[Tom22]

Thanks for the info. That's somewhat disappointing. I guess I will see if I can adjust to the reduced bass and still enjoy all my music. The clarity is addicting. Though I will most likely end up using my CX300-IIs just as much as these new 400s... The CX300-IIs with Comply foam tips are pretty great. Which is depressing considering they cost less than a 3rd of the HiFiMan IEMs. I don't want to go anywhere near the EQ to make up for the reduced bass.

i would like to correct myself earlier after a/bing some more tips (i have better things to do but as probably many of you know of the common issue of procrastinating)
 
i reverted back to the stock biflanges (their small but they seal so deep into my ears, its like a good in between the really large bores and the sony hybrids/gr07tips
 
so now they have a bit more bass without completely losing out on the smoothness. kinda the best of both worlds
 
i find tips like the sony hybrids cut off some of the highs and smoothes over the entire sound giving the bass seemingly more emphasis (which i would think more people would prefer) its more relaxing to listen to
 
the wider bores open the sound stage more, its less smooth this way, i find the vocals a bit thin, however everything is better separated, vocals, instruments background music.
 
ONE MORE THING try wearing them over the ears, if you really want more bass look for a smaller tip (in the past i remembered i tried the orange sony hybrids( the smalls) and they go deeper giving more a bass boost, some other parts suffer (it was a bit more congested among other things) but at first i liked it cause of hte bass boost)
 
however it would probably not go anywhere near the cx300s you mentioned, i haven't tried those but i read a few reviews on them. their pretty v shaped and comparing the re400s to my turbines or my jvc fxd80s the bass is no where near in terms of quantity.
 
now i just enjoy the strengths of the re400s, which is superb clarity, the delicate treble, the very powerful mids, and the versatile bass-- best for more mid tempo music
 
just enjoy them both, both have their own merits. thats why i own a few iems (haha only a few)

 

[MrRodriguez]

You are comparing two very different IEMs. RE400s are basically a slightly bass boosted neutral. And the CX300s are pretty V shaped if memory serves me. Also the RE400s are pretty insane when it comes to clarity whiuch the CX300s are not (though at their price point there are far worse for clarity). The RE400s could use smoothness though, which honestly the RE600s give (but really at the price of the RE400s I don't think they are deserving of the $300 price hike).

Overall, for the price they are both good, but the RE400s are, to me, simply higher fidelity phones than the CX300s, easily worth 3x more. The scary part is that I regularly compare them to my $550 ASG-2s, which is pretty impressive (though more on the clarity and neutrality and soundstage, not so much on the overall sound quality and tuning since they are two very different phones).

It is a very apples and oranges comparison. I get that the RE400s are more neutral, and they are my first experience with a neutral headphone. Guess the lack of bass just took me by surprise. I definitely hear the difference in quality though. The details and clarity in the 400s is amazing.

i would like to correct myself earlier after a/bing some more tips (i have better things to do but as probably many of you know of the common issue of procrastinating)

i reverted back to the stock biflanges (their small but they seal so deep into my ears, its like a good in between the really large bores and the sony hybrids/gr07tips

so now they have a bit more bass without completely losing out on the smoothness. kinda the best of both worlds

i find tips like the sony hybrids cut off some of the highs and smoothes over the entire sound giving the bass seemingly more emphasis (which i would think more people would prefer) its more relaxing to listen to

the wider bores open the sound stage more, its less smooth this way, i find the vocals a bit thin, however everything is better separated, vocals, instruments background music.

ONE MORE THING try wearing them over the ears, if you really want more bass look for a smaller tip (in the past i remembered i tried the orange sony hybrids( the smalls) and they go deeper giving more a bass boost, some other parts suffer (it was a bit more congested among other things) but at first i liked it cause of hte bass boost)

however it would probably not go anywhere near the cx300s you mentioned, i haven't tried those but i read a few reviews on them. their pretty v shaped and comparing the re400s to my turbines or my jvc fxd80s the bass is no where near in terms of quantity.

now i just enjoy the strengths of the re400s, which is superb clarity, the delicate treble, the very powerful mids, and the versatile bass-- best for more mid tempo music

just enjoy them both, both have their own merits. thats why i own a few iems (haha only a few)

The large biflange tips that came with the 400s fit well for me, but I find I get a deeper fit and better seal with the comply foam tips. I might pick up some Sony Hybrids to try out as well.

 

[sofastreamer]

is it just me or do the re400 a notch more natural than the re600 and show better detail also? soundstage on re600 seems wider and instruments a little bigger, but the re400 seems to be more precise. same experience anyone?

 

[AstralStorm]

Hey folks, I came here from over the seven seas, and here is a simple mod to improve your RE-400.
 
You will need:
- Cotton wool pads (make up ones).
- Silicone, acrylic or PET lacquer, preferably the first.
- Cyanoacrylate glue (superglue)
- One IEM cable - I used Brainwavz M2 cable, which is suprisingly similar to Westone cable. Added a 3rd party neck slider to it. The original cable can be reused, but it's terrible and breaks easily.
- Soldering iron or a station, pin tip - set to 360 °C, use standard solder. For a dumb iron, 40W+ is recommended. Low wattage makes it easy to accidentally unsolder the coil.
- Two pairs of small pliers
- One pair of tweezers
- Third hand (the stand, you know) to hold the IEM while you're soldering.
- Reasonably steady hand or C2H5OH internally, 100 ml
 
Steps:
- Use two pairs of small pliers to open the shell - grab both pieces and pull parallel to the IEM axis and towards the center delicately, it will open.
- Remove the shell slightly down. If you want to reuse the old cable, cut it below the shell, as there's a knot that's quite hard to untie.
- Place the front of the IEM in the third hand
- Unsolder the cable. The blue mark signifies the signal - do not make the Hifiman mistake and solder with inverse polarity.
- Expose the wires of the new cable. Apply some solder to them.
- Solder the new cable. You should need only a very short touch to do that. Do not hold overly long or you might unsolder the coil ruining the IEM.
- Cut out about 3 cm of cotton pad at the edge and form a U shape around the cable near the IEM
- Glue it with cyanoacrylate to the front of the shell, then glue the back near the cable too. You can use excess cyanoacrylate as the lacquer, but I do not recommend it, it's pain to work with and tends to crack.
- Let it dry for some seconds
- Apply lacquer to the ball of cotton
- Let it dry again, longer this time. The cotton should feel hard but still yield to fingers.
- Use the tweezers to carefully remove the filter and foam from the front of the IEM.
- Repeat previous steps for the other shell.
 
Here I used actual fast silicone to make the layer more waterproof as the lacquer after adding a layer of silicone lacquer below it.
 

 
The sound is phenomenal! Bass becomes 3D and bit more subbass is present, esp. tactile sensation. It becomes nearly linear (with about 6 dB roll at 16k, 12 dB at top) and a slight narrow dip (3 dB) around 1.5kHz (was there in the original) and reduced narrowed 4k dip (also 3 dB). No more 2k boost, 5k dip, 8k boost etc. all the unevenness. The FR feel is of a very slight V shape, bass boosted. Sounds silky smooth but without any drop of detailing, in fact it is improved. Bass is a bit slower, but punchier, the tactile feel is closer to actual speakers. The residual reverberation is reminiscent of a dampened small concert hall or auditorium, mostly concentrated in bass.
Soundstage is slightly widened, excellent with depth and height rendition.
Isolation is improved a bit (3 dB?), esp. in high frequencies.
 
The bass feels like a line through the head, so crossfeed is highly recommended.
I use these with the included soft silicone biflanges, but will make them custom tips later, as those sometimes unseal. Another good choice is the RE272 long biflange with slightly deeper insertion - bit less air.
Comply robs it of air, not recommended. Fit depth: medium to shallow, deeper collapses the soundstage.
 
Equalization with short biflange:

With the long biflange:

 
 
 
 
This mod is sponsored by the following track: Ben Prunty - FTL (Faster Than Light) - Engi (Battle)

 

[yalper]

AstralStorm isn't there an easier method to boost sub-bass about 3-4dB ?

 

[IAmSoCheap]

Is it really a "simple" mod?
Maybe it is just because I have no experience in DIY lol.

 

[AstralStorm]

It's not just a boost in subbass, it's a change in presentation, not sure why, I'll have these measured later. Equalization does not reproduce it.
 
This makes the bass on par with, I dare say, Audeze LCD-2. Similar to my SE-5 but with better subbass control, seems like SE-5 have some more bass distortion. Or slightly better than my modded equalized Hifiman HE-500, which have a slower, mushier bass feel, though still very good. The only drawback is that it's "smaller area" thus less of a pressure feel, but bone sensations are very similar.
 
It is a 10-20 minute mod. The material is available in almost any supermarket and/or drugstore, the glue too. The hardest part is replacing the cable, as that needs some speed with the iron to not unsolder the driver coils. Hifiman really, really should improve their cabling and shells.
The tiny shells look nice, but the IEM actually needs something bigger and dampened.
 
There is a way to make the mod non-permanent either, you could attach the cotton with something other than cyanoacrylate, which is excellent for the purpose but permanent. I'd say hot glue might work pretty well and is removable with a hair dryer. Just be careful to not cover the driver back vents with it.
The shell can be put back in, of course you will have to leave it on the cable for that to work.
 
Here is an updated eq, found another tiny blip which affects soundstage distance only apparently. Long RE-272 biflanges, yet a tiny bit deeper fit, ran a bit more accurate equalization this time, took an hour to be this exact. As you can see, I've previously overshot treble a bit and missed a very narrow slight notch. The subbass was slightly boosted and resonant frequency missed by a hair.
 
This eq, other than the bass and air, is mostly for decorative purposes and extreme fine tuning.

 

[brhfl]

CA can react with cotton and get quite hot, I would have concerns about that myself...

 

[idunnosoSTFU]

Is it really a "simple" mod?
Maybe it is just because I have no experience in DIY lol.

Haha, I was thinking that too. That is not exactly a simple mod. Quite far from it in fact.

 

[Tom22]

i would like to say after trying them for a long time 6-7 months now and a/bing different tips i find that the gr07 eartips (sky blue) or the sony hybrids(green/medium) to bring out a more wider appeal i would think you can try other narrower nozzle tips brings up the bass, losing just a smidge of tightness (i had to listen really hard to see a difference in that) but the bass bump is pretty noticeable, but its no where near bass head level, its still less than my vsonic gr07 be by a bit, if i had to put a number on it maybe 3-4 db rolls of a treble a bit making the sound very smooth makes its a bit more dark sounding i like it, makes it very good for just relaxing on a chair and listening to music all day long =) and i find i can listen longer with these eartips > the stock biflange (which sounded very clear, like ridiculously clear but the treble felt a bit too raw for me) i need some roll of i guess i like a little darker signature its fun to tweak the sound of the these guys with just ear tips =) i felt i needed to share this with others, hope it helps

 

[TheHound]

Has anyone tried the RE-600 with an unamped Cowon J3?
 
Seriously considering them, but have a couple of reservations:
 
1. Earlier in the thread someone mentioned the RE-400 taking his J3 to max volume, and needing to go beyond. I hear the RE-600 are easier to drive, though.
2. The whole balanced thing. I would try and get the RE-600s version as I'm not aiming to use them with a balanced source, but I don't want to be sacrificing a significant degree of potential when I could be going for something else more appropriate for my J3.
3. Purely from a sonic PoV, am I correct in thinking that these will be appropriate for a broad range of genres? I'd hope they will sufficiently rock with something like Zeppelin or Dream Theater, bring out the vocals in a musical, and provide fine detail for rock and classical in the treble without getting harsh. Am I barking up the wrong tree?
 
Grateful for any answers. This hunt for a new IEM has been somewhat painful, as nothing seems to cover all the bases I need without having some kind of fundamental flaw.

 

[brunk]

  Has anyone tried the RE-600 with an unamped Cowon J3?
 
Seriously considering them, but have a couple of reservations:
 
1. Earlier in the thread someone mentioned the RE-400 taking his J3 to max volume, and needing to go beyond. I hear the RE-600 are easier to drive, though.
2. The whole balanced thing. I would try and get the RE-600s version as I'm not aiming to use them with a balanced source, but I don't want to be sacrificing a significant degree of potential when I could be going for something else more appropriate for my J3.
3. Purely from a sonic PoV, am I correct in thinking that these will be appropriate for a broad range of genres? I'd hope they will sufficiently rock with something like Zeppelin or Dream Theater, bring out the vocals in a musical, and provide fine detail for rock and classical in the treble without getting harsh. Am I barking up the wrong tree?
 
Grateful for any answers. This hunt for a new IEM has been somewhat painful, as nothing seems to cover all the bases I need without having some kind of fundamental flaw.

1) They may or may not be easier to drive, depending on the power output of your amp. I  feel more comfortable saying 32ohms is an easier load than 16ohms. The main reason is current capability and an extremely low output impedance are a larger requirement for the RE-600.
2) I recommend you just buy the balanced version and use the single-ended adapter. That will give you flexibility in the future. The only down side is that you have a little extra cable to deal with if you have tight pockets or something.
3) Yes, they work really well with a broad range of genres. They are a just a touch dark, but not as much as you would think. Dream Theater and likes may have a little less air, but the major upside is that you can listen for hours fatigue-free. Vocals are vivid and smooth. There is no harshness here! You will be delighted with this IEM, but like I said it is a little dark, but has a major advantage being that way for the bands you mentioned.
 
Cheers,
Brunk

 

[TheHound]

  1) They may or may not be easier to drive, depending on the power output of your amp. I  feel more comfortable saying 32ohms is an easier load than 16ohms. The main reason is current capability and an extremely low output impedance are a larger requirement for the RE-600.
2) I recommend you just buy the balanced version and use the single-ended adapter. That will give you flexibility in the future. The only down side is that you have a little extra cable to deal with if you have tight pockets or something.
3) Yes, they work really well with a broad range of genres. They are a just a touch dark, but not as much as you would think. Dream Theater and likes may have a little less air, but the major upside is that you can listen for hours fatigue-free. Vocals are vivid and smooth. There is no harshness here! You will be delighted with this IEM, but like I said it is a little dark, but has a major advantage being that way for the bands you mentioned.
 
Cheers,
Brunk

 
Hi Brunk, thanks for the response.
 
I run the J3 without an amp, and have no intention of adding one to the mix at this point, which is why I wanted to make sure the J3 will drive them OK. It concerns me a touch that you say the 32 ohms of the RE-400 is easier to drive than the 16 ohms of the RE-600, given that someone in this thread said they maxed out their J3's volume with the RE-400 and still felt they needed a touch more.
 
I though that a lower ohmage impedance meant higher sensitivity and thus easier to drive? I admit I'm ignorant about these technical aspects, though.
 
I appreciate the advice regarding the version to buy. Not having to use an adapter feels more elegant to me, but I will take on board your suggestion and consider it (providing I can confirm that the unamped J3 will work OK with whichever one I get).
 
Thanks for confirming their versatility. I suspected they would do nicely with details (detail and clarity being important to me), and was concerned they would provide enough kick for heavier stuff. I'm not a basshead but a decent degree of impact with something like Dream Theater is definitely desirable. Sounds like the RE-600 adapts well to whatever music you put through it, though, and even then the J3 has a great EQ if I find anything not quite up to par (again, as long as it turns out the Cowon will do a good enough job driving the phones on its own).
 
Power output specs for the J3 are:
 
Max Output: 16 Ohm earphones : 29mW + 29mW
 
If that helps confirm that they will match OK with the RE-600 unamped?
 
They suggest to me that it should be fine, and a bit of cursory reading suggests it works better with 16 ohm phones than 32 ohm ones. It would be nice to have it confirmed by someone with more of a clue than me about these things, though, especially given I will not be able to audition or return these. Bit of a leap of faith, but one I am close to making (after having considered and then rejected a whole slew of different IEMs for different reasons).

 

[brunk]

 
Power output specs for the J3 are:
 
Max Output: 16 Ohm earphones : 29mW + 29mW
 
If that helps confirm that they will match OK with the RE-600 unamped?
 
They suggest to me that it should be fine, and a bit of cursory reading suggests it works better with 16 ohm phones than 32 ohm ones. It would be nice to have it confirmed by someone with more of a clue than me about these things, though, especially given I will not be able to audition or return these. Bit of a leap of faith, but one I am close to making (after having considered and then rejected a whole slew of different IEMs for different reasons).

That should do the trick nicely. It will get you right around 110dBSPL, assuming it doesn't start clipping like a mad barber lol. Just make sure the amps output impedance is under 2 ohms, preferably under 1 ohms for the best bass response.

 

[TheHound]

  That should do the trick nicely. It will get you right around 110dBSPL, assuming it doesn't start clipping like a mad barber lol. Just make sure the amps output impedance is under 2 ohms, preferably under 1 ohms for the best bass response.

 
It's hard to find a definitive figure for the J3's output impedance, though it would appear from a bit of reading that it should be below 2 ohms, possibly closer to 1.5. Looks like all should be well.
 
Looks like I might be finally putting in an order for some new IEMs. Not before time - I am growing weary of my HJE900.
 
From what I've read I expect the RE-600 will sound a bit more like my old e-Q7s, though hopefully a touch more energetic.