[kdejonge]

I am driving them through a rotel speaker amp and they sound pretty good. Can't wait for the gustard h10 to arrive though..

 

[mandrake50]

  The best I've heard the HE-400i was driven with speaker outputs from a McIntosh amp.

Agree with you about the no personal experience part, I was just passing info that I had seen in some threads and I also have a few friends who have the ODAC+O2 and have told me that its pretty good for the price and will work with the HE-400i but having something like the Lyr2 will be a definite improvement.
 
I've tried my HE-400/HE-400i with my X3 and X3ii and while it sounds good it lacks dynamics compared to driving them with the Lyr2 and Ember.

Amen... there is always something better, and as I said, the 400i does scale with source and amplification. Does the OP "need" to go out and buy a Macintosh amp to enjoy listening to music with his 400I ??
yes speaker taps from my re-capped DH 500 driven by the Oppo bd105 is "better" than the X5, but I would not throw away my 400i if all I had to drive them was the X5. If I was travelling and all I could carry was an ODAC/O2, I could definitely have no problem with that.
 
As strange as it may seem to some, not every second of every person's listening time is spent doing in depth analysis of what they are hearing. Many times, good enough is good enough. I believe, from first hand experience, that 15 minutes of just kicking back and listening to music with the  400i and ODAC/O2 and it is easy to forget that someone told you that the combination is not optimal.

 

[DavidA]

 
Amen... there is always something better, and as I said, the 400i does scale with source and amplification. Does the OP "need" to go out and buy a Macintosh amp to enjoy listening to music with his 400I ??
yes speaker taps from my re-capped DH 500 driven by the Oppo bd105 is "better" than the X5, but I would not throw away my 400i if all I had to drive them was the X5. If I was travelling and all I could carry was an ODAC/O2, I could definitely have no problem with that.
 
As strange as it may seem to some, not every second of every person's listening time is spent doing in depth analysis of what they are hearing. Many times, good enough is good enough. I believe, from first hand experience, that 15 minutes of just kicking back and listening to music with the  400i and ODAC/O2 and it is easy to forget that someone told you that the combination is not optimal.

Just saying its the best that I heard the HE-400i, no I would not recommend getting a McIntosh amp, but if you have one on hand.....
 
I don't travel all that much so portable gear isn't high on my list and for those time that I do travel I don't want to carry a lot of extra stuff, usually just Vmoda XS and X3.
 
I agree that many times good enough is good enough but with the HE-400i and more so the HE-400 I couldn't listen to them for very long on my Magni and Asgard2, just to bright for me.  I'm going to borrow a ODAC/O2 from one of my friends and listen for myself.

 

[rovopio]

  Just saying its the best that I heard the HE-400i, no I would not recommend getting a McIntosh amp, but if you have one on hand.....
 
I don't travel all that much so portable gear isn't high on my list and for those time that I do travel I don't want to carry a lot of extra stuff, usually just Vmoda XS and X3.
 
I agree that many times good enough is good enough but with the HE-400i and more so the HE-400 I couldn't listen to them for very long on my Magni and Asgard2, just to bright for me.  I'm going to borrow a ODAC/O2 from one of my friends and listen for myself.

 
he-400i from a Magni and from a O2 sounds relatively the same. Casual listening-wise, it's pretty much the same.
Obviously, for hobbyist with discern taste, he-400i will scale with better gears, but for people that just join to head-fi to get a "good enough headphones that sounds good", he-400i can even be driven from X3 ii.

Heck, I drive them (low volumes) from my X1.
 
I like the sound from he-400i from my Little Dot better, but for new people just join in, I think he-400i is designed to sounds good portable-y-speaking. I don't know though if the definition of portable from Hifiman is a Fiio X5 or a Samsung Smartphone...

 

[money4me247]

both the he-400 and he-400i are relatively easy to drive & will work out of any dedicated portable player or entry level budget amp. they do scale up quite a bit, but pretty small sonic returns for a lot of additional financial investment. ime ymmv

 

[mandrake50]

  Just saying its the best that I heard the HE-400i, no I would not recommend getting a McIntosh amp, but if you have one on hand.....
 
I don't travel all that much so portable gear isn't high on my list and for those time that I do travel I don't want to carry a lot of extra stuff, usually just Vmoda XS and X3.
 
I agree that many times good enough is good enough but with the HE-400i and more so the HE-400 I couldn't listen to them for very long on my Magni and Asgard2, just to bright for me.  I'm going to borrow a ODAC/O2 from one of my friends and listen for myself.

No problem. I have found more than a few pairings that I like with the 400i  better. If somebody is relatively new and maybe is more rational about their budget for nonessentials, they could do worse than getting the ODAC/O2. If asked, I would tell them, if this fits into your budget, go for it. If asked what I would think was the cost no object "best" they could do, I would give a different recommendation... of course.   I would not tell them that they had to spend 3 to 4 times the money to be able to enjoy the headphones.  (and oh by the way, get into the wallet busting time sink that is tube rolling). Just pointing out that there can be different perspectives here.

 

[DavidA]

 
No problem. I have found more than a few pairings that I like with the 400i  better. If somebody is relatively new and maybe is more rational about their budget for nonessentials, they could do worse than getting the ODAC/O2. If asked, I would tell them, if this fits into your budget, go for it. If asked what I would think was the cost no object "best" they could do, I would give a different recommendation... of course.   I would not tell them that they had to spend 3 to 4 times the money to be able to enjoy the headphones.  (and oh by the way, get into the wallet busting time sink that is tube rolling). Just pointing out that there can be different perspectives here.

Done too much tube rolling, lol
Agree with you on budget and nonessentials, hope you are having a great weekend

 

[headwhacker]

  From reading on the HD-650/HE-400/and earlier in this thread many say the O2 does not have the voltage needed to drive the HE-400i its best.

 
But do you know exactly how much voltage does HE-400i needs to be driven exactly at specific SPL? People keep saying things which doesn't make sense you know.

 

[headwhacker]

 
Amen... there is always something better, and as I said, the 400i does scale with source and amplification. Does the OP "need" to go out and buy a Macintosh amp to enjoy listening to music with his 400I ??
yes speaker taps from my re-capped DH 500 driven by the Oppo bd105 is "better" than the X5, but I would not throw away my 400i if all I had to drive them was the X5. If I was travelling and all I could carry was an ODAC/O2, I could definitely have no problem with that.
 
As strange as it may seem to some, not every second of every person's listening time is spent doing in depth analysis of what they are hearing. Many times, good enough is good enough. I believe, from first hand experience, that 15 minutes of just kicking back and listening to music with the  400i and ODAC/O2 and it is easy to forget that someone told you that the combination is not optimal.

 
Then why is it only one thinks that a specific piece of gear doesn't actually sound optimal unless someone else told you so?

 

[ThePianoMan]

I only have Magni and Project Ember and the Ember is in a different class, sound, power and price wise.  If you are looking to drive the HE-400i or have a few different headphones with different impedances I would definitely go with the Ember but it is 3 times the price of the Magni.  The Magni is on the bright side IMO while the Ember is more neutral depending on the tube you use and having the ability to change the output resistance/impedance will let it pair with a larger variety of headphones. 
Don't know if anyone uses the Vali with planar headphones as I don't recall seeing it being mentioned on this thread.  Might want to check the threads for each of the amps as there should be more comparisons there between different amps.

I have the Magni/Modi 2 Ubers and would highly recommend this combo! It does not have some of the edgy brightness of the Magni 1, and it's really a spectacularly dynamic combo that is a musical chameleon. When they need to punch they punch. When they need to relax they relax. Just my two cents. Hope it helps : )

 

[mandrake50]

   
Then why is it only one thinks that a specific piece of gear doesn't actually sound optimal unless someone else told you so?

If one does not listen oneself, one does not actually know!  At best when they write opinions without actually listening they are regurgitating unconfirmed data from folks that they hardly know.

 One does not become a subject matter expert passively. In the best case we would read lots of ideas and figure out over the long term the people that seem to share our own tastes. Then when making a decision tally up the score and add what is known through personal experience... and go from there. For those new to the game, that cannot happen. Just not enough time and experience. At that point, the best advice is, with any budgetary constraints in mind give it a try and see what you think. IMHO
 
If one goes through life letting others tell them what is good... they miss lots of good things!

 

[chowmein83]

  If one does not listen oneself, one does not actually know!  At best when they write opinions without actually listening they are regurgitating unconfirmed data from folks that they hardly know.

 One does not become a subject matter expert passively. In the best case we would read lots of ideas and figure out over the long term the people that seem to share our own tastes. Then when making a decision tally up the score and add what is known through personal experience... and go from there. For those new to the game, that cannot happen. Just not enough time and experience. At that point, the best advice is, with any budgetary constraints in mind give it a try and see what you think. IMHO
 
If one goes through life letting others tell them what is good... they miss lots of good things!

 
Totally agree here. I know from my own experience that the best thing to do is to always actually listen and try for yourself, because people seriously have wildly varying tastes.

 

[marhol]

 
Amen... there is always something better, and as I said, the 400i does scale with source and amplification. Does the OP "need" to go out and buy a Macintosh amp to enjoy listening to music with his 400I ??
yes speaker taps from my re-capped DH 500 driven by the Oppo bd105 is "better" than the X5, but I would not throw away my 400i if all I had to drive them was the X5. If I was travelling and all I could carry was an ODAC/O2, I could definitely have no problem with that.
 
As strange as it may seem to some, not every second of every person's listening time is spent doing in depth analysis of what they are hearing. Many times, good enough is good enough. I believe, from first hand experience, that 15 minutes of just kicking back and listening to music with the  400i and ODAC/O2 and it is easy to forget that someone told you that the combination is not optimal.

Hi, supposing you meant Oppo BDP-105, have you tried using the headphone jack on Oppo BDP-105 with HE-400i ?  Is the integrated headphone amp in Oppo on par, better or worse than ODAC/O2 ? I´m asking because I´m interested in buying Oppo BDP-105. 

 

[WriterHead]

   
But do you know exactly how much voltage does HE-400i needs to be driven exactly at specific SPL? People keep saying things which doesn't make sense you know.

Exactly.

 

[llcook51]

  both the he-400 and he-400i are relatively easy to drive & will work out of any dedicated portable player or entry level budget amp. they do scale up quite a bit, but pretty small sonic returns for a lot of additional financial investment. ime ymmv

You are right on point. I own the 400i, as well as some TOTL headphones. The 400i is easily driven by my iPhone or Fiio 5, but sounds even better with the LYR -2 or H-10. It is hard to go wrong with this headphone.