[Rish732]

As the author of the first review I can say that it can power the 400s without a problem.  Though I do find it slightly harsh for my taste though the separation is fantastic.  I always feed my hifime sabre into an amp - a bravo v2 tube or my reliable cayin c5.

I have to say I'm a huge fan of the cayin c5.  It pairs really well with hifime Sabre 9018.
 
Really brings out many wonderful things with every pair of cans I've thrown at it.  Not to derail the thread.
 
It works wonders with the 400s though.

 

[shagrasniper]

  As the author of the first review I can say that it can power the 400s without a problem.  Though I do find it slightly harsh for my taste though the separation is fantastic.  I always feed my hifime sabre into an amp - a bravo v2 tube or my reliable cayin c5.

I have to say I'm a huge fan of the cayin c5.  It pairs really well with hifime Sabre 9018.
 
Really brings out many wonderful things with every pair of cans I've thrown at it.  Not to derail the thread.
 
It works wonders with the 400s though.

oh you're the reviewer too !!!
is there any portable DAC/AMP that you recommend to drive these (supposedly efficient) headphones?
there's no way I'm pairing an AMP to my Hifime 9018 (i consider it to be big enough as it is)

 

[Rish732]

So I've heard great things about the Cayin Spark C5 AMP/DAC though I haven't tried it. 
 
And for the low low end of the spectrum I would say the Fiio Q1 is a fine dac/amp for many purposes. It has a decent bass boost and the DAC isn't half bad.  It's not too much and if you can get it from a place with a generous return policy try it out.
That was my first AMP and DAC and I keep going back to it when I dont' want to carry around my hifime, cable and Cayin...
 
Regarding the hifime sabre, it's a small piece of kit.  Are we talking about the same thing?

 
I agree it's one more element in the chain to have an amp but I've found sound quality improves when the DAC and amp are separate.  Hope that helps!

 

[shagrasniper]

thanks a lot for your help
and yes this is the exact model that i just purchased, waiting for delivery (it should take a week)
hoping to detect an improvement over my exynos S7E

 

[Gino]

I use an HE400S with the grill mod and Brainwavz Angled Pleather Pads. For the most part it can be driven well by my iPhone 6 Plus. For a few low level recordings I use my FlipEars custom iem.

I sometimes use an AK100 plus SMSL SAP-5 amp. Analysis Plus silver interconnect.

For desktopI use a Schiit Asgard and APPJ tube amp with headphone adapter.

 

[lenroot77]

Have an excellent looking pair of he-400s up for sale if anyone is looking. Check the classifieds of PM me for details.

Thanks!

 

[VeerK]

Was going to pick this up but then the HD6xx drop happened. Decisions...decisions..

 

[shagrasniper]

i can confirm that these headphones sound fantastic while using the free Onkyo HF Player plugged to the Hifime Sabre 9018 USB DAC
the only problem is android compatibility, i have to enable Flight Mode in order to work on my exynos S7E !!!, other than that it sounds really great.

 

[jonhny]

Guys, I've read through the thread, and a few people compared the HE400S and the HD650 a bit, but not really in detail. Could someone list the pros and cons these have over each other?

 

[zeissiez]

I like HE400s more because it's more euphonic, even I have other headphones like the HD800. T1 and HE400i, I always like to put on the 400s. Love the sound signature.

 

[Broo0d]

About the imbalance,
I measured the impedance of the headphone at speaker terminals.
Right speaker 43.5 ohm
Left speaker 19.5 ohm which is close to the advertised 22 ohm

Why does the right side have double the impedance and how can it be fixed?

 

[shagrasniper]

About the imbalance,
I measured the impedance of the headphone at speaker terminals.
Right speaker 43.5 ohm
Left speaker 19.5 ohm which is close to the advertised 22 ohm

Why does the right side have double the impedance and how can it be fixed?

how do you measure each speakers impedance ?, i want to test mine, although my headphones sounds fine, i just want to make sure.
it looks like those Hifimans are not durable after all, too many complains
honestly i miss my good old hd598 (which i gave it to the maid after getting these+ a fiio x3 1st gen ), it was detailed, light, and they were the most comfortable headphones on earth.
i compared these headphones to the hd598 when i first got them, in a smartphone they were about the same in terms details (not signature), however when plugged in a fiio x3 the 598 were better, maybe it wasn't burned in as it was out of the box IDK, and thats why i had to get a mini dac/amp in the first place
and then i compared them to my brothers beats pro, the 400s was clearly better.
and then i compared them to his Bose QC 25, the 400s were a little better, although the difference in weight was laughable (and the noise cancelling button was cool, although i switched it to off) surprisingly the 400s were more comfortable after long listening sessions (maybe cause the were open back, no high pressure on the ear)
i didn't do A/B tests vs the momentum 1, but i remember that the momentum was a little better than the bose qc according to his experience, i remember listening to it as it was was warm yet detailed, but not as detailed as the hd598 (which i compared it earlier to the momentum)
i think that the hd598 was a great headphone, especially for the price, and i might order it again, not because it sounds better than the 400s (at least out of the box), but because its more comfortable and according to your experience i think they are more durable. (used them happily for more than 4 years, without changing any pads)

 

[Broo0d]

 
how do you measure each speakers impedance ?, i want to test mine, although my headphones sounds fine, i just want to make sure.
it looks like those Hifimans are not durable after all, too many complains
honestly i miss my good old hd598 (which i gave it to the maid after getting these+ a fiio x3 1st gen ), it was detailed, light, and they were the most comfortable headphones on earth.
i compared these headphones to the hd598 when i first got them, in a smartphone they were about the same in terms details (not signature), however when plugged in a fiio x3 the 598 were better, maybe it wasn't burned in as it was out of the box IDK, and thats why i had to get a mini dac/amp in the first place
and then i compared them to my brothers beats pro, the 400s was clearly better.
and then i compared them to his Bose QC 25, the 400s were a little better, although the difference in weight was laughable (and the noise cancelling button was cool, although i switched it to off) surprisingly the 400s were more comfortable after long listening sessions (maybe cause the were open back, no high pressure on the ear)
i didn't do A/B tests vs the momentum 1, but i remember that the momentum was a little better than the bose qc according to his experience, i remember listening to it as it was was warm yet detailed, but not as detailed as the hd598 (which i compared it earlier to the momentum)
i think that the hd598 was a great headphone, especially for the price, and i might order it again, not because it sounds better than the 400s (at least out of the box), but because its more comfortable and according to your experience i think they are more durable. (used them happily for more than 4 years, without changing any pads)

I found 400s comfortable to use for long sessions, didn't try any sennheiser yet.
 
I tested impedance with multimeter, first unplug the headphone then opened up the back grill and put multimeter leads across input terminal cables. You can do the same test without opening the headphone by measuring at headphone cable terminal (3.5mm) ground and left or right channels but when you do that you should account the resistance of the cable will add to headphone resistance.

 

[shagrasniper]

 
I found 400s comfortable to use for long sessions, didn't try any sennheiser yet.
 
I tested impedance with multimeter, first unplug the headphone then opened up the back grill and put multimeter leads across input terminal cables. You can do the same test without opening the headphone by measuring at headphone cable terminal (3.5mm) ground and left or right channels but when you do that you should account the resistance of the cable will add to headphone resistance.

as accurate as it may be, i think it is very complicated, just play a R/L track on youtube, or download them (unless if your hearing is unevenly damaged) which i hope is not the case.

 

[Broo0d]

 
as accurate as it may be, i think it is very complicated, just play a R/L track on youtube, or download them (unless if your hearing is unevenly damaged) which i hope is not the case.

I already did some tests based on hearing, switching cables and channels and wearing them backwards.
 
Then did more in depth testing to know where the problem is. I need to improvise since i'm outside the warranty window.
Sending it to china to fix will not be cheap. maybe it will cost nears what a new one worth. anyway im waiting for hifiman reply to my email.