[hirtmic]

Hey guys so about a year and a half ago I bought a pair of HE-400s out of recommendations from this website! Now I love my HE-400s to death but I'm starting to think it maybe a good time to upgrade if there is even an upgrade within my price range and if not maybe a complement to the headphones that is in my price range.
 
Budget: MAX of $550 but would prefer to spend ~$450
 
Previous Cans:
 
Beats - Studios: Bought these the first month they came out and its when I started to get into the "Higher End" of audio, looking back I got them because i was primarily a bass head and loved the base... plus i was the cool kid in highschool who got beats.
 
V-moda M-100s: once i got to college my beats were falling apart due to the terrible construction so I opted to get a pair of m-100s seeing as they were supposed to have awesome base and at the time i was into dubstep and a lot of house music. I loved the upgrade and sound quality in these headphones they were very clear compared the beats and actually had better base in my opinion. 
 
DT-990s: I got these because my headphones almost got stolen on campus and to be honest I liked walking around campus with out headphones on because i felt like when you had headphones on it made you unapproachable on campus. So i figured I would move up to open headphones and pick up an amp and dac. I loved the base these headphones had, however after awhile everything else seemed to just be lacking. I'm not sure if that's just how the headphone were or if I just had a bad pair. so I sold them off.
 
HE-400s I purchased a pair of he-400s and then a Schit modi magni set up and fell in love with these headphones the moment I put them on (I got velour pads right away as well). The bass was there in these headphones as well but it didn't seem to over power the highs and mids as much as the other headphones I have had. This was unexpected to me seeing as people told me that the dt-990 to the HE-400s would not be much of an upgrade (Maybe I did have a bad pair of dt-990s)
 
Music Tastes:
 
My music tastes have actualy expanded a lot as of lately. I still occasionally listen to modern rap/hiphop and house. But as of lately I've really been liking a lot of jazz, indie folk, acoustic folk, classical and instrumental music. But lately I've been die-hearted into Nujabees and similar jazzy hippo after re-watching samurai shamploo.
 
So are there any headphones you could recommend with in this price range? I was thinking about maybe just picking up a pair of HD 650's if nothing else.

 

[manbear]

This thread has some great comparisons: http://www.head-fi.org/t/744210/next-step-after-dt990-he400-vs-he500-vs-th600

I used to own the HE-400 and I upgraded from it to my current headphones, the ZMF Vibro. I loved the HE-400 bass but ultimately found the treble too fatiguing. The ZMFs are very different. They don't have the same control and depth in the bass, but they have a relaxed, musical presentation that makes everything sound rich and smooth. The HD 650 would be similar.  

There's more than one way to upgrade from the HE-400. If you want something less aggressive and more natural, then the HD 650 or Vibro would be a good choice. Just be aware that you'll be losing some bass authority. You could also upgrade in the opposite direction, towards a more aggressive/ analytical headphone. It depends on what you like and don't like about the HE-400 now.

Have you considered the HE-400i? I haven't heard it but it's supposed to be very different from the HE-400. 

 

[TMRaven]

That budget is not going to cut it if you want to 'upgrade' the 400 with the same type of sound.  The only exception is if you're dissatisfied with certain aspects of the 400's tuning, and want something with different sound that can fill those voids.  Of course you can get a complimentary can as well, like you said.
 
 
As far as taking the majority of the 400's sound and making it better, the closest I've heard is the LCD-X.

 

[hirtmic]

  That budget is not going to cut it if you want to 'upgrade' the 400 with the same type of sound.  The only exception is if you're dissatisfied with certain aspects of the 400's tuning, and want something with different sound that can fill those voids.  Of course you can get a complimentary can as well, like you said.
 
 
As far as taking the majority of the 400's sound and making it better, the closest I've heard is the LCD-X.

So would you say the HD 650s would be a fair complement to the HE-400s?  Otherwise I may just continue to save and maybe pick up something higher end down the line.

 

[Rhamnetin]

  So would you say the HD 650s would be a fair complement to the HE-400s?  Otherwise I may just continue to save and maybe pick up something higher end down the line.

 
The HD 650 will certainly be a big change for you.  As for upgrades from the HE-400, like TMRaven said you need to spend significantly more than what the HE-400 costs in order to get a real upgrade.  If you keep saving up, you might want to look at the Fostex TH500rp.

 

[hirtmic]

   
The HD 650 will certainly be a big change for you.  As for upgrades from the HE-400, like TMRaven said you need to spend significantly more than what the HE-400 costs in order to get a real upgrade.  If you keep saving up, you might want to look at the Fostex TH500rp.

Awesome, I may pick up a used set of HD 650s from amazon and see how I like them! So would the Schiit Magni/Modi stack that have bee fine wit the HD 650s or would an amp upgrade be a descent idea?

 

[ninaphexed]

I know this is an old thread but what did you go with?