[beaver316]

Boy was I wrong about these not responding to bass EQ very well. I gave a 6db boost to anything below 50Hz by EQing down, and I'm still picking my jaw (and ears) off the ground.
 
But it's not something I will keep though. One of the main reasons I bought this can is so I can change to sources without EQ available and still get the same listening experience, something I could not do with the HE-400.

 

[mandrake50]

Will 400i sounds good with metal music?

thanks

I think so, at least with any of the metal I have listened to.(Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Megadeth, Black Sabbath, Metallica).
I don't listen to those that often, but like to run some through any new headphones that I get.
Actually the bass is well textured and sounds more "real" to me than some other headphones that are touted for their bass.
The problem is that most of those recordings are not all that great... But the 400i does a very credible job with them, for what that genre is.

 

[mgh24]

This. Always EQ down, never up. IMO

Please help a noob. Do you mean if I want more bass, I drop everything else, rather than adding to bass frequencies? Because it is easier on the drivers?
Thanks

 

[Billheiser]

Please help a noob. Do you mean if I want more bass, I drop everything else, rather than adding to bass frequencies? Because it is easier on the drivers?
Thanks

Correct, about dropping everything else down, rather than boosting.  Mostly because it's easier on the amp (less chance of added distortion).

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

It's not always necessary, as even my old hat Sansa Fuze V2, you can tell they lower the pre-amp if you add in a slight bump of bass or treble.

Another way is like on something like Winamp, where as long as you lower the pre-amp equivalent to the highest boost you've added, it's essentially the same as lowering everything else, but a lot easier than adjusting so many sliders.

You don't need to lower anything on bass boosts like the E17's bass and treble controls. I assume they lower the pre-amp internally.

 

[Billheiser]

It's not always necessary, as even my old hat Sansa Fuze V2, you can tell they lower the pre-amp if you add in a slight bump of bass or treble.

Another way is like on something like Winamp, where as long as you lower the pre-amp equivalent to the highest boost you've added, it's essentially the same as lowering everything else, but a lot easier than adjusting so many sliders.

You don't need to lower anything on bass boosts like the E17's bass and treble controls. I assume they lower the pre-amp internally.

Yes, that's how it works on Amarra SQ also.

 

[bowei006]

  Will 400i sounds good with metal music?
 
thanks

 
 
It will work for it yes. But I would recommend possibly another set of cans for metal. 
 
The HE-400i's selective analytical nature, and its lacking ability to perform well in quick attacks of the mid range make it perform a bit below baseline for genres like that.
 
Like the article mentioned, the 400i excellend in clear instrumentals as it had a clear bass line that it could subtly produce while the clear mids pounded away. 
 
 
The 560, from my limited demo of it, would be better for metal however. 

 

[torta]

Did anyone try valhala 2 with 400i? I know it is not best match, but I could use this amp for other cans.

 

[manbear]

Please help a noob. Do you mean if I want more bass, I drop everything else, rather than adding to bass frequencies? Because it is easier on the drivers?
Thanks

 

  Correct, about dropping everything else down, rather than boosting.  Mostly because it's easier on the amp (less chance of added distortion).

Yes, it means drop the other frequencies rather than adding to the bass. 

I don't think it has anything to with the amp. If you're dropping the other frequencies, you're also going to turn the volume up--the amp sees the same thing either way. The difference is in the digital signal processing. Asking your software to make the bass louder introduces more distortion. Basically, to make the other frequencies quieter, the software drops a few bits of information. That's not ideal of course, but it's often not noticeable at all depending on your file's bitrate and the dynamic range of the music. The bits that are cut might not be carrying any important information. On the other hand, to boost a frequency the software has to add bits. You can't add detail that's not already there--anything that's added becomes noise. 

 

[bgnt44]

Just finished read all the thread and i was close to press the buy now button a hundred time but always find something telling me to just keep reading ... 
 
I've now a Q701, which i like but i def want something with more impact in the bass section, my taste are mostly female vocal, pop, jazz, edm, and sometimes classical .. i never heard a planar headphone but i remember hearing planar speaker and i loved the definition and details.
 
Right now i just cant decide between the 400 and 400i... i know 400 wont be as "neutral" as 400i but they are like 1/2 the price and they gonna get off the market quite soon .. 
 
Just give me your opinion about that :
 
if i keep the Q701, does the 400 would be a good complementary headphone ? Or should i sold it  and get the 400i ? 
 
Does the 400 and 400i are so different with sound signature or that 's overrated in reviews ?
 
About the 400, shoud i be worried that it makes the treble harsh and sibiliant ?
Thanks 

 

[skyline315]

Did anyone try valhala 2 with 400i? I know it is not best match, but I could use this amp for other cans.

It's not bad on high gain...

 

[manbear]

  Just finished read all the thread and i was close to press the buy now button a hundred time but always find something telling me to just keep reading ... 
 
I've now a Q701, which i like but i def want something with more impact in the bass section, my taste are mostly female vocal, pop, jazz, edm, and sometimes classical .. i never heard a planar headphone but i remember hearing planar speaker and i loved the definition and details.
 
Right now i just cant decide between the 400 and 400i... i know 400 wont be as "neutral" as 400i but they are like 1/2 the price and they gonna get off the market quite soon .. 
 
Just give me your opinion about that :
 
if i keep the Q701, does the 400 would be a good complementary headphone ? Or should i sold it  and get the 400i ? 
 
Does the 400 and 400i are so different with sound signature or that 's overrated in reviews ?
 
About the 400, shoud i be worried that it makes the treble harsh and sibiliant ?
Thanks 

Haven't heard the 400i, but I owned the Q701 before I bought the HE-400. Pretty much for the same reason as you (more bass impact). The HE-400 will give you a little bit more detail than the Q701, along with significantly more physical, hard-hitting bass and much more 3-D layering. The tradeoff is that the HE-400 loses some midrange emphasis and its timbre sounds kind of unnatural until you get used to it. The HE-400 is also harsher than the Q701 in the treble, but it's not as bad I was expecting base on people's comments. Jerg pads and EQ fix most of that, but both the Q701 and HE-400 gave me a headache after long enough. 

I listen almost entirely to EDM, which the HE-400 is better at than the Q701 hands down. I'm a one-headphone kind of guy and I sold the Q701. You might end up preferring the Q701 for female vocals and jazz. I don't know. You could always decide if you want to keep the Q701 after buying the HE-400. 

 

[mgh24]

  Correct, about dropping everything else down, rather than boosting.  Mostly because it's easier on the amp (less chance of added distortion).

Thanks.
 
I still get myself confused about bass, and what is "right" or wrong, but my first impression of these were, as some others have said, was that they were bass light.  The more I listen, the more I am inclined to think that impression is wrong.  Again, all I can compare to are my Soundmagic HP150.  There is no question that it reaches down and gets something that the 400i do not, or emphasizes something down there - Ry Cooder, Drive Like I Never Been Hurt, and the example I gave of Dire Straits.  However, the bass on the 400i is truly beautiful, and in the end I think superior.  Listening to Sublime's Caress Me Down, the bass is sublime (sorry), just exquisite. I don't listen to EDM, Hip-Hop, but I can see where the HP150 would make those genre really fun to listen to.
 
I feel like I am getting more bass with the 400i without sacrificing any mids, and, very important to my tastes, no peak in the highs.   

 

[chowmein83]

  Just finished read all the thread and i was close to press the buy now button a hundred time but always find something telling me to just keep reading ... 
 
I've now a Q701, which i like but i def want something with more impact in the bass section, my taste are mostly female vocal, pop, jazz, edm, and sometimes classical .. i never heard a planar headphone but i remember hearing planar speaker and i loved the definition and details.
 
Right now i just cant decide between the 400 and 400i... i know 400 wont be as "neutral" as 400i but they are like 1/2 the price and they gonna get off the market quite soon .. 
 
Just give me your opinion about that :
 
if i keep the Q701, does the 400 would be a good complementary headphone ? Or should i sold it  and get the 400i ? 
 
Does the 400 and 400i are so different with sound signature or that 's overrated in reviews ?
 
About the 400, shoud i be worried that it makes the treble harsh and sibiliant ?
Thanks 

 
I don't have the 400, but I am quite familiar with the Q701 (I auditioned it for quite a while). If cost doesn't matter too much to you, I would say get the 400i. The mids and highs on the 400i are even more detailed and natural sounding than the Q701, but you'll also get a lot more needed bass with the 400i. Also, once you do the grill mod (or just take the grills off of the driver altogether) I find that the soundstage size is pretty much as big as that of the Q701's.
 
The only genre of music I don't really listen to out of all that you listed above is electronic, but I'll give my impressions on how the 400i does with the other ones. 400i vocals are excellent - really detailed, natural sounding, and they are intimate but not too "in-your-face." And no sibilance and fatigue with female vocals (unless the track is mixed really really badly) as far as I can tell. While the Q701 also did well with vocals, I found them to be too close to me and more easily fatiguing than the 400i's vocals.
 
I believe the 400i does pop better than the Q701. Mainly because the 400i has that needed bass and that its fairly forgiving of somewhat badly recorded material due to its somewhat smooth highs and mids. The Q701, because of its mid and high focus and the "sharpness" of those frequencies, to me is less forgiving of less than optimally recorded music.
 
400i hands down does jazz better than the Q701. You need some of that bass to make jazz sound good, and thus to me the Q701 is missing a good chunk of what really makes the jazz experience. Plus the 400i's bass quality is so good, and that also really adds to the music.
 
Classical - without the grill mod it's debatable whether the Q701 or 400i is better. Q701 sounds highly detailed in mids and highs, and bass doesn't matter as much in classical, so it does well here. However, the 400i is at least just as detailed at the Q701 in classical (I personally feel its better, but others might disagree with me). The Q701 sounds more airy than the 400i without the grill mod, which is good for classical. But with the grill mod, I find that the 400i doesn't really lack in air compared to the Q701. Plus, I feel that imaging in the 400i is significantly better than the Q701 - this is great for orchestras.Overall, for me the stock 400i slightly edges out the Q701 in classical, but with the grill mod the 400i is definitely better than the Q701 for this genre.

 

[bgnt44]

Thanks you both that's helpful, he 400 or 400i will be an upgrade from q701 obviously .. at least for some kind of music ...
 
The thing is how far is 400i from 400,  in the mid - treble range ... especially with the velour mod for 400 that seems to improve sound according to reviews...
 
I know thats confort is better on 400i but as for now it is twice the 400 price ...