HIFIMAN HE-400 Planar Headphones Pre-order

[detoxguy]

Take a deep breath. We don't know how many were shipped, we are seeing very vocal reports of a few (around 7 I guess I haven't bothered looking back to count) experiencing a problem. What we don't see are the likely very many more who have received theirs with no issues. I'm not saying that there isn't a problem but assuming based on these vocal reports that there is no quality control is just premature and ridiculous. Mistakes happen, glitches occur, and we have seen that Fang is working to correct some customer service issues and I'm sure he will make this situation right. 
 
It never ceases to amaze me how the denizens of forums love to jump on a few negative reports and jump to premature conclusions. I got my HE-500s with no issues and to my ears are the best headphone I've been lucky enough to hear, I've sent a few emails to Fang with some questions and have had nothing but positive experiences with him. You need to remember that in this hobby we are sometimes dealing with very small companies. Fang is not perfect but he is a person and I believe he deserves the benefit of the doubt. I choose to buy the HE-500 based mostly on my preference of it to the LCD2 for sound signature but also because I read so many positive comments on his support and have not regretted it at all. 
 
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Are you serious jerg?
I agree that things are not "ironed out", but there are apparently so many issues that I'd be surprised if the manufacturer was doing any post-assembly quality control.
 
P.S. the $40 analogy wasn't mine, it was ulogin's

 

 

[murrays]

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1000g would start hurting your neck within 30 minutes... I can't even imagine 2000g! I'm certain the he500's are about 530-580 grams while the he6 cant be much different.

 
On Hifiman's own website <http://hifiman.us> they state the weights:
HE300 -   270g
HE4     -   350g  
HE400 -   440g
HE500 -   502g
HE6     -   502g
 

 

[dleblanc343]

Quote:

 
On Hifiman's own website <http://hifiman.us> they state the weights:
HE300 -   270g
HE4     -   350g  
HE400 -   440g
HE500 -   502g
HE6     -   502g
 

Well, close enough! All in all, I can wear my he500's for about 6 hours straight (best so far)... So if I can bear with it, anyone should!
 

 

[Kilosonic]

How come only comments on defects so far, where's all the impressions from the majority who don't have the malfunctions? ru all so positively blown away by the SQ that u forgot all about the rest of us? lmao. 

 

[amcananey]

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How come only comments on defects so far, where's all the impressions from the majority who don't have the malfunctions? ru all so positively blown away by the SQ that u forgot all about the rest of us? lmao. 

Yes.
 

 

 

[3MaJ]

Hello guys.
This is my first post. I'm from Europe and for a long time I've been planning to get a decent pair of headphones + amp. HE-400 has really caught my attention, and I decided to give it a shot and pre-order it hoping that things will play fine in the end.
The thing is that I ordered the headphones to my friend's address in US, hoping that I will get them when he comes here for a vacation (which will happen in a week or so).
 
But now this thing about broken cable/whatever has really made me upset. I don't know if he will have time to try them on, or return them if they are not working as they should, before he leaves US. To make a long story short, is there any official explanation of what is exactly wrong? Can you guys confirm that it's about the cable itself, and if so, how do I search Amazon/whatever for a particular type of cable?
 
Asking him to return them for a refund is really my last resort, so if they can be repaired manually, I'd rather go for that (I'm an electronic engineer, so I'm OK with doing some soldering and stuff)
 

 

[MuppetFace]

Here's the thing: if it IS a cable problem, you should be able to get a new cable from Head-Direct very easily. It's detachable--- so they just send you a new cable. You wouldn't have to worry about sending the entire pair of headphones back.
 
Obviously, I don't know if it really is a cable issue or not, but based on what I've read it sounds quite similar to the HE-6 cable issue. If someone experiencing this problem can play around with the 1/4 plug and the signal is restored to both channels---even temporarily---then it IS a cable problem and not the drivers or a connection inside the cups. If the signal never comes back, well, that is a cause for concern then.
 
And no, you can't find these cables on Amazon. Head-Direct has an Amazon shop I believe, but I think their stock is limited to certain items. You'll probably be waiting until after CNY anyway, either way. Unless HeadRoom or ALO has some in stock.

 

[weipim]

not to thread crap but after reading the comments on here and from my impression of Fang on erji.net, I'm glad that I didn't become a hifiman owner and ordered the audez'e

 

[detoxguy]

Then don't 
 
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not to thread crap but after reading the comments on here and from my impression of Fang on erji.net, I'm glad that I didn't become a hifiman owner and ordered the audez'e

 
 

 

[Il Mostro]

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How come only comments on defects so far, where's all the impressions from the majority who don't have the malfunctions? ru all so positively blown away by the SQ that u forgot all about the rest of us? lmao. 

Who says the "majority" do not have problems?  There are very few of these in the hands of Head-Fier's and the same problem is prevalent among those few who have received theirs.  You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to acknowledge that there is a basic and significant issue with the QC on the HE-400's.  Suggesting that the majority do not have any problems and are simply making themselves invisible is nothing short of bizarre.

 

[Il Mostro]

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Here's the thing: if it IS a cable problem, you should be able to get a new cable from Head-Direct very easily. It's detachable--- so they just send you a new cable. You wouldn't have to worry about sending the entire pair of headphones back.
 

I have already gone that route since it is a quick and easy way to troubleshoot. I offered a deposit for the extra cable in case sending one without an exchange is an issue for them -- still waiting for their response.  

 

[CucumberSlice]

Just got my HE-400's last night. All the talk about them being heavy and the possible cable problem had me worried, but I haven't had the sound drop from either side. They are also very comfortable. I only had about an hour to listen to them last night, but from that amount of time I can say they are very comfortable. The only other headphone I have right now to compare it to is the Ultrasone PRO900, which hurts the top of my head after about an hour. The HE-400 also has a lot less clamping force, when compared to that of the PRO900. I don't find the color jumps out nearly as much as the pictures on head-direct, I think it looks great. 
 
I am terrible at describing sound, and my experience with headphones is limited to only a few(so take the following with a grain of salt), but from what I've heard so far I think I will really enjoy these headphones. My current setup is(using mostly FLACs):
 
Foobar 2000(wasapi plugin)->Optical->Bifrost->Asgard->HE-400.
 
Although I can really only compare them to my Ultrasone's right now, and given I only used them for little over an hour, the most immediate changes I heard was the speed(which I guess is given since they are orthos) and also the mids were a lot more forward. I also found the bass to be fairly tight, and not really boomy. I will listen to them once I get home from work and try to post some more impressions.
 

 

[detoxguy]

Groan. So based on a few (of the unknown number received) complaints you have decided that this represents a 'majority'? Nobody (including you) knows enough to make that kind of claim. For many there is no need to post at all if there isn't a problem, for those with a problem there is a higher percentage that will post an entry on a forum. 
 
It is ridiculous to make any conclusions at all as to how widespread the problem is at this point with very limited data. It is irresponsible to blast a small business and to declare it a company wide major issue with what little is known. 
 
This could be one run of a small amount of defective cables that all shipped outta the same time and has unfortunately impacted a small group of users.
 
I'm not saying there isn't an issue, I'm not saying how big the issue is. I'm saying it's too early to accurately say and Fang deserves the benefit of the doubt.
 
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Who says the "majority" do not have problems?  There are very few of these in the hands of Head-Fier's and the same problem is prevalent among those few who have received theirs.  You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to acknowledge that there is a basic and significant issue with the QC on the HE-400's.  Suggesting that the majority do not have any problems and are simply making themselves invisible is nothing short of bizarre.

 
 

 

[Il Mostro]

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Groan. So based on a few (of the unknown number received) complaints you have decided that this represents a 'majority'? Nobody (including you) knows enough to make that kind of claim. For many there is no need to post at all if there isn't a problem, for those with a problem there is a higher percentage that will post an entry on a forum. 
 
It is ridiculous to make any conclusions at all as to how widespread the problem is at this point with very limited data. It is irresponsible to blast a small business and to declare it a company wide major issue with what little is known. 
 
 
I'm not saying there isn't an issue, I'm not saying how big the issue is. I'm saying it's too early to accurately say and Fang deserves the benefit of the doubt.
 


 
 

I am not bashing HFM -- in fact I made some very positive comments regarding the way the HE-400's sound.  I am, however, dealing in facts.  Mine is bad, along with others who received theirs and experienced the same or similar problems.  Suggesting "This could be one run of a small amount of defective cables that all shipped outta the same time and has unfortunately impacted a small group of users." is pure speculation on your part - unless, of course, you have some inside knowledge (i.e hard facts) that you haven't shared here.  Yeah, I didn't think so. How on earth is this not an obvious QC issue?  
 

 

[detoxguy]

If you read my post you would have seen that I never said it wasn't a QC issue. That was a fact. I also never denied that you and others are having problems. That was a fact. I thought it was pretty clear when I suggested a possible explanation that it was speculation. As is you speculating that this is happening with the majority of HE-400s. 
 
So to clarify, again, This is a real issue, there is no way however to know just how widespread it is based on the small sample of comments on an internet forum. You also have no inside knowledge of number of units shipped, number of defects vs. number of fully satisfied customer do you? 
 
This is an obvious QC issue..never suggested otherwise. It is also not possible at this juncture to declare it is in the majority. 
 
The only thing I disagreed with you on was you declaring this was happening to the majority of users at this point in time. You may actually be correct but there is no way to know yet. I carefully did not suggest that this isn't an issue, I just don't know enough "hard facts" to say one way or the other. Neither do you.
 
Quote:

I am not bashing HFM -- in fact I made some very positive comments regarding the way the HE-400's sound.  I am, however, dealing in facts.  Mine is bad, along with others who received theirs and experienced the same or similar problems.  Suggesting "This could be one run of a small amount of defective cables that all shipped outta the same time and has unfortunately impacted a small group of users." is pure speculation on your part - unless, of course, you have some inside knowledge (i.e hard facts) that you haven't shared here.  Yeah, I didn't think so. How on earth is this not an obvious QC issue?