[Aradea]

If my options for affordable planars are this and the PM2? *since the price difference is not that big
Which should I choose?

 

[Mr Rick]

  I suspect your comment is meant to compare the HE-400i to other planar HPs, since there are certainly many lighter & comfortable HPs out there....the beyer line for instance.
 
That said I agree the 400i is surprisingly comfortable, immersive and fast becoming the HP I reach for as well.  
 
My only complaint is the short right angle cable choice HiFiMan made, suited for portable use, which I suspect is not the intended use by most buyers.....my fist purchase was a 6ft extension.
 
Curious if anyone is using their 400i in a balanced mode configuration?

 
I own the HE400I and the HE 400S. I lopped the end off the 400S cable and added a four pin balanced XLR.  I use both headphones on my Cavalli Liquid Carbon with Emotiva DC-1 as DAC.
 
I'm waiting to get some 2.5 mm plugs so I can make my own, longer,  balanced cables. The balanced cable made from the original 400S cable is really short.
 
I don't hear much difference between the balanced and OE cables.

 

[canthearyou]

Yes, that is the reason for the change. Slightly more open, better soundstage and more detail. Also a little lighter without the backing plate.

Peter

That would've been nice to know a few months back when I bought the old style. Also would've been nice to know two weeks ago during the BF sale.

 

[ZooGambler]

Wondering if anyone uses an antlion mod mic or if I shouldn't due to the magnet. Just don't want to damage the headphone. Thanks!

 

[eeagle]

   
I own the HE400I and the HE 400S. I lopped the end off the 400S cable and added a four pin balanced XLR.  I use both headphones on my Cavalli Liquid Carbon with Emotiva DC-1 as DAC.
 
I'm waiting to get some 2.5 mm plugs so I can make my own, longer,  balanced cables. The balanced cable made from the original 400S cable is really short.
 
I don't hear much difference between the balanced and OE cables.

I have a balanced cable for my HD600 HPs to use on a Pono player (just had to try the balanced mode option),
 
I could not hear much improvement in sound quality, but it did allow a lower level setting.
 
In general I think the balanced mode excels when long cable runs are required, like the PRO environment, and doesn't really give a noteworthy sound quality improvement.
 
If I try it for the HE-400i I think I will just make my own, which is certainly a lot cheaper than buying.

 

[canthearyou]

Wondering if anyone uses an antlion mod mic or if I shouldn't due to the magnet. Just don't want to damage the headphone. Thanks!

Zero problems.

 

[ChesterYonany]

balanced are good for long distances in environment with a lot of noise, the balanced cables basically eliminates the noise where as unbalanced cables just pick it up on the way.

 

[Modular]

Yes, that is the reason for the change. Slightly more open, better soundstage and more detail. Also a little lighter without the backing plate.

Peter

Awesome to know, thanks for clarifying.

 

[hifiman-us]

My pleasure. What I am trying to find out is when the change occurred so owners might have a sense of which version they have. I was told by HifiMAN that the different is subtle. 
 
Peter

 

[chowmein83]

  I suspect your comment is meant to compare the HE-400i to other planar HPs, since there are certainly many lighter & comfortable HPs out there....the beyer line for instance.
 
That said I agree the 400i is surprisingly comfortable, immersive and fast becoming the HP I reach for as well.  
 
My only complaint is the short right angle cable choice HiFiMan made, suited for portable use, which I suspect is not the intended use by most buyers.....my fist purchase was a 6ft extension.
 
Curious if anyone is using their 400i in a balanced mode configuration?

I'm also currently using my 400i with a Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon in balanced mode (using the 4 pin XLR).
 
In my case, I do think the 400i sounds better out of the balanced jack, but I think that's more due to more power from balanced mode (hey, the 400i is a planar) and the fact that I'm actually utilizing the entire amp when using balanced.

 

[Fearless1]

 
I'm also currently using my 400i with a Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon in balanced mode (using the 4 pin XLR).
 
In my case, I do think the 400i sounds better out of the balanced jack, but I think that's more due to more power from balanced mode (hey, the 400i is a planar) and the fact that I'm actually utilizing the entire amp when using balanced.

I would not hesitate to bet that the Liquid Carbon/400i sound fantastic together, nice rig.

 

[a44100Hz]

I'm really enjoying these so far. The addition of a Magni 2 amp has brought them to life.

 

[hellfire8888]

i have the first version with the backplate. so does it mean i am having an inferior copy of the headphone? how nice..

 

[fjrabon]

  i have the first version with the backplate. so does it mean i am having an inferior copy of the headphone? how nice..

I don't think anybody has been able to A/B them at this point, so I'd certainly hesitate to say inferior.  There's some belief out there that the new version may be a bit brighter than the old version, and who knows with durability of the driver.  Just a lot of unknowns right now.  But, it's been a couple of years now, so I don't think people can fairly fault HiFiMan for giving them a sprucing up.  This isn't like HiFiMan and Audeze used to do where a revision would be released every 2-3 months.  Updates happen, and it always annoys the people who had the previous version, but that's how progress in sound quality is made, I suppose.  
 
This revision is interesting, because usually with HiFiMan the improvements/revisions filter down from their higher models to the lower models slowly.  In this case, it seems that something from the "lower" model HE400s filtered up to the HE400i.  The HE400s, as far as I know, was the first planar magnet headphone of any kind that didn't have a metal backing plate.  

 

[aami2techie]

 
I don't think anybody has been able to A/B them at this point, so I'd certainly hesitate to say inferior.  There's some belief out there that the new version may be a bit brighter than the old version, and who knows with durability of the driver.  Just a lot of unknowns right now.  But, it's been a couple of years now, so I don't think people can fairly fault HiFiMan for giving them a sprucing up.  This isn't like HiFiMan and Audeze used to do where a revision would be released every 2-3 months.  Updates happen, and it always annoys the people who had the previous version, but that's how progress in sound quality is made, I suppose.  
 
This revision is interesting, because usually with HiFiMan the improvements/revisions filter down from their higher models to the lower models slowly.  In this case, it seems that something from the "lower" model HE400s filtered up to the HE400i.  The HE400s, as far as I know, was the first planar magnet headphone of any kind that didn't have a metal backing plate.  

hey i have send u pm can u check and reply right now! thanks