[brunk]

 

The bass, soundstage, and roll off in high frequencies make the RE-600 one of the most listenable universal IEMs around. "Natural" is the keyword here. I can listen for hours without fatigue. The grain of RE400 is gone with the RE-600, it is much more refined.

 

[Lifted Andreas]

  The bass, soundstage, and roll off in high frequencies make the RE-600 one of the most listenable universal IEMs around. "Natural" is the keyword here. I can listen for hours without fatigue. The grain of RE400 is gone with the RE-600, it is much more refined.

 
Maybe they put that grain there on purpose to get people to buy the RE-600??
 
I'd happily pay a little more for the RE-400 if they worked on them just a bit more and removed the little niggles that everyone talks about.

 

[Cortlendt]

I can confirm that mids sounded "grainy" to me on RE400.

 

[Vesperaudio]

  thanks for posting it up again, i tried contacting him about a week ago.
 
no reply

We are answering to all reasonable letters. There is 6 different ways to contact on our site. So you probably made a mistake in your email address while filling contact form.
 

  Has anyone taken apart the RE-400 or 600 yet?

Many times. What info do you need?

 

[brunk]

Many times. What info do you need?

Oh, very nice! I am wondering why the impedance difference on these two IEMs? Is there a resistor in the housing? What is the major differences between 400 and 600 internally? I just have a hard time believing they are different drivers (if so, voice coils differ perhaps?), and a couple mods may be possible to turn the 400 into 600.
 
That's my suspicions anyway

 

[noktekniq]

 
LOL...My RE262 was $149. They want me to send it back and pay $40 for RE400 which is only $100. 
 
They take back a problematic headphone, recondition it and sell it back on the market as refurb or warranty replacement. At the same time, it leads me to think that the cost of RE400 is probably less than $40 bucks, which they also profit on. Smart, but i need to look for another brand.  

 

[james444]

  LOL...My RE262 was $149. They want me to send it back and pay $40 for RE400 which is only $100. 

 
Well, you forgot to mention that your RE262 is out of warranty. So they basically offer you a $60 discount on a $100 phone as a gesture of goodwill.

 

[modulor]

  Oh, very nice! I am wondering why the impedance difference on these two IEMs? Is there a resistor in the housing? What is the major differences between 400 and 600 internally? I just have a hard time believing they are different drivers (if so, voice coils differ perhaps?), and a couple mods may be possible to turn the 400 into 600.
 
That's my suspicions anyway

It's pretty much reliant on voice coils - check out these two articles:
 
http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2013/03/hifiman-re-400-evolution-or-devolution.html
http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2013/07/hifiman-re-600-part2-general-analysis.html
 
There is some technical info in there, but if you read the 'second thought' components it will shed some light on how they compare.  From my experience, the RE-600 is a bit darker overall with slightly more forward mids/sub-bass (and less forward treble) comparatively.  As a result they seems less airy but warmer and smoother and manage a larger soundstage (perceptively anyway).  The differences aren't as big as you'd expect though given the price difference, but if I were to pick one regardless of cost it would probably be the RE-600.  Their presentation is a little more in line with my preferred sound signature, the coated housing a bit nicer and the cable seems a bit more durable.  Still, I am satisfied with the RE-400, don't get me wrong 

 I've got a thin circle of felt in each nozzle between the hifiman filter and the nozzle foam and I like the results.

 

[brunk]

  It's pretty much reliant on voice coils - check out these two articles:
 
http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2013/03/hifiman-re-400-evolution-or-devolution.html
http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2013/07/hifiman-re-600-part2-general-analysis.html
 
There is some technical info in there, but if you read the 'second thought' components it will shed some light on how they compare.  From my experience, the RE-600 is a bit darker overall with slightly more forward mids/sub-bass (and less forward treble) comparatively.  As a result they seems less airy but warmer and smoother and manage a larger soundstage (perceptively anyway).  The differences aren't as big as you'd expect though given the price difference, but if I were to pick one regardless of cost it would probably be the RE-600.  Their presentation is a little more in line with my preferred sound signature, the coated housing a bit nicer and the cable seems a bit more durable.  Still, I am satisfied with the RE-400, don't get me wrong 

 I've got a thin circle of felt in each nozzle between the hifiman filter and the nozzle foam and I like the results.

Thanks for the info! I really prefer the RE600 over 400 myself too, it has such a natural non-fatiguing sound that i can enjoy for hours Which is really quite a remarkable feat without being too dark, or masking alot of detail.

 

[Vesperaudio]

  Oh, very nice! I am wondering why the impedance difference on these two IEMs? Is there a resistor in the housing? What is the major differences between 400 and 600 internally? I just have a hard time believing they are different drivers (if so, voice coils differ perhaps?), and a couple mods may be possible to turn the 400 into 600.
 
That's my suspicions anyway

No, there is no resistor inside the housing or cable.
Voice coils are different. So unfortunately there is no way to turn your 400 into 600.

 

[getclikinagas]

  I am satisfied with the RE-400, don't get me wrong 

 I've got a thin circle of felt in each nozzle between the hifiman filter and the nozzle foam and I like the results.

Does the felt improve the sub-bass any?

 I'm guessing not, based on Rin's graphs.
 
The mod you've mentioned here is different from the one you've described in the tour thread right?(where the felt/foam was placed in the tip).

 

[modulor]

  Does the felt improve the sub-bass any?

 I'm guessing not, based on Rin's graphs.
 
The mod you've mentioned here is different from the one you've described in the tour thread right?(where the felt/foam was placed in the tip).

It actually does slightly because it pushes everything above 1k down the more acoustic damping materials you add, so the bass is technically brought forward a bit compared to the rest of the FR.  The felt was not quite as dramatic as the hankerchief/microfiber cloth which I also tried and makes it even darker as you can see in the charts.  The felt from the tour is the same as what I use, but I just put it in the nozzle to make it more permanent.  You can sample it by placing the foam/felt in the tip so I just included it for those interested in hearing the effects so they didn't have to take the HiFiMan filter off...shouldn't make any sonic difference if it's before or after the HiFiMan filter though.

 

[Tom22]

hey guys i have just started a youtube channel to review these little guys because they are just THAT AMAZING!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTSAv7m5fhE
 
My written review is posted here: i'm still inexperienced and would appreciate any comments/ suggestions you could give me
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/696152/hifi-man-re-400-a-new-standard-for-99

 

[Rcordosi]

Hi Everyone,
 
New guy here. Been skulking around head-fi for months now, but haven't felt the need to post. I have learned a ton of info from this site, so am feeling the need to start contributing. I'm an old school hi-fi guy who got out of it about 5 years ago because I became tired of the frustratingly complicated and expensive nature of it all. Back then, I had and still have a pair of Etymotic er4P/S, but never really gave them there just due. I just used them when I traveled and that's it. Now I'm fairly new to the headphone world. I started on this journey a few months ago and have been thoroughly bitten. Here's a list of the gear that I've already bought, tried and mostly returned because I apparently have a very picky ear:
 
Fiio e5, e11, e07k, e17, eo9K (returned all)
Aune T1 (keeping for now)
Centrance Hifi M8 (totally keeping for ever!)
BSG CMOY 18v amp with AD712 op amp, with the AD8620ARZ on order. ( A fun little amp to play with)
 
AKG K550 (returned)
Sennheiser Momentum over ear (returned)
Sennheiser Amperior silver (returned)
Pioneer se-a1000 (still have, but will probably return)
PSB M4U-1 (keeping cuz they are the best I've heard compared to all the others I've tried, period)
Hifi man re-400 (keeping as of recent discoveries)
 
I bought the re-400's because of all the great reviews. I honestly wasn't very impressed with them at first, but kept them around because they were so cheap. Well as time went by, I was actually getting ready to return them because now I'm pining for a pair of Mad Dogs. I just didn't like the way the midrange sounded forward and compressed, especially with classical music and violins. Thing was, I looked at all the tips, which mine came with like 10 pair, and at first grabbed the foam Comply tips because that's what I was used to using with my er4's. I thought they were the best because they gave the best isolation. After a bit, I didn't like the sound, so I cut the ends off so that the opening was larger. This didn't help much, so I put them away for awhile, then I happened on Rin Choi's Headphone Analysis blog (http://rinchoi.blogspot.com), which is pretty impressive with the detail and measurements he does. Anyway he wrote about how very important it was to get the re-400's exactly at the second bump in the ear canal to sound they're best. So I busted out all the tips for them again and this time tried them all, so I though. I first thought the clear medium sized silicon tips were the trick. They certainly improved the bass and tamed the midrange compression a bit. I listened to them like this for a couple of days and still wasn't totally pleased, then I realized that I had forgotten about the very small black silicon, double flange tips that came with the headphones were in the bottom of the box they came in because I thought they would be too small for me. I slapped those puppies on and jammed the re's into my ears as far as they would go. The back of the re is flush with the nub of my ear hole. Well, Holy Moly! This is what I've been missing! Now I get it! The midrange compression is gone. In fact the midrange is beautiful and lush and big. The bass is nice and not too big, but there where it needs to be. I'm listening to these puppies now, connected to my hifi M8, which I recently learned was using wrong too because of this site. I was using the impedance switch backwards. Anyway, I am now loving these iem's and now understand what all the fuss is about. So, my long winded point is that if you are not liking these, make sure you try all the tips, find the ones that let you jam them into you're ears as far as possible and still keep a good seal. You will be richly rewarded when you find the right ones. 

 

[brunk]

^ Thank you Rcordosi for sharing and welcome to Head-Fi! +1 on the little black double flange tips. I too have found those to be the best.