[swamp14]

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.

Thanks. I actually got mine from Amazon so I'll return it. I can also get the refund and then buy it from HiFiMan during their sale and save myself $200.

 

[swspiers]

  Is a good headphone the 400i to listen "hard" metal? death metal, metalcore...

Oh yes, yes it is!  My favorite, as a matter of fact.
 
But metal dudes and dudettes rarely agree on anything, so take it with a grain of salt!

 

[forestitalia]

  Oh yes, yes it is!  My favorite, as a matter of fact.
 
But metal dudes and dudettes rarely agree on anything, so take it with a grain of salt!

Yes, good impact and punch, but  still with detailed sound. My favourite too.

 

[Andy Lin]

I got my HE-400I about a week ago, Comparing it to my $20.00 G-Cube Luxy 500 it sounds like maybe 10% better? i thought it might be the dac/amp issue since i been using the headphone on my Bose companion 5 audio input. I got my Micca OriGen High Resolution dac/amp yesterday after maybe hours of listing i still think $20.00 headphone is still very competitive i thought it will be blown away. I really trying to convince myself to keep headphone is a great headphone like everyone say it is.
Am i doing anything wrong here ? maybe windows setting issues ? my setting are 32bit 192khz. The sound is clear but seems still to be missing something. My wife say he-400i sound don't seems to penetrate. any suggestion ??? modding it maybe >?

 

[forestitalia]

  I got my HE-400I about a week ago, Comparing it to my $20.00 G-Cube Luxy 500 it sounds like maybe 10% better? i thought it might be the dac/amp issue since i been using the headphone on my Bose companion 5 audio input. I got my Micca OriGen High Resolution dac/amp yesterday after maybe hours of listing i still think $20.00 headphone is still very competitive i thought it will be blown away. I really trying to convince myself to keep headphone is a great headphone like everyone say it is.
Am i doing anything wrong here ? maybe windows setting issues ? my setting are 32bit 192khz. The sound is clear but seems still to be missing something. My wife say he-400i sound don't seems to penetrate. any suggestion ??? modding it maybe >?

What player you are using on laptop?

 

[Andy Lin]

Try many itune,windows media player,vlc. and 320kbps mp3.  Does player make big difference ?

 

[ChesterYonany]

give it a week without going back to the old headphones, don't compare it to anything on this week.
after that go back and try the old phones, you will hear a difference.
 
 
also make sure to disable all enhancements:
 
right click on the speaker icon in system tray-> right click on the dac device -> properties
now go to the Enhancements tab and tick the box that says "Disable All Enhancements".

 

[Sonic Defender]

  I got my HE-400I about a week ago, Comparing it to my $20.00 G-Cube Luxy 500 it sounds like maybe 10% better?

S​orry, but I just can't even imagine how that could be the case. I know more expensive isn't always better, but essentially you are saying a drug store audio section headphone is pretty much as good as a finely tuned planar magnetic headphone? I will say it is possible that the G-Cube is this beyond belief headphone. Ultimately if you find the G-Cube that close you would be crazyto not sell the 400i and save the money. If the G-Cube sounds that good to you out of the same gear as the 400i well I think you have your answer, and it won't be settings or a DAC/amp issue, it just means the 400is don't work for you.

 

[Andy Lin]

Thx ChesterYonany i'll give that a try. Sonic Defender I got he-400i for $419.00 brand new that's one reason i didn't return it.
also is very comfortable wearing it. I use it a lot for gaming 3 hours or more
is sound format the higher the better ? (32bit 192khz) 
is there any mod to make this headphone even better in sound ?
i try to cover little bit of the outer side of the headphone while listing i feel that sound have little more power 

 

[Sonic Defender]

   

Well, I hope that with some time you hear it being significantly better. Forgive my previous answer, but that is pretty darn shocking to hear. And yes, normally I suggest exactly ChesterYanny suggests as that is great advice; however in a case where somebody hears so little difference I don't feel as confident that this will resolve anything. I really hope I'm wrong, but either way you are a winner. You either end up saving a ton of money and enjoying what you have, or you get to enjoy the 400i. No bad outcome there so good luck and let us know how it works out. Cheers.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Thx i'll give that a try. I got he-400i for $419.00 brand new that's one reason i didn't return it.
also is very comfortable wearing it. I use it a lot for gaming 3 hours or more
is sound format the higher the better ? (32bit 192khz) 
is there any mod to make this headphone even better in sound ?
i try to cover little bit of the outer side of the headphone while listing i feel that sound have little more power 

Nope, even a 320 MP3 can sound awesome so any 16 bit format should sound as good as a file can sound. I must admit I don't know much about your amp. While I don't tend to blame amps unless they are very underpowered that I guess is a possibility here? You may also be experiencing a big adjustment to an open backed design. I assume the G-Cube is a closed back dynamic headphone? If so as ChesterYanny was saying, it might be just a steep adjustment for you. Anyway, this is part of the hobby, learning what works for you and what doesn't, and there is no right or wrong, just what you enjoy.​

 

[rwscpa]

 
 
 
This looks like a really good deal for the 400i.

 

[Andy Lin]

 

 
 
 
This looks like a really good deal for the 400i.

share the link ?

 

[Andy Lin]

  Nope, even a 320 MP3 can sound awesome so any 16 bit format should sound as good as a file can sound. I must admit I don't know much about your amp. While I don't tend to blame amps unless they are very underpowered that I guess is a possibility here? You may also be experiencing a big adjustment to an open backed design. I assume the G-Cube is a closed back dynamic headphone? If so as ChesterYanny was saying, it might be just a steep adjustment for you. Anyway, this is part of the hobby, learning what works for you and what doesn't, and there is no right or wrong, just what you enjoy.​

Yes G-Cube is a closed back. This guy told me to get the dac/amp check it out, he did a review on it too 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxoU-oA6Z_c

 

[ChesterYonany]

from my experience, most of the time you are not getting the "WOW" effect right away.
only when you are going back to the older gear you feel the difference or while listening after the adjustment period (burn-in\brain-in).
 
the first day with the 400i was a bit underwhelming, i expected much more from a 500$ HP and i was a bit disappointed because it wasn't much better than my SONY MDRV55 (like 60$ HP).
 
but it was only because i got used to my SONY, after a week or so i tried the SONY again and was shocked how bad they were compared to the 400i, i couldn't believe that i used to think the sound of the SONY was acceptable.
 
 
i had a similar experience when i upgraded from Schiit Fulla to the Schiit stack v2.
 
 
if after all you still think the cheap HP are better (or not much worse) - i would be so jealous!
once i try a better gear i cant go back