[snafu1]

  Hi everyone.  
 
 
Did a thread search and came up empty.  
 
 
 
My question is, does anyone else notice the occasional rattle on bass heavy material?  Let me clarify.  Not even necessarily bass 'heavy'.  For instance, the upright bass in a jazz trio.  My 400s has a tendency to rattle a bit with certain bass frequencies.  
 
This occurred when I owned a pair of Grado RS-1.  Grado owners call it the 'Grattle'.   Usually caused by hairs or other loose material in contact with the driver.  
 
In the case of the 400s, it seems more enclosure related, though.  Perhaps the external grille?  
 
 
Anyone else experience this?  It is only a very slight annoyance.  Otherwise these are outstanding headphones.  Best I have owned so far.  Including the much more expensive Grados.  Wow, these eat the Grado for lunch.  
 
Thanks!

Until I read your post I had forgotten about the occasional rattle. My first pair of HE-400S exhibited this. But it was very infrequent. However, soon I also started experiencing intermittent signal loss on the left channel. Since they were less than a month old, I had them exchanged (Amazon) with a new pair. It's been 3 months with the new pair and I still have never heard the rattle. So, it seems it may be an issue with particular sets.

 

[serman005]

I just went to Fourplay's "Elixir" and cranked it. This song has chest-rattling bass on it. I don't seem to have any rattling going on with my HE400S (which are brand new). That said, I have to say, the quality and detail of the midrange is absolutely breathtaking on these cans. Overall, they sound quite balanced to me thus far. I am not appreciating a huge cliff in the sub-bass, either, but maybe that's just me. So far, so good.

 

[nwavesailor]

  I just went to Fourplay's "Elixir" and cranked it. This song has chest-rattling bass on it. I don't seem to have any rattling going on with my HE400S (which are brand new). That said, I have to say, the quality and detail of the midrange is absolutely breathtaking on these cans. Overall, they sound quite balanced to me thus far. I am not appreciating a huge cliff in the sub-bass, either, but maybe that's just me. So far, so good.

I am NOT a fan of break in for headphones. I am only at a total of (?) perhaps 30-40 hours and they are now 'mo betta!
 
I went from the stock pads to the Focus Pad A to Brainwavz angled and this has helped the bass for me.

 

[jhoff80]

Anyone know where to find lightweight and far shorter cables for these?  I'm looking for something in the sub 1m range, and the shortest I've seen anywhere (including the ones on eBay) is 1.2m. 
 
I still plan on (for now) using the stock cable for most listening, but I also will soon have a specialized need (VR use) where the thinner and shorter the better.

 

[Vigrith]

Bestintheverse makes great cables and in any size you'd want it as far as I know. US/Canada so depends on where you're located but I own a one he's made that I've brought along after being in America on business for a while and nothing bad can be said about it.
 
Also heard good things about this person on Etsy, I think you just message him with your requirements and measurements etc - pretty sure he'll sort you out, can't speak for the cables personally seeing as I've not experienced one made by him yet but as I said I know people who do and they are extremely adamant about the quality.

 

[jhoff80]

  Bestintheverse makes great cables and in any size you'd want it as far as I know. US/Canada so depends on where you're located but I own a one he's made that I've brought along after being in America on business for a while and nothing bad can be said about it.
 
Also heard good things about this person on Etsy, I think you just message him with your requirements and measurements etc - pretty sure he'll sort you out, can't speak for the cables personally seeing as I've not experienced one made by him yet but as I said I know people who do and they are extremely adamant about the quality.

 
Thanks for that, I think the 'headphone to female 3.5mm' cable from Bestintheverse looks like it might do pretty well for this as another option too.

 

[SSSN]

Does anyone know how the HE-400S sounds with the regular Hifiman leathers?
 
Also, are there any cheaper replacement cables ( from another headphone model maybe?)

 

[KepinCemit]

  Does anyone know how the HE-400S sounds with the regular Hifiman leathers?
 
Also, are there any cheaper replacement cables ( from another headphone model maybe?)

Only used focus pads A on my 400s
 
Had the brainwavz angled pad on my HE-300 before I sold them, personally I still prefer hybrid leather/velour like the focus pads A.
The pleather on brainwavz angled get hot and sweaty after a while, the velour parts on the focus pads is better comfort wise
 
 
I just bought some random replacement cable on ebay, costs around $20 - $30ish from some seller in china, just search for Sennheiser HD 700 replacement cable, they are more or less the same

 

[serman005]

 
Only used focus pads A on my 400s
 
Had the brainwavz angled pad on my HE-300 before I sold them, personally I still prefer hybrid leather/velour like the focus pads A.
The pleather on brainwavz angled get hot and sweaty after a while, the velour parts on the focus pads is better comfort wise
 
 
I just bought some random replacement cable on ebay, costs around $20 - $30ish from some seller in china, just search for Sennheiser HD 700 replacement cable, they are more or less the same

I have read a lot on this thread about the various pad decisions people have made and why. I have concluded that I will go with the stock pads for now until (either brain or device, depending on what you believe in) burn-in is complete. For now, am very pleased with the sound the 400S are generating. Much more harmonically detailed than my HD598, which I also like very much. Having fun with these cans!

 

[jnak00]

I've had these cans for about a month now.  I switched to the Focus pads and found a slight increase in bass, not as dramatic as some prior posts had led me to believe.  Treble and mids are very well presented and I'm really enjoying the airiness of an open back headphone.  My other headphones are PSB M4U2s and Sony XBA-H1s.  The HE400s have the least bass, and the most treble, by far, but I find I enjoy the music a bit more with them.  I agree with the other comments that the cable is too stiff and a bit hard to use, but otherwise I find them pretty comfortable.
 
They sound fantastic driven by the Sony NWZ-ZX1.  I was pretty disappointed with the sound from a Fiio E17 acting as a DAC/amp for my Surface - it sounded muddy and congested - so I ordered a Schiit Fulla.  The Fulla is a much better sound than the Fiio, but not quite as good as the ZX1 (close though).  I have noticed that the Fulla doesn't need much volume to drive these phones, so often I had the volume low enough that the L-R balance was off (which happens at low volumes on the Fulla).  I had to turn the Windows volume down to 50% and then turn up the Fulla volume to get past that trouble area. 
 
All in all, the HE-400S with the ZX1, the Schiit Fulla, or even my smartphone (Blackberry Priv) is a great headphone and I can easily see them being a gateway drug for people wanting to get into this hobby.

 

[Vigrith]

  I agree with the other comments that the cable is too stiff and a bit hard to use, but otherwise I find them pretty comfortable.

 
So true, my only query with the cable is that exactly - sounded fine, seems very sturdy/well built and looks pretty good aesthetically but Christ all mighty is it stiff as all hell, kept getting in the way and just generally being extremely rigid and annoying. Didn't even know how frustrating it actually was until I had it replaced with a litz silk I got off of customcans on Ebay which sorted me out well and proper.
 
Then again I doubt anyone who owns these would legitimately be mad over the cables, at their price point they could come with no cable or the worst cable in the world and they'd still be incredibly cheap for what you get.

 

[SSSN]

Could anyone do the bass shaker test on audiocheck.net and report whether or not they hear flutter on higher volume? My pair does flutter with stock pads.

 

[snafu1]

  Could anyone do the bass shaker test on audiocheck.net and report whether or not they hear flutter on higher volume? My pair does flutter with stock pads.

Hey, that's a cool site. 
I have the Focus A pads. I played the bass shaker about as loud as was comfortable and didn't notice any flutter.

 

[SSSN]

Very interesting. I hope the Hifiman pleathers remove the flutter. If not, I guess I will return them.

 

[dennis611]

Hi
Currently pairing my focus pad unit with Dx90. I know the ibasso has sufficient juice but will the 400s benefit from an external amp?