[TheJesusGuy]

Opinions? I am considering these very much but don't know if the 8400 is worth the extra money.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

Opinions? I am considering these very much but don't know if the 8400 is worth the extra money.

 
It's worth the extra money, but i've found it has a slightly different signature.
A little more bass, less forward lower mids and more upper mids.
 
When listening to music the 6400 sounds like it has more forward mids. I'm not sure how or why I get this impression.
Treble level seems about the same.
 
The 6400 I now have is definitely less bassy than my 8400.

 

[jackwess]

I'd go with straight with the 8400's. If you are looking for neutrality thats your headphone. 
I tried both headphones but the 8400 sound signature is richer. 

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

I'd go with straight with the 8400's. If you are looking for neutrality thats your headphone. 
I tried both headphones but the 8400 sound signature is richer. 

 
I knew I forgot something. The 6400 is definitely a bit thinner sounding to some (including me).
 
My Clip+ seems to add a bit of warmth (probably not noticeable to many!). I didn't realize this until I used my 6400 with my ODAC!
 
Sennheiser and Shure fans probably wouldn't like the KRKs..

 

[jackwess]

Quote:

 
 
Sennheiser and Shure fans probably wouldn't like the KRKs..

 
Yep, its a matter of taste really. I've been enjoying my KRK's lately, they have more hours than the Shures. 

 

[TheJesusGuy]

I was actually looking at the clip + too. Would it be better for the 6400s to use a Fiio E6 straight out my phone 3.5MM, or without an amp straight out a Clip +?

 

[Vockx]

I have the KNS6400. I am quite happy with them but they are very critical (and maybe clinical). Some recordings sound really good on them and the detail and bass precision is great. I have some extremely well recorded acoustic music that sounds very impressive on these with more than enough bass for me and the highs don't distort or sound shrill. The mids are most pronounced though. I have heard some really impressive bass coming from them (the first 2 albums of Massive Attack have very heavy bass if you want to try that out, but definitely also from acoustic music, double bass on certain Jazz recordings, Ron Carter to name one, some recordings done by Rudy van Gelder), but they don't do thumping bass, which I am actually glad about. I tried some headphones that had that thumping bass but I hate it myself as it is fatiguing and it swamps and muddies the mids and highs. Some movies that have a well produced soundtrack sound really good on them as well.
 
I find them to be critical because I have listened to many recordings that sound very weak or even crap. I do also use them just to listen to music for entertainment. In this case they are not the most enjoyable headphones as just because they are so critical, quite a lot of recordings simply don't hold up so well. In those cases the music can sound quite thin or simply unimpressive or even crap. Music that has been heavily compressed and/or brickwalled sounds terrible on these, they seem to like dynamics. With these phones I easily pick out brickwalled masterings and have checked these files in an audio editor where they invariably show up as waveform bricks. For me this is actually great as I use the headphones to mix audio with. If it sounds good on these I think you are are a long way towards having a good balance.
 
I guess that because the headphones were designed as (reference) monitors this is to be expected. They were not designed and tuned to make music sound nicer in a more general way, where the sound signature of the headphones sort of makes up for differences in dynamics and styles of music etc. It would be possible off course to use EQ to compensate. I have not had any luck with presets on my player (Clip Zip or Foobar2000), they sound terrible, and I haven't had the patience to create a setting I like.
 
So it may depend on what one would want to use the headphones for to appreciate them.
 
They are driven loud enough from a Clip and more powerful than from another player that I used before, which also improved the SQ quite a bit, but I haven't tried if they sound better through an amp.

 

[Marximus]

I had the 6400s for about a day before returning them.  They were uncomfortable, had inferior quality pads (compared to the 8400s), and I found the sound to be quite fatiguing; not at all enjoyable.  I got the 8400s right after and they were superior in every way.  I think they are absolutely worth the extra money.

 

[Hellbishop]

The KRK KNS-8400 is worth the extra money for music and gaming. It brings out the details with crystal clear clarity. When playing SKYRIM and FALLOUT 3 it makes the incredible audio work feel like the real thing as if am actually there among the creaking wreckage of civilization or in the crackly woods with a cold wind blowing through the trees as i hear bandits talking in the distance.

 

[busssy2333]

I recently was between KRK KNS 6400 or 8400 and Shure SRH440. I started from knowing basically nothing about headphone specs and spent many hours learning and to decide.
 
I wanted a very crisp accurate neutral flat sound. Because I want to hear my synthesizers very clear and other hardware musical instruments. Possibly the main factor for me wanting such a neutral sound was for FPS gaming, I want to hear footsteps really well and assume that neutral phones would do that, but I don't really know, maybe the sound is programmed to come through actually better with some bass (or treble on the opposite side of the spectrum and I'm wrong).
 
I asked here and someone said it's not as accurate to just take a "bass-heavy" pair of phones and lower your EQ bass to make them neutral.
 
I omitted the Shures and then decided 6400 or 8400 KRKs. Didn't like the exposed thin wires of the shures, the headband is basically just hard plastic, didn't like the coiled cable although you can sell that right away on ebay and get the straight one. Forgot what else made me omit the Shures but I did. If anyone's deciding between shure 440 and KNS 6400 or 8400, I think I compiled the general consensus between these in a previous post of mine a few days ago.
 
I kind of jumped the gun on 6400 or 8400 but I think I'll be happy. I bought the 8400 for ~$99 shipped new on Jet.com with a %10 coupon. 6400s are the same price online currently give or take just a few dollars. After I bought them, I heard back from KRK about 6400 vs 8400. I basically asked which were flatter and more neutral. They replied
 
 
For mixing purposes, the low end is more accurately represented on the 8400. However, personal preference is still the major determining factor.
 
If you love hearing accurate low end that translates well over all audio systems, the 8400’s would be for you.
 
Thanks again for contacting Gibson Pro Audio Customer Service, and best regards always.
 
 
 
 
 
This is exactly what people on forums say about the bass, and also that 8400 just sounds "better" than 6400. I just hope the 8400 can pronounce footsteps in FPS games as good if not better than the 6400. I think regardless of footsteps I'll probably be happier with the 8400 for synths and general audio. They are still a Neutral / Flat (almost apparently) Headphone so I should be good.
I love bass don't get me wrong, I just don't like a rattle that drowns out the rest of the sound, or anything close to that "rattle".  I hope these phones and similar other ones don't even rattle like a $5 pair of closed back headphones.
 
 
 
 
 
the 8400 do have memory foam pads but the 6400 don't. I just hope they're not the same memory foam that emits toxins like mattresses but I think that might only be from the mandatory fire proofing all (or most) mattresses must have, and hopefully consumer electronics memory foam is not treated with fire retardants. Replacement pads are like $30 from what I found, and the shures have cheap Chinese ones on ebay that start at $4 shipped but I think you can ask a forum if anyone knows a different pad that would fit 6400 / 8400 if you ever need to replace them (my sennheizer pads are fine after like 6+ years). Paying 1/3 the cost of the entire headphone just for pads is outrageous. 
 
I think it might be over-analyzing to get a pair of 6400 and try and see if footsteps are clearer on them vs 8400 and then sell one for a ~$20 loss. I would have to record a snipped of only hearing footsteps in the game and then loop it and hope that the audio quality is still the same as in the actual game and then physically change between left ear of 6400 and left ear of 8400 (because sounds processed though your left ear are actually processed "better", so I wouldn't be able to just put both cans on with one ear on each ear and pan between the two. I would have to do this all with my eyes closed after mixing up both headphones so I didn't know which was which when comparing.
 
"the low end is more accurately represented" Could actually mean that they are both equally neutral but that the 6400 just doesn't pronounce bass as well as the 8400, and that it's a win win for me.  
 
Having said that, I am curious to compare these two, and also for stuff besides just footsteps. I probably wouldn't keep both because then that'd put me in the $200 range for headphones I can just get one pair that is probably better than the KNS I decide on but for the ~$20 loss and hassle of testing and reselling them, I kind of want to see for myself.
 
But really, the slight if any increase in hearing footsteps in a game with 6400 vs 8400 is probably less than %1 of the overall game and how well you do, and having the extra bass of the 8400 might actually make you play "better" due to other sounds, i.e footsteps might actually come though clearer through the lower end because it's probably not likely that footsteps were programmed to sound like a high treble "tick" / "fizz" sound instead of coming though on the mids or lows mainly.
 
As you can see, deciding on headphones has basically made me delirious about it, but I hope I helped if anyone is deciding between these two cans.