[palmfish]

HFM shouldn't sell expedited shipping if they can't deliver it (pun intended).

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 
They shouldn't sound horrible without an amp though, maybe a lot worst in comparison but by no means bad. On their website they even say that they can be driven by an iPod.

 
Everything is relative.  To say "they don't need a dedicated amp to not sound horrible" is one thing, but to say "they  won't sound good on a really sucktastic $0.12 headphpone out of a noisy soundcard" is a very different thing.  An iPod isn't ideal but an iPod is still a half-decent output running at 1.8Vrms (just a hair below line out of a standard line source like a CDP), with little noise and an at least not horrendous output impedance.
 
Random-generic-soundcard-A may not be as well designed as an iPod, may have very low current output, low voltage, may have tons of noise and interference, high output impedance at the jack etc etc.  There's far better out there than an iPod, but there's also far worse. 
 
And even from an iPod things get a lot better with a little FiiO amp, mostly to counteract the output impedance

 

[palmfish]

In the case of the Xonar DX, I guess we need to know what kind of "distortion" he's hearing. Noise/interference from the computer? Clipping of the amp? Or is it something else?
 
Why would output impedance have any effect on a planar magnetic headphone?

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

 
Everything is relative.  To say "they don't need a dedicated amp to not sound horrible" is one thing, but to say "they  won't sound good on a really sucktastic $0.12 headphpone out of a noisy soundcard" is a very different thing.  An iPod isn't ideal but an iPod is still a half-decent output running at 1.8Vrms (just a hair below line out of a standard line source like a CDP), with little noise and an at least not horrendous output impedance.
 
Random-generic-soundcard-A may not be as well designed as an iPod, may have very low current output, low voltage, may have tons of noise and interference, high output impedance at the jack etc etc.  There's far better out there than an iPod, but there's also far worse. 
 
And even from an iPod things get a lot better with a little FiiO amp, mostly to counteract the output impedance

 
Any dedicated soundcard is at least decent nowadays, definitely better quality than an iPod. Like I said my $30 budget soundcard makes them sound great to me. Not sure how the ouput power/impedence compares but for mine it's sufficient. 
 
Noise can be caused by it being too close to a wifi adapter, graphics card etc... but without that the DX is pretty much noiseless. DX is a good soundcard overall.

 

[satanigatan]

Quote:

 
I did tell you they were slow, email them through their contact us form, I got on their case heavily for being so slow when i bought my Hifimans, it turns out i had to wait two weeks because of a defect with the leather pads that week, they needed to wait till a new batch were made, so in my anecdote they were *super* slow, they are still generally slack on communication, just get on their case, you paid $400 for headphones that should be built and ready to ship, get your monies worth and email em !

 
 
Thanks for the tip.
 
I just wish they wouldn't charge for something, if they can't ship it for a couple of weeks (if that ends up being the case). They should be more like Amazon, charge when they ship. Of course, maybe they make these to order.
 
Bleh.

EDIT: Just got off the phone with them. Communication was kind of wonky. But my understanding is this: 
 
They are saying that they either ship from China or Delaware (states). More than likely I'm getting mine from their states center (seeing as I had USPS listed when checking out). However, she claims that the order itself has to be processed in China (through their system) - before they notify the Delaware shipping center to send them out. And China doesn't work on Saturday. And Monday was a holiday. And it takes them 48 hours to process an order in the system. So they should notify Delaware by Thursday or Friday to send it out.
 
I don't really get how any of this makes sense. I mean, how hard could it be to digitally notify a shipping center. They were able to charge me instantly, does it really take that long to process an order in the system? And again, according to them - the order isnt shipping from China to Delaware. They just need to process the order in the system to notify Delaware (again, according to them. Although maybe I misunderstood this part).
 
So, I guess I just have to wait patiently. Probably best to just stop thinking about this and wait till next week. And if my order still isn't updated, then get back on the phone again. 
 
SECOND EDIT: I read some past posts on here, people who have had their orders shipped from China to the states. Im thinking I misunderstood what they were saying. Maybe they have to ship the cans to Delaware - then Delaware ships them out to me. If that is the case, probably won't get them until next weekend. Kind of feel dumb paying for $29 1 business day shipping though. Derp. 

 

[Scyy]

Well I just ordered my pair of HE-400's from head direct through amazon thursday of last week and it got shipped out yesterday so maybe you will get lucky and it will get shipped out soon as well.

 

[manzana]

Quote:

Well I just ordered my pair of HE-400's from head direct through amazon thursday of last week and it got shipped out yesterday so maybe you will get lucky and it will get shipped out soon as well.

congratulations Scyy !!! very nice HPs...

 

[MattTCG]

Following this thread, it seems that the he400 is really beginning to take off from a sales perspective. 

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Following this thread, it seems that the he400 is really beginning to take off from a sales perspective. 

 
Let's hope the QC keeps up. 

 I've been boned twice, hope others don't have to go through it.

 

[TooPoor]

 This thread is quite long and sometimes can be difficult to find specific info so I figured I'd through this query out here...
 
 From what it seems the HE400 aren't too picky when it comes to amplification. I currently have an E17, but would like to invest in a dedicated desktop amp and DAC. My next headphone purchase is most likely going to be the LCD2 (or other flagships) so I'm wondering what people recommend. I've been researching Lake People G109, Lyr, and maybe even a used Soloist. I prefer a warmer, more musical sound. Any ideas? Am I going in the right direction?

 

[palmfish]

If you like a warm, musical sound, choose a warm, musical sounding headphone. Pair it with a quality amp of sufficient power.
 
"Date your headphones, marry your amp."

 

[Scyy]

Quote:

congratulations Scyy !!! very nice HPs...

Thanks, I just started getting into high end audio in the last 6 months or so.  After I got my D2000's I knew I wouldn't be able to stop at one good pair.

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 This thread is quite long and sometimes can be difficult to find specific info so I figured I'd through this query out here...
 
 From what it seems the HE400 aren't too picky when it comes to amplification. I currently have an E17, but would like to invest in a dedicated desktop amp and DAC. My next headphone purchase is most likely going to be the LCD2 (or other flagships) so I'm wondering what people recommend. I've been researching Lake People G109, Lyr, and maybe even a used Soloist. I prefer a warmer, more musical sound. Any ideas? Am I going in the right direction?

I haven't tried the G109 or the Soloist.  I can say that the Lyr provides an excellently musical sound with HE-400, and some tube rolling can really help you find your sound.  If you like it really warm and drippy, a Lyr with some Amperex tubes may give all the lush musicality you could hope for!  It's an am made for planars, and while HE-400 is easier to drive than other planars, it doesn't balk at giving it real power, either.  It rewards real power...

 

[MattTCG]

The layer/bf seems to be a nice upper end pick for these and would work well for certain flagships. The nfb line is also good...warm and organic sounding...consider the nfb-5.
 
gL!!

 

[jfindon]

Quote:

Are you sure the speaker 3.5mm jack is properly inserted into the soundcard (loose connection?), therefore you headphones won't get a proper connection either? 
Why don't you just plug the headphones directly into the soundcard, really can't be that difficult 

What part of my previous posts made it so difficult to understand that's exactly what I'm doing?
 

 
Quote:

Originally Posted by palmfish /img/forum/go_quote.gif

In the case of the Xonar DX, I guess we need to know what kind of "distortion" he's hearing. Noise/interference from the computer? Clipping of the amp? Or is it something else?
 
Why would output impedance have any effect on a planar magnetic headphone?

 

 
 
I don't remember for sure but I don't think I mentioned hearing distortion/noise.  It just sounds weak, dull, and muffled.  There's no clipping or popping.