[Ohnoitztotoro]

Quote:

So I just listened awhile on my main system which is decidedly laid back and maybe even a tad bass heavy and have come to the conclusion that my Pico may not be adequate as the HE-400 blossomed at my other listening station. (Cambridge DacMagic + Denon receiver) But I started to realize that the sound signature of the HE-400 seems HIGHLY power dependent... something I've not run across until now. Too low and the sound just folds up and dies. Decent power levels and for me the signature becomes too "V shaped." Driving to volumes that are too loud for long term listening finally bring out the mids the way I prefer and my music needs to sound right to me.

I'm at a quandry so far. Have to say I may prefer my AD700 right now and that just ain't right. Plus it seems to stay a whole lot more consistent as do any of my other cans.
I do hear what I think you're calling "fast" and there definitely is wonderful separation without harshness. That being said, I'm not sure I'll adapt to the overall signature, but we'll see.

Glad to see you found the problem. I will agree with you that this headphone does ask for a deceivingly large amount of power. I was so surprised too when I first bought these. People say the HE-400 are easy to drive but to me, it doesn't sound great without some extra "oomph". 
 
Try to give yourself some time (maybe a week) to get use to them and see if your opinion changes. If you still don't like them, definitely don't let yourself get stuck with headphones you don't like.

 

[hatecrew1992]

hi guys,
I just recently got my HE-400 and i find the standart cable to be annoyingly long, can anyone tell me where I can get a short replacement
( like 1,5m or somthing like that) that doesn´t cost as much as those that I found? Paying north of 100$ for a cable is just to much for me

 

[davidsh]

The HE-500 does not have a deep soundstage to me, I can't understand how people can perceive the soundstage that way.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

The HE-500 does not have a deep soundstage to me, I can't understand how people can perceive the soundstage that way.

Everything in this hobby is relative. Not everyone who gets HE400 or even HE500 has owned or auditioned headphones with more expanded headstages. Heck, before I acquired the HE400s early last year, my experience with headphones was KSC75 (tiny on-ears) and M50 (closed with notoriously bad staging), and you can imagine my amazement at HE400's soundstage capabilities.

 

[mlxx]

Quote:

 
... and the winner is ?

 
I wrote about it at the time somewhere in the other big he-400 thread.
I ended up getting the Audio-GD NFB15.1 which I still have and am very happy with.
It wasn't the best sounding one but there wasn't that much difference to justify getting the more expensive ones.

 

[modulor]

Quote:

hi guys,
I just recently got my HE-400 and i find the standart cable to be annoyingly long, can anyone tell me where I can get a short replacement
( like 1,5m or somthing like that) that doesn´t cost as much as those that I found? Paying north of 100$ for a cable is just to much for me

The cheapest way would be to re-terminate the cable (cut it shorter and add a TRS jack at the end) but it requires a little bit of soldering.  I would offer to do it for you, but shipping back and fourth would probably be kind of expensive.  Maybe someone closer to you in Europe could do this?

 

[MrMateoHead]

Nice to hear all the HE-400 love coming back to the discussion!
 
I 'downgraded' back to the HD-595s for a couple days, and was amazed at how good they sounded, even relative to the HE-400. Very good detail and comfort overall, and some of the same aggressiveness. I would claim they are just as good in many ways but with a lot less meat on the bones.
 
Going back to the HE-400s again, however, pumps up the music at both ends, like I've added different tweeters and 2 kick butt subwoofers. They are truly not going to be beaten easily - ever - to my ears.
 
Cheers.

 

[MrMateoHead]

Also to those with the ear wax issues -
 
I know EXACTLY what you are talking about with your newfound 'super hearing'. That said, DO take a good long time to allow your ears to heal and return to a semi-normal state.
 
My left ear was impacted so long I had a little bit of scar tissue when they were finally fixed.
 
Let it be a lesson to you, so that you can work on a lifetime of good listening.

 

[stereolab]

Quote:

Got my HE-400 and have listened to it for several hours now mainly through my headamp Pico/DAC. I'm beginning to think it may not provide enough juice: I am up most of the way on high gain. The symptom that I'm suspecting is a little bit of compression. Sound possible/likely?

 
Wow, I didn't go past 11 with your setup. Anything more was simply too loud for my ears.  
 
Edit: My statement aside, admittedly I was curious what more power would sound like. I'll find out soon with my HE-500 as I just purchased a LYR/Bifrost stack to replace my Pico. The Pico is phenomenal for what it is, but ortho cans--even efficient examples--may require more juice to hit that elusive sweet spot. That, or I just hate my money.

 

[stereolab]

Quote:

Nice to hear all the HE-400 love coming back to the discussion!
 
I 'downgraded' back to the HD-595s for a couple days, and was amazed at how good they sounded, even relative to the HE-400. Very good detail and comfort overall, and some of the same aggressiveness. I would claim they are just as good in many ways but with a lot less meat on the bones.
 
Going back to the HE-400s again, however, pumps up the music at both ends, like I've added different tweeters and 2 kick butt subwoofers. They are truly not going to be beaten easily - ever - to my ears.
 
Cheers.

I do love how "easy" the HD-595's listening experience is. These cans are super light and my ears are rarely if never fatigued. No surprise, however, as I've used these phones for 6 or so years.

 

[stereolab]

Quote:

Haven't posted here in a while, still loving my He-400's so much.
 
The self-gifted Christmas gift that keeps on giving (with dat o2+odac combo, buh-bye hd595 and udac2)
 
I'm sure it's normal of open air cans, but they really do sound better in my small room than the other more open spacious room I had them in next to a foyer for a coupla weeks while out of town.
 
It's like they got an environmental acoustics upgrade again

 
Glad to hear you are enjoying the HE-400's--they indeed are a pleasing set of headphones.
 
Off topic, but I wanted to mention I smile every time I see your avatar. One of my top 5 favorite albums.

 

[Ohnoitztotoro]

Quote:

 
Wow, I didn't go past 11 with your setup. Anything more was simply too loud for my ears.  
 
Edit: My statement aside, admittedly I was curious what more power would sound like. I'll find out soon with my HE-500 as I just purchased a LYR/Bifrost stack to replace my Pico. The Pico is phenomenal for what it is, but ortho cans--even efficient examples--may require more juice to hit that elusive sweet spot. That, or I just hate my money.

Congrats on the purchase. I just ordered the Lyr earlier this week so I guess we'll both be testing the Lyr and HE-400 pairing very soon. I can definitely say  that even the "easy to drive" HE-400 really likes a lot more juice. I was previously using a Marantz receiver and the extra power definitely helps the HE-400 sound great so I'm sure the upgrade from the Pico to the Lyr will be a nice change. 

 

[stereolab]

Quote:

Congrats on the purchase. I just ordered the Lyr earlier this week so I guess we'll both be testing the Lyr and HE-400 pairing very soon. I can definitely say  that even the "easy to drive" HE-400 really likes a lot more juice. I was previously using a Marantz receiver and the extra power definitely helps the HE-400 sound great so I'm sure the upgrade from the Pico to the Lyr will be a nice change. 

 
Oh, congrats to you as well! We can console one another as our bank accounts grow smaller

 

[DJBunyan]

Mastodon's whole "Blood Mountain" album sounds GREAT on these cans in FLAC through my modest Schiit Magni/Modi combo... love them, can't get enough!!
 
 
 
Any other recommendations on tunes that really bring out the HE400s strong suits? They've sounded great on everything I've thrown at them the 4 months I've owned them!

 

[Oldandslow]

I love to listen to this with my HE-400s: http://tinyurl.com/c6lj9wc