[ecuericb]

Let me start with...I have a pair of 6400's and I love them. My only compliant about them is this. I'm a live sound enginneer and their isolation is not very good at all. You lose a lot of the bass 400hz and lower when anything moderately loud is going on. So even when I'm driving our box truck to a show for load in I don't hear the low frequencys, which means it makes it very hard to use these as a reference headphone for live mixing with a full band playing infront of me. Other wise these headphones are great. I just ordered a pair of Sennheiser HD 380 pros based on reviews of their natural sound and well above average isolation. I plan to still use my 6400s at home and for my personal listening though. I really enjoyed them when tracking In the studio.

 

[davekojo]

So I picked the 6400 up a week ago and they are a great headphone. I'm by no means an audiophile but I probably spend 8-10 hours a day listening to music (at work, and travel to and from on public transport). I mostly listen to Hip-hop, but also listen to DnB, some punk rock (pennywise, frenzal rhomb) and Jazz House (St Germain, Bonobo), Jazz and pop (whatever they're is on the radio).
 
In relation to my other headphones they sit somewhere between my SRH440 and Sony MDR-1A in terms of sound profile. The bass is less then than the MDR-1a but much more controlled. They also bring the vocals more forward. They have more bass than the SRH440 and feel a little more detailed. The sound stage is comparable to the MDR-1a maybe slightly wider. (I used Bonobo - The North Border Live album to test sound stage). I'd say these are the flattest or most neutral headphone I have owned. They are by no means boring or dry. If the track was mixed well then these headphones will make the song sound great, if the track was mixed poorly or is low quality you will know.
 
Noise Isolation is minimal. I can't remember where I saw it but it was referenced as up to 25db. As some have mentioned the bass going missing if you are taking public transport/standing on a moderately busy street or out in the wind. But if you are in a quiet room a well mixed track will should have more than enough bass (you don't "feel it" like the MDR-1a but it is definitely there). They don't seem to leak much sound. I can listen to these in bed at a reasonable volume and my partner doesn't hear anything.
 
They are comfortable, I'd say the ear cups could be a little deeper but I can keep them on for hours at a time.
 
I also noticed they have some small holes on top of the ear cups. I suspect these help with creating the wide sound stage as my MDRs have a similar single large hole on the top of the cup. Has anyone tried covering these? I think It may increase isolation but not sure how it will affect sound quality.
 
My only gripes would be that they only came with a single long straight cable. I would have like a shorter cable included as well (but for the price I can't complain too much). And isolation could be better. But the as most advertising information promotes them as a studio/mixing headphones not travel/portable consumer headphones so maybe isolation isn't as big a concern (the engineer would mix through monitors while artists are in the studio and headphones would just have click track. Headphones would be used say at home to check a mix). 
 
I would recommend these for home listening. If you are out and about with these you will find bass goes in and out as the background noise levels change. Also the long cable can be a pain.

 

[dardy030]

Hi, I'm thinking of buying these headphones for mixing music (not DJ-ing mixing), so I'm wondering how flat and accurate they actually are? @tdockweiler mentioned they sound totally opposite of HD600, but they measure increeedibly close, and HD600 are often refered as flattest/best headphones for mixing, so that confused me a bit.
 
Also, if I'm looking for them, is there a product variation I should be aware of (like with M50, where models before and after 2012, I think, sound very different) or quality control issues like with DT250-250 etc?
 
Has anyone used them for mixing music and how do they translate to speakers? Is bass linear with mids or lower?
 
Thanks

 

[davekojo]

I have the  6400 and some studio monitors which sound similar to KRK-Rockits. I haven't mixed with them but I'd say that the bass doesn't extend into the lower frequency's as far as the monitors. I'm also not sure what genre's of music your mixing but the 6400 wouldn't be a replacement for speakers.
 
I'd say the 6400 are good for monitoring just vocals (singer know they're hitting their notes), and acoustic style music, but if you're mixing Hip Hop, House, Electronica etc maybe look at the 8400 (I haven't listened to these)

 

[Sound Searcher]

HI all,
 
This is my first post on the site. I don't know if anyone will see this as the last post was a few months ago, but here it goes:
 
I own the 6400's. I can note one thing that I don't think has been mentioned. These things are built like a tank. I (gently) throw them around a lot and I usually fall asleep listening to them. As much has been analyzed already, I will just say I find the response to be quite flat. I am running them through the FiiO K1 and it helps the sound stage a bit. I don't like the headband padding or the ear pads. It's amazing how much difference a slight change in the orientation of the pads makes, as well as a slight bit of pressure on the ear pads themselves. 
 
I would like to get the 8400 replacement headband and ear pads, but the cost is prohibitive.Three questions:
 
1. Does anyone know of any other cheaper replacement pads for other headphones that will fit the 6400? Obviously, the goal here is to get something that equals the improvement of the 8400 pads discussed in this thread.
 
2. If someone actually has the answer, how in the hell can I get these pads off? The piece holding them on seems very difficult to remove.
 
3. Overall, I like them, but I want to upgrade. All things being equal and subjectivity always ruling, what would be the next couple of levels above the 6400's? I listen to all kinds of music and movies. In fact I listen to everything through headphones or earphones 90% of the time.
 
Thanks. Looking forward to exploring the site.

 

[davekojo]

  HI all,
 
This is my first post on the site. I don't know if anyone will see this as the last post was a few months ago, but here it goes:
 
I own the 6400's. I can note one thing that I don't think has been mentioned. These things are built like a tank. I (gently) throw them around a lot and I usually fall asleep listening to them. As much has been analyzed already, I will just say I find the response to be quite flat. I am running them through the FiiO K1 and it helps the sound stage a bit. I don't like the headband padding or the ear pads. It's amazing how much difference a slight change in the orientation of the pads makes, as well as a slight bit of pressure on the ear pads themselves. 
 
I would like to get the 8400 replacement headband and ear pads, but the cost is prohibitive.Three questions:
 
1. Does anyone know of any other cheaper replacement pads for other headphones that will fit the 6400? Obviously, the goal here is to get something that equals the improvement of the 8400 pads discussed in this thread.
 
2. If someone actually has the answer, how in the hell can I get these pads off? The piece holding them on seems very difficult to remove.
 
3. Overall, I like them, but I want to upgrade. All things being equal and subjectivity always ruling, what would be the next couple of levels above the 6400's? I listen to all kinds of music and movies. In fact I listen to everything through headphones or earphones 90% of the time.
 
Thanks. Looking forward to exploring the site.

My answers are in a random order for some reason.
 
3. If you have the money I would look at the aiaiai TMA-2's. They come in a few different configurations but the S4 driver is great for Modern genres of music Pop,House/ED,Hip-Hop. They also work for Jazz and Rock but I don't have an ear for these genres. Also the H3 headband is best if you plan on long listening sessions.
 
The one caveat is that the S4 driver is producer/engineer tuned. If you are just listening to a well mixed track nothing will stand out. If you listen for the high hat you will hear the detail, if you listen for a voice you will hear the subtleties in tone. If a track is mixed poorly or an instrument is out of place the headphones will tell you (I do some amatuer production and these the aiaiai is the best headphone I have for this). If you're just listening for enjoyment you will either find the aiaiai a bit bland or interesting but I would not say they are a fun headphone.
 
I'm also not an audiophile so I what I refer too as a neutral headphone. The 6400 sounds neutral/natural for acoustic music to me but comes up short for electronic music. The aiaiai which I have recommended sound neutral/natural for electronic music but I done limited acoustic listening with them. 
 
1. I had the 6400s and used the pads from the Sure SRH-840. You will need to modify them a bit to get them to stay on the earcup. I used some bluetack to stick them to earcup, I can't remember exactly how as I reverted them back to the original pads and threw them in my spare headphone box.
 
2. There is a small semi-rigid ring that holds the base of the earpad under a lip in the earcup. You have to kind of pry them out.
 
I hope this helps and maybe you get input from other forum members

 

[Sound Searcher]

Thanks davekojo,
 
I didn't expect any responses so quickly. I remember the aialai's going past my radar at some point. Maybe I'll go give them a look. I'm leaning toward spending around $300 to hopefully get 3x better headphones than the 6400's. We'll see if that works out...
 
Though I'd like to throw down and go open-back it's just not practical for my situation, so I will narrow it down to closed-back over the ear.
 
Thanks much for the ear pad replacement suggestion. I might do that before I buy something else. Still not sure about that ring holding the pads in, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I know how forums work, so I'll stop talking about non-KRK stuff in the 95% KRK thread I started
 
Looking forward to hearing suggestions from others on ear pad replacements/mods for the 6400.

 

[shpadoinkle]

I've had these headphones for about 5 years now. I use them in work, currently hooked up to an O2/ODac, previously a hifimediy sabre usb dac. They are pretty easy to drive, the O2 is definitely overkill (1x gain, between 9 and 11 o'clock).
 
They are comfortable enough to wear for 8 hours a day if required. Clamp force is light, pads are big enough and soft enough.
 
For a long while I thought their sound was a bit boring. Couldn't quite but my finger on why. Lacking a bit of bass impact, not enough sparkle in the highs. In hindsight I was seeking a more coloured sound, later I was seeking detail retrieval (veil removal?).
 
However, the more I have auditioned replacements for them, the more I have come to appreciate them.
 
I've had and returned or sold:
 
1. MSR7s (trebles fatiguing to me - otherwise great - comfort, build, exciting sound).
2. Shure SRH840s - Only a brief audition, but they didn't feel like an upgrade to the 6400s. Possibly should have held on to these longer, initial impression was that they didn't do anything the KRKs couldn't.
3. NAD Viso HP50 - Great sound, balanced and articulate, but uncomfortable - the headband just created a sore spot in the middle top of my head. The pads and clamp force were just about acceptable.
4. PSB M4U 1 - Similar sound to NADs although I preferred the NADs, but even worse comfort than the NADs. Clamp too tight, pads not deep enough/crush too much - sore ear lobes.
5. Brainwavz HM5 - I initially though these were broken, because they seemed to have no bass. Tracks would literally be missing part of the frequency. Otherwise, they were really comfortable. But the sound was way too lean, distant even.
6. Ath-M50s - not as comfortable, but acceptable comfort wise. The bass exaggeration is initially interesting, but ultimately distracting. I would probably take these over many of the above (MSR7, NAD, PSB, HM5) almost by default. They are not disqualified by discomfort, fatiguing or otherwise unacceptable sound.
 
So a bunch of well-rated headphones that in one way or another are incompatible with my head/ears. 
 
Meanwhile the 6400s roll on. I've been appreciating their transparency and versatility. 
 
So I welcome any other suggestions, but I feel I'm going to be sticking with them for another few years.

 

[ScareDe2]

Amazing graph!
It seems that if you want the same sound signature with more bass you might consider an Audeze SINE

It is VERY close to harman target with a bit more noth at the 6KHZ region that I really enjoy. Amazing FR.

 

[RoyStone]

How do these compare to say, Philips SHP9500? The latter is 20 bucks cheaper. Which is the better buy? I know one is open-back and the other is closed, but which is better sounding overall? The SHP9500 are uber-popular while the KRK seem obscure.