[Grado Diesel]

Now think I've finally got my search down to these two cans. Once again for classic rock'n'roll, british rock, Black Crowes, Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Zep, and metal which cans are the way to go? I'm using a FIIO X3II into a Schiit Vali 2 with the Genalex Gold Lion to power the cans.

 

[xanlamin]

Having owned both before, I would say Hifiman-400i. NH is really finicky for me in terms of source quality. Some music sound awesome, some sound ok, some even sound bad even though they sound on average pretty good on the HE-400i.

 

[Linus1]

Greetings:
 
I ended up with both - sale price $300CDN off each, so it was a deal for me (bought the NH first when they were on sale, the 400i at New Years).
 
Love both of them, so I won't part with neither. I've been very lucky to have found all my 'phones on sale, so overall costs way low.
 
I listen to rock (Genesis, ELP, Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper etc), some Sinatra and Celine, and now find myself going down the jazz discovery road. Both of these headphones work wonderfully, and are both very comfortable. Bonus is, when I wish to purchase a slightly better cable, I can swap between the two as their connectors are the same.
 
Both are different from each other as well, far enough so to justify having both!
 
Enjoy!

 

[InsTwin]

Now think I've finally got my search down to these two cans. Once again for classic rock'n'roll, british rock, Black Crowes, Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Zep, and metal which cans are the way to go? I'm using a FIIO X3II into a Schiit Vali 2 with the Genalex Gold Lion to power the cans.

I think these cans are relatively complimentary, so you could justify getting either. I was in the same boat and went with the HE400i, and while I'm still curious about the NightHawk, the 400i has been an awesome experience so far.
 
Especially after swapping the pads.