[fjrabon]

  It seems that the QC is what is being bashed, some like @fjrabon and my self seem to have gotten good examples while the few that have gotten some newer ones have noticed that they don't seem to perform as what has been described by others. 

yeah, and taking a swing at HiFiMan QC isn't exactly groundbreaking.  Even huge fans of the brand (myself included) readily recognize they fall pretty far short of their competitors when it comes to ensuring everything that goes out the door is up to snuff.  

I mean as an example they put out a DAC/Amp combo (EF2C) where nobody even bothered to make sure that the DAC could accept a full strength ***digital*** signal without distorting.  Like as best as I can tell nobody even listened to a single one of the finished assembly line product.  Luckily for me I didn't give a crap about the DAC, but still...
 
But when HFM really gets it right, man, can they nail it.

 

[HungryPanda]

Mine are perfect and sound amazing solid state or tube

 

[DavidA]

  Mine are perfect and sound amazing solid state or tube

consider yourself lucky

 

[fjrabon]

  Mine are perfect and sound amazing solid state or tube

well, that's great for you, but you also have to realize not everybody is so lucky.  Mine sound fantastic, and people listening to mine at meets has sold at least 5 different people on HE400i.  Two of them later wanted to strangle me when theirs didn't sound anything like mine did. Like has been shown here, by objective measurements, some people have gotten HE400i that have less sub bass than the HE400s.  That's pretty terrible as far as unit to unit consistency goes.  
 
Your best bet with the HE400i seems to be: buy from a great dealer, have a frame of reference to compare them to, return them if you get a sub par unit.

 

[HungryPanda]

I guess we count ourselves lucky and are comfortable with our amplification,

 

[HungryPanda]

I did mention in an earlier post I'm grabbing Grado GH1 and Sennheiser HD650 all the time at the moment

 

[HungryPanda]

Just to add just stuck on My Massdrop HE-350's with the electronic mod listening to Yelllo's latest album "Toy" and super happy. And this has to be one of the best massdrop treats once corrected

 

[JustJoseph]

I checked their English site and it wasn't anywhere near 180

Taobao. It'spart of their china 12.12 sales

 

[Mr Trev]

I'm sorry but if you buy the HE400i expecting massive bass you can't have done much research in advance.

I find subb bass extention to be quite good an mid bass to be subdued exactly as I'd read many places before purchasing them.

When using an average phone to drive them I think they're just OK but with a god source I enjoy them a lot.

 
 

I find the 400i can sometimes benefit from a bass boost from my Cayin C5 depending on my mood. It doesn't need it but it can add that extra fullness to the signature. And I definitely agree these don't have alot if impact but I would say they are accurate and not as fatiguing as the TH-X00 Mahogany or PH. I like that the bass is somewhat soft yet very present. For EDM, hip hop Slam and impact, I like other cans. I've heard comments that the TH-X00 is hands down better BUT I'm humbly disagree, really different but in no way technically better, they both have their strengths.

Should mention I listen on the m9XX.

The bass is there just not as much if you're coming from the dynamic world like me - not nearly the punch of a good DD, but that's to be expected. The extension is decent, but can be improved. If you look at the filters that are used in the Kameleon you can get a flat response down to 20 Hz (Heres a link to some measurements - granted they're for the 1st gen, but should be close enough for the new models - https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/hifiman/he400i/).
 
With the bass boost on my e12a it rounds out the bottom end nicely, and I've played with pushing the 50Hz and down range up 10db in MusicBee with EQ (electri-q) and the phones take it all with grace. Even stock I find them more than adequate to deal with doom/stoner metal, and some dark ambient. The one thing that does surprise me is that for a pair of headphones that are supposedly easy to drive, they sure seem to suck up the power. When I was first playing with the EQ, I had my 1st. gen X3 (DAC duty) cranked to well over 100 on low gain. It still wasn't even that loud. Granted I was using a precut in the EQ to keep the 10db boost from clipping, but it was still a little surprising. Even using the e12a I'm borderline on using high gain if I'm listening to some wide DR tunage.
 
Really, my only complaints with them since I got them a couple weeks ago are the stock cable is too stiff and short - looking at buying a new one, and the left earpad is offset on the mounting ring so it bulges on one side and has some small gaps around it. Looked into getting a replacement pair of earpads under warranty, but seems they (HFM) want the whole shebang returned - waiting on more info.

 

[fjrabon]

The one thing that does surprise me is that for a pair of headphones that are supposedly easy to drive, they sure seem to suck up the power. When I was first playing with the EQ, I had my 1st. gen X3 (DAC duty) cranked to well over 100 on low gain. It still wasn't even that loud. Granted I was using a precut in the EQ to keep the 10db boost from clipping, but it was still a little surprising. Even using the e12a I'm borderline on using high gain if I'm listening to some wide DR tunage.

If you had a 10dB pre-cut on, you were increasing the power demands on your amp by 333%.  Every 3dB pre-cut means you would need twice the power to get back to equivalent loudness.  Since most bass boost circuits tend to work by effectively doing a pre-cut, that likely hit the same issue as well.  To get that kind of bass boost, you QUICKLY start using a lot of power.  
 
EQ is a great tool, but it also depends on having an amp with a lot of head room and a headphone that handles power well.  I think this is a big reason people around here tend to think "EQ sounds bad" because either they were using a poor EQ program, they didn't EQ right (ie they caused digital clipping by not pre-cutting or pulling), they didn't have a powerful enough amp to deal with the increased demands, or their headphone simply couldn't handle the extra power in the lower regions.  

 

[SurvivorNVL]

I got a pair of used HE400i's recently for $180, and I gotta say - they sound a little better than my K7xx's, but largely aren't as fun as I was expecting.  Running them out of a Lyr2 + BiFrost Multibit.  They're absolutely gorgeous to look at, and no clamp thanks to them already having been broken in, but they seem to be missing something to me.  Like my T50RP modded headphones from Mayflower seem to feel more.. -fun-, and straight up more engaging than the HE400i, and I could even say they and the K7xx sound a lot similar.  Still amazing price for them.  But would anyone here be able to recommend something that is an upgrade from the 400i?  This headphone game really is painful to the wallet >>

 

[Mr Trev]

 
If you had a 10dB pre-cut on, you were increasing the power demands on your amp by 333%.  Every 3dB pre-cut means you would need twice the power to get back to equivalent loudness.  Since most bass boost circuits tend to work by effectively doing a pre-cut, that likely hit the same issue as well.  To get that kind of bass boost, you QUICKLY start using a lot of power.  
 
EQ is a great tool, but it also depends on having an amp with a lot of head room and a headphone that handles power well.  I think this is a big reason people around here tend to think "EQ sounds bad" because either they were using a poor EQ program, they didn't EQ right (ie they caused digital clipping by not pre-cutting or pulling), they didn't have a powerful enough amp to deal with the increased demands, or their headphone simply couldn't handle the extra power in the lower regions.  

The X3 does have a pretty hefty amp in its own right, but you make a good point. For my normal usage I dialed the boost and pre-cut to ~5db. I also typically use my Little Bear P1 (class A hybrid). It has enough power that I need to use an attenuator adapter (-18db I think). I can almost go without the attenuator using the 400i even without EQ except the amp is on the noisy side. Even without the bass boost on my e12a, I can hit 12-1 o'clock on the volume (low gain) without things sounding excessively loud. That's a higher volume setting than any of my other cans can use. I'm not complaining tho… I haven't bothered trying the 400i out of my iPhone because I just have better gear. Curiosity will get me eventually and I will try it and see for myself

 

[bugeyed]

I know it's not a huge deal, but if they can't bother to get the headband stitching right on their flagship HP, what else may have slipped past QC. 
Photo courtesy of Samtech.

 

[vl4dimir]

Does anybody know a case that will fit the HE-400i with the ifi micro iDSD for when I'm traveling ? for instance which case from pelican (or cheaper versions)

 

[xLoud]

My Hifiman HE-400i arrived today, got an customer returned one for 225+14(shipping). I was bit worried if they were sending the one with old connector, but luckily it turned out to be one with new connector.

Now looking for budget amp for it.