[Domanski]

dont think about international with that crappy cable, just apply fuzzor mod, works very fine for me (reduce and clean 4-7kHz, increase a bit midbass "hit")

 

[Turbulance]

I'd be interested as well.

Looking at the photos and diagram, it just looks like it uses half circle magnets instead of regular rectangular bars with the rounded part facing out

Not sure how's that's stealth in any way shape or form. How would they even affect the sound?

Very stealthily I would guess.

I’m waiting for mine to arrive soon I hope, COVID sure been giving my patience muscles a workout.

 

[samandhi]

Does anyone own or have owned the HE400S that can compare the sound of these? I still have (and love) My HE400S, but I have been recommending to a friend to buy a pair of Planar phones (his first) but he doesn't want to pay a higher price without being able to listen to them first (which he can't). These sound pretty ideal for entry level planar's from what I am reading.

I also own the Deva and find the HE400S don't sound anything like the Deva overall, so I was just trying to get a feel of the sound of these.

 

[jamess71]

Does anyone own or have owned the HE400S that can compare the sound of these? I still have (and love) My HE400S, but I have been recommending to a friend to buy a pair of Planar phones (his first) but he doesn't want to pay a higher price without being able to listen to them first (which he can't). These sound pretty ideal for entry level planar's from what I am reading.

I also own the Deva and find the HE400S don't sound anything like the Deva overall, so I was just trying to get a feel of the sound of these.

Hi samandi, Can you explain the differences between the Deva and the HE400S for me? I'm looking into picking up a pair of my first planars too. I'm almost decided on the 400's unless the Deva's are a lot better.

 

[samandhi]

Hi samandi, Can you explain the differences between the Deva and the HE400S for me? I'm looking into picking up a pair of my first planars too. I'm almost decided on the 400's unless the Deva's are a lot better.

Well, the 400 is discontinued (though you MIGHT still be able to get them somewhere), and the 400S might also be. They have been out of stock on Hifiman site for a while now, though I think you still can get them on places like Amazon. And I don't mean to offend if you know this already, but I AM talking about the 400S not the 400SE (the newest ones), or the original 400, or even the 400i.

The Deva are obviously a bit more versatile, having BT, USB, AND wired. The Deva has more quantity bass, but I think the 400S has a bit better defined bass and it is tighter and punchier (it pops especially well on analog/real instruments). Though the 400S have a rolled off sub-bass, with most songs you can't tell it (unless you listen to a lot of rap or things that have sustained low bass). But because they are both planars they do take EQ amazingly well. The Deva bass is not a horrible mess at all. It IS well defined and has an accurate, but fun sound to it, but it is boosted a bit. I wouldn't say it steps on the mids too much, but it does mean that the snare (and all other drums that are not bass) drums are a bit in the background unlike the 400S, where on songs like 2112 from Rush, you can hear ALL of those lovely drums equally well. This is not to say that the Deva make those kinds of songs sound bad at all, it is just my preference.

The mids of both are about even. Though the 400S are a bit more forward than the Deva, they are both well defined and smooth. Again, I have to actually give it to the 400S (to my ears), because it just seems more tonally accurate (there are no peaks or dips to be heard here).

The top end is where they differ the most to me. The Deva overall are tonally accurate sounding here, but they just aren't revealing enough to me. What they do, they do well, and there is no real fault here. They are not fatiguing for me at all and I tend to EQ in some treble for my taste. The 400S on the other hand has done some magic here. These are both detail retrieving AND rolled off or veiled. They can reveal a lot and yet aren't fatiguing at all. I hate to sound like opposites here, but they are both warm and clear (but never overly warm OR thin sounding). Neither of these are too boosted in the 4k range (where a lot of chinese headphones/IEMs are boosted) because I am sensitive to that range.... IT HURTS!

I think soundstage goes to the Deva, but not by too much. Imaging probably goes to the Deva also, again not by much. Comfort goes to the 400S by a mile. The all velour pads are SO comfortable. They have more clamping force, but the sling type headband and the velour pads make it all better. The Deva aren't uncomfortable by any means, but they have less clamping force, and if you have a smaller head, they may want to slide when you tip your head forwards or backwards. The pads are also much larger on the Deva.

Quality is about the same on both, but I would say that the 400S will last longer (without having to make a purchase) because the pads on the Deva are pleather, and will eventually disinigrate, whereas the velour ones on the 400S will not.

Overall They are both good sets. It is going to come down to what signature you like best, because I can't find any real fault on either (to my ears). If you want to be able to hook up to BT, then you should go for the Deva for only $100 more. But if you only ever plan on using the wire, then I would probably go for the 400S. Either way, you cannot go wrong because they are both planar, and you can EQ he snot out of them, and they will bend to your preferred (sound) will.

 

[vadim fedenko]

Ok, so HIFIMAN says international version will be "superior" due to the stealth magnet technology. Do you folks buy this narrative? I mean, chinese aren't fools to buy a bad version of HE-400SE on their market when there is a "superior" version with the same price, assembled in their own country. I suspect the сhinese version may actually be better, while international version is a bit more marketing-friendly with the stealth magnet stuff.
As far as I can see, chinese version uses cheap glued ferrite magnets without any armoring whatsoever, but.. in a 2-sided magnetic system. which is a big deal since 2-sided system should still give a better impulse and clarity than what we have with a single-sided neodymium magnets (HE-400i/4XX). As for international 400SE, I haven't seen much info about it yet.
So I'm really curious to scout the differences between chinese and international version of HE-400SE, any ideas? I ordered chinese 400SE few weeks ago, maybe I'll find an international version somewhere to compare them

 

[vormhat]

Ok, so HIFIMAN says international version will be "superior" due to the stealth magnet technology. Do you folks buy this narrative? I mean, chinese aren't fools to buy a bad version of HE-400SE on their market when there is a "superior" version with the same price, assembled in their own country. I suspect the сhinese version may actually be better, while international version is a bit more marketing-friendly with the stealth magnet stuff.
As far as I can see, chinese version uses cheap glued ferrite magnets without any armoring whatsoever, but.. in a 2-sided magnetic system. which is a big deal since 2-sided system should still give a better impulse and clarity than what we have with a single-sided neodymium magnets (HE-400i/4XX). As for international 400SE, I haven't seen much info about it yet.
So I'm really curious to scout the differences between chinese and international version of HE-400SE, any ideas? I ordered chinese 400SE few weeks ago, maybe I'll find an international version somewhere to compare them

I researched up the "stealth" stuff a few posts back. They pretty much use a half circle magnet instead of a bar.

This is one blurb from a review I found:

"Supposedly the HEKse also uses what HiFiMAN have dubbed the “stealth magnet” that was implemented in the Susvara. The idea here is that the magnet shape is designed in such a way that it minimizes interference (wave diffraction) with the sound being produced. This appears to be done by rounding the edges of the magnets, reducing the overall area that could break up the wave."

And this diagram:

So yeah, not sure if it does much. My guess is the "fuzzor mod" people up above would probably do more than a rounded shape.

If it means anything, I'm a skeptical person and of Chinese descent

 

[vormhat]

Man, Hifiman is so confusing, I did this in Google Sheets.

Takeaway here is the 400SE might be its own model based on the impedance and sensitivity.

Model	Price	Impedance	Sensitivity	Double sided magnets?	Notes
HE400SE	$150	25	91	Y	international model price
Deva	$300	18	93.5	Y
HE5xx	$220	18	93.5	Y
HE400i (old) - used only	$100	35	93	N	used only, market price
HE400i 2020	$170	35	93	N
HE4xx	$180	35	93	N
Sundara	$400	37	94	N?

 

[FastAndClean]

Sundara is also single sided but it uses longer magnet bars similar to those in HE560 (lower end HE400i uses shorter size magnet bars)

 

[sulfuriq]

This can (HE400SE) sounds really good when pair with Balanced Cable + Lotoo PAW S1 or Zen DAC.

 

[vormhat]

Funny enough, I just got my first high end pair of cans a week ago that I've been dreaming about for along time. And for now at least, I keep going back to the HE400SE. Maybe the honeymoon with the HE400SE just isn't over yet.

 

[sulfuriq]

Funny enough, I just got my first high end pair of cans a week ago that I've been dreaming about for along time. And for now at least, I keep going back to the HE400SE. Maybe the honeymoon with the HE400SE just isn't over yet.

Have you try it with Balanced Cable yet?

 

[sulfuriq]

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/he400se.html

 

[10000days]

So. Anybody else got a chance to listen to these? Do they sound the same as the HE400i 2020? How's the soundstage and instrument separation?

 

[samandhi]

So. Anybody else got a chance to listen to these? Do they sound the same as the HE400i 2020? How's the soundstage and instrument separation?

I wonder if they are a cheaper version of the (now apparently defunct) HE400S?