[Kroj]

  Same, I've had my HE400i be defective twice, but their customer service through friendly email and quick replies have kept me content as I wait for my replacement

I'm also waiting for my replacement HE400i. Mine work great but had a bad scratch on the right ear cup (brand new unacceptable) . They have been great with there response but still waiting for the tracking number and ship date from them.  

 

[bookah]

  Unless you love bass, the HE400i a better all around

I uh....am a bit of a basshead  - which is why I am so torn. 

 

[fjrabon]

  I uh....am a bit of a basshead  - which is why I am so torn. 

FWIW they respond very well to an EQ boost.  Also, the HE400 have weird treble that prevent me from being able to play them loud enough for them to really be the bass monsters they could be.  I'd almost say just get the OPPO PM3 or NAD HP50 if you're more concerned with bass and don't want to EQ.

 

[ChesterYonany]

the 400i is so good as an allarounder!
when im listening to electronic music in my car i feel that i need a lot more bass, even when the bass is at max, but when im switching to something like rock there is way too much bass and i cant listen to it for more than a few seconds.
 
but with the 400i i feel that i have a good amount of bass with electro and when i switch to something else the bass is still very good and never overbearing.

 

[Sonic Defender]

 
FWIW they respond very well to an EQ boost.  Also, the HE400 have weird treble that prevent me from being able to play them loud enough for them to really be the bass monsters they could be.  I'd almost say just get the OPPO PM3 or NAD HP50 if you're more concerned with bass and don't want to EQ.

I agree, I think the PM3 will be a better bass-head headphone. I use both the 400i and PM3 and I also feel the 400i has a larger soundstage which if I was a home user I want a bigger, more realistic size of the sound. The PM3 are awesome, and exceptional as portables, but for home use only I would feel a need for more size of the sound if that makes sense. For me size is more than simply soundstage, it is also the surface area that feels is being stimulated. I'm not sure exactly how big the 400i drivers are, but accurate or not they seem to play bigger to me than the PM3.
 
It isn't a massive difference, but given with how high the quality of the bass on the 400i can be it is the more versatile headphone I think. In general I find open headphones more versatile as you greatly reduce if not eliminate cabinet reflections of bass so booming is not really a factor (at least in my experience).

 

[Headphone4Life]

When I'm in the mood for bass I go to my Sony Z7 which I think is a really good headphone with bass. I can't call it a true bass-head headphone because there are others with more quantity but I think it's a perfect mix of quantity and quality. I love my 400i but when I need to quench my bass fix the Z7 is perfect, plus its just a really nice headphone over all with good SQ and is the most comfortable headphone I've ever used.

 

[fjrabon]

  I agree, I think the PM3 will be a better bass-head headphone. I use both the 400i and PM3 and I also feel the 400i has a larger soundstage which if I was a home user I want a bigger, more realistic size of the sound. The PM3 are awesome, and exceptional as portables, but for home use only I would feel a need for more size of the sound if that makes sense. For me size is more than simply soundstage, it is also the surface area that feels is being stimulated. I'm not sure exactly how big the 400i drivers are, but accurate or not they seem to play bigger to me than the PM3.
 
It isn't a massive difference, but given with how high the quality of the bass on the 400i can be it is the more versatile headphone I think. In general I find open headphones more versatile as you greatly reduce if not eliminate cabinet reflections of bass so booming is not really a factor (at least in my experience).

I think size of the driver isn't as relevant with planars like it is with dynamics, since planars don't have hotspots like dynamic cones do, since they radiate evenly over the entirety of the flat surface.  The thing that gets me with the 400i is the precision of the imaging.  Even if it's not as large of a stage as, say, a K701, the imaging accuracy is startling.  It has much more subtlety to the horizontal location than most other headphones in its range.  A lot of headphones, even if their soundstage is huge, everything is basically "middle, left, right" with the HE400i everything is a continuous whole from far left to far right.  On The Eagles Live Seven Bridges Road, I can point to exactly where all 5 harmonies are coming from, left to right.  With even the HD650, they were all kind of blurred together, differentiable in tone, but not location.  With the 400i they are differentiated in both tonality and location, but yet still cohesive.  That combined with the transparency can make well recorded live music startlingly lifelike at times.

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

Quote:

 
 The thing that gets me with the 400i is the precision of the imaging.  Even if it's not as large of a stage as, say, a K701, the imaging accuracy is startling.  It has much more subtlety to the horizontal location than most other headphones in its range.  A lot of headphones, even if their sound stage is huge, everything is basically "middle, left, right" with the HE400i everything is a continuous whole from far left to far right.  On The Eagles Live Seven Bridges Road, I can point to exactly where all 5 harmonies are coming from, left to right.  With even the HD650, they were all kind of blurred together, differentiable in tone, but not location.  With the 400i they are differentiated in both tonality and location, but yet still cohesive.  That combined with the transparency can make well recorded live music startlingly lifelike at times.

 I'ld like to add to this comment by pointing out that Imaging & Sound Staging in Studio Recordings DOES NOT EXIST!On studio recordings it's all about how the recording is MIXED.Unless the entire performing band is recorded all at once(Cowboy Junkies,Trinity Sessions)ONLY Live recordings can be used as a accurate measure of how speakers or cans image or SS.If an event is mic'd at a distance you will clearly"see"the event happening in front & l/r of your head...If you want a perfect example listen to the first 40 seconds of Rush "Farewell To Kings" on the Different Stages 3cd set.The engineer mic'd this album well back & you can clearly "see"the crowd all around you,especially the 3 people who are in different parts of the venue & whistling VERY loudly...

 

[canthearyou]

 I'ld like to add to this comment by pointing out that Imaging & Sound Staging in Studio Recordings DOES NOT EXIST!On studio recordings it's all about how the recording is MIXED.Unless the entire performing band is recorded all at once(Cowboy Junkies,Trinity Sessions)ONLY Live recordings can be used as a accurate measure of how speakers or cans image or SS.If an event is mic'd at a distance you will clearly"see"the event happening in front & l/r of your head...If you want a perfect example listen to the first 40 seconds of Rush "Farewell To Kings" on the Different Stages 3cd set.The engineer mic'd this album well back & you can clearly "see"the crowd all around you,especially the 3 people who are in different parts of the venue & whistling VERY loudly...

It's MIXED to create an IMAGE of a soundstage/stage. Correct?

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

It's MIXED to create an IMAGE of a sound stage/stage. Correct?

Correct,but we have no idea what that image is actually supposed to look like.I tried some of the very early DTS & DVD/A Surround disks.They were horrible,putting you in the middle of the stage instead of looking into it.Anyway my point is the 400i's ARE capable of fantastic imaging,with a PROPORTIONATE sound stage so no one should be too judgmental about that aspect of their presentation...

 

[Crimguy]

It's MIXED to create an IMAGE of a soundstage/stage. Correct?

It is. It does sound very good though. Dreamline is done very well too.

 

[Sonic Defender]

It is. It does sound very good though. Dreamline is done very well too.

​^ Dreamline the song I take it? I've been lucky enough to see Rush almost 10 times now I think. They won't be touring again, or very unlikely so I think we have all seen them live for our last time, but I guess as they say, never say never.

 

[iScream]

So have these always come with angled pads?  I wasn't expecting it for some reason.  I actually thought the front of my pads got squished down during shipping when I first got them.

 

[Jluftig]

Greetings, Head-Fi-ers. I have appreciated many of the comments here and, with the 400i,  have really been enjoying planars for the first time. I have previously used only IEMS--Etymotic (4p) and Shure (E215).  
 
One negative first impression though: right before impending NE blizzard, my cable connector came off, and this is  only a couple months after I opened the still-sealed box, which was  given to me by in November as a gift ( during Thanksgiving).  The purchase date was a little less than a year ago (1/30/15), and was part of a LHS Labs Indiegogo campaign for their Pulse DAC. 
 
I sent in the receipt and claim--and will see what happens. Hifiman writes that they have a 90 day policy for cables, but these headphones have been open for less than three months and barely used. Will see...
 
Needless to say, I'm going to miss the 400i's during the blizzard ... yes, I'm feeling separation anxiety for these headphones. 
 
Before hearing back from HFM, I won't ask yet about how best to replace or repair the cable, even though I should probably have a back-up cable around, given how fragile the stock cable seems to be.  
 
I'm also happy to share some impressions, but I can't listen to them now!

 

[Crimguy]

​^ Dreamline the song I take it? I've been lucky enough to see Rush almost 10 times now I think. They won't be touring again, or very unlikely so I think we have all seen them live for our last time, but I guess as they say, never say never.

Yeah I've seen them about 10 times as well since the Grace Under Pressure tour. I think Different Stages is a very well done concert album sonically. I usually find myself listening to Exit stage left though.