[reddog]

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.

Great comparison and contrast between the HE-400I and Q701. Your keen views on the HE-400i are spot on.

 

[SantinoTaffy]

Its my birthday!!!
 
And iv'e decided on some 400i's! 
 
I will be mainly runnincg through a macbook pro, listening to jazz and classical..
 
What is best dac amp combo with macbook pro and 400i's?

 

[Billheiser]

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

Works for me.  I have used both the high and low gain settings for the 400i, and both are good.  Mostly I use the low setting, just because it is a low impedance 'phone, but it works either way. 
 
 
Take a look at the Schiit website and their comments - such as:
"
While most tube OTL amps are really only designed for 300 ohm Senns and 600 ohm Beyers, Valhalla 2 stretches to include headphones that you’d never expect to use with a tube amp. Go ahead. Use it with Grados. Run it with AKGs. Rely on it for many IEMs. You may even like it with high-efficiency planars like LCD-X, LCD-XC, Oppo PM-1 and HE-400. "

 

[mandrake50]

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 ...

Worth the difference in price? No one can answer that but you. If you can't afford the 400i, but can the 400 that answers the question.

My experience with the 400 was always a love/hate relationship. I liked lots of things about them. Speed, detail, bass extension, all impressed me. I could not get over the timbre of voices, especially female. I could not get over the sibilance problems. I was always searching for ways to make them better. Pads, cables, grill mods and lots of time spent with (trying to) get them equalized to get rid of the aggravating sound in certain ranges. I got them, with Jergpads and a grill mod to be at a point where I could listen to them for long periods with no equalization and without the upper mids and lower treble grating on my nerves. Now this is highly personal, but I think there are lots of people that had similar experiences judging by posts in the 400 thread.

The 400i is entirely different. I liked them from the moment I put them on. They are just more balanced with nothing at all in their signature that makes me unhappy. I like them for all genres. I like them with all of my amps and all of the sources that I have tried. For my ears and tastes, they are an order of magnitude better right out of the box than anything that I ever got out of the 400.

So, back to worth it. No one can answer that for you. It depends on how obsessive/compulsive you are about this "hobby" and your budget. I bought mine because I really liked them and got a good price on the demo set that I had. Though I think the 400i is a far better set than the 400, I am not sure that I could have rationalized paying full price for them. Not because they are not good enough to warrant the price comparatively speaking, nor because I can't afford it, simply because I have more productive places for investment.

 

[MattTCG]

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 much better than not bad. I've been listening to the combo for a couple of weeks. I'll post impressions soon.

 

[torta]

Can someone share short comparison with HD600? I am looking for complementary HP for classical music. I can use 400i for pretty nigh everything else.

 

[swspiers]

  Will 400i sounds good with metal music?
 
thanks

I consider the 400i's to be the single best metal headphones I've ever heard.  Their ability to present bass cleanly and fully, without muddying the mids, is amazing, and Sabbath never sounded so good to me.  Their detail in the treble, without being harsh or strident, make them ideal even for black metal such as early Mayhem and Emporer. I also find them to ideal for death and progressive metal, and are a total joy with both Porcupine Tree as well as Opeth and Cannibal Corpse.
 
My Grado's get a slight edge on guitar, but they simply cannot by any stretch keep up with the 400i's when it comes to bass or the attack on percussion.
 
The only recordings I thought they were sub-par with was Strapping Young Lad, but it's brickwalled with compression anyway. And Celtic Frost's Into the Pandemonium is low-fi enough that nothing can make it sound great
 
Individual cans might to better with specific genres, depending on what your preference is tone-wise.  But I have not heard anything yet that was so on-target with almost everything I threw at it.  Just like a well-engineered speaker should react.  For the record, I am comparing the 400i's with my experience and notes with the Hifiman HE-5LE, Grado GS1000e and RS1, Sennheiser HD-280, and direct comparison with HE-560, Mr. Speakers Alpha Dogs and Grado SR-225i's.
 
YMMV, and all that  

 

[manbear]

^ Yes, as much as I like the HE-400 and think that it's a very technically capable headphones, something about them is just a little off. Don't get me wrong, I totally enjoy listening to music with them, but they are not perfect and I'm ready to move on after a year. 

After demoing the PS-500e, I realized that a more musical, warm, and less fatiguing signature was ultimately more satisfying for me than the aggressive, high-definition, V-shaped sound of the HE-400. The HE-400 is always impressive for the first half hour or so, then it starts to hurt my ears and the midrange starts sounding a little empty or hollow. 

I ended up ordering a ZMF Vibro. Was considering an HE-560 but I can't really justify spending that much on headphones and I also realized that a clean/ neutral signature isn't that satisfying to me even if it isn't fatiguing. My holy grail is a nice warm, smooth sound that doesn't give up any imaging or detail retrieval (the PS-500e didn't cut it for me in those areas considering the price, though I did like them a lot). Hopefully the ZMF is a step in the right direction. 

Anyway, the HE-400 can be love/hate with a lot of people. I don't regret spending $400 on them and I think the current prices are a great deal for what you get, but just understand that once you get used to them you will probably want to move on at some point. Though I guess the same can be said for any headphone...

 

[Ekul61]

As much as I like the 400i Good thick bass is not there. As ive said. If you want clean midrange go with the 400i. If you want the sound of the bass player with his amp in your room.go with the 400. I will return my 400i.. maybe check out the audeze

 

[Billheiser]

Can someone share short comparison with HD600? I am looking for complementary HP for classical music. I can use 400i for pretty nigh everything else.

I reviewed the 400i, and my main point of comparison was with the HD600.  In this thread, post #2141.

 

[torta]

I reviewed the 400i, and my main point of comparison was with the HD600.  In this thread, post #2141.

Thank you. What I am looking is a bit more natural timbre. 400i can sound a bit off with strings. What worries me is the same amount of bass you described. I feel 400i is a bit too rich for classical and can muddy some background textures.

 

[LaPierre]

   
You're EQing down right? Otherwise there might be clipping.
 
I tried EQing the bass about a month ago when I first got them, but wasn't so impressed. I'll try it again tonight though as I've grown more accustomed to the sound since then.
 
But like others have mentioned, on a bass heavy track these things can wobble your ears.

Fiio X3 has a hardware bass boost, kind of. I'm defininitely equalizing down on my computer. 9 - 12+db makes a big difference, but much below that isn't too notable.

 

[bgnt44]

Are these 400i available right now in the US ? Cause i've check Canadian retailers and they will only got stock in 2 weeks ...

 

[YtseJamer]

  I consider the 400i's to be the single best metal headphones I've ever heard.  Their ability to present bass cleanly and fully, without muddying the mids, is amazing, and Sabbath never sounded so good to me.  Their detail in the treble, without being harsh or strident, make them ideal even for black metal such as early Mayhem and Emporer. I also find them to ideal for death and progressive metal, and are a total joy with both Porcupine Tree as well as Opeth and Cannibal Corpse.
 
My Grado's get a slight edge on guitar, but they simply cannot by any stretch keep up with the 400i's when it comes to bass or the attack on percussion.
 
The only recordings I thought they were sub-par with was Strapping Young Lad, but it's brickwalled with compression anyway. And Celtic Frost's Into the Pandemonium is low-fi enough that nothing can make it sound great
 
Individual cans might to better with specific genres, depending on what your preference is tone-wise.  But I have not heard anything yet that was so on-target with almost everything I threw at it.  Just like a well-engineered speaker should react.  For the record, I am comparing the 400i's with my experience and notes with the Hifiman HE-5LE, Grado GS1000e and RS1, Sennheiser HD-280, and direct comparison with HE-560, Mr. Speakers Alpha Dogs and Grado SR-225i's.
 
YMMV, and all that  

 
The 400i are very good with metal music.

 

[chowmein83]

  Are these 400i available right now in the US ? Cause i've check Canadian retailers and they will only got stock in 2 weeks ...

 
Yeah, places like HeadRoom and World Wide Stereo already have the 400i in stock.