[bagwell359]

Anything new about the HE400i mods?
Soon I will be getting my HE400i and I will follow the examples of mods posted here, but I think of putting rubber on the external cups to increase the rigidity of the set of cups as it was spoken here but pieces of other material was used, anyone knows something new?
Sorry bad english, sorry.

400i easy to mod:

1. pads - get angled of medium depth, leather not felt
2. change screens to something that is acoustically invisible - i use .5" ground cloth (pics in a HE-500 thread. That stainless nautilus pattern may be excellent but I don't know.
3. use dynamat on the back side from the driver edge to where the screen fits in. Blue tack doesn't do enough, sorbothane might be best but I have cases of the glue failing.
4. you might be able to get a bit of felt onto the front along the edges - but check the pad inner dimensions to see if they block those areas - in that case, useless to do anything. watch out for the magnetic field on the front side, loose screws or screwdrivers not held like a vise might do some fatal damage - I wouldn't advise mussing with the front of these (besides pads) unless you are very steady and have experience.
5. cables. I wouldn't think silver or SPC cables would be good. Stick with O2 free copper. Unless you can step up from SE to XLR with that change probably not worth it. My 4XX (very similar) sounds as good on ancient DAP than it does on a very potent Ragnarok 1 with XLR.

 

[Riversalt]

HE400i grill mods.

 

[bagwell359]

Its not a 3D print.

Its a laser cut stainless steel plate. If its of any practical value, its 0.5mm thick and 86mm in diameter.

I've been looking for this for some time and can't find it, could you send the source/manufacturer? TIA

 

[farmi86]

Can anyone tell me if the grill mod / removing the grill does make any changes to the midrange? Or does it only affect stage/treble?

 

[bagwell359]

Can anyone tell me if the grill mod / removing the grill does make any changes to the midrange? Or does it only affect stage/treble?

Which can?

4XX - wider/deeper stage, 80-350 Hz removes amusical reverberations resulting in a lot of gained clarity, lose some bass, but its a bit quicker - this can very much needs treatment on the screen side with dynamat and/or sorbothane to cut midbass fat. Also better pad helps, cables not so much

HE-500 - same as above, except need for treatment (dynamat) for bass is matter of taste. very much needs new cable and pads along with screen removal. Pad change and screen removal in this case seem to pair together to give even more improvement, could be that its the best of the round cans they made outside of the HE-6.

HE5SE - similar improvements as 4XX, no dynamat needed or wanted. HE5-LE: some dynamat helps

HE6SE - no dynamat, screen removal, pad change, and cable change all help.

New "big" cans; cables is about it, when ordering new pads, one could try to mod the old one, but I haven't tried that yet. One poster says the HEX v2 has very thin/poor internal cables, and a change is a big help, dunno yet, but will try.

Screen removal - good idea to have something (audibly invisible or negligible) - I use 1/2" ground cloth, painted, trimmed carefully. keeps fingers out, but not cooking fumes, store in a air proof bag is my advice.

 

[farmi86]

Which can?

Thanks for the great info

Sorry - i own a HE-500, the oldest can in my collection. Still lovin it so much - but the stage could be a bit more wide/airy. So the mod seems to be a great thing.

I'm using the Hifiman VelPads (the newer, very slightly angled ones) which are already brighter and less bassy than most of the other pads. After modding the grill, i think hybrids could be a good choice to match.

Since it's reversible (and easy to test), i will just check out if i like the mod. Most important to me is, that i don't lose that creamy, breathtaking midrange the 500 offers.

 

[bagwell359]

Thanks for the great info

Sorry - i own a HE-500, the oldest can in my collection. Still lovin it so much - but the stage could be a bit more wide/airy. So the mod seems to be a great thing.

I'm using the Hifiman VelPads (the newer, very slightly angled ones) which are already brighter and less bassy than most of the other pads. After modding the grill, i think hybrids could be a good choice to match.

Since it's reversible (and easy to test), i will just check out if i like the mod. Most important to me is, that i don't lose that creamy, breathtaking midrange the 500 offers.

Get a pair of MrSpeakers Ether Angled. $79. Flatest treble of any tested, also deeper into bass than most. Also the shape of the cutout cuts down on some of the mylar furthest from the center which are IMO out of time sync. Image smear and blending of similar instruments is a thing of the past. Deeper soundstage, and wider. But when you get the screen off, the width goes to about 220 degrees on some recordings, and the rectangular soundstage is quite close to the HD-800/800S.

The screen removal (or audible invisible) will cut false (as in not in the recording) reverb on stuff like wood blocks, finger snaps, and takes false chestiness out of lower male voices, viola, upright bass, etc.

The stock cable is junk, a good O2 proof copper cable helps cut some of the issues in the 5k area.

Overall compared to stock: the very long decay on cymbals (9k mostly) is cut down to closer to whats on the recording (less ringing in evidence), mids and highs have more focus, less tizz, less instrumental smear esp on complex recordings. Female voices come out of a much blacker background and almost never sibilant (sorry Bjork doesn't count). lower mids down, faster, cleaner, a bit of weight but not tone lost under 60 Hz (maybe 1.5 db). Soundstage much deeper and easier to locate instruments, Stage gloriously wide. See my extensive descriptions in the main HE-500 thread - but I have recently cut back on my use of dynamat/sorbothane to get the bass back. BTW, it likes a high watt SS amp with low impedance - like my Rag 1 - if that matters.

I still listen to it more than my HEX v2 and HD-600. I'd trade it for a Arya, E2, Voce, LCD4, and some others - but not a whole host of others. The driver is genius, the surrounding pieces (ehhh, that's why there are so many mods). Also I use the 4XX headband which is a lot more comfy then stock even if not much lighter.

 

[farmi86]

Get a pair of MrSpeakers Ether Angled. $79. Flatest treble of any tested, also deeper into bass than most.

Sounds great - but it's almost impossible to get these pads here in germany without paying lots of shipping fee and taxes

The stock cable is junk, a good O2 proof copper cable helps cut some of the issues in the 5k area.

So true.. i replaced the cable with a high quality custom one 2 days after buying the HE-500.

...and almost never sibilant (sorry Bjork doesn't count)

... made my day

I also had a Edition X v2 few months ago. Stage was nice but THE ONLY mids-king is still the magic HE-500. So creamy, so natural, so aaaaaah. Simply great headphones! <3

 

[bagwell359]

Sounds great - but it's almost impossible to get these pads here in germany without paying lots of shipping fee and taxes



So true.. i replaced the cable with a high quality custom one 2 days after buying the HE-500.



... made my day

I also had a Edition X v2 few months ago. Stage was nice but THE ONLY mids-king is still the magic HE-500. So creamy, so natural, so aaaaaah. Simply great headphones! <3

It's one of those pieces that if you never compare it to anything you start thinking its comprehensive and almost perfect. It's not, listen to the E2 and Arya, or at a higher level, LCD4, Voce, 007 - and no. Or even classical piano solo/duo music on an HD-600, but, yeah, its still my go to.

 

[farmi86]

Yeah, did it! Plastic Grill + Fabric

 

[bagwell359]

Pretty cool. Is there room for the ring to go over the grill? Does the grill resonate when you ping it with your finger? If its dead or very low in amplitude you've got it! You could also test music with finger snaps, wood blocks, very low male voices, etc.

 

[farmi86]

Pretty cool. Is there room for the ring to go over the grill? Does the grill resonate when you ping it with your finger? If its dead or very low in amplitude you've got it! You could also test music with finger snaps, wood blocks, very low male voices, etc.

Unfortunately no space for the ring - but thats no problem. I tested three different grill materials / shapes and ended with these. The grill is a "anti mole grill" made of plastic, so it has a little flex and "clamps" perfectly without using the ring. No resonation and great improvements concerning stage and some frequencies

 

[bagwell359]

Unfortunately no space for the ring - but thats no problem. I tested three different grill materials / shapes and ended with these. The grill is a "anti mole grill" made of plastic, so it has a little flex and "clamps" perfectly without using the ring. No resonation and great improvements concerning stage and some frequencies

Very good! Other round can HFM modders take note!

 

[The Third]

So what was the conclusion on best pads and grill material to mod the HE400 with? And how do you cut out the perfect circle of a mesh (total noob)?

 

[Oregonian]

Here's a grill mod that was popular for a while....................forget the name of these but got them off Amazon. Think they were/are for computer fans but there's plenty of posts on here earlier in the thread detailing where to get and the name. "Snap" in place.................actually a press fit after trimming them. This is called Biohazard.