**Hifiman HE-400 Impressions and Discussion Thread**

[kothganesh]

Quote:

Hi,
 
I got the HE-400 3 months back. I am now planning to get it balanced to use it with the Yulong Sabre A18 i got recently.
There's a big problem though. I am new to this world and am not sure how this can be done. Do i just buy balanced cables.
Or do i need to ask the cable seller to balance it? Is there any video/website with steps on how to balance a headphone or the HE-400?
 
Thanks in advance for your help!!
 
Regards

I am getting a balanced cable for the 400s as well. I have no idea how it is done but I contacted Drew at Moon Audio and he is getting it done for me. 

 

[Okamoto]

Quote:

I am getting a balanced cable for the 400s as well. I have no idea how it is done but I contacted Drew at Moon Audio and he is getting it done for me. 

You know you need a balanced amp too, right?
 
I know you're probably aware of this already, but I asked just to make sure.

 

[MrMateoHead]

Just because you can "see" hot treble in a headphone response curve, it does NOT mean it is the source of an AUDIBLE problem.
 
90% of musical instruments do not reach or surpass 10 Khz, and I suspect that ultra-high frequency stuff is usually going to be found in a deliberate synth/electronic recording.
 
That said, I agree with everyone willing to EQ DOWN the HE-400. Whether parabolic or standard Windows Media Player, I get great results from attacking 8,9, 16, 20 khz and so on. EQ'ing down works well, and will not introduce distortion.
 
Those that do not like sibilance should focus on the 1 khz 'bump' (and surrounding freqs that these phones seem to have. Sometimes, I think it makes the vocals a little hotter than I like.
 
I am also finding that the windows mixer is a useful way to bump up the bass, again with no distortion. 3-6 dB @ 50 hz seems to give some pretty big reinforcement on the HE-400s! I usually bypass all that stuff in Foobar, but lately enjoy using it for Pandora / Gaming and so on.

 

[Okamoto]

Quote:

Just because you can "see" hot treble in a headphone response curve, it does NOT mean it is the source of an AUDIBLE problem.
 
90% of musical instruments do not reach or surpass 10 Khz, and I suspect that ultra-high frequency stuff is usually going to be found in a deliberate synth/electronic recording.
 
That said, I agree with everyone willing to EQ DOWN the HE-400. Whether parabolic or standard Windows Media Player, I get great results from attacking 8,9, 16, 20 khz and so on. EQ'ing down works well, and will not introduce distortion.
 
Those that do not like sibilance should focus on the 1 khz 'bump' (and surrounding freqs that these phones seem to have. Sometimes, I think it makes the vocals a little hotter than I like.
 
I am also finding that the windows mixer is a useful way to bump up the bass, again with no distortion. 3-6 dB @ 50 hz seems to give some pretty big reinforcement on the HE-400s! I usually bypass all that stuff in Foobar, but lately enjoy using it for Pandora / Gaming and so on.

"bad spots" on mine are arround 7.5 Khz and 10~11 Khz. But I use EQ only on a few ocasions. For well recorded albums, I really see no need to do so.

 

[InCreD1Ble]

Could someone with the HE-400's test this for me really quickly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCYk9CRx0g8
 
Skip to 7th minute, pop up your volume to the max (or to the least bearable level, lol) and try to see if you can hear any crackles, like fluttering foil sound in your headphone channels?

 

[modulor]

Quote:

Hi,
 
I got the HE-400 3 months back. I am now planning to get it balanced to use it with the Yulong Sabre A18 i got recently.
There's a big problem though. I am new to this world and am not sure how this can be done. Do i just buy balanced cables.
Or do i need to ask the cable seller to balance it? Is there any video/website with steps on how to balance a headphone or the HE-400?
 
Thanks in advance for your help!!
 
Regards

If you are feeling adventurous, it is possible to balance the stock cable but it would require a retermination and a multimeter.  The cable uses Canare Star Quad, so all you would need to do is cut the TRS plug off, use a multimeter to map the wires, and reterminate with a male 4-pin XLR plug.  You could then add a female 4-pin XLR to the remainder with the TRS jack if you still want to use it with a phone plug.  If you're in to a little DIY, this would definitely be the most cost effective method.
 

 
Otherwise, I would definitely have to recommend Brian over at BTG Audio: http://www.btg-audio.com/ His work is top notch and he doesn't charge an arm and a leg.
 

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

Could someone with the HE-400's test this for me really quickly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCYk9CRx0g8
 
Skip to 7th minute, pop up your volume to the max (or to the least bearable level, lol) and try to see if you can hear any crackles, like fluttering foil sound in your headphone channels?

Yup, that is distortion, not the headphone. Around 7:20, right? I tested with the HE-500

 

[TMRaven]

Quote:

Imagine a flat ten band equalizer. Then you boost a certain band 6db. Zero gain would have you cutting another (or combination of others) by 6db to negate the boost introduced by that first band. Whether it's still a relevant concept in a digital world, I don't know for sure. But it seems like it would be.

 
I don't get that.  That would just make the original boost be 12db instead of only 6db, and it's still raising it above 0gain-- unless you were talking about boosting a certain frequency 6db above 0db, then lowering the pre-amp by 6db to accommodate.  That's essentially the same as lowering every band by 6db, so that your original boost is at 0db and everything else is at -6db.

 

[BigCabDaddy]

Anybody ever get the connecters changed to something else when recabling? That would be one of the first mods I would want.

 

[InCreD1Ble]

Quote:

Yup, that is distortion, not the headphone. Around 7:20, right? I tested with the HE-500

Well I get a really strong distortion from 7th min up till 8th minute.. And it occurs in different piano tracks, no matter lossless or mp3.
 
P.S. Now I'm thinking.. Could it be that I drive them on too high volumes?

 

[modulor]

Quote:

Anybody ever get the connecters changed to something else when recabling? That would be one of the first mods I would want.

Brian at BTG also has a service to add mini-XLR connectors (same connector as on Audeze headphones) http://btg-audio.com/webstore.htm#!/~/product/category=2609209&id=20207679

 

[MrMateoHead]

Quote:

I'll be honest, since my ear cleaning episode, I find that im a little more sensitive to the HE-400's treble. Perhaps the impacted ear wax was attenuating the high end for me, which explains why I never used to have a problem with the HE-400's treble, but in recent days I find it a little brighter than usual. Good thing I saved a "treble fix" EQ preset for Electri-Q from earlier in the thread, I'll give it a test.
 
Edit: this is the one I have saved, the dip is at 13 Khz, but the EQ preset posted on the previous page is at 16 Khz, which would be better?
 
 

Target 8-9 kHz, narrow Q, cutting however much you like. Others also target 16 Khz. Personally, I haven't really liked EQing down, flat, from about 10 Khz-20 Khz, so I cut between 7-10 Khz by 2-3 dB.
 
Jumping back and forth from EQ'd to not, however, I have had some issues in terms of deciding if I really liked the effect or not. Minimal grooming has worked best, but I still fatigue. I believe the bass pressure is partly a culprit.

 

[davidsh]

I have the opportunity to get the HE-6 brand new for 880$ - within EU. But I am not sure I want to, because I don't have sufficient amplification anyway. Still, good price. Here they retail for around 1500$

 

[BenF]

Quote:

Could someone with the HE-400's test this for me really quickly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCYk9CRx0g8
 
Skip to 7th minute, pop up your volume to the max (or to the least bearable level, lol) and try to see if you can hear any crackles, like fluttering foil sound in your headphone channels?

I hear distortion even far from the maximal volume (HE-400 plus FIIO E17).

 

[kothganesh]

You know you need a balanced amp too, right?

I know you're probably aware of this already, but I asked just to make sure.

Yes thanks. I have ordered a portable balanced amp for now (Ray Samuels) and the CLAS -dB. Looking next at desktop balanced amps. So bring on the suggestions, head fiers.