Open Back, upgrade from IFIMAN HE400

[ProtegeManiac]

Well, you may be right, I think I need to do a little listening on my tube amp to compare for sure. The more I think about it, the more I am hoping it makes a difference in the positive. I have this issue however with always wanting to "upgrade" especially when I see the 400i. Always gotta have the new toy! My wallet hates that.

 

I get to listen to a lot of headphones due to local meets here, but I have a completely different reaction to all of it compared to other people. Other people contract SARS,* I walk away with my curiosity satisfied that spending 3x more on a new headphone isn't going to mean that I'll be 3x more satisfied about the performance.

 

 

*no, not the virus the WHO is looking out for - in the forums it's Severe Audio Replacement Syndrome

 

[kmitschiener]

^ same, listened to an endgame lcd 3 set up and while it was nice I didn't really feel the need to upgrade from what I currently have. It's all about how you enjoy your tunes

 

[ProtegeManiac]

^ same, listened to an endgame lcd 3 set up and while it was nice I didn't really feel the need to upgrade from what I currently have. It's all about how you enjoy your tunes

 
If anything, I end up being more alert to deals on used gear. I tend to discourage people from giving in to SARS, but when someone with itchy trigger fingers drops something cheap to upgrade quickly (usually something that was also being dropped for the same reason), I get a good deal out of it.

 

[Jbmorrey]

You know, you make a good point. I can only imagine how often people will spend an extract $300 to upgrade and find that they simply got a increase in mid's, with a loss in Bass, like that what the difference seems to be on the 400 to the 400i, so I sometimes wonder why a headphone company like HIFIMAN just simply say, we are going to make a better headphone and improve on a model, without loosing anything that the previous model had, like the 400i having the same sound quality, but better emphasized Bass. From what I understand the difference from the HD600 to the 650, can be significant.

James

 

[kmitschiener]

My usual advice is to just select the headphone you like and build around it, you'd be surprised how much performance you could pull out of a "mid-fi" headphone

 

[Me x3]

 From what I understand the difference from the HD600 to the 650, can be significant.

James

 
Well, not that much indeed, the general consensus is that HD600 is the better sounding headphone. Although both are highly regarded and you may prefer one or the other.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

You know, you make a good point. I can only imagine how often people will spend an extract $300 to upgrade and find that they simply got a increase in mid's, with a loss in Bass, like that what the difference seems to be on the 400 to the 400i, so I sometimes wonder why a headphone company like HIFIMAN just simply say, we are going to make a better headphone and improve on a model, without loosing anything that the previous model had, like the 400i having the same sound quality, but better emphasized Bass. From what I understand the difference from the HD600 to the 650, can be significant.

 

Significant since the treble on the HD650 is a bit more rolled off - lower response overall while the HD600 also has a slight peak in that region (I can't get Headphone.com's graph generator to load right now), which on top of the minimal boost in bass, overall makes for a noticeable difference. Given the price difference though the HD600 is still my choice, save for that marble finish. It flakes off on all these though so when mine gets intolerably worn-looking I'll just spray a coat of matteblack on the previously marble blue bits.

 

[Me x3]

 

 

Significant since the treble on the HD650 is a bit more rolled off - lower response overall while the HD600 also has a slight peak in that region (I can't get Headphone.com's graph generator to load right now), which on top of the minimal boost in bass, overall makes for a noticeable difference. Given the price difference though the HD600 is still my choice, save for that marble finish. It flakes off on all these though so when mine gets intolerably worn-looking I'll just spray a coat of matteblack on the previously marble blue bits.

 

Here's a comparison:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/740942/comparison-review-part-deux-a-tale-of-two-sennheisers-hd600-vs-hd650

 

[Jbmorrey]

So I am running my Modi2 to my little dot and it sounds pretty darn good with my DT880 250 ohms. I have to admit, I find myself going back to the DT880's pretty often, don't think I will ever get rid of these, but I do feel the HE400 has a tad more detail and clarity at times. I think I am more of a clarity freak, this is why at times I do like the SS amp as there is absolute no background noise. I sometimes get a very slight sound during silent portions of songs, for instance, the last 20 second od "Let it go" by Passenger. But this could be due to my tubes, so far seems like the DT880 likes the tube amp and my HIFIMAN HE400 sounds pretty darn good with FLAC on my Ibasso DX50. Still doing some listening so this is my initial thoughts. I would love to see a portion of the site that simply has popular and not so popular amps and the headphones that pair well with them. I know they have some threads that state best amp for X headphone, but I arely see ones that ask which headphones can I expect to get the best performance using "x" amp. If I am going to invest 2-3 times as much on an amp, why not have a resource that will let me know which headphones pair up best.


James

 

[kmitschiener]

If you like clarity, might be better to have the HE 500 over the HE 400.