Received my Mad Dog's this morning. Very very impressed. I work nightshifts and tend to wake at about 3pm daily and finish work till around mid night. I own unit, and stay my brother and a friend here. Because I tend to be up very late and I watch movies, tv and listen to music late at night I needed a pair of full sized closed that isolated like crazy for the silent nights. The HE-500 were being heard by the ultra sensitive ears of my young brother through the wall vent (I listen pretty loudly I guess). I hated watching shows and movies trying to use a IEM, this is perfect. These block sound extremely well and do not leak anything that my brother can hear even sitting next to me.
Very fast shipping with priority from the US to Australia. 6 days or so I believe.
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Please post your comparisons as I will be purchasing one of the 3
I've only had 4 hours to listen, but here are a few preliminary thoughts. I listen to mostly Rock, Metal and electronic.
I'll start off by saying that the HE-500 is another league as expected.
I'm powering all 3 from the NFB 5.32 at the moment. 1800 mW to 50 ohms.
Bass
HE-400 has the highest amount of bass out of the three. HE-500 has a higher bass quality, or at least cleaner bass but is not as powerful. The Mad Dog 3.2 is about the same in quantity as the HE-500 on this set up but is slightly less defined.
Mids
The HE-400 has a dip in the upper mids, which makes them very laid back and as everyone knows they are towards being a/are dark headphone. For rock/metal/punk etc it lacks a bit of attack for guitars. The Mad Dog has good full mids, no dips here. The mad dog is not aggressive by any means though, and is mostly neutral/relaxed. Very smooth, no noticeable odd peaks or harshness. HE-500 has better mids for me. Just fuller, and better with vocals.
Treble
The HE-400 has a bit of harshness in the treble, cymbal hits can sound a bit unusual sometimes. HE-500 has very smooth treble (to me at least) with the velours and is extended well, a lot better than the HE-400. The Mad Dog has mostly smooth treble but I think there is some imbalance up there, but nothing notable to my ears.
Soundstage
The HE-500 is the biggest, quite wide but not very deep. The HE-400 is still fairly wide but less so that the HE-500. The mad dog is of average width + depth but is definitely well above what I'm used to from closed cans. All three lack the air of high end dynamics.
Comfort
I've got average sized (64mm) ears and I wear thin framed glasses. I have an average sized head. The Mad Dog is remarkably comfortable and is hands down the best in this regard. The HE-400 and HE-500 are the same for me here, both clamped too hard at first until I stretched the headband. Still they both can both be felt with slight pressure on my head, but not uncomfortable really unless you are listening for hours.
Imagine/seperation: Goes to the HE-400 and HE-500 here, they handle the complex passages in fast rock songs with a bit more clarity and instruments are better seperated.
Sorry for not articulating my thoughts better, very tired at current.
