[DavidA]

Does the sound change? comparison between V1 and V2?

There is a difference between the V1 and V2 but its a personal preference on which you will like, for me its the older one but with the issues of QC I don't think its a valid reason to seek out a V2 even if you liked the sound of mine. One thinking to consider is that the V2 doesn't need to be modded with grill mod from what has been said before. If you figure out how to search then you can go back to Nov-Dec 2015 (IIRC) to see more comparisons between the two versions.

 

[smashing]

Saw some good deals on the HE-400i from some reliable stores on taobao - brand new piece going for what the used market is asking.
Couldn't resist the poison and have ordered a pair.

Hopefully I can get it by end of next week through consolidated shipping. Can't wait!

 

[MWSVette]

The Hifiman store has the HE400i V1 for $229.00 with 30 day return (US only).

http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/he-400i-519.html

 

[Slim1970]

Anyone tried the Hifiman Hybrid OFC Cable with the HE-400i?
http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/cables/hybrid-ofc-cable.html

If so, where there any sonic improvements?

 

[DavidA]

Anyone tried the Hifiman Hybrid OFC Cable with the HE-400i?
http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/cables/hybrid-ofc-cable.html

If so, where there any sonic improvements?

While I haven't tried the Hifiman Hybrid cable I've tried the SPC and Crystalline ones and some great cables from Double-Helix and Forza and never noticed any sonic changes. The Forza and Double-Helix cables are works of art and it I had money growing out of trees I would get them for most of my headphones, but they can be a bit heavy for lighter headphones.

 

[Slim1970]

While I haven't tried the Hifiman Hybrid cable I've tried the SPC and Crystalline ones and some great cables from Double-Helix and Forza and never noticed any sonic changes. The Forza and Double-Helix cables are works of art and it I had money growing out of trees I would get them for most of my headphones, but they can be a bit heavy for lighter headphones.

Thanks for the reply. The Double-Helix cables do look good but they cost just as mush as some headphones. Like you I would love to outfit all my gear with them but for now I'll give these Hifiman Hybrid's a go and see how they fair with the HE-400i's.

 

[Slim1970]

It just dawned on me that I have all these wonderful cables that came with my HE-1000 V2's and so I decided to give the balanced cable a try. I put my iCan Pro in tube + mode and plugged in the balanced cable and wow! It totally transforms this headphone. The bass is elevated, the soundstage is opened up and these headphones are the bargain of the century at the sale price. They really sound good with tubes. Tubes seem to tame the highs and make the headphones more balanced. Anyone with a balanced cable and a tube amp should give it try. I'm really enjoying the sound.

 

[DavidA]

@Slim1970 , agree that tubes with the HE400i is pretty sweet, Project Ember and Lyr2 for me, tried them on my friends Liquid Glass that I had for a month, didn't notice much of an improvement over the Lyr2 but the HE560, HD800 and T1 were about as good as I've ever heard them.

 

[leobigfield]

Hi guys. Recently bought one HE-400i, it's on the way. I'm very excited it's my very first planar. Any recommendations to a noob (pads, tweaks, etc)?

Thanks!

 

[Kechos]

I have the V2, and I think they're alright. I'm thinking of selling them, as the bass is much too rolled-off on the V2 for my liking and prices are dropping fast. The highs are pretty incredible though, so it'll be hard to let go of for sure. Love the clarity on them.

 

[pbarach]

I have the V2. I happened to use them to listen to a TV show and found spoken dialogue to be much less clear than the Sennheiser HD600 headphones. I found this odd, because I don't notice any lack of clarity in music pitched in the midrange.

 

[GirgleMirt]

I have the V2, and I think they're alright. I'm thinking of selling them, as the bass is much too rolled-off on the V2 for my liking and prices are dropping fast. The highs are pretty incredible though, so it'll be hard to let go of for sure. Love the clarity on them.

No EQ? And to that end, anybody knows a good EQ for winamp? The base EQ seems to do at minimum 3dB which is too big of a boost for the 400i... Hmm... Although I could reduce every frequency by 5dB and then have the possibility of reducing the bass by 3-4dB... But then wouldn't that reduce the bit depth? Grr... Will have to test!

 

[DavidA]

I have the V2. I happened to use them to listen to a TV show and found spoken dialogue to be much less clear than the Sennheiser HD600 headphones. I found this odd, because I don't notice any lack of clarity in music pitched in the midrange.

I tried the HD600, HE400i and a few other headphones from my HT receiver and both were okay, but they were far behind the HD700 and custom Ypsilon R1 build in terms of clarity, dynamics and sound stage/3D imaging.

 

[MWSVette]

No EQ? And to that end, anybody knows a good EQ for winamp? The base EQ seems to do at minimum 3dB which is too big of a boost for the 400i... Hmm... Although I could reduce every frequency by 5dB and then have the possibility of reducing the bass by 3-4dB... But then wouldn't that reduce the bit depth? Grr... Will have to test!

Sonarworks now has a system wide program that would probably work with winamp.

 

[Mr Trev]

No EQ? And to that end, anybody knows a good EQ for winamp? The base EQ seems to do at minimum 3dB which is too big of a boost for the 400i... Hmm... Although I could reduce every frequency by 5dB and then have the possibility of reducing the bass by 3-4dB... But then wouldn't that reduce the bit depth? Grr... Will have to test!

I use the EQ from this thread: https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/how-to-equalize-your-headphones-2016-update.794467/
Works pretty good using Musicbee. Sure it'll reduce the bit depth, but whether you'll hear the difference is debatable (doubt I can tell) - plus MB does all processing @ 32bit AFAIK, plenty of headroom