Hifiman he-400i Impressions and Discussion
Jun 1, 2015 at 5:14 PM Post #4,277 of 14,386
  Thanks rovopio. I'm thinking of 'current on tap', or how much is available in an instant, without clipping. For eg, think about the Magni 2 and the Magni 2 Uber. in terms of mW, they are comparable but where the distinguishing factor is the capacitance (4000 vs 6000 uF). The non-uber provides less instant power and should thus clip earlier leading to a loss of dynamic range compared to the Uber version. Now this loss can affect your ability to interpret changes in dynamic levels and by inference distances between instruments (music)/activities (games). Isnt this dynamic range what we as humans use to guage distance between objects emanating sound?  
   I think gaming is a good test between different amps because of the sudden changes in level (dynamic range) and to see what happens with SQ+imaging with each amp & HE-400i combo.  

 
Despite what my local audio community said about Schiit, Magni 2 will not going to clip with >90% of all headphones available in this world today.
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 6:35 PM Post #4,279 of 14,386
I got my wife the momentum on ears v1 for precisely the same reason and it did help.
But after hearing the he-400i, she had a tough time going back. I don't think we can afford both of us engaging in the same hobby :grinning:
 

Ouch - I did exactly the same thing - pink momentums and a little Fiio for her - next thing she's hogging the main rig :)
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 7:12 PM Post #4,280 of 14,386
  Ouch - I did exactly the same thing - pink momentums and a little Fiio for her - next thing she's hogging the main rig :)

yup. i got my wife the same color and model but now she listens to the HE-400i when i'm not around. The only reason I know if because my son snitches on her. I've taught him well :)
   She used to get angry at my main loudspeaker because of how big they are. Interestingly, she does not 'mind' them anymore.      
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 7:21 PM Post #4,281 of 14,386
Fair enough. Wrong terminology on my part.
Not clipping but I guess I was thinking response time.


Still does not make much sense to me. If you mean rise time or slew rate in Volts/second (or fractions thereof)I don't think the Uber will be much different. Amps do sound different, but the things you mention are not generally listed as the things that makes this so. Though I tend to think they could have some bearing on some aspects of the sound. Trying to attribute differences in sound on based an imperfect understanding of what the amp is doing will be real tough.
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 7:52 PM Post #4,282 of 14,386
Fair enough. Wrong terminology on my part.
Not clipping but I guess I was thinking response time.


What response time do you think these headphones need, and what do available amps provide?

These headphones arent that hard to drive. No need to create problems that arent really there by mumbo jumboifying things (being "technical" without being quantitative = mumbo jumboifying).
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 7:57 PM Post #4,283 of 14,386
After reading more reviews and opinions, I'm at least giving the HE-400i a shot. If for some reason it is so different I don't like it, There's still plenty of HE-400s around to downgrade back to. I do listen to a lot of rock and metal, so maybe this new sound signature will make up for any lost soundstage.


Upgrade the stock cable. Soundstage amongst other things improves.
I tried cables ranging from 60.00 to 250.00 and they all made an improvement.
They will open up!
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 8:31 PM Post #4,284 of 14,386
What response time do you think these headphones need, and what do available amps provide?

These headphones arent that hard to drive. No need to create problems that arent really there by mumbo jumboifying things (being "technical" without being quantitative = mumbo jumboifying).

That's why I am here. To get insight and learn. Thanks.
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 8:47 PM Post #4,285 of 14,386
 
Still does not make much sense to me. If you mean rise time or slew rate in Volts/second (or fractions thereof)I don't think the Uber will be much different. Amps do sound different, but the things you mention are not generally listed as the things that makes this so. Though I tend to think they could have some bearing on some aspects of the sound. Trying to attribute differences in sound on based an imperfect understanding of what the amp is doing will be real tough.

Cheer mate. I guess I'll just stick to try before you buy then
frown.gif
.
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 9:06 PM Post #4,286 of 14,386
Upgrade the stock cable. Soundstage amongst other things improves.
I tried cables ranging from 60.00 to 250.00 and they all made an improvement.
They will open up!

Curious as to how you tested this?  Blind testing? With amp or dac I use a switch box so its instantly switched, with cables it would be hard to do the switch very quickly to preserve as much sonic memory as possible.
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 9:52 PM Post #4,289 of 14,386
Curious as to how you tested this?  Blind testing? With amp or dac I use a switch box so its instantly switched, with cables it would be hard to do the switch very quickly to preserve as much sonic memory as possible.


I just switch between cables and listen for certain passages of particular songs. Then I will just listen for a while and just let the headphones talk to me. After all,in the end it
has to add up to a more enjoyable listening experience rather than picking apart certain segments of a song over and over. I will do this over several weeks and if I consistently pick one over the other (no placebo effect) then that cable is a winner to me. On the 400i phones, you don't need to listen very long to hear the difference,especially with the mid bass. It took a little longer with my 560s. Some songs show up these difference more than others. I rather confident with my finding. Believe me, if their wasn't an appreciable difference between these cables, I would have gladly returned them and used that money for other uses.
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 11:07 PM Post #4,290 of 14,386
@Hifi59, thanks for the reply, I've tried where my girlfriend would switch the cables or not and put the headphone back on my head without me being able to see or feel the cable and there were only two times that I was able to notice a difference, on my HD-700 and HD-800, the stock cables vs self made canare cable.  I was using them with the stock cable for a few months before building the new cables so I was quite familiar with the sound of them.  After changing the cables the sound of the stock cables seemed on the thin side and seemed to lacked dynamics compared to the new cables, this was a very subtle change but still noticeable.  A cable change with all my other headphones didn't have any effect on the sound that I could hear, mid/high end cables I've bought and tried include a used Forza Audioworks Hybrid Silver/Copper ($215) for my HE-560/400i/400 and a used Double Helix Hybrid Silver/Copper ($375) for my LCD-2f, couldn't hear any difference from the canare cables that I built.  If going for looks these two cables are gorgeous and definitely look like high end custom stuff.
 

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