[G.Trenchev]

These headphones are a relatively new model,and I doubt that anyone had them for 1+ years,so he can tell the whole story on build quality.I think it's up to the person,I had(and I still do) a 15$ Phillips headphone for 6 years,I'm using it for DIY testing and throwing around,so I can tell  it took a lot of abuse.Still alive and working normally.
 
Personally,I've never found anything wrong with the bass of the 8400.Perfectly enough for me.

 

[DjNoonstar]

So i just bought the the KNS 8400 today for $115 from Musicainsfriend 110% Price match 

 
I hope they turn out  to be everything ive been reading lol...but i recieve them in 3-5 business days so i will post my thoughts and if they are good for my needs, which is late night producing / mixing.
 
Thnx

 

[nipit]

Can anyone compare Fa-011 with these ones?

 

[Marximus]

I've owned the FA-011s, and I found them similar to the DT 990-600s.  Tipped up bass and treble.  Kind of sibilant, and a big, full, round bass response, but not necessarily tight.  I see the FA-011s as a bit of a smiley face frequency response (but more emphasis on the bass than on the treble), whereas I see the KNS-8400s on a straight line, flat all the way across.  I'm sure they're not exactly flat, but they sound that way to my ears.  Nothing stands out, and everything is in its place.  Excellent extension on either end of the spectrum, but not exaggerated in any way.  Cleaner, leaner, and tighter than the FA-011s.  I suppose it depends on what you're looking for.  I actually really enjoyed the sound of the FA-011s, and I would have kept them if it weren't for the too-shallow earcups, which led to noticeable discomfort after maybe 30 or 45 minutes.  The 8400s have fairly shallow earcups, but they are still very comfortable (with the possible exception of the headband, which I modified to have a softer fill).  I've worn my 8400s for about four hours with almost no discomfort, and I'm sure I couldn't do that with the FA-011s (not without substantial discomfort, anyway).

 

[nipit]

How is soundstage 8400 comapred to FA-011?

 

[DjNoonstar]

So i tracked my order and i should be receiving it on Thursday.

 
But i was wondering if im going to need an amp for these. If i do can some one recommend one best bang for the buck...I dont know much about headphone amps but will some thing like the FiiO E5 or E6 be good?
 
Keep in mind I am using these for late night producing and mixing either direct thru my laptop jack or thru my little digital mixer which has a a built in 

48khz/16bit soundcard.
 

Thanks

 

[G.Trenchev]

Your little digital mixer probably has a headphone output,which is good enough

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

So i tracked my order and i should be receiving it on Thursday.

 
But i was wondering if im going to need an amp for these. If i do can some one recommend one best bang for the buck...I dont know much about headphone amps but will some thing like the FiiO E5 or E6 be good?
 
Keep in mind I am using these for late night producing and mixing either direct thru my laptop jack or thru my little digital mixer which has a a built in 

48khz/16bit soundcard.
 

Thanks

 
So far, I have been running it straight out of either Sansa Fuze and Macbook pro for Logic. It's been working fine (actually great) without any amp. I'm sure that with a good amp and dac it will get better, but for now there is nothing wrong it straight out of the headphone jacks. So maybe if you could spend more or wait a bit, go rather for a Fiio E11 for the amp quality. E17 is as well a good option for combo and portability.
 

 

[Zoom25]

Also the E11 should serve you better for future headphones and give you more room for choices if you want to stick with that amp.
 

 

[Marximus]

Quote:

How is soundstage 8400 comapred to FA-011?

I had the FA-011s a while ago, so I don't really remember the soundstage.  I'd describe the soundstage of the 8400s as smallish, but accurate.  Presumably the soundstage of the Fischers is larger, due to their open design.
 

 

[megamagic]

Quote:

So i tracked my order and i should be receiving it on Thursday.

 
But i was wondering if im going to need an amp for these. If i do can some one recommend one best bang for the buck...I dont know much about headphone amps but will some thing like the FiiO E5 or E6 be good?
 
Keep in mind I am using these for late night producing and mixing either direct thru my laptop jack or thru my little digital mixer which has a a built in 

48khz/16bit soundcard.
 

Thanks

Personally I would recommend a DAC before AMP for these considering you are using it through laptop which might not have the best sound, esp considering they are focused on energy saving nowadays...
 
I didn't prefer the sound sig of these with an AMP (Fiio e9 or matrix m-stage) compared to directly from DAC. For me it sounded tighter and controlled strait from the DAC, whether it was a portable player or desktop DAC setup. I think with AMP you get a more open sound and slightly better bass response, but less clean sound overall which could be worse for mixing.

 

[TierAngst]

So far I'm not impressed with these. They are a lot more comfortable than my crappy HD201s but the sound just seems dull and the bass is lacking. Hoping burn in will help them a lot. They work a lot better unamped than the 201s but I still think they sound much better amped and disagree with megamagic but I'm also running a different amp which has a built in DAC so I don't know if it is a reasonable comparison.

 

[UCLA 15]

Quote:

So far I'm not impressed with these. They are a lot more comfortable than my crappy HD201s but the sound just seems dull and the bass is lacking. Hoping burn in will help them a lot. They work a lot better unamped than the 201s but I still think they sound much better amped and disagree with megamagic but I'm also running a different amp which has a built in DAC so I don't know if it is a reasonable comparison.

Give them time to appreciate their positive qualities. 8400s definitely lack in bass somewhat and overall are extremely neutral. The fun with these comes not from any sort of tweaked sound signature but rather from the clarity and detail. I did the typical consumer thing when I first got them and plugged the 8400s into my Android phone and played some dubstep off Pandora and wasn't totally impressed, but I later spent time playing higher quality classical music off my laptop and I was much more impressed.

 

[Zoom25]

When I initially got these, the bass was quite lacking but over time the sound improved across the whole spectrum. 90% of the time I'm listening to electronica varying from deep house, dubstep, trance, techno, ambient, house to minimal and progressive. First time I plugged it in, I was quite disappointed. Although, now I'm atleast over 50 hours and the bass, particularly the sub-bass is amazing on these which wasn't there at the start. The highs have noticeably gotten more smoother. The sub-bass finally has gotten more impact (still controlled and well within monitoring range), but very enjoyable to listen to proper dubstep with like Skream and Kryptic Minds. Although if you're into brostep, with Skrillex, Flux Pavillion, Nero and etc. that are more mid-bass focused then these are meh, but with sub-bass, these are amazing with impact and extension. Just need to give it time. I guess it's a combination of me getting used to the sound as well as burn-in, but primarily the burn-in.
 

 

[megamagic]

Quote:

Give them time to appreciate their positive qualities. 8400s definitely lack in bass somewhat and overall are extremely neutral. The fun with these comes not from any sort of tweaked sound signature but rather from the clarity and detail. I did the typical consumer thing when I first got them and plugged the 8400s into my Android phone and played some dubstep off Pandora and wasn't totally impressed, but I later spent time playing higher quality classical music off my laptop and I was much more impressed.

 
Agreed. I would say there's not as much wow factor with these headphones compared to many others around this price. None of the airy Grado sound, warm fuller Sennheiser (600/650/555, haven't tried the others)  sound, or M50 bass. But's it's the overall clean, and clear sounding signature which I liked. It's a really light sound overall, not as weighty as a lot of other headphones (not that a more weighted sound is bad either...)
 
I can see how not having a wow factor can make these less enjoyable for some. After all we listen to headphones to enjoy the music...

 
Quote:

When I initially got these, the bass was quite lacking but over time the sound improved across the whole spectrum. 90% of the time I'm listening to electronica varying from deep house, dubstep, trance, techno, ambient, house to minimal and progressive. First time I plugged it in, I was quite disappointed. Although, now I'm atleast over 50 hours and the bass, particularly the sub-bass is amazing on these which wasn't there at the start. The highs have noticeably gotten more smoother. The sub-bass finally has gotten more impact (still controlled and well within monitoring range), but very enjoyable to listen to proper dubstep with like Skream and Kryptic Minds. Although if you're into brostep, with Skrillex, Flux Pavillion, Nero and etc. that are more mid-bass focused then these are meh, but with sub-bass, these are amazing with impact and extension. Just need to give it time. I guess it's a combination of me getting used to the sound as well as burn-in, but primarily the burn-in.
 

 
 
 
Yeah, I think quite a number of people did say the 8400s improved with burn-in. I did notice that with mine as well.