[tmb821]

Brainwavez pad’s and a custom cable added. I’m happy!

 

[bagwell359]

I like the 4XX headband - use it on my HE-500.

I found the 4XX insensitive to changes in amps, cable changes, Taking off the back screen and adding dynamat to the back of the phone help some. EQ helps a bit more. You can probably buy one for like $85 used off a trusted source for that money not bad, and if they've been used for 6+ months they are probably solid and thus a reasonable price.

I'll sell mine with stock cable and silver plated XLR job!

 

[luckybaer]

When I first got mine over two years ago, I thought they were OK. Good bass extension, so-so mids and highs. They seemed almost too polite - like I was listening through a felt pad. Dare I say... veiled? Last week I ordered a cable upgrade - balanced, but with a 4-pin XLR to 1/4" plug adapter, too. Listening via new cable single-ended provided some much needed clarity and definition. Listening balanced took the entire presentation up to another level. I was satisfied with my purchase before, but the 'cans were never really in my permanent rotation. After listening to several types of music with the new cabling, these 'cans won't be going back into their case for a long time.

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

When I first got mine over two years ago, I thought they were OK. Good bass extension, so-so mids and highs. They seemed almost too polite - like I was listening through a felt pad. Dare I say... veiled? Last week I ordered a cable upgrade - balanced, but with a 4-pin XLR to 1/4" plug adapter, too. Listening via new cable single-ended provided some much needed clarity and definition. Listening balanced took the entire presentation up to another level. I was satisfied with my purchase before, but the 'cans were never really in my permanent rotation. After listening to several types of music with the new cabling, these 'cans won't be going back into their case for a long time.

Everytime I pull my 4xx out.... I look at my Ether CX with a slight regret, but when it comes down to it the CX blows them out of the water. But the 4xx are just so fun and relaxing.

 

[mindhead1]

When I first got mine over two years ago, I thought they were OK. Good bass extension, so-so mids and highs. They seemed almost too polite - like I was listening through a felt pad. Dare I say... veiled? Last week I ordered a cable upgrade - balanced, but with a 4-pin XLR to 1/4" plug adapter, too. Listening via new cable single-ended provided some much needed clarity and definition. Listening balanced took the entire presentation up to another level. I was satisfied with my purchase before, but the 'cans were never really in my permanent rotation. After listening to several types of music with the new cabling, these 'cans won't be going back into their case for a long time.

Putting power to the 4xx via balanced out on my Aune X7S was a game changer for my relationship with the headphones. They went from once in a while use to daily driver at the desk.

 

[auronthas]

Everytime I pull my 4xx out.... I look at my Ether CX with a slight regret, but when it comes down to it the CX blows them out of the water. But the 4xx are just so fun and relaxing.

Can't agree more, usually when bad mood, I would listen to HE4XX, it will heal the mood with joy and fun. Otherwise will listen to HD650.

Yesterday, received this USD 40, 16-core silver plated copper 4.4mm balanced cable with dual 3.5mm jack , more clarity and details from my first impression with stocked cable

 

[Gearhead503]

Just got mine in the mail today. They sound great through an Apogee One, probably going to buy one of their portable groove amps because my relatively cheap phone seems just a tad quiet at max volume. Either that or a new phone

 

[Cat Music]

I'm about to buy them, only one reason stops me, I read in a review of "head fi" that the quality control of the HE4XX is not good? maybe now they improved it in terms of those problems, someone could confirm me to make a decision

 

[auronthas]

I'm about to buy them, only one reason stops me, I read in a review of "head fi" that the quality control of the HE4XX is not good? maybe now they improved it in terms of those problems, someone could confirm me to make a decision

I got mine a month ago from Drop. So far so good.

 

[kyotousa]

I'm about to buy them, only one reason stops me, I read in a review of "head fi" that the quality control of the HE4XX is not good? maybe now they improved it in terms of those problems, someone could confirm me to make a decision

Used it everyday for 4 months now. No problem.

 

[Gearhead503]

Had mine for several weeks now, no problems. My only complaint with them so far is that with the stock pads - though they're super plush - I need to lift up the headphones every so often for comfort's sake (idk if it's clamping force or what, feels like a pressure buildup). My ears are a bit messed up though and it may just be me, but I didn't have that issue with 6xx's. Definitely prefer the way these sound (especially on jazz).

 

[Cat Music]

I have some hd58x and I don't know if the he4xx have a different sound than my senheisser, if someone has both it would be good if they shared the differences, by the way the he4xx available in my city is now "blue midnight", it seems a nice color

 

[BobSmith8901]

I'm about to buy them, only one reason stops me, I read in a review of "head fi" that the quality control of the HE4XX is not good? maybe now they improved it in terms of those problems, someone could confirm me to make a decision

Got mine in the summer of 2018. For the first year no problems, then developed a buzzing in the right on very low freqs, like in the 40-70HZ area. Not a deal killer and not noticeable most of the time.

Problem is is that I prefer their sound signature in most cases, over my other Massdrops: 58X and 6XX. I would generally, for the price, recommend them if you don't want to spend the $ on more expensive planars but just be aware that there are build issues reported (no problems with mine other than the right channel and, more specifically, it seems to be some sort of adhesion issue with the planar film, after taking things apart on that side) but otherwise I've been lucky, with lots of use haven't had anything break on the frame, still solid (I got the newer iteration with the 3.5mm sockets).

The pads are another issue. I think the Focus A pads that they come with give the cans their nice even sound signature but be aware that they can start coming off of the plastic rings (dried out glue). In my case, after about a year, mine were still pretty much OK but I wanted to try the Brainwavz angled pleather. To make a long story short, I managed to reshape my existing plastic rings and mount the new pads (they were extremely comfortable compared to Focus A's) but I thought the sound had become too bassy and a bit deadened. So, as my originals had really started to come apart when I tried to remount them, I ordered a new set of Focus A's. Anyway, the new ones were so poorly attached to their plastic rings (again, terrible glue) that when I attempted to attach them (and there is some stretching involved as you try to mount them onto the cans), they started peeling away from the plastic rings in several places. I ended up finally attaching them but had to use black gorilla tape in a few spots to keep them on the rings. Not a pretty site but functional.

I guess the bottom line is that the sound signature, for the price, is so attractive to me that I'll put up with the right channel occasional buzzing and the ear pad issues to use these things. Again, would I recommend: Yes, but take it easy on them handling them (frame and pads) and, to preserve the integrity of the planar film, don't crank the volume to earsplitting levels

 

[Cat Music]

Got mine in the summer of 2018. For the first year no problems, then developed a buzzing in the right on very low freqs, like in the 40-70HZ area. Not a deal killer and not noticeable most of the time.

Problem is is that I prefer their sound signature in most cases, over my other Massdrops: 58X and 6XX. I would generally, for the price, recommend them if you don't want to spend the $ on more expensive planars but just be aware that there are build issues reported (no problems with mine other than the right channel and, more specifically, it seems to be some sort of adhesion issue with the planar film, after taking things apart on that side) but otherwise I've been lucky, with lots of use haven't had anything break on the frame, still solid (I got the newer iteration with the 3.5mm sockets).

The pads are another issue. I think the Focus A pads that they come with give the cans their nice even sound signature but beware if they start coming apart (dried out glue). In my case, after about a year mine were still pretty much OK but I wanted to try the Brainwavz angled pleather. To make a long story short, I managed to reshape my existing plastic rings and mount the new pads and (they were extremely comfortable compared to stock) but I thought the sound had become too bassy and a bit deadened. So I ordered a new set of Focus A's as my originals really started to come apart when I tried to remount them. Anyway, the new ones were so poorly attached to their plastic rings (terrible glue) that when I attempted to attach them (and there is some stretching involved as you try to mount them onto the cans), I ended up finally attaching them but in many places, due to the crummy glue, they were peeling away from the plastic rings. I ended up having to use black gorilla tape in places to keep them attached. Not a pretty site but functional.

I guess the bottom line is that the sound signature, for the price, is so attractive to me that I'll put up with the right channel occasional buzzing and the ear pad issues to use these things. Again, would I recommend: Yes, but take it easy on them handling them (frame and pads) and, to preserve the integrity of the planar film, don't crank the volume to earsplitting levels

wow, there is a lot of information here, I like to know things that I did not think could happen, I am not saying that the problems you had with your he4xx will also be with me, it is only because of what you told me to be careful, I am afraid I will break them later one year, and regarding the comfort, I see that you like its sound, but the pads are not to your liking, but to change them would be to ruin the sound that came, that worries me a lot ... just out of curiosity with the amplifier and dac Are you using them?

 

[Gearhead503]

wow, there is a lot of information here, I like to know things that I did not think could happen, I am not saying that the problems you had with your he4xx will also be with me, it is only because of what you told me to be careful, I am afraid I will break them later one year, and regarding the comfort, I see that you like its sound, but the pads are not to your liking, but to change them would be to ruin the sound that came, that worries me a lot ... just out of curiosity with the amplifier and dac Are you using them?

My 4xx's sound great through an apogee one and I'd recommend looking at their "groove" amp based on that (I owned one briefly about a year ago when I had a pair of 6xx's and it was similar) - but it isn't a popular solution and I'm not sure if there isn't a reason for that.