It is a great all-rounder open headphone and will definitely please many audiophiles.
Oh, jebus! They made a serious one! I want fun one!
It is a great all-rounder open headphone and will definitely please many audiophiles.
It would be great if someone makes a through comparison between HE-400i & HE-500. I consider HE-500 as my next buy but if HE-400i is better, there is no doubt that I will get HE-400i instead
Hifiman HE-400i Review and Comparison
Intro
The HE-400i is the latest headphone from Hifiman. It was released recently as a replacement for the popular HE-400. This write-up will give my initial impressions of the HE-400i as well as compare it to its predecessor.
I received my pair straight from Hifiman for reviewing and demoing purposes, here are my unboxing pics: http://imgur.com/a/04xke
soundstage, underwhelming bass, without the airy treble, overall spacious sound, or fun v-shaped sound signature. It’s a great headphone, and I may keep my pair, but it won’t be replacing my HE-400, even if it is “better”.
TL;DR: The HE-400i is a very comfortable, very balanced, easy-to-drive, Hifiman can with OK bass and a small soundstage. Not a true sequel to the HE-400.
Note: this is my first attempt at a proper headphone review and I’d love some feedback.
Hifiman HE-400i Review and Comparison
Conclusion
Overall, the new HE-400i does so much right and so little wrong. It is a great all-rounder open headphone and will definitely please many audiophiles. It’s a very technically proficient headphone. What it isn’t though, is a true replacement for the HE-400. Instead of just refining the HE-400, Hifiman took all the weaknesses and overcompensated for them – and in turn killed all the attributes the HE-400 was known for. Fit kind of loose? Let’s make it clamp like crazy. Pads are too hard? Let’s give them the squishiest pads ever so your ears practically touch the driver. Upper mids and lower treble a little unbalanced? Let’s get rid of the upper treble airiness and push the mids all the way to the forefront. Now we’re left with a headphone with a small soundstage, underwhelming bass, without the airy treble, overall spacious sound, or fun v-shaped sound signature. It’s a great headphone, and I may keep my pair, but it won’t be replacing my HE-400, even if it is “better”.
It depends on what you want... From my understanding and experience with both HE-400 and HE-500 (but no HE-400i, so far), if you are after neutrality, treble smoothness and better soundstage, you should choose HE-500. HE-500 are considerably better at soundstaging in comparison to HE-400 (dimensionality primarily) so if HE-400i are worse then HE-400 in this regard, I would consider this as a fair warning.
HE-400i, on the other hand, could MAYBE have a bit tighter and quicker bass response and a bit more exciting FR... Of course, I would expect a very significant improvement in comfort over HE-500. I personally just chose HE-500 with jerg pads today as HE-400i does not seem to be as neutral in tonality and as consistent in soundstage. However, HE-500 are simply not very comfortable and therefore I would have to work it out somehow.
I hold them as equals. He-500 does soundstage better. He-400i does comfort better.
Not exaggerated at all. I have been using HE-500 for years and could not stand its weight giving pressure at the top of my head. In fact just yesterday I have received my 3rd fake HD555 headband padding foam that I attached to the HE-500 only then it makes it bearable. Now theres no more presuure on a specific point, its just heavy. I use that foam on all my headhpones.lol, the reports of discomfort with the old he400 and he500 are greatly exaggerated. you use either of em for a week and you get used to the weight. wide headbands that evenly displace the weight and large roomy earcups. honestly the comfort is perfectly acceptable once you get used to the weight. I have worn my he400 for 8hrs+ straigt no problems.
tho it is true the new design is so improved & comfortable you can forget that you are wearing headphones.
Not exaggerated at all. I have been using HE-500 for years and could not stand its weight giving pressure at the top of my head. In fact just yesterday I have received my 3rd fake HD555 headband padding foam that I attached to the HE-500 only then it makes it bearable. Now theres no more presuure on a specific point, its just heavy. I use that foam on all my headhpones.
Well, the grill mod is done.
The fit/finish is still not perfect and pretty tight. The rings are obviously being pushed to the limits.
Anyway, for now the improvement for both the 560 and 400i is small. About 5% improvement in imaging/air/soundstage/treble clarity width for the 560 and similar improvements for the 400i.
Enough to squeeze a slight extra off either headphone but not nearly enough to make an obvious change or transform it into a different/lot better headphone.
Should any of this change, I'll make sure to mention it accordingly but this is certainly not something that'd warrant an extra comparison/review.
I am not sure it warrants the effort it took to make either... Maybe barely but this mod was pretty tough. Very little margin for error and to get the new grilles in there and make the 4 tabs click was a difficult endeavor [and the retaining rings still aren't lined up perfectly]...
If you grill modded both headphones, does that mean you are keeping both?!?!?!