[chowmein83]

When you say it's harsh/bright that's just compared to the 650 right? I've never owned a Hifiman headphone but I thought the highs were inoffensive. Coming from my VC1000 which is neutral/bright but not very harsh, the treble on the 400i shouldn't bother me correct?

 
Yes, like @Tuco1965 and @manbear have said, highs are prominent in the 400i but it's nothing like say, headphones from AKG or Beyerdynamic or even the HD800.
 
The reason that @DavidA says that the 400i can be bright/harsh with some songs may be because he has done the grill mod. While I wouldn't say that the grill mod significantly brightens the sound signature of the 400i, it does make the treble even more prominent.

 

[Tunkejazz]

I've found the new HiFiMAN HE-400i an excelent upgrade for my Sennheiser HD 650 and I'm enjoying them a lot.

You can read my review comparing them at this post From Sennheiser HD 650 to HiFiMAN HE-400i... there's no way back!

:happy_face1:

Yes, reviews like this are a pleasure to read, well done!
Agur

 

[Jmop]

This is all very reassuring. Appreciate the responses!

 

[Jmop]

Just a couple more questions. Would you say the 400i is adequate enough in terms of soundstage and resolution? Also, are there any significant peaks in the frequency response?

 

[chowmein83]

Just a couple more questions. Would you say the 400i is adequate enough in terms of soundstage and resolution? Also, are there any significant peaks in the frequency response?

 
As for the 400i's soundstage, whether it is adequate enough really depends on what you're used to and what you're looking for. For example, say you're used to something like the Sennheiser HD800, or any of the AKG 7-series, or any of the other headphones known for a large soundstage. In that case, you may find the soundstage of the 400i to be a bit lacking - it definitely sounds more intimate than those open headphones known for their large soundstages.
 
However, if you are not coming from those types of headphones, or if you simply don't care and/or want something different, than the 400i's soundstage will probably be fine for you. By no means is the 400i's soundstage small when compared to all headphones - you definitely won't mistake it for a closed headphone.
 
As for resolution, while some have said that these aren't the most resolving headphones, I feel this is mainly compared to higher-end headphones such as the HE-560. In my opinion, for the price the 400i's are one of the most resolving headphones around. The 400i definitely retrieves more detail than the HD650. And based on my experience demoing other headphones, they are not lacking in detail compared to other headphones such as the Sony MDR-Z7, Final Audio Design Pandora Hope VI, and Audeze EL-8 which are all around or a little bit more than the 400i's cost. To compare the 400i to another planar (besides the EL-8 mentioned above), the Mr. Speakers Mad Dog costs less than the 400i, and as expected given the price difference the Mad Dog definitely retrieves less detail than the 400i.
 
In fact, I've found the 400i to compare favorably to something like the $1000 Oppo PM-1, although many people seem to agree that the Oppo isn't the most resolving headphone.
 
As for frequency response, Tyll from Innerfidelity has measured these headphones (link: http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE4002014.pdf)
 
(Don't worry that is says HE400 2014 - this is definitely the 400i, which becomes apparent if you manually go look for this PDF on his website under the headphone datasheet downloads section)
 
I personally don't see any big frequency response spikes, maybe except for at 7k and 9k, which honestly to me looks like both are part of the same hump around that frequency range. And I can confirm that nothing sounds really weird to me with the 400i (I'm actually kind of sensitive to frequency spikes in the mid and upper midrange, they just sound immediately weird).
 
Hope this answers your questions!

 

[DavidA]

When you say it's harsh/bright that's just compared to the 650 right? I've never owned a Hifiman headphone but I thought the highs were inoffensive. Coming from my VC1000 which is neutral/bright but not very harsh, the treble on the 400i shouldn't bother me correct?

The harsh/bright comment is mainly from the combo of the modi/asgard2 DAC/AMP, both of these are on the bright side IMO so pairing with a neutral/bright headphone like the HE-400i can sometimes over do it.  I was sitting on my lanai with my gaming computer when doing the comparison.  If in my living room I would have been using a Teac UD-301 (DAC) and usually the Lyr2 Telefunken tubes) with the HD-650 and HE-400i.
 
That's why I added the second part about using a Lyr2 or Project Ember and how the sound will change with different tubes.
 
Its always good to know how the headphones were driven when looking at how different headphones compare to one another, some headphones just pair better with certain amps better than others.  If you read enough on these pages most/all of the good reviews state what they used (source, music, DAC, AMP, wires, etc) to do their evaluation.

 

[DavidA]

   
Yes, like @Tuco1965 and @manbear have said, highs are prominent in the 400i but it's nothing like say, headphones from AKG or Beyerdynamic or even the HD800.
 
The reason that @DavidA says that the 400i can be bright/harsh with some songs may be because he has done the grill mod. While I wouldn't say that the grill mod significantly brightens the sound signature of the 400i, it does make the treble even more prominent.

The grill mod on the HE-400i got rid of a slight ringing at certain frequencies. 

 

[Jmop]

Wow thank you very much for the detailed responses

Does this grill mod increase soundstage along with brightening them up?

 

[DavidA]

Wow thank you very much for the detailed responses

Does this grill mod increase soundstage along with brightening them up?

The grill mod will increase the sound stage, how much depends on what you use for the grill material and dust filter.  Check out the HE-400/500 mod thread, http://www.head-fi.org/t/604583/hifiman-he-400-impressions-and-discussion-thread

 

[Jmop]

I actually kind of like the look with the different grill lol I would only consider doing this if it is a significant difference in the soundstage. What changes, width? height?

 

[DavidA]

I actually kind of like the look with the different grill lol I would only consider doing this if it is a significant difference in the soundstage. What changes, width? height?

mostly wider, but for me it was to get rid of a ringing I heard with certain songs.  Also, since you are not altering the original grills you can always bring them back to stock.  Best way to see if you will notice a difference is to just remove the grills and have a listen, if you like it, do the mod, if not, just put back the original grill.

 

[Jmop]

Alright, thanks. Sounds like a good idea.

 

[Eddyfcknp]

If anyone who has owned akg k7xx/fidelio x2, how would you say the he400i compares? 

 

[bbieringer]

  If anyone who has owned akg k7xx/fidelio x2, how would you say the he400i compares? 

 
I am also interested in seeing a comparison of the Fidelio X2 vs. Hifiman 400i
 
I feel the original HE-400 is comparable to the current X2. The X2 may be a little more detailed and have a little more bass impact, but they are both very smooth and perform well with electronic music (my genre of choice). Interested to see how the 400i performs differently from the 400.

 

[DavidA]

   
I am also interested in seeing a comparison of the Fidelio X2 vs. Hifiman 400i
 
I feel the original HE-400 is comparable to the current X2. The X2 may be a little more detailed and have a little more bass impact, but they are both very smooth and perform well with electronic music (my genre of choice). Interested to see how the 400i performs differently from the 400.

I don't feel that the X2 is comparable to the HE-400, I read that the X2 is much refined from the X1 and to me the X1 has a better balanced sound than the HE-400.  The HE-400 does have the fast planar sound and the bass is extended and controlled (slightly better than X1), the mids on the HE-400 are recessed (neutral on X1) and the highs on HE-400 are somewhat bright and tizzy with some genre of music (X1 neutral to slightly bright).
 
Between the HE-400 and HE-400i: these are very different sound signatures, the HE-400 as noted above is somewhat of a mixed bag (good with certain genre) while the HE-400i is much more neutral, the bass is goes low but is not quite like the HE-400, the mids are neutral/forward, highs are neutral to me.  Another area they differ is in the amps that I drive them with, the HE-400i sounds better on my Lyr2 while the HE-400 is better on a project ember, the HE-400i is also a little easier to drive
 
I originally had the HE-400 for a few months and got the HE-400i and HE-560 when they came out thinking that I was going to see how the three sounded and sell off the ones I didn't care for, ended up keeping all three for the different sound signatures they presented.  Note: my HE-400 has the grill mod and I've changed the ear pad mount to the metal one from the HE400i and HE-560 and am using focus-pads, the HE-400i has the grill mod also.