[serman005]

Has anyone experienced fraying at thee Y-junction on the cable? Mine is literally falling apart after a little more than a year. Not happy!

 

[athani]

Has anyone experienced fraying at thee Y-junction on the cable? Mine is literally falling apart after a little more than a year. Not happy!

On the same topic, what is this cable called if I want to buy an aftermarket replacement? And other than DIY, where is the cheapest I can get one?

 

[DavidA]

On the same topic, what is this cable called if I want to buy an aftermarket replacement? And other than DIY, where is the cheapest I can get one?

The cheapest ones would be from ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Replacement-Audio-upgrade-Cable-For-Sennheiser-HD700-HD-700-Headphone-/161743404378?var=&hash=item25a8a87d5am6mNgmcS0f6o2u8ldLkKhJA
 
An old GF gave me hers and these are decent cables but can be microphonic for some, I used them on a HD-700 so that might be the reason for the slight micorphonics.
 
Do a search for HD-700 cables, they fit the 2.5mm hifiman jacks

 

[treecloud]

I recently bought a pair of HE400S on Amazon "used like new", with, according to previous owner, about 40 hours break-in. When they arrived the box had been sitting on the porch in 20F weather, colder than ****, and on first listen they sounded the same...way too bright. They relaxed fairly quickly and I began hearing what I had heard at a friend's place that prompted me to get a pair.
 
I've been using as source Tidal Masters on a Macbook Air, driving a Massdrop ODAC+O2. I've plugged them directly into the headphone jack on the Air a few times and hear improvements in detail and drive with the ODAC+O2, but haven't done long comparisons. I originally heard them being driven from an iPhone 6s with lossless files into the new Dragonfly Red. On my friends well broken in but unmodified pair they sounded great - smooth and neutral balance, with very good resolution bottom to top. His set-up impressed me with it's efficiency: cost and size vs quality is waaay up there. It didn't take long to realize this was one very musical headphone.
 
On the ODAC+O2 they sound a whisper more clinical, slightly more tipped up. I'm guessing the O2 is the more neutral device, and I can live with it with these cans no problem...I put them on and have a hard time taking them off. They seem to still be breaking in and relaxing, but down the road I will probably listen to other dac + amp combos.
 
On modding let me say this: IMHO these cans don't need any modding at all really, they are great straight out of the box. Bass on these cans suits my taste very nicely. And I'm also going to concur with those who say stock pads are really not that bad. In fact I find them better than not bad...very comfortable with a slightly bright but basically neutral balance.
 
My basic point of reference for judging playback is live acoustic music, but I also listen to everything from EDM to minimally mic'd "audiophile" recordings.

 

[jimbop54]

At the beginning of your post you wrote "HE700S".

Do you mean HE400S?

 

[treecloud]

At the beginning of your post you wrote "HE700S".

Do you mean HE400S?

yes, thanks for pointing out, will edit.

 

[foreverzer0]

I recently bought a pair of HE400S on Amazon "used like new", with, according to previous owner, about 40 hours break-in. When they arrived the box had been sitting on the porch in 20F weather, colder than ****, and on first listen they sounded the same...way too bright. They relaxed fairly quickly and I began hearing what I had heard at a friend's place that prompted me to get a pair.

I've been using as source Tidal Masters on a Macbook Air, driving a Massdrop ODAC+O2. I've plugged them directly into the headphone jack on the Air a few times and hear improvements in detail and drive with the ODAC+O2, but haven't done long comparisons. I originally heard them being driven from an iPhone 6s with lossless files into the new Dragonfly Red. On my friends well broken in but unmodified pair they sounded great - smooth and neutral balance, with very good resolution bottom to top. His set-up impressed me with it's efficiency: cost and size vs quality is waaay up there. It didn't take long to realize this was one very musical headphone.

On the ODAC+O2 they sound a whisper more clinical, slightly more tipped up. I'm guessing the O2 is the more neutral device, and I can live with it with these cans no problem...I put them on and have a hard time taking them off. They seem to still be breaking in and relaxing, but down the road I will probably listen to other dac + amp combos.

On modding let me say this: IMHO these cans don't need any modding at all really, they are great straight out of the box. Bass on these cans suits my taste very nicely. And I'm also going to concur with those who say stock pads are really not that bad. In fact I find them better than not bad...very comfortable with a slightly bright but basically neutral balance.

My basic point of reference for judging playback is live acoustic music, but I also listen to everything from EDM to minimally mic'd "audiophile" recordings.

After mods, mine sound like floor standing speakers in a room except the soundstage size obviously, but the sound stage is much larger than stock.

 

[jimbop54]

What mods did you do?

 

[treecloud]

After mods, mine sound like floor standing speakers in a room except the soundstage size obviously, but the sound stage is much larger than stock.

 
Well that does sound promising, after a good break in I'll try grill first...free, easy, and reversible.

 

[foreverzer0]

What mods did you do?

http://www.head-fi.org/t/766529/new-2015-hifiman-he400s/2715#post_13226839

 

[DavidA]

http://www.head-fi.org/t/766529/new-2015-hifiman-he400s/2715#post_13226839

does the venting help the bass or just the sound stage?

 

[foreverzer0]

  does the venting help the bass or just the sound stage?

 
According to Bootshark: It will tighten up the bass significantly. Too much and you might get some distortion @100Hz-200Hz and lose some energy <50Hz though, so adjust accordingly. It also fixes the "vacuum" problem when adjusting them on your head with pleather pads.
 
However from my experimenting, venting them downward along with the discs reduced the most distortion. Smooth and fatigue free bass while still being tight, in other words more natural imo.

 

[jimbop54]

I don't understand this note:
"Add a gap between the earpads and the earcup assembly by adding two pieces of mounting tape to the thicker side of the pads to "vent" them."

 

[DavidA]

Quote:

   
According to Bootshark: It will tighten up the bass significantly. Too much and you might get some distortion @100Hz-200Hz and lose some energy <50Hz though, so adjust accordingly. It also fixes the "vacuum" problem when adjusting them on your head with pleather pads.
 
However from my experimenting, venting them downward along with the discs reduced the most distortion. Smooth and fatigue free bass while still being tight, in other words more natural imo.

Thanks for the reply and your testing impressions
 
 

I don't understand this note:
"Add a gap between the earpads and the earcup assembly by adding two pieces of mounting tape to the thicker side of the pads to "vent" them."

Take a look at this picture:

The 2 white pieces of tape will raise the ear pads from the mounting ring creating a "vent"

 

[jimbop54]

How thick is the tape?