[whirlwind]

Just got an e-mail from Head Direct regarding their upcoming Black Friday sales. HE-400i is only $299 from 23rd to 30th November. No better time than this!

Holy Crap.....I may have to try one of these for this price  

 

[bracko]

   
 
Agreed. I was very disappointed with the HE-560 for some reason. I thought it was a step down from the HE-500 as well as the HE-400i.

 
For me HE-500 is a more enjoyable headphone than HE-560. HE-500 has the same level of details as HE-560 but more bottom end and a little bit rolled off highs. HE-400i is a nice headphone at its price point. The new model HE-400S even more so.

 

[uncopy87]

I'm just curious, but someone told me this headphone is good without amp as well. How true is that? I'm on my quest to find the best headphone that doesn't require an amp. (Due to a lifestyle of always shifting from room to room)

 

[canthearyou]

Just got the 400i and there's a very feint crackling/crinkling sound when I put them on. Not sure how to best describe the sound, but it sounds like what you hear inside your head when eating pop rocks candy, except quieter. It's there even after I've unplugged them from my computer. Any suggestions?

Mine developed the same issue. It eventually got worse and the noise became noticeable during bass notes in music. I contacted HiFiMan and they are taking care of me.

I'm just curious, but someone told me this headphone is good without amp as well. How true is that? I'm on my quest to find the best headphone that doesn't require an amp. (Due to a lifestyle of always shifting from room to room)

I would say no. You would be looking at the 400S.

 

[chowmein83]

  $299 is a hell of a deal.
 
I never had any intentions on getting the 400i, but I'm ready to give them my money. How are they compared to my current flagship openback, the AKG Q701? I know I'll miss soundstage, but anything else? It seems like the 400i would be an awesome upgrade.
 
Mostly listen to hard rock / classic rock, and Jazz.

 
I've demoed the Q701 in my own home for several weeks, and I currently own the 400i. At least to me, the 400i is the better headphone overall, no doubt about it.
 
And yeah, besides the soundstage, I can't think of anything the Q701 does better than the 400i. For example, the 400i simply has lots more bass that is still well-controlled. Basically, the 400i just sounds more real than the Q701, and this is a very noticeable difference.
 
At $299, this is a steal. At that price, the 400i easily competes with anything at least 2x the price.

 

[Thazzz]

  I'll bet it would be quite good, but it really depends on your preference. The treble might still feel a little prominent if you have really young, sensitive ears. Certainly the 560 would be a tough headphone for these genres. I think the 400i is a pretty even headphone so it should go as well as most. I'm sure you know those musical genres are typically not very well recorded and extremely compressed so if you like it loud almost any headphone is going to have a tough time sounding good, or at least not their best. I love metal, but I typically have a tough time loving these recordings.

I completely agree about the bad recordings of some metal songs.
Not always, of course
 
I was worried about the bass on this headphone in this style of music.
Thanks!

 

[maul]

I'm so psyched to get these on Black Friday. I had been endlessly contemplating returning my X2s for them the past few weeks because some of the slightly harsh treble on them was bothering me, but it's been getting better over time. I love them too much now. Now I can have both, yesssss

 

[Fearless1]

299 is a steal for these, anyone on the fence about a purchase....go for it!

 

[Sonic Defender]

  I completely agree about the bad recordings of some metal songs.
Not always, of course
 
I was worried about the bass on this headphone in this style of music.
Thanks!

The bass is pretty damn good. It might lack a little slam as compared to a really good dynamic, but the bass will be faster and more detailed. Yes, you are right that some of the recordings even in louder genres can actually be enjoyable. The mix and how the musicians and engineers blend things will have a lot to do with things. I love Tool for instance and while to some true metal heads Tool is far from heavy, I do think most of their material is well enough recorded. Cheers.

 

[money4me247]

  I've demoed the Q701 in my own home for several weeks, and I currently own the 400i. At least to me, the 400i is the better headphone overall, no doubt about it.
 
And yeah, besides the soundstage, I can't think of anything the Q701 does better than the 400i. For example, the 400i simply has lots more bass that is still well-controlled. Basically, the 400i just sounds more real than the Q701, and this is a very noticeable difference.
 
At $299, this is a steal. At that price, the 400i easily competes with anything at least 2x the price.

I've owned the q701 quite extensively and it is a nice pair of headphones that you can find on sale for sub-$200 nowadays which is quite a nice bargain, but I do agree I really strongly prefer the HE-400i over the q701 in terms of overall tuning and sound quality. I do think the q701 is an overall brighter, more treble-focused pair of headphones with a very nice airy top end. The soundstage of the q701 is quite exceptionally large as well (especially in the L-R dimensions). If you are a treblehead, I do think the q701 is a very nice option to look into.
 
Overall though, I do agree that the HE-400i has better overall tuning and better bass quality compared to the Q701. My personal favorite mid-tier headphones and I got a pair despite already having the HE-1k flagship. It competes extremely well against all the other highly regarded mid-tier headphones and will not be embarassed in flagship comparisons. Very nice option & an excellent value at its original MSRP. At the deals price point, I would highly recommend considering it if you are on the market for a pair of mid-tier headphones! Cheers

 

[forestitalia]

I'm just curious, but someone told me this headphone is good without amp as well. How true is that? I'm on my quest to find the best headphone that doesn't require an amp. (Due to a lifestyle of always shifting from room to room)

 


It works, but not as well as with a good amp. I tried it with Microstreamer and is acceptable, but I prefer iem at that point.
The only headphones that, to me, sounded good without an amp were Philips X1.

 

[ezekiel77]

I'm just curious, but someone told me this headphone is good without amp as well. How true is that? I'm on my quest to find the best headphone that doesn't require an amp. (Due to a lifestyle of always shifting from room to room)

 
It sounds anaemic and underpowered out of my AK100ii. Only when I added an amp did it sound much better. I think you're looking for the HE-400S for easy drivability.

 

[Matthew720]

The 400i have a frequency response of 20hz-35khz. 
If you got an amp/dac/pre-amp(NFB 15.32) with a frequency of 20hz-20khz would that mean anything else besides the head phones only reaching 20hz-20khz ?

 

[HirschiAUT]

  The 400i have a frequency response of 20hz-35khz. 
If you got an amp/dac/pre-amp(NFB 15.32) with a frequency of 20hz-20khz would that mean anything else besides the head phones only reaching 20hz-20khz ?

 
I can only speak for the Audio GD amps, but they normally have 2 different frequency responses in their description.
I think they want to show that in the "main frequency field" they have close to no variation (hope that word fits, english is a little rusted^^).
The second value shows the overall frequency response.
 
Like here for the NFB-1AMP: http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB1AMP/NFB1AMPEN_Specs.htm
 
20Hz - 20KHz ( +/- 0DB )
1Hz - 220K (+0DB, -3DB)
 
But i think at some amp descriptions, like for the old C10 power amp, the "forgot" to put the second one in.
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/amp/C-10N/C10NEN_Specs.htm
 
I dont believe anyone building an amp would cut off the freq like that...

 

[maul]

-