[money4me247]

  I think it's the oppisite, I honestly feel the HE 4 should be worth less and IS worth less, the new 400i imo will replace or rather maybe combine the HE 400 and HE 4 sound
 
I mean seriously the 400i is a newly designed HE 4 in all respects, single sided Magnet. And it's MUCh easier to drive than the HE 4, I think these next few months are NOT a sellers market for the HE 4 but a Buyers Market
 
YEA you got the "collectors" but even the Denon Serious is losing it's steam. You can get a Modded D7k for around $750, and with the Fostex TH 600 being on par with a D7k Modded [according to many users] I don't think the HE 4 will do any better than the D7ks, in fact I think it will do worse, it's not being discountinued it's being replaced but what will be a better phone, maybe not better in terms of sound [let's assume both are on equal footing] but better in the sense that the HE 400i is lighter and easier to drive, and comfier... assuming they both sound the same [which I'm confident we can expect they will] what reason is there to have the HE 4 which requires a crap ton of power to drive, and lacks the comfort of the 400i? 

lol i would be inclined to agree, but try posting that opinion in the "HE-400 vs. HE-500 vs. HE-4 Comparison" thread and you will be ripped apart. lol.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Hemi just told you how it is with his opinion. Difference is he's heard the he4 and possibly the 400/500. You don't have experience on the he4 or he400i..so you came across as the speculation hype troll lol.

lol i would be inclined to agree, but try posting that opinion in the "HE-400 vs. HE-500 vs. HE-4 Comparison" thread and you will be ripped apart. lol.

 

[money4me247]

Hemi just told you how it is with his opinion. Difference is he's heard the he4 and possibly the 400/500. You don't have experience on the he4 or he400i..so you came across as the speculation hype troll lol.

lol so hemi's opinion was to recommend dropping $450 on a HE-4 and to buy a new amp ($400+) for someone looking to find a complimentary pair of headphones to his sub-$400 HD650 and $200 schit M&M stack. Note how the person wasn't looking to upgrade and his current set-up cannot even power the HE-4 adequately 
 
Then hemi proceeds to throw out a bunch of bad attitude & negative remarks against my simple recommendation to simply wait for the he-400i before pulling the trigger on anything as the more efficient he-400i seems better suited for the M&M stack & the comfort of the he-400i would probably be a better transition from the hd650. Note how I never made any comments about the HE-4/HE-400i's sound or any negative disparaging remarks.
 
It is hilarious how prickly audiophiles get when someone advises to wait & compare instead of gushing "OMG def go buy that pair of headphones bc I own em & I love em & obviously since I love em, they should be the perfect pair of headphones for every other user in every other situation." also hilarious how you think that the person who says to wait & do more research is the hype troll when the other guy's logic is "omg go buy these headphones right now even though your current set-up can't handle them bc I've heard em & I like em; don't even bother to do any more research/comparisons." 
 
Basically, I'm sure that the HE-4s are great & whatever, but you guys really think the recommendation of an inefficient pair of expensive headphones for someone with a budget under-powered amp (looking for a complimentary sound signature rather than a significant upgrade) is a great opinion..... I even don't know how to respond to you...
 
Just because you heard a specific pair of headphones doesn't make it suitable for every single situation lol, and you don't need to hear a pair of headphones to realize how unsuitable they are for the person's specific set-up & usage & that it wouldn't be a good match for that specific situation.

 

[smellyfungus]

i wonder if HifiMan could somehow show up to the SoCal Head-Fi meet in March. it'd be nice to know which model i'll be buying.
wishful thinking though (they weren't at the last SoCal meet).

 

[Clemmaster]

@Mshenay: have you owned the HE-4, or listened to it?
You seem to have a pretty strong opinion on it but on the HE-4 thread you're asking if it is true it is a super dt-880, which is confusing.

Also, the HE-4 is as light as the newcomers, so it is not a point.

I owned the TH-600 - that everyone agree is a better refined d7k - and the HE-4 still holds a candle to it. Less refined in the treble but better midrange definition still.

Try a HE-4 on the SA-31 and there's no doubt it can compete with the HE-500 on many points. They are just very different in tonality.

Try the same 2 headphones with the M-Stage and the 500s destroy the 4s.

That's the story of my life...

 

[conquerator2]

@Mshenay: have you owned the HE-4, or listened to it?
You seem to have a pretty strong opinion on it but on the HE-4 thread you're asking if it is true it is a super dt-880, which is confusing.

Also, the HE-4 is as light as the newcomers, so it is not a point.

I owned the TH-600 - that everyone agree is a better refined d7k - and the HE-4 still holds a candle to it. Less refined in the treble but better midrange definition still.

Try a HE-4 on the SA-31 and there's no doubt it can compete with the HE-500 on many points. They are just very different in tonality.

Try the same 2 headphones with the M-Stage and the 500s destroy the 4s.

That's the story of my life...

 
So... the outcome of it is the HE-4 being harder to drive, requiring a more powerful [<2W @50ohms load,MMV depending on synergy] amplifier to compete with the HE-500 which works well with a more conventional but still somewhat powerful amplifiers [Mstage and up, <0,5 - 1W  @50ohms, also depending on synergy]
I thought we went through this so many times already... There still seem to be people who either don't know or don't want to acknowledge it... Impossible 

 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Problem is, the HE4 and HE500 have very different sound signatures. It's essentially like a DT880 vs HD650. Some will gravitate towards one or the other. The HE500 falls more in line with the popular signature of warm, softer, and organic, while the HE4 falls more in line with the less popular signature of being light, airy, energetic, with a less organic tone and body.

I'm sure it will be the same with the 400i and 560. Two different signatures., one more than likely being more popular. Price differences will obviously make people gravitate towards the 560, but some of us look for tonality over refinement first (I.e. preferring a 100 dollar headphone with our taste in balance over a 1000 dollar one that isn't to our preference).

 

[Clemmaster]

Problem is, the HE4 and HE500 have very different sound signatures. It's essentially like a DT880 vs HD650. Some will gravitate towards one or the other. The HE500 falls more in line with the popular signature of warm, softer, and organic, while the HE4 falls more in line with the less popular signature of being light, airy, energetic, with a less organic tone and body.

I'm sure it will be the same with the 400i and 560. Two different signatures., one more than likely being more popular. Price differences will obviously make people gravitate towards the 560, but some of us look for tonality over refinement first (I.e. preferring a 100 dollar headphone with our taste in balance over a 1000 dollar one that isn't to our preference).

Well said.
The HE-500 is probably closer to the HD-600 (the LCD-2 is a HD-650) but you made the point extremely clear.

It is a matter of preference before anything else, and that's a great aspect of the Hifiman line-up. The not so great aspect is the power demand.

 

[zxc]

I'm hoping that the already wonderful HE-500 with a tad more upper mid will make it a super HD600!

 

[Keithpgdrb]

  I'm hoping that the already wonderful HE-500 with a tad more upper mid will make it a super HD600!

 
The high end is no where near the hd600.  its closer to the 650 if anything.

 

[Makiah S]

Problem is, the HE4 and HE500 have very different sound signatures. It's essentially like a DT880 vs HD650. Some will gravitate towards one or the other. The HE500 falls more in line with the popular signature of warm, softer, and organic, while the HE4 falls more in line with the less popular signature of being light, airy, energetic, with a less organic tone and body.

I'm sure it will be the same with the 400i and 560. Two different signatures., one more than likely being more popular. Price differences will obviously make people gravitate towards the 560, but some of us look for tonality over refinement first (I.e. preferring a 100 dollar headphone with our taste in balance over a 1000 dollar one that isn't to our preference).

Thanks Mad that answers my question for the like 10'th time
 
from what I have been told, the HE 4 has a sound sig much like the DT 880 but... better
 
MattTCG has been pushin me to get one, he feels the HE 4 is a clear improvement over the DT 880, which I believe, as imo the HE 400 was a clear step up from the DT 990 
 
That said, I might be purchasing one here in the next few days 

 

[zxc]

 

 
The high end is no where near the hd600.  its closer to the 650 if anything.

I realize that it's kind of wishful thinking, to expect an ortho with a frequency response like the HD600.  All ortho's I've seen take a dive right after 1Khz. And honestly, the HE-500 is pretty close as is. But hey, whoever achieves that goal can claim a cool two grand from me!

 

[pdrm360]

 

 
The high end is no where near the hd600.  its closer to the 650 if anything.

 
+1   their highs are close to the HD650 with higher 10k peak. 

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

  Hey guys, so is the 400i mass produced like the 400 was?
 
What about the 560?

 
Not sure what you meant by mass produced. No, we don't have a partner like FoxCon which makes products for Apple in thousands everyday.
 
We also don't have Dr. Fang locked in a small dark room and putting together headphones for everyone.
 
Our factory (owned and operated by Hifiman) has about 20 workers who assemble our headphones and IEMs by hand. Obviously headphone like HE-6 requires more man hours than HE-400, but the overall process is very similar. 

 

[Makiah S]

   
Not sure what you meant by mass produced. No, we don't have a partner like FoxCon which makes products for Apple in thousands everyday.
 
We also don't have Dr. Fang locked in a small dark room and putting together headphones for everyone.
 
Our factory (owned and operated by Hifiman) has about 20 workers who assemble our headphones and IEMs by hand. Obviously headphone like HE-6 requires more man hours than HE-400, but the overall process is very similar. 

You can be honest, we know Dr Fang is locked in the closet tinkering away at the U know What II ;3