[Kit-bar]

Hey guys,
I was looking for some full sized over ear headphones for listening at home. I was just wondering what you thought of the HE-400 Headphones.
I was looking online for some 300-400$ headphones and heard good things about the sen hd600/650 series, as well as the HE-400 headphones.
There seems to be a good price for the HE-400 headphones (I live in Canada, I was able to find a pair on Razordog for around 280$ with shipping to Canada) and it comes with free valour pads as well.
My question was this.
Is it worth it (In your opinion) and what amp would you suggest to go with this?
I am by no means an audiophile but I enjoy listening to music and am starting to slowly appreciate really nice equipment (I recently got amperiors and I have not looked back). I really want some headphones that I can listen to at home (my sennhisers are nice but not always the most comfortable for long periods of time)
I mostly listen to electronic, but I listen to all genres (except death metal and country basically)
Thanks!!
 
Also I have a solder at home (havnt used it yet but I would not mind using it if there are good amps that can be diy)

 

[cel4145]

The HE-400 is a great pair of headphones and that's a good price. I think this review does a good job of describing their sound: http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-compared-update-audeze-lcd-2-revision-2-6-4-13#user_HE400
If you go back to the index, you'll see that reviewer has also reviewed and rated the HD600 and HD650. So you could get an idea of how they sound.

With 32 ohm impedance, the HE-400 work fairly well with many mobile devices. They are not very sensitive, so you might find that you want an amp to drive them louder. What is your budget for an amp? What devices (make/model) are you planning on using the headphones with?

 

[Kit-bar]

Thanks for the reply!
Yeah that one of the reviews I read and it seems very informative. I dont have too much of a budget but I would rather spend <200$, perhaps get an amp that can be portable as well?
Not sure what you think. Thats why I am asking. Again, I am no audiophile but I would love to get more experience with this sort of thing
Would you recommend a dedicated amp (desktop amp) or some portable amp? Most likely will only use this one at home (again I have a good pair of on ear headphones)
I was looking at the Fiio series amps, they have good reviews and look reasonable for the price
Also using my phone/ipod, or my computer

 

[cel4145]

If your portable use with your iPhone and iPod are mostly at home, look into the Objective 2 amp. It's not pocket sized, but it is small enough that you could use it around the house with your various devices. It does have rechargeable batteries. For the money, it's one of the best sounding amplifiers that you can buy. FiiO E12 is another, more portable amp you might consider.

 

[Kit-bar]

would the DAC and amp O2+ODAC be worth it?

 

[cel4145]

Yes. The O2/ODAC is awesome. However, if you get the combined unit with both pieces together, it is not rechargeable. Has to be plugged in to be used.

 

[Kozic]

If you are looking for a good deal on amp/DAC combo to work with iPod or iPhone the Ido amp/dac ($99) and HE-400 do well paired but it is a desk top set up.

 

[Kit-bar]

Okay.
One last question,
since I do not have a dedicated sound card, if I were to get an O2 and an ODAC, what would the difference be between the O2+ODAC combo vrs the separate devices? I assume getting the devices separately is better because the rechargeable O2.
Also, is the RCA output that useful? I do no have a personal stereo so is the 3.5mm output generally better?
Sorry if im asking dumb questions. I am not as "techy" as most of you in audio gear

 

[cel4145]

These are good questions

No difference in sound quality between the separates or the combo. Get the separate devices if you want to be able to use batteries with the headphone amp (the ODAC will power off USB from your computer). Or if you think later you might want to upgrade one or the other component one day, you would have that option. For instance, I used the ODAC with a Schiit Asgard 2 headphone amp.

RCA vs. 3.5mm doesn't matter outputs doesn't matter for sound quality. You can use an adapter if you need one.

 

[Kit-bar]

Okay. I was also reading that the DAC is not really super useful unless the audio signals are noisy. Would this be a large difference? Perhaps the best idea would to get the O2 and then perhaps the ODAC in the future if i need it. My mobo has a integrated audio on it and it appears to be decent. I dont think I need a 140$ ODAC at this point now that I have done a decent amount of reading
Thanks for the advice btw

 

[Kit-bar]

and I mean ODAC not DAC