[Soundizer]

Hello Fjrabon, i have taken a risk after reading headfi insights and just sold my HD650's, ordered the HIFIMAN 400i which should be with me in a few days.
What budget Amp would you recommend? I was thinking about Shiit as they have good Customer Service in the UK. Maybe i get the Shiit Asgard 2 (Amp) and then save up for a Shiit DAC. In the mean time I could use my portable Creative E5 Soundblaster as a DAC - it has RCA line out. Or i could purchase the Magni2/ Modi2 Uber now, but understand the Asgard2 is better and warmer which could be good for the HE400i..

Thank you, Soundizer

 

[thatonenoob]

This will be one leap of faith you probably won't regret.

 

[stephengee77]

Hello Fjrabon, i have taken a risk after reading headfi insights and just sold my HD650's, ordered the HIFIMAN 400i which should be with me in a few days.
What budget Amp would you recommend? I was thinking about Shiit as they have good Customer Service in the UK. Maybe i get the Shiit Asgard 2 (Amp) and then save up for a Shiit DAC. In the mean time I could use my portable Creative E5 Soundblaster as a DAC - it has RCA line out. Or i could purchase the Magni2/ Modi2 Uber now, but understand the Asgard2 is better and warmer which could be good for the HE400i..

Thank you, Soundizer

I haven't tried the Asgard 2, but I really like my 400i on my Uber stack. It powers it well.

 

[fjrabon]

Hello Fjrabon, i have taken a risk after reading headfi insights and just sold my HD650's, ordered the HIFIMAN 400i which should be with me in a few days.
What budget Amp would you recommend? I was thinking about Shiit as they have good Customer Service in the UK. Maybe i get the Shiit Asgard 2 (Amp) and then save up for a Shiit DAC. In the mean time I could use my portable Creative E5 Soundblaster as a DAC - it has RCA line out. Or i could purchase the Magni2/ Modi2 Uber now, but understand the Asgard2 is better and warmer which could be good for the HE400i..

Thank you, Soundizer

I don't have a whole lot of experience with the asgard, but I don't think it's warmer than the magni.  Honestly, the HE400i is very forgiving of amps, in that synergy isn't a big deal.  As long as it's more than about 200mW at 55 ohms, you're probably fine.  That being said, the cleaner the amp the better.  Your E5 will be fine until you can build a system you really like with the HE400i.

 

[Soundizer]

Thank you

 

[the boltman]

hey, i found the same  cable replacement sold on amazon, but in aliexpress and cheaper:

The one on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/iParaAiluRy-Replacement-upgrade-Sennheiser-Headphones/dp/B01CYCBGD6/ref=sr_1_2?srs=13647510011&ie=UTF8&qid=1469474831&sr=8-2&keywords=hd700+cable

Aliexpress:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/KINDEN-OFC-Black-Network-Headphone-Cable-Upgrade-Line-Word-For-TracksHD-V8-V10-V12-X3/32647664788.html?spm=2114.13010308.0.45.S9VjB2

at almost half the price!

 

[thatonenoob]

  hey, i found the same  cable replacement sold on amazon, but in aliexpress and cheaper:

The one on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/iParaAiluRy-Replacement-upgrade-Sennheiser-Headphones/dp/B01CYCBGD6/ref=sr_1_2?srs=13647510011&ie=UTF8&qid=1469474831&sr=8-2&keywords=hd700+cable

Aliexpress:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/KINDEN-OFC-Black-Network-Headphone-Cable-Upgrade-Line-Word-For-TracksHD-V8-V10-V12-X3/32647664788.html?spm=2114.13010308.0.45.S9VjB2

at almost half the price!

Good find!  I wonder if they are 100% the same though.

 

[the boltman]

seems like the same, even the photos are alike.

 

[NA Blur]

Those cables have different connectors on the headphone end. The Amazon one is 2.5mm TRS and the other is 3.5mm TRRS.
 
Did we ever figure out why the HE-400i has a 2.5mm TRRS connector?

 

[thatonenoob]

Cause special

 

[Dopaminer]

 
Did we ever figure out why the HE-400i has a 2.5mm TRRS connector?

 
 
TRRS?  Are you sure about that?  Mine are TRS; will TRRS work as well?  I also believe mono 2.5 plugs will work....
 
On another note, I found these 2.5-to-mmcx adaptors from a Singapore company that I would love to get my hands on, so that I could use my Onso and Bispa balanced mmcx cables with my 400i (assuming that mono plugs do indeed work) : 
 

 

[samvafaei]

Hello Fjrabon, i have taken a risk after reading headfi insights and just sold my HD650's, ordered the HIFIMAN 400i which should be with me in a few days.
What budget Amp would you recommend? I was thinking about Shiit as they have good Customer Service in the UK. Maybe i get the Shiit Asgard 2 (Amp) and then save up for a Shiit DAC. In the mean time I could use my portable Creative E5 Soundblaster as a DAC - it has RCA line out. Or i could purchase the Magni2/ Modi2 Uber now, but understand the Asgard2 is better and warmer which could be good for the HE400i..

Thank you, Soundizer

Not much difference here between Asgard 2 and Ragnarok with the 400i. I would definitely recommend it. As for a DAC, the E5 will be quite adequate. It may even be adequate enough to run the 400i by itself.

 

[Soundizer]

I am waiting for my new HIFIMAN 400i to arrive and just realised the stock cable is too short to reach my amplifier. I know there are many headphone extension cables available from Amazon UK, but will this degrade the sound and if so should i purchase a single long cable that fits into the headphones - replacing the short stock cable? Could someone advise please and note that I will only purchase via Amazon UK.

Apologies if this simple point has already been discussed but i could not find it on head-fi.

 

[samvafaei]

I am waiting for my new HIFIMAN 400i to arrive and just realised the stock cable is too short to reach my amplifier. I know there are many headphone extension cables available from Amazon UK, but will this degrade the sound and if so should i purchase a single long cable that fits into the headphones - replacing the short stock cable? Could someone advise please and note that I will only purchase via Amazon UK.

Apologies if this simple point has already been discussed but i could not find it on head-fi.

As long as the extension cable is of a decent quality, you shouldn't worry about signal degradation.

 

[thatonenoob]

I am waiting for my new HIFIMAN 400i to arrive and just realised the stock cable is too short to reach my amplifier. I know there are many headphone extension cables available from Amazon UK, but will this degrade the sound and if so should i purchase a single long cable that fits into the headphones - replacing the short stock cable? Could someone advise please and note that I will only purchase via Amazon UK.

Apologies if this simple point has already been discussed but i could not find it on head-fi.

I think this brings us smack into the cable discussion.  As above, I think you'll be fine as long as you're not running extremely long cables or using 2 dollar cables.