[Tuco1965]

Both the 400i and the HD600 sound fantastic in my Lyr Uberfrost rig. YMMV

 

[chowmein83]

  Seems like it's worth trying them with some proper gear then

 
Yeah, I think you should try it with a dedicated headphone amp at least. In my experience (with the HE-400i and my modded T50RP mainly) if you don't feed a planar magnetic headphone enough power, the first thing that goes missing is the bass. It simply doesn't hit as hard with a weaker amplifier. Though how much power is enough is another matter entirely.

 

[ashutoshp]

Hey guys, I am in a dilemma and am looking for advice. So I have the HE-400is and I love them. So much that I frequently catch myself lusting for the HE-560 with the expectation of an even bigger 'hit', in a manner of speaking.
     Is it worth sliding even further down this slippery slope? But are the 560s worth the $400 more? Thanks.

 

[DavidA]

  Hey guys, I am in a dilemma and am looking for advice. So I have the HE-400is and I love them. So much that I frequently catch myself lusting for the HE-560 with the expectation of an even bigger 'hit', in a manner of speaking.
     Is it worth sliding even further down this slippery slope? But are the 560s worth the $400 more? Thanks.

Not $400 more IMO.  Maybe $200 better for the slightly better sound stage, smoother more extended highs, and tighter low end.

 

[money4me247]

  Hey guys, I am in a dilemma and am looking for advice. So I have the HE-400is and I love them. So much that I frequently catch myself lusting for the HE-560 with the expectation of an even bigger 'hit', in a manner of speaking.
     Is it worth sliding even further down this slippery slope? But are the 560s worth the $400 more? Thanks.

I would advise staying put as well. Once you get the HE-560, you will want to get a more powerful amplifier, and then a tube amplifier, then you want to tube roll.....
 
it is a very slippery slope. if you love the headphones you have right now, NEVER try another headphone in the higher price range and only try lower end inferior models to make yourself feel good about the headphones you have now.
 
semi-joking, but semi-serious. really just for the sake of your wallet. =P

 

[DavidA]

  I would advise staying put as well. Once you get the HE-560, you will want to get a more powerful amplifier, and then a tube amplifier, then you want to tube roll.....
 
it is a very slippery slope. if you love the headphones you have right now, NEVER try another headphone in the higher price range and only try lower end inferior models to make yourself feel good about the headphones you have now.
 
semi-joking, but semi-serious. really just for the sake of your wallet. =P

+1, good points

 

[chowmein83]

  Hey guys, I am in a dilemma and am looking for advice. So I have the HE-400is and I love them. So much that I frequently catch myself lusting for the HE-560 with the expectation of an even bigger 'hit', in a manner of speaking.
     Is it worth sliding even further down this slippery slope? But are the 560s worth the $400 more? Thanks.

 

  I would advise staying put as well. Once you get the HE-560, you will want to get a more powerful amplifier, and then a tube amplifier, then you want to tube roll.....
 
it is a very slippery slope. if you love the headphones you have right now, NEVER try another headphone in the higher price range and only try lower end inferior models to make yourself feel good about the headphones you have now.
 
semi-joking, but semi-serious. really just for the sake of your wallet. =P

 

 
+1, good points

 
Agreed with @money4me247 and @DavidA here. I once considered upgrading from my 400i to the 560, and while the 560 was better from when I heard it beside the 400i at various meets and shows I personally don't think it was really worth $400 more.

 

[ashutoshp]

Thanks for the advice folks. I am going to try and keep my feet from slipping. It's one reason why I avoided meets

Maybe it is time for an Audioheads Anonymous thread or something, if there isn't one already.

 

[cyclops214]

Thanks for the advice folks. I am going to try and keep my feet from slipping. It's one reason why I avoided meets

Maybe it is time for an Audioheads Anonymous thread or something, if there isn't one already.

I have had my 400i  for about a month now and also wondered what the 560 sounded like  but I am not willing to pay 400 dollars extra to find out myself. The Audioheads Anonymous thread comment had me laughing and crying at the same time.

 

[pr1me]

Thinking of selling my K712 for these.
Anyone know how the he400i compare to the K712 ?

 

[chowmein83]

Thinking of selling my K712 for these.
Anyone know how the he400i compare to the K712 ?

 
I haven't exactly heard the K712, but I have heard the K7XX and Q701 with K702 65th Anniversary pads (hopefully that's close enough) a while ago - so what I'm going to say may not be entirely accurate due to fleeting audio memory.
 
Overall sound signature of the K7XX and HE-400i I think is actually somewhat similar. Both are mostly neutral, with a bit of warmth. I want to say that the HE-400i may be a bit warmer than the K7XX, but I'm not very confident in saying so.
 
The biggest difference between the HE-400i and the AKG headphones is that the AKG headphones have a much larger soundstage in terms of width - however, I would actually say that the 400i has a very slight edge in depth (though it's not that big of a difference). Imaging precision on the K7XX and the 400i is mostly comparable. While overall bass quantity of the K7XX is comparable to the HE-400i, to me the 400i's bass extends lower and has this very solid quality to it that I find only planar magnetic headphones can provide and not so much dynamic headphones. Mids and highs to me are better on the 400i. While the K7XX has very clear mids and highs, I find that they still have a bit of a "metallic", or "plasticky" quality. The HE-400i does not have this quality in its mids and highs, and thus to me sounds more realistic.
 
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions, and I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. 

 

[money4me247]

good observations above. I tend to agree from my direct comparisons though done a while ago so may not be as accurate anymore.
 
basically, the akg k7xx will have a larger sound stage. the he-400i will have more note spacing & feel relatively 'faster.' this is only in a direct comparison as I think both have quite solid sound stage and speed. sound signature differences between the two models are not as pronounced IMO. both very well-balanced with more similarities in their sound sig than differences.

 

[DavidA]

I agree with @chowmein83 and @money4me247 on their assessment of the HE-400i and K7XX but will add that the sound that you get is dependent on amplification, the HE-400i is harder to drive IMO while the K7XX is a little easier, but not by much.

 

[ashutoshp]

Has anybody done a comparo between the Garage1217, Vali and Magni amps? Thanks in advance

 

[DavidA]

  Has anybody done a comparo between the Garage1217, Vali and Magni amps? Thanks in advance

I only have Magni and Project Ember and the Ember is in a different class, sound, power and price wise.  If you are looking to drive the HE-400i or have a few different headphones with different impedances I would definitely go with the Ember but it is 3 times the price of the Magni.  The Magni is on the bright side IMO while the Ember is more neutral depending on the tube you use and having the ability to change the output resistance/impedance will let it pair with a larger variety of headphones. 
Don't know if anyone uses the Vali with planar headphones as I don't recall seeing it being mentioned on this thread.  Might want to check the threads for each of the amps as there should be more comparisons there between different amps.