[Hifi Man]

Hi. I was browsing the web for some information on the hifiman he-400s I ordered when I came across this website. These are my first pair of high end headphones I have ever used. I upgraded from my Logitech G35 gaming headsets, which were my be-all kind of purposeful headsets. I have my he-400s plugged into a schiit modi DAC. I did not order an amplifier with these, and I understand it's not completely necessary.
 
Admittedly, when I got myself into hi-fi headphones, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I find it difficult to tell the difference between my old headphones and these new ones. My old ones are definitely louder. I have downloaded a fair amount of flac file in preparation for these headphones, and I have been listening to flac file since they arrived. Unfortunately, I don't understand where the difference I'm supposed to be hearing is. I listen to mostly death metal, thrash metal, black metal. I guess I'm just a bit disappointed, because I don't feel like I hear 400 dollars worth of difference compared to my headphones.
 
Is there anyone in this audio community that could answer some of my questions; are these headphones necessary and worth keeping, or should I return them since I can't really tell a difference? I realize that that's entirely preference, but I feel like I'd be more comfortable if I understood a bit more about these headphones. - Are these the right type of headphones for the type of music I listen to? - Should I be hearing a difference between these and my old ones? - Do I need and amp? - Could I get better, more suitable headphones for my budget of 500 dollars? 
 
I really didn't notice that the headphones feel too heavy or something, they actually feel quite comfortable. 

 

[MadMolly]

It's because you just have them connected straight to a dac (which your not supposed to do).  The dac converts the digital signal to audio, but an amp is needed to amplify the signal.  Thats why their not loud enough.  You NEED an amp with a dac.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hi. I was browsing the web for some information on the hifiman he-400s I ordered when I came across this website. These are my first pair of high end headphones I have ever used. I upgraded from my Logitech G35 gaming headsets, which were my be-all kind of purposeful headsets. I have my he-400s plugged into a schiit modi DAC. I did not order an amplifier with these, and I understand it's not completely necessary.
 
Admittedly, when I got myself into hi-fi headphones, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I find it difficult to tell the difference between my old headphones and these new ones. My old ones are definitely louder. I have downloaded a fair amount of flac file in preparation for these headphones, and I have been listening to flac file since they arrived. Unfortunately, I don't understand where the difference I'm supposed to be hearing is. I listen to mostly death metal, thrash metal, black metal. I guess I'm just a bit disappointed, because I don't feel like I hear 400 dollars worth of difference compared to my headphones.
 
Is there anyone in this audio community that could answer some of my questions; are these headphones necessary and worth keeping, or should I return them since I can't really tell a difference? I realize that that's entirely preference, but I feel like I'd be more comfortable if I understood a bit more about these headphones. - Are these the right type of headphones for the type of music I listen to? - Should I be hearing a difference between these and my old ones? - Do I need and amp? - Could I get better, more suitable headphones for my budget of 500 dollars? 
 
I really didn't notice that the headphones feel too heavy or something, they actually feel quite comfortable. 

Some external DACs come with a built in headphone amplifier, some external DACs do not come with a head amp, but they both can be called "DACs".
So adding an external headphone amplifier might be a good idea.
 
Have you tried using Foobar2000 for playing audio files?
 
Here is a thread dedicated to helping and answering questions about using the HE-400.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/604583/hifiman-he-400-impressions-and-discussion-thread

 

[Keithpgdrb]

While I agree you would be well served getting an amp, I am curious on what you were looking for in your cans.  Why did you get new headphones in the first place?  what qualities did you want to improve.  If you loved the sound on your old headphones, then why did you change it up?
 
Do yourself a favor and get the matching schitt amp for $99 bucks, then make a decision.  maybe the setup wont be for you, but make that decision with all the equipment sounding as it should.
 
quality of recordings has a lot to do with how much you enjoy your cans as well.  more revealing cans can make poorly produced music sound worse.  some of my favorite songs/bands were recorded horribly,  I just cant listen to them with certain cans. 

 

[Hifi Man]

Quote:

While I agree you would be well served getting an amp, I am curious on what you were looking for in your cans.  Why did you get new headphones in the first place?  what qualities did you want to improve.  If you loved the sound on your old headphones, then why did you change it up?
 
Do yourself a favor and get the matching schitt amp for $99 bucks, then make a decision.  maybe the setup wont be for you, but make that decision with all the equipment sounding as it should.
 
quality of recordings has a lot to do with how much you enjoy your cans as well.  more revealing cans can make poorly produced music sound worse.  some of my favorite songs/bands were recorded horribly,  I just cant listen to them with certain cans. 

This is an excellent point. come to think of it most of the music I listen to is recorded horribly. Certain artists I listen to actually go out of their way to record using horrible quality. The original reason for ordering high quality headphones is because my brother had high end gaming cans, and it just seemed like a good idea at the time. I guess I was just expecting it to sound better. Obviously I came into this thing totally naive, and I never knew much about high end equipment at all. This leads me to think that perhaps high end equipment isn't for me. Perhaps my old headphones actually were just fine for the kind of music I listen to (metal).

 

[nailbunny7]

Honestly, it just sounds bad because you plugged in to the DAC. That DAC needs an amp, so I would recommend getting the Magni to go with it, because those are very good headphones. It shouldn't be quiet by any means.
 

 

[Keithpgdrb]

I agree with Nail.. do yourself a favor and get that amp.  you will have a killer setup, and there is some metal out there that is Very well recorded.  dont give up because of my comments.  I'll never forgive myself.

 

[peepr]

how exactly are you plugging them into the modi?  It doesn't have a HP output.  But yea get a Magni.  $99 bucks and awesome. I have one love it.  
 
 
so you are connecting the computer to modi via usb and then what?? What are your headphones plugged into?

 

[mastershake2393]

Quote:

how exactly are you plugging them into the modi?  It doesn't have a HP output.  But yea get a Magni.  $99 bucks and awesome. I have one love it.  
 
 
so you are connecting the computer to modi via usb and then what?? What are your headphones plugged into?

 
Haha that's what I was wondering too.
 
Yeah, most black metal (save for Enslaved, Watain, Lose, etc.) is recorded like ****. The HE-400, because they're so revealing, will make those records sound really, really bad. Maybe once you get the Magni things will get better, but I personally would've gone with a cheaper, more forgiving can given your favorite genres.

 

[HFAUDIOPHILE]

The Grado SR325i, RS1i are best for these genres music you listen and they don't need heavy Amplification to sound there best and loud, so entry level DAC/AMPs will help them to sound loud and they shows lots of hidden details.

 

[obobskivich]

The Grado SR325i, RS1i are best for these genres music you listen and they don't need heavy Amplification to sound there best and loud, so entry level DAC/AMPs will help them to sound loud and they shows lots of hidden details.

But you still can't/shouldn't be driving them on a line-source like that Schiit DAC. You want something that has a headphone jack at least - be it an iPod or a headphone amplifier (this is in reference to the Grados - my understanding is that the HE-400 are a bit less sensitive and need more robust amplification). A headphone amplifier of some sort is needed here - the DAC + the HE-400 is incorrect.

 

[Hifi Man]

Quote:

how exactly are you plugging them into the modi?  It doesn't have a HP output.  But yea get a Magni.  $99 bucks and awesome. I have one love it.  
 
 
so you are connecting the computer to modi via usb and then what?? What are your headphones plugged into?

My headphones are plugged into the modi. I do not have an amplifier.

 

[ghostchili]

Where?

 

[nailbunny7]

Quote:

My headphones are plugged into the modi. I do not have an amplifier.

Yeah, like I said earlier, no point in having a DAC without an amp. Your ears will thank you.

 

[ghostchili]

Post a pic of how you have the headphones plugged into the modi . I'm confused