[dwayniac]

I recently bought a 400 after giving up on getting an HE-4 for a decent price. I promptly added different grills (which I may paint black),leather pads (velour pads took out too much bass for my ears) and the custom cable from my HE-500.

My iBasso DX50 can power the 400 but the volume has to be all the way up,full gain and some EQ. A Topping NX1 amp is finally getting some use since I like it paired with the DX50 and 400.

 

[DavidA]

@dwayniac , do you get any ringing artifacts from the grill? I first tried a grill from a computer but the flat surfaces caused some ringing in the 4-5khz range so I changed the grill to a more open one with rounded edges. I've installed my Dekoni sheepskin TH-900 pads on them and like it a lot since it helps to bring up the mids without messing with the bass or treble. I later added a rubber pad in the middle to bring up the mids a little more so to me its almost perfect for some of the genres that I use them for.

 

[dwayniac]

My ears don't recognize any sort of ringing from the grill change. I only expected to make them sound a little more open while not trying to make them sound like the 500.

 

[Tai1or Made]

More = better.

Good call @DavidA

 

[DavidA]

@Tai1or Made, glad to be able to help you get the most out of the HE400.

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

Just pulled the trigger on a 4xx. Wondering how these compare to HD700s in terms of sound signature? HD700's have a nasty treble spike that's apparent in almost every recording- leading to almost no headtime. Hoping this will replace my 700's and/or an exciting alternative to my HD650's

 

[DavidA]

Just pulled the trigger on a 4xx. Wondering how these compare to HD700s in terms of sound signature? HD700's have a nasty treble spike that's apparent in almost every recording- leading to almost no headtime. Hoping this will replace my 700's and/or an exciting alternative to my HD650's

If you were using the Asgard2 to drive the HD700 then I'd also think the HD700 has spike (don't really consider it "nasty"), if you look at the amps that most use to drive the HD700 and enjoy them its usually a tube or warmer SS amp.

 

[ninjames]

I know a lot of people have moved on to other models, but I'm still rocking my HE-400, while my wife has the HE-300. I was wondering if anybody here is better-connected to the world of third-party cables. I've got the sleeved black cable that came with my 400s, and the annoying clear white braided ones that came with the 300, and I would like to upgrade. I'm open to multiple solutions for this:

1. Any good sleeves I could slap on that white braided cable without much work? I am not super handy.
2. Any cheap-but-still-good sleeved cables that will work with the 300s in lieu of just buying a sleeve?
3. Or, any notable cable makers/custom cable makers still relevant to make me a nicer balanced cable for the 400s, so I can give my sleeved cable to the wife for her 300s? I'd like to spend less than ~$100 on this particular thing if possible.

 

[Tai1or Made]

Got my Lohb strap.

Adds multitudes of comfort to the old school HE400 headband.

Simple, cheap comfort upgrade.

So happy with the sound and comfort of these, with simple, reversible mods.

Dare I say I've reached my personal End Game?

 

[richard51]

My He-400 suddenly fall apart after 7 years.... I always use them with care...Only one word come to my mouth: F...

I own headphones that were made 20 years ago, one 30 years ago, and they give pleasure without problems...No more Hifiman for me....

 

[gab840]

My He-400 suddenly fall apart after 7 years.... I always use them with care...Only one word come to my mouth: F...

I own headphones that were made 20 years ago, one 30 years ago, and they give pleasure without problems...No more Hifiman for me....

HiFiMan's are not very well know for their Build Quality, I have to got Change HE-400 in 2.5 Years. Thanks to the 3 Years Warranty I had!!!

 

[ilmothedude]

Similiar mod to fuzzor mod I did to my HE-400. It's similiar but I didn't use adhesive felt, but used double sided tape and red felt that is normally used with piano actions. It was a quite a bit of work, but I think sound is less splashy and cleaner with felt, so it's worth it. I of course first applied felt to other cup only and used my vintage AKAI amps balance pot to compare the channels, so I came to conclusion that felt side sounded better. So now in summary I have grill mod and sorb mod on exterior cup, and felt dampening on interior cup, with Shure SRH1440 cushions, driven from vintage AKAI AA-R11 amplifiers speaker tabs. Sound is simply gorgeous

 

[00MusicLover00]

Has anyone tried the sorbo mods with dynamat instead? I don't have any sorbo on hand and don't want to drop 20 bucks on them, maybe I could just cut out some dynamat and stick a few layers together lol

 

[DavidA]

Has anyone tried the sorbo mods with dynamat instead? I don't have any sorbo on hand and don't want to drop 20 bucks on them, maybe I could just cut out some dynamat and stick a few layers together lol

I've though about using dynamat but they work differently so I'm not sure if dynamat would have the same effect as sorbothane and since most recommend duro 50 (IIRC) which is quite a different type of material from dynamat.
There used to be sorbothane for sale on Amazon for $5-10 for a small sheet (6x6) which is more than enough for a few headphones.

 

[00MusicLover00]

I've though about using dynamat but they work differently so I'm not sure if dynamat would have the same effect as sorbothane and since most recommend duro 50 (IIRC) which is quite a different type of material from dynamat.
There used to be sorbothane for sale on Amazon for $5-10 for a small sheet (6x6) which is more than enough for a few headphones.

Well I said **** it and ordered one for $15 on amazon, been modding my HE4XX so far I've done the grill mod, got Ori pads, felt ring under the pads and some felt furniture pads under the pads to get rid of air pressure issue(which also seemed to increase bass and a bit of soundstage), I'm loving the sound with these mods but the treble is still a tab bit too peaky at times, hopefully once I do this last mod it'll finally tame the treble. Btw what sizes should I cut the sorbo into?