[GrouchoMarx1933]

Not every headphone will work for every person.

 

[Capt369]

  Not every headphone will work for every person.

Sure, as we all know it`s all subjective.

 

[paulguru]

  My 400s has just arrived. I know, it is too early to judge, but I felt this urge to share.
It is much smaller than I expected. I have to use the max settings on the headband to have a comfy fit. Otherwise it is very comfy.
I know, I have to give them 150 hrs burn in, and I also will change the pads for the HM5 ones.
But so far, out of the box they are quite disappointing.
Yes, the promise of transparency and detail and linearity is there, but it sounds lifeless and boring compared to X2, and bass is missing.
I really hope, this is just an immature impression, and things will improve after burn in and changing the pads, cause I really like the ergonomics of the 400s and the forwardness and naturalness of mids/vocals, the separation and details with the completely black background, but so far they sound lifeless and boring. Even though, there is a couple of things in the sound I can already like over X2. Hopefully they will break in by time (and pad and grill mods), but so far 8:2 for X2.
Also, while X2 sounds acceptable from any source, 400s is really bad from cheap source. I did this first impression comparison using Mojo.
As I exceed the 150hrs burn in and my HM5 pads arrive I report back. But out of the box there is not very much to love in 400s.

 
 

With the stock pads, the 400S feels analytical compared to the X2, which is a majorly fun set of headphones.

I think burn in and a change of pads will improve your opinion of them. But no matter what you do, they will never sound like the X2. IMO, that's a good thing, because the X2 already does what it does very well.

So ... the 400S is noticeable analytical headphone ? ( unforgiving sound ? )
And compared to HD600 ??? 
 
The bass in 400S is deeper than HD600 ???

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

It's analytical in comparison to the X2, which isn't an analytical can at all.

 

[betula]

As I promised, here are my final thoughts about the 400s, giving them 40-50 hrs burn in time and also trying HM5 pads and grills off.
I have got Chord Mojo with Fidelio X2 as main music source these days. 400s was plugged into Mojo as well. Mainly I listen to different kind of electric music. And X2 is just perfect for that.
 400s with stock pads felt anaemic with no bass with this kind of music. With burn in however there was slight improvement in space and low end. But not much. Mids and highs were very nice on the other hand. Bit better than on X2. I was very much about to give up on 400s, but still wanted to try HM5 pads, as last resort. And man, these pads make a HUGE difference. They bring bass to existence. And comfort improves as well. I would say using HM5 pads feels like a 30-40% sound improvement, and also taking the grills off is another 5-10% improvement in openness. So with these absolutely reversible mods 400s becomes a real contender in its price range.
 Planar sound is very lifelike very transparent and natural. 400s is a real neutral hp. Linear with no coloration at all.
I found them better for classical music, acoustic instruments and vocal than X2. The naturalness and lifelike sound is just great. And with HM5 pads it does a good job with electric genres as well, however X2 still goes deeper in subbass. Midbass and upper bass has a good quantity with the new pads. Subbass rolls off quicker than X2, but in 90% of the time it is not very noticeable. And in classical music and live acoustic music it is not noticeable AT ALL. I think, they are very similar to HD600s. Those are also great for classical and live acoustic music. Not that great with EDM.
 So even though HM5 pads drastically improved the 400s listening experience, I stick with X2. X2 has a bigger sound stage, much better bass, much more fun. Even though mids and highs are slightly better on 400s, the overall experience for me, with my kind of music is just better with X2. So I sent the HM5 pads back to Amazon, and I put 400s on sale. (Sending to UK only if you are interested.)
 

 

[Gr33nL34f]

  As I promised, here are my final thoughts about the 400s, giving them 40-50 hrs burn in time and also trying HM5 pads and grills off.
I have got Chord Mojo with Fidelio X2 as main music source these days. 400s was plugged into Mojo as well. Mainly I listen to different kind of electric music. And X2 is just perfect for that.
 400s with stock pads felt anaemic with no bass with this kind of music. With burn in however there was slight improvement in space and low end. But not much. Mids and highs were very nice on the other hand. Bit better than on X2. I was very much about to give up on 400s, but still wanted to try HM5 pads, as last resort. And man, these pads make a HUGE difference. They bring bass to existence. And comfort improves as well. I would say using HM5 pads feels like a 30-40% sound improvement, and also taking the grills off is another 5-10% improvement in openness. So with these absolutely reversible mods 400s becomes a real contender in its price range.
 Planar sound is very lifelike very transparent and natural. 400s is a real neutral hp. Linear with no coloration at all.
I found them better for classical music, acoustic instruments and vocal than X2. The naturalness and lifelike sound is just great. And with HM5 pads it does a good job with electric genres as well, however X2 still goes deeper in subbass. Midbass and upper bass has a good quantity with the new pads. Subbass rolls off quicker than X2, but in 90% of the time it is not very noticeable. And in classical music and live acoustic music it is not noticeable AT ALL. I think, they are very similar to HD600s. Those are also great for classical and live acoustic music. Not that great with EDM.
 So even though HM5 pads drastically improved the 400s listening experience, I stick with X2. X2 has a bigger sound stage, much better bass, much more fun. Even though mids and highs are slightly better on 400s, the overall experience for me, with my kind of music is just better with X2. So I sent the HM5 pads back to Amazon, and I put 400s on sale. (Sending to UK only if you are interested.)
 

you sent those overly stretched pads back to amazon? lol. i was looking at the x2 but ppl are saying the QC on them is iffy right now and i went and took a look on amazon and amazon has the item under review atm.

 

[betula]

  you sent those overly stretched pads back to amazon? lol. i was looking at the x2 but ppl are saying the QC on them is iffy right now and i went and took a look on amazon and amazon has the item under review atm.

I am lucky enough to have a perfect, woox pair of X2 bought 6-7 months ago. Now I would wait with buying X2 from Amazon, but I am sure they will sort out the recent QC issues in 2-6 weeks.

 

[venividivici517]

Does anyone know how the brainwavz pads sound vs the focus pads? I have been hunting this forum for a while now, and no one has really given an answer.

 

[nwavesailor]

  Does anyone know how the brainwavz pads sound vs the focus pads? I have been hunting this forum for a while now, and no one has really given an answer.

Short listen tonight and I was impressed with the BrainWavz pads! Too much of a PITA to go A/B with the tabs on the 400S rings, so I'll stay with these for now. More bass, mids still there, highs and detail nice as well. Feels good on the noggin, as did (at least for me) the Focas A pads after using the OEM Velpads.
 
A little tough as I am also changing tubes in a Vali 2 at the same time.............
 
As always, YMMV!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nwavesailor]

Without doing a tedious (and IMO PITA) A/B/C back and forth I 'think' I have found every step up to be an improvement...........at least in bass performance. OEM Velpads > Focus A > Brainwavz.
More comfort for my head/ears as well although the Focus A and Brainwavz were both better than the Velpads and not vastly different in comfort one to the other.
 
Anyone have an EASY on / off / back on / for pad swapping? I'm finding the plastic tabs are very soft and can get a bit bent if not careful when reattaching the pads.
 
I'm Staying with the Brainwavz angled pads for now.................more comfortable and more bass!

 

[GNinja]

Hello guys, im thinking about buying this cans as my first mid-fi over ears (I only own some mid-fi iems, i plan to use the cans for home listening), do you think this is a solid buy without any amp/dac?
 
or should i just go for some cheaper cans+amp, my hard limit is $300 and im not planning to buy any other audio equipment in years. So must i choose correctly. I think my second choice rather than these are ath-ad900x with some fiio amp/dac.
 
My source is my laptop that has el cheapo soundcard and my samsung galaxy s5.

 

[bixby]

  Hello guys, im thinking about buying this cans as my first mid-fi over ears (I only own some mid-fi iems, i plan to use the cans for home listening), do you think this is a solid buy without any amp/dac?
 
or should i just go for some cheaper cans+amp, my hard limit is $300 and im not planning to buy any other audio equipment in years. So must i choose correctly. I think my second choice rather than these are ath-ad900x with some fiio amp/dac.
 
My source is my laptop that has el cheapo soundcard and my samsung galaxy s5.

depends, what will be your music player, browser based spotify, you tube music videos, full res files, foobar,downloaded mp3, it matters because the 400s is going to be wasted in a sense with a poor hp out and lower res files.  Better to save up for dac/amp or go with a lower cost can.
 
Not sure how good your laptop is but many are pretty poor.  With your iems does the laptop sound better or worse than your cell phone?  That should give you an idea, since most decent smartphones have a pretty quiet and halfway decent hp out.

 

[paulguru]

400s is noticeable more bassy compared to HD600 ?

 

[GNinja]

 
depends, what will be your music player, browser based spotify, you tube music videos, full res files, foobar,downloaded mp3, it matters because the 400s is going to be wasted in a sense with a poor hp out and lower res files.  Better to save up for dac/amp or go with a lower cost can.
 
Not sure how good your laptop is but many are pretty poor.  With your iems does the laptop sound better or worse than your cell phone?  That should give you an idea, since most decent smartphones have a pretty quiet and halfway decent hp out.

I have 50% 320kbps Mp3 and 50% FLAC.
With my sony xba-a3 the laptop sounds dull, bass is lacking. With my phone it sounds quite good. I get microphonics sometimes, tough. I also can easily tell a poor recording or low quality mp3 from a good one.
I listen mostly to hip hop, prog rock, jazz and downtempo electronic. Do you think ill get better sound from my current source with cheaper cans+amp/dac? I will be using the laptop anyways because thats what i use most of the day.

 

[GNinja]

(Sorry for the double post, mb)