this so called unicorn called transparency.  Just like other amplifiers that measure with amazing numbers that are all well below the audible threshold, the O2 has its own sound.  It's still a relatively neutral amp, but slightly on the thin and bright side, and there are other amps out there-- both solid state and tube alike-- that all vary from warmer to brighter in signature.  Just because the opamps within the O2 allow its distortion numbers to be a theoretical .00001 compared to another company's .0001, or just because its noise floor is a theoretical 130db as opposed to another company's 120db doesn't make it the more transparent amp, and you surely won't be able to attribute sonic differences to those numbers alone.  
 
There's two unavoidable facts at play.  One, is that every thing about the amp design plays a role in its sound to very subtle degrees, such as the circuitry and its layout, the topology choice, the choice of power, etc; the O2 is no exception in this case.  Jason from Schiit Audio has a very good post about this subject on another forum where he goes into detail about the thought-process behind the design of their Statement amp, the Ragnarok, but I can't be troubled to find it right now. Second, is that the conventional measurements for which you see on headphones is limited and often times can not tell a whole story.  The same is true for amplifiers.  Giving distortion numbers for 3 different tones set at say: 100hz, 1khz and 10khz is miles simpler and easier of a signal than given a complex song with tons of different tones being played at the same time.  The science behind measuring isn't quite there yet, and thus measurements should only be taken as a guideline to tell if something is completely wrong, and only that.  We shouldn't be chasing for extra 0s after a decimal point and blindly thinking that leads to good audio. 
 
As far as some ideas that are the completely wrong ways of looking at things, I'll tell you this.  Tube amps don't necessarily have to be colored, there's no universal rule about that, they come in all different kinds of sounds, just like solid state amps.  Just because they measure at .01 distortion compared to .001 distortion doesn't make them colored and flawed.  Many people prefer tube amps for their clean sound and detail over lots of other solid state amps, not because of their color (don't get me wrong though, plenty like warmer or brighter amps in general too.)  Perhaps the worst offender though, is the assumption about using amps to somehow 'improve' a sound.  That's the wrong way to go about high-fideility thinking in general.  Audio is only one thing:  you have an ideal reference-- for this example let's refer to it as a 1, which will always be a whole, every part of your chain down to your headphone will always negatively impact that reference, making it less than ideal.  Better designed gear will mitigate that negative impact so it's closer and closer to the 1, perhaps say .95 as opposed to a .92.  You will never be able to get over a 1.
 
 
I'm a practical guy, and I did have the O2 at one point.  I would have kept it if I thought it would be the best solution for me, but I've since moved on from it, and to get back onto the topic of the HE-400 I can tell you right now that O2 (and likewise its ODAC) is slightly thin throughout the midrange, which doesn't play into the HE-400's weaknesses too well, but it's still a decent amp for its price.  At the same time, the HE-400 doesn't even really need super-good equipment in the first place, because it has a low ceiling of scalability.  It has distortion problems within the midrange, and a colored enough sound throughout the treble, meaning upstream gear won't impact it as much as they could, because it will always be imbuing its predominant sound over everything else.  It isn't as much of a 'chameleon' as other headphones, like the Sennheiser HD600 or HD800.
 
So in short, would I recommend the O2 for the HE-400?  Yes, I think it's a good amp.  Would I recommend anybody explore further up the line in amps?  Definitely-- just maybe not for the HE-400.
 
Lastly, this is a thread for the HE-400.  It's cool to recommend and talk about how amps play with it, but it's not fun to see parroting and sheeping over amping philosophies that come off as shallow blanket statements.  Talk like that can be reserved for the sound science sub-forum.


Very nice post. What, according to you is a great dac and amp combo for he-400 ? not more than $300. lesser is ok but not more. the headphones are itself $300 :p
 
Mar 7, 2015 at 12:27 AM Post #19,728 of 22,116
I found the he-400's match well with blues. I listened to a couple studio albums and one live recording and I was impressed. Fortunately I have quite a few nice cans and I can match them with the music I feel they pair best with. The 400's are definitely solid all-arounders IMO.
 
Mar 7, 2015 at 3:57 PM Post #19,729 of 22,116
I'm curious if anyone knows where "compression" in sound (sure to occur in any amp / speaker playing at the limit) happens with the HE-400s. Can they successfully play back 110 dB, 120 db? I recall one of my subwoofers is supposedly capable of 120 dB in a car, but I never actually tried that (never had more than about 400 watts and needed more like 600 hundred).
 
Based on the distortion profile I would think the HE-400s are running out of SPL at 100 dB. Does anyone know if that has been tested on the HE-400 or any other headphone for that matter?
 
Mar 9, 2015 at 11:44 AM Post #19,730 of 22,116
Anyone have experience with Hifiman and warranty returns? How long is their turn around?
 
I just shipped my HE-400 to them, and already feeling depressed.
 
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Mar 9, 2015 at 1:38 PM Post #19,732 of 22,116
 
bummer, hope I never have to do this.  I guess it was a good thing that I kept my HE-400 when I got the HE-400i


Have you done a review that compares the two? I am curious.
 
and thank you. I will survive.
 
Mar 9, 2015 at 2:38 PM Post #19,733 of 22,116
Have you done a review that compares the two? I am curious.

and thank you. I will survive.
They. Have two reviews here already. Both have owned the he-400's and compare them. Seems the new version is better across the board. But for that price you can get a pair of he-500's from amazon. I got mine yesterday and they are very good.
 
Mar 9, 2015 at 3:27 PM Post #19,734 of 22,116
They. Have two reviews here already. Both have owned the he-400's and compare them. Seems the new version is better across the board. But for that price you can get a pair of he-500's from amazon. I got mine yesterday and they are very good.

You were able to get a HE-500 from amazon for $250?  Bummer, missed this.
 
Mar 9, 2015 at 5:05 PM Post #19,736 of 22,116
400i is 499.00, same as he-500

 
 
They. Have two reviews here already. Both have owned the he-400's and compare them. Seems the new version is better across the board. But for that price you can get a pair of he-500's from amazon. I got mine yesterday and they are very good.


I figured that a "pair" means 2, sorry.
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 11:25 PM Post #19,740 of 22,116
  Anyone have experience with Hifiman and warranty returns? How long is their turn around?
 
I just shipped my HE-400 to them, and already feeling depressed.
 
frown.gif


Hifiman warranty return turn around in the US is pretty darn awesome. Upon receipt, I had an email and a tracking number in less than twenty-four (24) hours.
 
Awesome!
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