[Panimation]

Easiest way to remove the he400i logo?

use a sticker.

 

[alphanumerix1]

use a sticker.

Hi res stickers only.

 

[jj69]

Just to clarify things... At first I thought that the headband turned inside the metal caps on the ends. But no, on further exam they are pushed tight and do not turn. One of them was not pushed on fully so I thought at first glance that the plastic swiveled inside the metal cap. So I will not be gluing them into the cups. I just made sure that they are fully on the ends of the headband. And also to be clear, the headband I got from HIFIman was the HE-400i headband. I was told that these are available again to buy separately.

What do they charge for a 400i headband?

Is it the same band as the HE-350 band?

 

[InsanityOne]

Here's a quick update regarding extracting the maximum possible comfort from any pair of original Hifiman headphones. I had an old Lohb strap sitting in storage (these can be easily found on Ebay, just search "Lohb Strap") and it struck me that I always really liked the size / shape of it, and the way that it distributed the weight across the top of my head versus other suspension straps. So, I decided to swap suspension bands on the Audeze headband. I removed Audeze's thin strap and replaced it with Lohb's wide strap. So far I am enjoying it way more than the stock Audeze strap, and the best part is that the "mod" is 100% reversible and only takes a few minutes to complete. Here are some photos for your consideration:

A note on earpads: I am still searching for the "perfect" earpad to go with the Audeze headband. As those of you who have done this mod may have noticed, the Audeze headband has an interesting clamping force that really presses the headphone against your temples. This means that you need a very thick (and very plush) earpad to cancel out this effect and prevent unwanted pressure points. This is not a surprise though, as that is the type of earpad this headband was originally designed to work with.

So far, the best earpads for this I have found are ZMF Ori's (I am stuck between perforated and full leather at the moment), the original Audeze earpads work very well but are sadly too firm (causing hotspots), and most of the other earpads I have tried are too thin causing the fit to be completely wrong (too loose) with the Audeze headband's clamping force. I am interested in the new Dekoni Audeze leathers, but based on reviews I fear that those will be too firm as well. I am also curious to see if either of ZMF's new headphones (the Verite or Aeolus) have thicker pads than the Ori's. If that is the case, I will definitely be trying those out. Either way, the quest for ultimate comfort goes on.

 

[MetalChameau]

Here is my experience with the Hifiman customer service.

I contacted Hifiman to get new earcups, a new headband (The hybrid headband) and Grill retention rings for my he500.
They responded pretty fast and they were very friendly. They also told me that the hybrid headband couldn't be used on the stock he500, but they said that they could reform the earcups so the hybrid headband would fit.

2 weeks later, I received the items :

It cost me a little bit more than 150 dollars with the shipping.

Here is what my he500 looks like now :

Was it worth it ? Imo, absolutely.

They included 2 jack 3.5mm female connectors so now I'm no longer stuck with those annoying smc plugs.

The headband has more clamping force, but it can easily be fixed by bending it a little bit.
I won't do it for now since the strong clamping force helps reducing the pressure on the top of my head.

The new headband design is also much more better than the old one. The entire leather strip is now sitting on my head which helps distributing the pressure, while the older headband was only putting pressure on the very top of my head.

Tbh the older headband wasn't bad at all. I'm pretty sure it would work very nicely with light headphones.
The thing is, the 500s are heavy. And for this type of headphones, the hybrid headband is simply much better.

Speaking of weight, my he500s are now a little bit lighter thanks to this new headband.

With the stock headband they weight 550 grams.

Just for the lolz, here is the weight of one driver :

In comparison the driver from my takstar pro 80 is only 20 grams rofl.

In any case, I think this mod is a must have for people who own the he500. It's also pretty simple to make as long as you're careful enough.
However this mod doesn't change the fact they are still pretty heavy. You're still going to feel them on your head, and it will be (at least in my case) uncomfortable after 2-3 hours.
Still, it's a nice improvement since I was unable to wear these headphones with the stock headband more than an hour before.

Big thumb up for Hifiman though, they truly have a very good customer service.

And sorry for my bad English, I'm French.

 

[wje]

Wow, I can't believe this thread is still moving along. I did my HE-500 -> HE-560 cups modification about 3 years ago. I sold the headphones to another member a few months after I did the modification. I then heard from the most recent buyer of them about 4 months back and the headphones made it from the U.S. to Brazil. Ironically, I'm heading to Sao Paulo Brazil in a bit over 2 weeks for a 3 week vacation. Not sure if I'll meet up with any fellow Head-Fiers or not. I know I can't speak Portuguese, so I'd have to have my girlfriend translate.

Enjoy the modification journey - this is a fun hobby.

 

[mrscotchguy]

Wow, I can't believe this thread is still moving along. I did my HE-500 -> HE-560 cups modification about 3 years ago. I sold the headphones to another member a few months after I did the modification. I then heard from the most recent buyer of them about 4 months back and the headphones made it from the U.S. to Brazil. Ironically, I'm heading to Sao Paulo Brazil in a bit over 2 weeks for a 3 week vacation. Not sure if I'll meet up with any fellow Head-Fiers or not. I know I can't speak Portuguese, so I'd have to have my girlfriend translate.

Enjoy the modification journey - this is a fun hobby.

I am impressed it's moving along as well!

 

[kid vic]

Here is my experience with the Hifiman customer service.

I contacted Hifiman to get new earcups, a new headband (The hybrid headband) and Grill retention rings for my he500.
They responded pretty fast and they were very friendly. They also told me that the hybrid headband couldn't be used on the stock he500, but they said that they could reform the earcups so the hybrid headband would fit.

2 weeks later, I received the items :

It cost me a little bit more than 150 dollars with the shipping.

Here is what my he500 looks like now :

Was it worth it ? Imo, absolutely.

They included 2 jack 3.5mm female connectors so now I'm no longer stuck with those annoying smc plugs.

The headband has more clamping force, but it can easily be fixed by bending it a little bit.
I won't do it for now since the strong clamping force helps reducing the pressure on the top of my head.

The new headband design is also much more better than the old one. The entire leather strip is now sitting on my head which helps distributing the pressure, while the older headband was only putting pressure on the very top of my head.

Tbh the older headband wasn't bad at all. I'm pretty sure it would work very nicely with light headphones.
The thing is, the 500s are heavy. And for this type of headphones, the hybrid headband is simply much better.

Speaking of weight, my he500s are now a little bit lighter thanks to this new headband.

With the stock headband they weight 550 grams.

Just for the lolz, here is the weight of one driver :

In comparison the driver from my takstar pro 80 is only 20 grams rofl.

In any case, I think this mod is a must have for people who own the he500. It's also pretty simple to make as long as you're careful enough.
However this mod doesn't change the fact they are still pretty heavy. You're still going to feel them on your head, and it will be (at least in my case) uncomfortable after 2-3 hours.
Still, it's a nice improvement since I was unable to wear these headphones with the stock headband more than an hour before.

Big thumb up for Hifiman though, they truly have a very good customer service.

And sorry for my bad English, I'm French.

Interesting that they had cups like that available, I wonder if there is an HE500 reboot in the works...

 

[MetalChameau]

Interesting that they had cups like that available, I wonder if there is an HE500 reboot in the works...

I hope so !
A reboot of the HE500 with a better headband, better earpads and cable for 500 dollars would be awesome.

Wow, I can't believe this thread is still moving along. I did my HE-500 -> HE-560 cups modification about 3 years ago. I sold the headphones to another member a few months after I did the modification. I then heard from the most recent buyer of them about 4 months back and the headphones made it from the U.S. to Brazil. Ironically, I'm heading to Sao Paulo Brazil in a bit over 2 weeks for a 3 week vacation. Not sure if I'll meet up with any fellow Head-Fiers or not. I know I can't speak Portuguese, so I'd have to have my girlfriend translate.

Enjoy the modification journey - this is a fun hobby.

Thx man !

 

[mrscotchguy]

Sorry for the random thread bump, but figured I would throw it out there that you can pick up the V2 Hifiman HE-560 headband at adorama for $10+shipping:

https://www.adorama.com/r/hmhb560-reviews#turnto-standalone

 

[funkle II]

Just discovered this post. I had wanted some HE-500s, but didn't care for the ergonomics. This is so friggin' cool, I love stuff like this.

 

[funkle II]

From what I can tell, the whole reason for disassembling the entire headphone is to get the brass grommet out of the ear-cup so that the HE400 assembly (which utilizes integral tabs rather than screws) can pop into the holes. Is there any reason we would not use the hybrid headband instead? It uses a screw attachment, and looks like it could be attached without the cup modification.

 

[kid vic]

From what I can tell, the whole reason for disassembling the entire headphone is to get the brass grommet out of the ear-cup so that the HE400 assembly (which utilizes integral tabs rather than screws) can pop into the holes. Is there any reason we would not use the hybrid headband instead? It uses a screw attachment, and looks like it could be attached without the cup modification.

Yes there is, the hybrid headband doesn't allow the cups to swivel so you would have to use flat earpads to achieve the best seal.

 

[swva]

Reviving an old thread here, but does anyone know if the Hifiman Hybrid headband will fit the HE6se V2 headphones without any modifications?

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/hybrid-headband.html

 

[Riversalt]

Reviving an old thread here, but does anyone know if the Hifiman Hybrid headband will fit the HE6se V2 headphones without any modifications?

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/hybrid-headband.html