[headwhacker]

I think he is referring to the Sennheiser hd 650 not the Hifiman 560 lol.

read the end of his comment about demoing 560. Then you will understand my reply.

 

[Spiderman]

read the end of his comment about demoing 560. Then you will understand my reply.

Ah I did not see the final sentence, you are right. So where is the cheapest place to get one of these? I have seen a few on the classifieds for $350 and tried razordog but their 100 off 400 doesn't apply to hifiman products.

 

[swspiers]

Happy New Year, and one last comment on the 400i's
 
They remain amazingly fun headphones for me, and even when compared to Alpha Primes, they hold nothing back.  I have never second-guessed my decision to pass on the 560 after having them early on the tour, and opting for the 400i's.
 
Pretty sure with the Primes and the 400i's, I really am at an end-game.  At least for the foreseeable future.  I've even unsubscribed from about 15 threads, with no desire to look any further.
 
Be safe out there tonight folks: it's Amateur Hour!

 

[Jazz1]

  Happy New Year, and one last comment on the 400i's
 
They remain amazingly fun headphones for me, and even when compared to Alpha Primes, they hold nothing back.  I have never second-guessed my decision to pass on the 560 after having them early on the tour, and opting for the 400i's.
 
Pretty sure with the Primes and the 400i's, I really am at an end-game.  At least for the foreseeable future.  I've even unsubscribed from about 15 threads, with no desire to look any further.
 
Be safe out there tonight folks: it's Amateur Hour!

I'm glad to see that the 400i's are holding their own with some worthy competitors. I too was very tempted by the Alpha Primes, the 560 would have broken my already broken piggy bank after Christmas gifting. While I'm happy with my desktop rig, I know my next audio challenge is selling my M&K speaker system and converting it into more headphone related gear (probably some really good Schitt

).
 
Me, I'll avoid the New Year's revelers and enjoy some good sherry and more headphone time with my 400i's and my just delivered Gov't Mule's 3 CD Millennium. Happy New Year, be safe Head-fiers!

 

[7DidasJ]

This is my first post here, just wanted to give some love to the 400i.  I understand that one's preference regarding headphone qualities will differ depending on the intended use.  I use my he-400's for personal enjoyment, and now will use my he-400i for studio purposes.  It's funny...a lot of qualities that people say against this headphone are the one's I benefit from (not surprisingly- assuming one is using them for enjoyment versus music creation/editing.  Regardless, this post my help someone in some way.  I would post this on gearslutz but government computers tend to block anything with "slutz" in the title (and of course "sluts"...but it was worth a shot!) 

.........Anyway, the genre I work in lies in experimental/hip-hop/electronic-dubstep/drums.  As a long-time piano player, I love very emotional/mesmerizing type beats with many instruments and layers.  I needed a headphone that is near-neutral throughout the board.  I needed open-headphones for increased depth and an accurate soundstage (not too large or small).  I also needed bass (not overwhelming, but accurate and able to reproduce.  It had to be comfortable, light, fertile, and have wide birthing hips (obviously).  
 
These headphones checked all the boxes for me, plus I received them from Razor Dog for $390 with free shipping in 3-days (awesome considering I live in Hawaii).  Military gave me my first location choice what I say... this place is a dump and I don't want to leave ever (being from Buffalo).  Someone's reading this thinking (I don't give a damn please talk about headphones).  Okay... you only have 2 remaining wishes though.  
 
There is the on-going assumption that audiophile and studio headphones can't be the same thing.  Well, as long as the music doesn't suck and a headphone can reproduce it with overall accuracy you can of course have both.  There are many stigmas that just aren't always accurate- like how smoking marijuana is somehow worse than alcohol or how you need walk every older woman across the street or you're a bad person (they're stronger than they look!).  
 
I also want to address some of the complaints of these headphones.  The one's I've noticed mainly are: lack of bass, lack of soundstage.  The soundstage, honestly, is something I appreciate in the 400i's.  It is definitely less airy and tighter overall than the He-400's, but it sounds more natural to me than the 400's as well.  The sound was enveloping, pleasing had good depth to it.  I can see how a larger soundstage would be of benefit for other types of music.  Basswise- switching between my 400's and 400i's I was expecting a major difference (from what I've read).  My 400's have the 560 pads on them so this would be a contributing factor- for me the bass was very similar on both of them.  Due to the more closed-in nature of 400i sound, the initial impression was that the bass was actually more full on the 400i's.  This should be good news to some people.  It is quality bass, don't let people give you the impression that it can't bang when it needs to!  
 
That's all I've got... these headphones are as tonally accurate as I need them to be (I'm using them in combination with Eris E8 studio monitors).  For amping I am running a Presonus 22VSL from my computer into a Fiio E09K.
 
Hope some of this helps! 

 

[swspiers]

  This is my first post here, just wanted to give some love to the 400i.  

I wish more people were willing to write a first post that well.  It helps us to stop judging quality and experience by the number of posts.
 
Welcome to head-fi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[marhol]

I have recently seen graphs of HE-400i published on http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE4002014.pdf ( not exactly sure its HE-400i, because there is marked  HE-400 2014 but I suppose its actually a graph of HE-400i as you can get to this pdf after choosing HE-400i from the link http://www.innerfidelity.com/headphone-data-sheet-downloads ) 
And when comparing frequency response to other Hifimans it looks like HE-400i sub bass is extended fairly well. It seems the sub bass extension is not worse than on HE-400 or HE-500 and only slightly inferior to HE-6, while clearly inferior to HE-560. Am I right or am I missing something ?
These measurements of bass extension are quite similar to purrins but considerably different to those published on other sites such as http://stereos.about.com/od/Headphone-Reviews/ss/Review-HiFiMan-HE-400i-Headphone.htm or http://www.sieveking-sound.de/images/equipment/128/stereoplay%201-2015_HE-400i.pdf (from reputable German magazine Stereoplay). The two latter ones show significantly bigger sub bass roll offs in comparison to Tyll´s or purrin´s. Despite taking into account the damping factor its a bit strange to me... Which ones are the most reliable/correct  according to you, guys ? (I had learnt that Tyll´s measurements are generally well regarded)

 

[Gamingmusiclove]

Cuestión: how are the mids, soundstage and detail on this headphones? Im deciding between this and K712, but im not sure on what to buy (i game a lot, but i really appreciate mids, mainly for jazz, rock and avant garde music)

 

[Ron12]

  I have recently seen graphs of HE-400i published on http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE4002014.pdf ( not exactly sure its HE-400i, because there is marked  HE-400 2014 but I suppose its actually a graph of HE-400i as you can get to this pdf after choosing HE-400i from the link http://www.innerfidelity.com/headphone-data-sheet-downloads ) 
And when comparing frequency response to other Hifimans it looks like HE-400i sub bass is extended fairly well. It seems the sub bass extension is not worse than on HE-400 or HE-500 and only slightly inferior to HE-6, while clearly inferior to HE-560. Am I right or am I missing something ?
These measurements of bass extension are quite similar to purrins but considerably different to those published on other sites such as http://stereos.about.com/od/Headphone-Reviews/ss/Review-HiFiMan-HE-400i-Headphone.htm or http://www.sieveking-sound.de/images/equipment/128/stereoplay%201-2015_HE-400i.pdf (from reputable German magazine Stereoplay). The two latter ones show significantly bigger sub bass roll offs in comparison to Tyll´s or purrin´s. Despite taking into account the damping factor its a bit strange to me... Which ones are the most reliable/correct  according to you, guys ? (I had learnt that Tyll´s measurements are generally well regarded)

 
You should notice that the bass is not truly linear (read neutral) on Tyll's graph for HE-400i (rather going constantly downward). Zoom-in and compare with the HE-500, HE-400 and HE-560 which all keep the same or higher amplitude (dB) from 100 to 30 Hz. Is this going to be noticable in practice? Definitely. Can this downward slope on HE-400i be even worse in practice (on your head)? Definitely (it is with my HE-500s, for example). I would combine graphs from Innerfidelity and purrin + read some impressions.
 
On the other hand, for me, bass extending to 15 Hz (even if it was really true for HE-560 on my head) does not make any real benefit - the opposite actually - because it can add some muddiness to the sound. Bass linear to let's say 40Hz (or even 40-50Hz) is perfectly enough for me (for the majority of music). But it must be truly linear (or have slight increase) - the same amplitude from 200Hz down (or with slight increase towards subbass) - to fully experience the subbass presence.

 

[Ron12]

Cuestión: how are the mids, soundstage and detail on this headphones? Im deciding between this and K712, but im not sure on what to buy (i game a lot, but i really appreciate mids, mainly for jazz, rock and avant garde music)

 
Soundstage of K712 Pro is definitely better than on HE-500 (have both here)... which are said to have better soundstage than HE-400i. K712 Pro have more expansion in both width and depth, with better imaging.  Mids are very fine on K712 Pro but they are not in the top league (not ortho great).

 

[Gamingmusiclove]

Soundstage of K712 Pro is definitely better than on HE-500 (have both here)... which are said to have better soundstage than HE-400i. K712 Pro have more expansion in both width and depth, with better imaging.  Mids are very fine on K712 Pro but they are not in the top league (not ortho great).

And which do you think brings more detail? I am thinking to buy either the he-400i, the K712 and maybe the woodies from audio technica.

 

[Ron12]

And which do you think brings more detail? I am thinking to buy either the he-400i, the K712 and maybe the woodies from audio technica.

 
I cannot answer this for you because I haven't heard HE-400i (or woodies from audio-technica) I can only say that if soundstage is important for you, K712 Pro are going to deliver much better than HE-400i it seems, given the fact that it already overperforms HE-500 (even with grill mod - I actually use no grills at all on my HE-500s) in this regard. You would have to go for HE-4 (and remove stock grills) to get something at least roughly competitive with K712 Pro in terms of soundstaging and image precision... But HE-4s are not gonna give you the great mids you are after.
 
In this price range, I would honestly buy a second-hand HE-500 and remove grills (or replace stock grills with some more suitable DIY ones) to get a good soundstage + great mids. If you rather want good mids + great soundstage, K712 Pro will suit you better.

 

[Gamingmusiclove]

I cannot answer this for you because I haven't heard HE-400i (or woodies from audio-technica) I can only say that if soundstage is important for you, K712 Pro are going to deliver much better than HE-400i it seems, given the fact that it already overperforms HE-500 (even with grill mod - I actually use no grills at all on my HE-500s) in this regard. You would have to go for HE-4 (and remove stock grills) to get something at least roughly competitive with K712 Pro in terms of soundstaging and image precision... But HE-4s are not gonna give you the great mids you are after.

In this price range, I would honestly buy a second-hand HE-500 and remove grills (or replace stock grills with some more suitable DIY ones) to get a good soundstage + great mids. If you rather want good mids + great soundstage, K712 Pro will suit you better.

Guess ill go with them

 

[howdy]

I think you both should give the 400i a listen first. These are absoulety amazing in all aspects. I'm not saying you would not like but there is a lot of judging with out actually hearing them. I'm listening to these right now and the bass is very impactful, clear. These are amazing clean sounding as they should be.

 

[Ron12]

I think you both should give the 400i a listen first. These are absoulety amazing in all aspects. I'm not saying you would not like but there is a lot of judging with out actually hearing them. I'm listening to these right now and the bass is very impactful, clear. These are amazing clean sounding as they should be.

 
I have nothing against HE-400i, really... But I would have a hard time recommending the majority of Hifiman headphones to someone who really wants a HQ soundstage. K712 Pro have significantly better soundstaging than stock HE-400, HE-4 and HE-500 - and I doubt HE-400i are any different given all the feedback here or elsewhere. You can improve on Hifimans using more spacious and angled pads + removing the stock grills... But even then, as much as I love my HE-500s (and as much as I am a fan of Hifiman brand), K712 Pro are just better in this regard.