[TMRaven]

Their treble are both equally as clean according to CSD plots.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I don't doubt it, but I find the HE400 more fatiguing, probably due to the fact that it's a dark headphone, so the spike in the treble range is more noticeable, whereas the DT990 is consistently bright, so the treble doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. If I use my E17 when watching certain programs/anime, I literally have to bump down the treble down to -4 on the HE400. I don't even need to do that with any of the 990s I had.

 

[Yekrut]

Quote:

 
Head to a craft store and purchase a $.99 cent piece of 8.5" x 11" craft felt.  Cut some circles to put inside of the ear pads.  Just set them in place, no need to initially adhere them with any adhesive, etc.  Then, try another listening session.  The sound should not be muffled in any way, and you'll probably notice that the "spikey" upper frequencies that were bothering  you will be tamed, a bit.

 
I like this idea a lot! Much more affordable than getting an amp I will for sure go try it out, not much to lose. Thank you for the advice!
 
Quote:

I was going to get the HE-400 but I experienced that spike being too irritating in some type of music so I decided to splurge and get the HE-500 that does not have the problem.
 
Also I just purchased the amp Project Sunrise 2 and ODAC for the HE-500.

 
That's very interesting, I wish I had the opportunity to demo both headphones before purchasing.
 
Quote:

I felt the same. The DT990 has strong treble, but it's clean. I find the HE400's treble to be more jarring at times.

 
Glad to see that I'm not the only one that notices this, especially since you are coming from the same headphone as me. So your particular amp, E17, didn't do much to tame that slight spike? It would be a shame for me to spend another 200 dollars only to have the same problem.
 
Thanks everyone for the input!

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
I like this idea a lot! Much more affordable than getting an amp I will for sure go try it out, not much to lose. Thank you for the advice!
 
That's very interesting, I wish I had the opportunity to demo both headphones before purchasing.
 
 
Glad to see that I'm not the only one that notices this, especially since you are coming from the same headphone as me. So your particular amp, E17, didn't do much to tame that slight spike? It would be a shame for me to spend another 200 dollars only to have the same problem.
 
Thanks everyone for the input!

HE500's treble is the exact opposite of HE400s.
 
HE400's treble peak at 13kHz, where HE500's treble dips the lowest.

 

[Yekrut]

That's crazy! I would probably be more satisfied with the HE-500 but can't justify paying another 300 dollars over what I paid (at least right now).
 
On another note, the more I listen to the headphone, the more I'm enjoying it. The clarity and separation is really awesome. On some busier tracks I find it quite easy to keep track of the different "layers" for lack of a better name. The bass is really enjoyable too.
 
Other slight complaint, I find that the the cups are pressing a bit too hard on the side of my face, making it slightly uncomfortable after a couple hours of listening. Any additional tips?

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

Maybe but maryleybob does not say that. He says that he always puts his hands over the cups. Don't get that. 

I'm marleybob I think you're confusing with someone else.
 
For reference, I do not put my hands over the cups.

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

Hello all,
 
Just recently purchased a pair of HE-400 from a fellow headfier. I'm really enjoying them especially the low end. My only grip is I find that the treble is a bit too harsh. I'm unsure if this has to do with the source I'm using or if it has to do with the headphones sound signature. I thought I had gotten used to bright treble with the DT 990, but after listening to this headphone for about 3-4 hours straight, I'm still finding the treble a bit sibilant (I'm currently EQ the high end just too be able to enjoy my music). 
 
Currently running it straight from my Macbook Pro. Any thoughts, advice, personal experience would be much appreciated.

Apart from felt, you could also try paper. I used on some closed headphones and it works great! 
Just get a tissue, peel of one layer, this layer should be really thin and see-through.
 
Then put the filter in front of the driver. Sound does not get muffled at all. It just smooths out the highs.

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

 
Head to a craft store and purchase a $.99 cent piece of 8.5" x 11" craft felt.  Cut some circles to put inside of the ear pads.  Just set them in place, no need to initially adhere them with any adhesive, etc.  Then, try another listening session.  The sound should not be muffled in any way, and you'll probably notice that the "spikey" upper frequencies that were bothering  you will be tamed, a bit.

So how thick should the felt be? 
 
And should the circle of felt cover the entire driver? So should the circle have the same diameter of the inner pads? 
Or is it a ring shape, with a big hole in the center to let sound come through? If you're literally covering the entire driver, with let's say 3-4mm thick felt. The sound is going to be way muffled.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

That's crazy! I would probably be more satisfied with the HE-500 but can't justify paying another 300 dollars over what I paid (at least right now).
 
On another note, the more I listen to the headphone, the more I'm enjoying it. The clarity and separation is really awesome. On some busier tracks I find it quite easy to keep track of the different "layers" for lack of a better name. The bass is really enjoyable too.
 
Other slight complaint, I find that the the cups are pressing a bit too hard on the side of my face, making it slightly uncomfortable after a couple hours of listening. Any additional tips?

 
Yes, there are two other things that you can do. The first is to do a little gentle shaping of the metal headband. Just grab the headband, not the cups, at the ends before the cups and give a good but gentle stretching of the headband. It's metal and it will reshape making a looser clamp.
 
Secondly, be sure that you rotate the cups on the x, y axis to get the best custom fit. Some people do not understand that you can do this. 
 
gL!!

 

[Marleybob217]

Quick update: I have received my new dac, the audinst HUD-MX1. I have used its line-out on my active speakers, and its headphone out on my german maestros. 
 
I love it as a dac, but its headphone out is a bit to neutral/analytical for my taste. This is with the gmp 8.35D.
 
I hooked it up to my E9 as a dac, and I do like the sound better this way. The amplified sound by the e9 is much more musical and pleasant. 
Which is why I'm pretty sure the HE400 will sound much better through the E9. 
 
Only two more weeks untill I finally receive the he400s !
 
EDIT: Actually I was wrong, the Audinst HUD-MX1 amp sounds quite a bit better than the e9. The sound is more detailed, better soundstage, and a much tighter bass. I don't know why I thought the E9 was better. A moment of insanity? 
It really is dead cheap then. Outperforms the E7 + E9 by quite a big margin (even more so the E17 + E9).

 

[griff2]

Quote:

The HE-400 frame does amplify 1khz area by a couple db.  There shouldn't be anything drastic though.

That's a precise number, where did you get that from?
 
Interestingly, I find the presentation of wind instruments, particularly brass or woodwind, to be superior to any moving coil headphone I have, but once I hear vocals, it goes down hill fast.  Female vocals really bring forth this "cuppy" sound, Dianna Krall springs to mind: her vocals on these headphones do not sound pleasant at all.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

That's a precise number, where did you get that from?
 
Interestingly, I find the presentation of wind instruments, particularly brass or woodwind, to be superior to any moving coil headphone I have, but once I hear vocals, it goes down hill fast.  Female vocals really bring forth this "cuppy" sound, Dianna Krall springs to mind: her vocals on these headphones do not sound pleasant at all.

 
That's the unfortunate thing about its colouration - in that it doesn't quite bring out the magic in vocals. I guess when it was researched and the driver tuning was finalized, the target music is more instrumental/synth stuff than vocal music. Also obviously Hifiman doesn't want to lose business with its HE500 which has a much more neutral and forward presentation, so they may have opted to tune HE400s different for that sake.
 
IMO HE400s would sound perfect, while still retaining its voicing, by flattening its upper treble more, and bringing up the upper mids a few dBs. Not just by EQing, I mean by actual driver tracing/diaphragm tuning.

 

[wje]

Quote:

Like Another Country: Casandra Wilson. 

  Got it yet?

 
Yes, I've had it for a bit of time.  I love all of Cassandra's music.  Great stuff.  Also, we can't forget - Holly Cole, Etta James, and many, many great others.
 
Quote:

That's a precise number, where did you get that from?
 
Interestingly, I find the presentation of wind instruments, particularly brass or woodwind, to be superior to any moving coil headphone I have, but once I hear vocals, it goes down hill fast.  Female vocals really bring forth this "cuppy" sound, Dianna Krall springs to mind: her vocals on these headphones do not sound pleasant at all.

 
Are you listening to her new one - Glad Rag Doll?  That album would sound bad on any system.  The issue is, she can write crappy music, and just rely on her album covers to sell the music.
 
 
        
 
                                               

 
Yet, I much prefer her earlier work instead.  The music ... that is.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[MattTCG]

I'd buy that album for the cover.

 

[Yekrut]

Apart from felt, you could also try paper. I used on some closed headphones and it works great! 
Just get a tissue, peel of one layer, this layer should be really thin and see-through.
 
Then put the filter in front of the driver. Sound does not get muffled at all. It just smooths out the highs.

Good suggestion, I tried it and didn't notice any significant change in the sound, except for the bass sounding boomier. I decided not to keep the modification, thank you for the tip though!
 

So how thick should the felt be? 
 
And should the circle of felt cover the entire driver? So should the circle have the same diameter of the inner pads? 
Or is it a ring shape, with a big hole in the center to let sound come through? If you're literally covering the entire driver, with let's say 3-4mm thick felt. The sound is going to be way muffled.

Curious as well.
 
Quote:

 
Yes, there are two other things that you can do. The first is to do a little gentle shaping of the metal headband. Just grab the headband, not the cups, at the ends before the cups and give a good but gentle stretching of the headband. It's metal and it will reshape making a looser clamp.
 
Secondly, be sure that you rotate the cups on the x, y axis to get the best custom fit. Some people do not understand that you can do this. 
 
gL!!

Thank you! That actually helped quite a bit. And yes, I had made sure to rotate the cups. I had read an earlier post about that and made sure to try to get the best fit that way first.
 
Also wanted to give you some thoughts on the ear-pads, I feel that the velour ear pads from the DT990 were much nicer. I'm starting to realize how spoiled I was with that headphone!