[Focker]

I was critical of some of Fang's comments earlier on in this thread and felt that it was very poor customer service (and I still stand by that). To be fair, however, I want to give Fang a lot of credit for how he's handling this QC issue. He's clearly stepping up to the plate and intends to resolve this problem, and as a prospective customer this makes me feel a lot better about buying some HifiMan headphones. Kudos to you, Fang!  I'm really encouraged to hear some of the feedback on the sound quality of the 400s, as well, and I remain very interested in this model.

 

[Necrontyr]

i'm personally very happy with HeadDirect's response to this thread, and am very much looking forward to buying my own pair soon as I start my job next week, I think a pair from batch 2 or 3 and I will be a very happy camper. But fair play to them for looking after the QC for these cans. 

 

[chrisjorg]

Quote:

Update: We might found a solution yesterday. We are working on testing right now. We plan to post installing driver procedure at headfi and ship drivers to those HE-400 customers who got the issue and have soldering experience on Thursday (shipping carrier will come back from holiday in China on Thursday). Another words some of you will not have to ship defective HE-400 back if you know how to solder two wires together. 

GOOD work! This is the way to go! I really wished this should work with the quick fix,, but if you send a new driver up here all is good!
 
Start shipping friday then? With DHL on a three day window?
 
Norway here
 

 

[elektrosteve]

Quote:

After being inside of these I really wish they had been offered as a DIY kit for around $200.00 or so.  There really is nothing to them and I would feel far more confident in my own soldering and assembly skills -- assuming, of course, that I would be supplied with non-defective components.  And there would no production or QC issues for the manufacturer.  Maybe this is a business idea for someone... 

A DIY Hifiman...I like that idea!
 

 

[Kilosonic]

Are there no HE-500 owners who also pre-ordered and received the HE-400 as of yet and care to lay a few comments of comparison between the two? Would be greatly appreciated

 

[mgurvits]

Day 2, sound working A OK
 
That's exactly what I meant to say.
 
Unlike other headphones, the HD800's never feel like they are trying to push sound into my ears (I think it has to do with the driver angle). It sounds as though music is coming from different places around me. I had similar experience with the K702s, but my source didn't really bring their bass out very well.
 
In that sense, the HE-400s still sound like headphones, because the sound is definitely coming from the sides rather than from around. However, there are no signs of any kind of distortion (they sound very "clean"), so a few times I though I was hearing actual sounds in my room, not something recorded, which actually turned out to be a part of the song. 
 
They are very good headphones though. To my ears at least. There is nothing I want different on them, which has not been the case on other mid-fi models I've tried. I don't think its fair to compare them to the HD800, but its the only headphone I have to A/B with. If I go by memory, I definitely would take these over HD650, DT880 (600omh), and Pro900. 
 
I think I found my perfect dubstep headphone. No real need for a soundstage there
 
Quote:

Big thanks again mgurvits! Good news for the HE-400 then, I was worried the soundstage may be less than stellar. And I have to totally agree with you that the 400 did not sound dark. I thought HD650's sounded dark as well as the LCD-2's but the 400's, in my brief time w/ them, sounded neutral to bright depending on the song I played. One thing I'm hoping you could sorta clear up though is that you said the HE-400 sound like headphones however earlier you noted that you heard sounds in your room even though they were part of the song - so did you mean to say that they weren't as speaker-like as the HD800 but still gave you some of that out-of-head experience? Glad you're liking em tho and hope u don't run into any issues. 

 

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Day 2, sound working A OK
 
That's exactly what I meant to say.
 
Unlike other headphones, the HD800's never feel like they are trying to push sound into my ears (I think it has to do with the driver angle). It sounds as though music is coming from different places around me. I had similar experience with the K702s, but my source didn't really bring their bass out very well.
 
In that sense, the HE-400s still sound like headphones, because the sound is definitely coming from the sides rather than from around. However, there are no signs of any kind of distortion (they sound very "clean"), so a few times I though I was hearing actual sounds in my room, not something recorded, which actually turned out to be a part of the song. 
 
They are very good headphones though. To my ears at least. There is nothing I want different on them, which has not been the case on other mid-fi models I've tried. I don't think its fair to compare them to the HD800, but its the only headphone I have to A/B with. If I go by memory, I definitely would take these over HD650, DT880 (600omh), and Pro900. 
 
I think I found my perfect dubstep headphone. No real need for a soundstage there
 


 

Does the HE400 have higher fidelity (i.e. as you describe it, as if the sounds are real) than HD800, or are they on par? It's obvious that they won't have near as good imaging/soundstage as the Senns flagship (in fact no headphone currently could match it) so that's a given, but if the HE400 has certain sound qualities that exceed the HD800, that'd be a feat all in itself.
 

 

[Phos]

OK, I tried the more invasive fix, but no joy.  It looks like the problem is a cold solder joint between the internal wire and the diaphragm cracked.  I mean, I think that's what it is.  It's in a hole, so I can't get a good look at it and even if I could I probably can't get an iron in there without melting something.  
 
Quote:

Update: We might found a solution yesterday. We are working on testing right now. We plan to post installing driver procedure at headfi and ship drivers to those HE-400 customers who got the issue and have soldering experience on Thursday (shipping carrier will come back from holiday in China on Thursday). Another words some of you will not have to ship defective HE-400 back if you know how to solder two wires together. 

Oooh, this sounds nice.

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

I have tried all of the proposed "fixes" and still no joy.  After being inside of these I really wish they had been offered as a DIY kit for around $200.00 or so.  There really is nothing to them and I would feel far more confident in my own soldering and assembly skills -- assuming, of course, that I would be supplied with non-defective components.  And there would no production or QC issues for the manufacturer.  Maybe this is a business idea for someone... 

Lol, x2, if you're going to solder it yourself, you might as well DIY the rest.

 

[ulogin]

If only 7 to 8 customers have issues (that's what Fang said yesterday), then why all the fuss of soldering procedure? Perhaps Fang wants to cut down the number of return to 5?
 
Quote:

We shipped 150+ headphones in the first batch. From email conversation so far we got 7 to 8 customers reporting about one side defect problem or channel imbalanced problem. We are working on the problems right now. We believe it might be a QC problem, but we need to have better understanding when we have all of these defect units coming back and inspected.
 
We apologize for the problem. We promise we will ship replacement as soon as the long holiday finished and we have 2nd batch ready. 

 


Quote:

Update: We might found a solution yesterday. We are working on testing right now. We plan to post installing driver procedure at headfi and ship drivers to those HE-400 customers who got the issue and have soldering experience on Thursday (shipping carrier will come back from holiday in China on Thursday). Another words some of you will not have to ship defective HE-400 back if you know how to solder two wires together. 

 

 

[Kilosonic]

Quote:

Day 2, sound working A OK
 
That's exactly what I meant to say.
 
Unlike other headphones, the HD800's never feel like they are trying to push sound into my ears (I think it has to do with the driver angle). It sounds as though music is coming from different places around me. I had similar experience with the K702s, but my source didn't really bring their bass out very well.
 
In that sense, the HE-400s still sound like headphones, because the sound is definitely coming from the sides rather than from around. However, there are no signs of any kind of distortion (they sound very "clean"), so a few times I though I was hearing actual sounds in my room, not something recorded, which actually turned out to be a part of the song. 
 
They are very good headphones though. To my ears at least. There is nothing I want different on them, which has not been the case on other mid-fi models I've tried. I don't think its fair to compare them to the HD800, but its the only headphone I have to A/B with. If I go by memory, I definitely would take these over HD650, DT880 (600omh), and Pro900. 
 
I think I found my perfect dubstep headphone. No real need for a soundstage there
 


 

Sweet, thanks for the added clarification dude! Owning K702's myself, I think I understand what you mean. But yeah definitely not fair to compare them to $1400 cans. Although was the only real area the hd800's seriously trumped the 400 was in spacial reproduction or were there others in your opinion? I mean if you were to be really nitpicking. No pressure lol 
 

 

[palmfish]

I got my HE-400's today. So far they are working fine.

 

[Austin Morrow]

Quote:

I got my HE-400's today. So far they are working fine.

How do they sound, and how was the meet?

 

[Kilosonic]

Quote:

I got my HE-400's today. So far they are working fine.

Hey palmfish, in the other thread you noted the HE-400 had about 95% of the LCD-2 sound. Was just wondering if you wouldn't mind going into a little more detail with regards to the midrange. Did the 400 have smooth, creamy mids close to the LCD2 when u a/b'ed it at your meet? And did u play any jazz stuff thru them? Appreciate it

 

[palmfish]

Kilo - I won't repeat what I wrote in the other thread, but to summarize, I think the HE-400 is basically a LCD-2 R2 clone. Made in China and sold at 1/3rd the price, it is so similar in sound that you could almost dismiss it as a production variance. To pick nits, the HE-400 has slightly less controlled bass (someone else noticed this more than me, I didn't really pick up on it), the HE-400 mids sound slightly recessed to me (again, extremely subtle, but kind of a hollow distance with jazz vocals), and the highs were a smidge less present (wire brush strokes and cymbal taps were a little dimmer) IMO, only the pickiest (or brand conscious) audiophile would think the LCD-2 is worth $600 more than the HE-400.
 
Austin - The meet was great - sorry you couldn't make it. There was a geat turnout (over 50 people if I had to guess) and a lot of nice high-end gear. I particularly liked the Jolida tube amp and DAC with breakout box and the stunning Audio Technica ATH-L3000 with matching amp. Wow, what magic came out of those cans! I also learned that there is a Grado headphone that I actually like - the 225i. Finally, I won one of the amplifiers that was raffled off - a nice way to cap off a fun afternoon! Hopefully we'll see you at the next one!