[zachchen1996]

Let two friends audition my modded HE400 earlier today, basically sounded like a gay porno for 20 minutes.

"Oh my god..."
"Ugh this is so good..."
"It's like I'm surrounded.."
"I can feel her in front of me.."
"Wow...ooooooh.."
"Oh this is good, this is good..."
"Come on give it to me.."

Heh.

Converts, all of them.

LOL, how do you do the mod, just remove the filter?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

LOL, how do you do the mod, just remove the filter?

 
Simply replace the grills with naked more open grills.
 
 

 

[Gribble]

Quote:

 
Simply replace the grills with naked more open grills.
 
 

I might try this but want the drivers protected. Is there no acoustically transparent cloth available to go behind the grille?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I might try this but want the drivers protected. Is there no acoustically transparent cloth available to go behind the grille?

 
From my experience any cloth, acoustically transparent or not, still negatively impacts the sound by a fair margin. Sure you could do it but it'll cut the liveliness / nuance of the sound by a lot.

 

[dwatanabe]

how do you do this? did you cut the mesh out yourself?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

how do you do this? did you cut the mesh out yourself?

Yes, just find something in dollarama with an ideal mesh material, and use some tin snips to cut it based on the template of the stock grills.

 

[palmfish]

I got my replacement HE-400s from Head-Direct on Friday. I have only had limited time with them so far but to the best of my recollection, they sound as they should - like the pair i demoed over the summer. They sound much better than the original pre-order pair i had back in January. They are brighter and more dynamic sounding.

But... They are still a little dark for my tastes. The treble sounds a little peaky - like they are bright in some freqs and recessed in others. The bass is nice and tight and controlled, but they do not go as deep as my MarkL modded Denons. Perhaps my biggest complaint is the mids though. The HE-400s sound a little too warmed over and lush in the mids for me. They are a very mellow sounding headphone that seems a good match for some of my music, but some vocals and middle sounds appear to get a little "boxy" or "nasaly" at times to my ears. The HE-400s, like the other HiFiMAN headphones I've tried, really seem to come alive at higher volumes. This is a negative for me since i cannot/do not listen at high volumes for any length of time any more.

I did remove the grills and listen like that for a while last night and i believe that did open up the sound a little. Unfortunately for the HE-400s, even fully opened up my Denons are more open, clear and airy sounding still. I really have grown to appreciate my D7000's as a result of my recent HiFiMAN trials.

My honest opinion is that they are a very fine sounding headphone considering their price and taken on their own merits - i actually like them a lot more than the HE-500 and HE-5LE. For anyone looking for a do it all headphone in this price range, I consider it the equal to the Sennheiser HD 600 (which i hold in high regard). For me though, my Denons have a very similar frequency range presentation but just do everything better - deeper bass with similar control and definition, clearer and more open sounding mids, and airier treble. I will spend more time over the next week getting to know the HE-400s better, but right now, i don't believe i will be keeping them.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I got my replacement HE-400s from Head-Direct on Friday. I have only had limited time with them so far but to the best of my recollection, they sound as they should - like the pair i demoed over the summer. They sound much better than the original pre-order pair i had back in January. They are brighter and more dynamic sounding.
But... They are still a little dark for my tastes. The treble sounds a little peaky - like they are bright in some freqs and recessed in others. The bass is nice and tight and controlled, but they do not go as deep as my MarkL modded Denons. Perhaps my biggest complaint is the mids though. The HE-400s sound a little too warmed over and lush in the mids for me. They are a very mellow sounding headphone that seems a good match for some of my music, but some vocals and middle sounds appear to get a little "boxy" or "nasaly" at times to my ears. The HE-400s, like the other HiFiMAN headphones I've tried, really seem to come alive at higher volumes. This is a negative for me since i cannot/do not listen at high volumes for any length of time any more.
I did remove the grills and listen like that for a while last night and i believe that did open up the sound a little. Unfortunately for the HE-400s, even fully opened up my Denons are more open, clear and airy sounding still. I really have grown to appreciate my D7000's as a result of my recent HiFiMAN trials.
My honest opinion is that they are a very fine sounding headphone considering their price and taken on their own merits - i actually like them a lot more than the HE-500 and HE-5LE. For anyone looking for a do it all headphone in this price range, I consider it the equal to the Sennheiser HD 600 (which i hold in high regard). For me though, my Denons have a very similar frequency range presentation but just do everything better - deeper bass with similar control and definition, clearer and more open sounding mids, and airier treble. I will spend more time over the next week getting to know the HE-400s better, but right now, i don't believe i will be keeping them.

 
From your impressions here it seems as though you favour a specific tonality (lean lower mids, "big" bass, forward upper mids, and even treble maybe with some mid-treble emphasis), and with that in mind the Denons are surely smack dead on your preference then. I bet you'll love the Fostex TH900 too.

 

[palmfish]

From your impressions here it seems as though you favour a specific tonality (lean lower mids, "big" bass, forward upper mids, and even treble maybe with some mid-treble emphasis), and with that in mind the Denons are surely smack dead on your preference then. I bet you'll love the Fostex TH900 too.

Yes, i believe you are basically correct. It took me a long time to find "my sound" and actually stumbled upon the Denons by accident so glad i did though. With the MarkL mod, they are just about perfect for me.

I am very anxious to try the TH-900 some day.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

Yes, i believe you are basically correct. It took me a long time to find "my sound" and actually stumbled upon the Denons by accident so glad i did though. With the MarkL mod, they are just about perfect for me.
I am very anxious to try the TH-900 some day.

 
I'd like to hear, for my mental encyclopedia, but I don't think that I'd care to own it. 

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

The HE-400s, like the other HiFiMAN headphones I've tried, really seem to come alive at higher volumes. This is a negative for me since i cannot/do not listen at high volumes for any length of time any more.

+1. These are probably my go to headphones for moderate-level listening. Beautiful with movies as well.
 
Shame that opening the grills didn't do too much for you. Sounds like the planar mids just aren't for you. 
 
The fact that you couldn't bring the D7000 was probably the most disappointing aspect of the meet, though 

 

[palmfish]

Quote:

+1. These are probably my go to headphones for moderate-level listening. Beautiful with movies as well.
 
Shame that opening the grills didn't do too much for you. Sounds like the planar mids just aren't for you. 
 
The fact that you couldn't bring the D7000 was probably the most disappointing aspect of the meet, though 

Yup, it must be a planar thing - every PM headphone I've auditioned has exhibited (in varying degrees) a thick midrange I don't like.
 
You can bet I'll be at the next meet up there and I'll have my Denon's with me. I would love for you to listen to them.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

Yup, it must be a planar thing - every PM headphone I've auditioned has exhibited (in varying degrees) a thick midrange I don't like.
 
You can bet I'll be at the next meet up there and I'll have my Denon's with me. I would love for you to listen to them.

 
 
What level did you get done from MarkL.  Have have two pair 7000 and 5000.  However, would like to know, will it be worth it if I keep my current cups and my current cables?

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

Yup, it must be a planar thing - every PM headphone I've auditioned has exhibited (in varying degrees) a thick midrange I don't like.
 
You can bet I'll be at the next meet up there and I'll have my Denon's with me. I would love for you to listen to them.

 
Great! By next meet, I'll probably have the HE-6 to bring as well. I'd love to hear them paired up with that Carver receiver you bought last time! If you don't like those, I guess we can cross out planars entirely. 
 
A stupid question: what are the MarkL mods, exactly?

 

[MattTCG]

http://www.lawtonaudio.com/page52.html ^^