[pbarach]

The picture shows a V2, 2.5mm jacks versus SMC jacks. I don't think you will find any V1 for sale these days since its been about a year and a half since the change over.

the hifiman.com website has the refurbished version 1 on sale now: http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/refurbished/he-400i.html

 

[mjktool29]

Its a good possibility its the 2.5mm connectors, some said the connectors are not always secure so that is the first place I would check, but if its to both sides then the issue is the 3.5mm connector to the amp that might be the problem

I never got a chance to say thank you. The problem disappeared when I replaced the 3.5mm connector. I've had the Hifiman HE-400i for about 3 months now and absolutely love them. I still have my HD650 and rarely use them. When I do use them its to get a little more mid bass punch. But still the Hifiman is my go to right now!

 

[393699]

I just wanted to put up an update on my listening experience with this headphone. It is great sounding, there is no question. However, that mid treble spike, followed by the upper treble roll off, is something I needed to get sorted. After some critical listening, I have detected the problem areas, at least on my particular HE400i. To anyone wanting to test an EQ set on this headphone to even out the treble, you may want to try these.

7kHz: - 2
8kHz: - 2
10kHz: + 1
16kHz: + 2

Edit: Be aware, that after using this EQ adjustment, the bass will also end up becoming more impactful with improved extension as a result.

 

[buonassi]

The "chain" I use the most is my Android phone + the Oppo HA-2, so no VST support there. The EQ I'm using is the "FIR Equalizer" that comes with ViPER4Android, and lately I've been trying to create more accurate EQ curves in the form of impulse response files, to be used with V4A's convolver function. Maybe these two options introduce phase problems, I never knew this was something to worry about, I'll have to look into it.

LE:
OK, I've looked into it a bit and... hmm. (I won't go further than "hmm" since this is not the sound science forum. )

For android - check out USB Audio Player PRO by eXtream software - it has a parametric 6 band eq plugin by toneboosters - looks very much like their VST plugin. The app is great because it can do sample rate matching for your DAC, and of course that powerful EQ!

 

[abm0]

For android - check out USB Audio Player PRO by eXtream software - it has a parametric 6 band eq plugin by toneboosters - looks very much like their VST plugin. The app is great because it can do sample rate matching for your DAC, and of course that powerful EQ!

Oh it's pretty sweet, I've tested and learned about a few things with that free demo, but I'm past even that level of functionality now: I'm using a 28-band method that generates an impulse response in the end, and I'm already getting very satisfying results in terms of FR, and even some localization improvements (the sound of some instruments from some recordings appears to come from in front of my head, like never before).

 

[Slim1970]

Tired the HE-400i V2's with my iFi iCan Pro today and they really didn't scale very well with it. It was in solid state mode when I tired it. Maybe I'll see how it sounds in tube or tube plus mode on the iCan Pro. Right now I think they fair better with portable gear like my Oppo HA-2SE and Mojo.

 

[buonassi]

Oh it's pretty sweet, I've tested and learned about a few things with that free demo, but I'm past even that level of functionality now: I'm using a 28-band method that generates an impulse response in the end, and I'm already getting very satisfying results in terms of FR, and even some localization improvements (the sound of some instruments from some recordings appears to come from in front of my head, like never before).

Thank you a hundred times over. Wow, great find. I'll be looking into this method some more - just got done watching the vid and it seems so much more accurate than simple sine sweeps.

 

[mmichii]

I never got a chance to say thank you. The problem disappeared when I replaced the 3.5mm connector. I've had the Hifiman HE-400i for about 3 months now and absolutely love them. I still have my HD650 and rarely use them. When I do use them its to get a little more mid bass punch. But still the Hifiman is my go to right now!

Just seen you mention the 650. I rarely listen to my 600's these days. I've only had my 400is for a few weeks and just love them too.

 

[Brahmsian]

The HE400i isn't doing ambient noise very well. I'm listening to

This is an outdoor panel on the future of planars. My M1060 is placing me there at the venue in a way that the 400i just isn't. It's not a great recording by any means; nevertheless, things are being picked up: background conversations, the birds chirping in the trees, airplanes flying overhead, the wind hitting the microphone, stray noises. All this sounds and feels relatively lifelike on the M1060. At least there's a sense of space, of situational awareness. By comparison, the 400i is just not placing me there. The ambient sounds are scrunched up and unclear. On the M1060, they sound magnified, more fully resolved. Just more real.

 

[DavidA]

I never got a chance to say thank you. The problem disappeared when I replaced the 3.5mm connector. I've had the Hifiman HE-400i for about 3 months now and absolutely love them. I still have my HD650 and rarely use them. When I do use them its to get a little more mid bass punch. But still the Hifiman is my go to right now!

Glad you are enjoying the HE400i, for me the HD650 is still a headphone that I will go back to when I really just want to kick back and relax, the sound signature of the HD650 is about as good as it gets when I just want to chill, but it needs a decent amp to get there which for me is the BH Crack. The HE400i is still one of the best values out there and at $250 its hard to beat and to me its a little easier to drive than most mid-fi headphones

 

[DavidA]

The HE400i isn't doing ambient noise very well. I'm listening to

This is an outdoor panel on the future of planars. My M1060 is placing me there at the venue in a way that the 400i just isn't. It's not a great recording by any means; nevertheless, things are being picked up: background conversations, the birds chirping in the trees, airplanes flying overhead, the wind hitting the microphone, stray noises. All this sounds and feels relatively lifelike on the M1060. At least there's a sense of space, of situational awareness. By comparison, the 400i is just not placing me there. The ambient sounds are scrunched up and unclear. On the M1060, they sound magnified, more fully resolved. Just more real.

It might be that my HE400i are the older back plate ones but they place me like I'm right there in the front row listening to the discussion and its about the same with other headphones like a RS2e, HD700 and Nhoord Red V2 so if you say the M1060 is that much better than the HE400i then its the first I've heard that they are that resolving.

 

[Brahmsian]

Played from my MacBook through a DragonFly Red, yes, absolutely, there's no comparison between the HE400i V2 and M1060 when it comes to rendering ambient noise and placing you in the venue. The M1060 just does it so much better.

 

[DavidA]

Played from my MacBook through a DragonFly Red, yes, absolutely, there's no comparison between the HE400i V2 and M1060 when it comes to rendering ambient noise and placing you in the venue. The M1060 just does it so much better.

What I was trying to say in my previous post was that the quality of the recorded discussion wasn't the best, the RS2e and HD700 are so much more resolving than the HE400i and even the V2 HE400i so I'm surprised that a headphone like the M1060 would be able to be more resolving when headphones that are clearly more resolving don't show it any different from the HE400i. The HD700 is very close to the HD800 in resolution but doesn't have the extreme sound stage of the HD800 and the RS2e has some of the cleanest most resolving highs of any headphone which is why I was surprised that you would make such a statement or come to such a conclusion, but since we all hear differently then who knows.

 

[Brahmsian]

I was referring specifically to the ambient sounds, not the main event: people talking over the event, birds chirping, planes flying overhead, that sort of thing. But it could very well be that I'm extrapolating too much from one instance. Also I can only compare headphones I have access to, so I can't speak to any of the other ones you mentioned. Part of what I noticed was going on is that the sound stage on the M1060 is so much bigger than on the HE400i that things just seem more true to life in terms of size and the space between them. But then I'm one of those people for whom sound stage matters.

 

[DavidA]

I was referring specifically to the ambient sounds, not the main event: people talking over the event, birds chirping, planes flying overhead, that sort of thing. But it could very well be that I'm extrapolating too much from one instance. Also I can only compare headphones I have access to, so I can't speak to any of the other phones you mentioned. Part of what I noticed was going on is that the sound stage on the M1060 is so much bigger than on the HE400i that things just seem more true to life in terms of size and the space between them. But then I'm one of those people for whom sound stage matters.

Sound stage matters to me but it also depends on the genre of music, or for gaming where positional audio is important, and for watching movies where you want a surround effect, the HE400i does a decent job but its no where near the HD700 much less the HD800 and I think my interpretation of resolving is not the same as yours since I don't consider resolving and sound stage are one and the same like you seem to be alluding to.