So in the end has anyone tried the 5xx? All this drama between the sundara, 400i and 400se but they all have the same tiny earcups, I think Iāll try to resell my 400i and save for an ananda just cause of that lol
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wasnāt the 5xx the one that is basically a Deva? i could swear i read that somewhere. i think they also have that thinner membrane in them compared to the he400 series.
also in terms of earcups. what pokrog said about the sundara driver being held back by the housing is something i also thought just in terms of how uncomfortable it is in comparison to the HE400 ones. my perfect headphone right now would be sundara driver inside he400 body probably. but who knows what that means for sound. next stop: trying way too many pads and comparing themā¦
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I mostly just get annoyed at my ears touching either the bottom or the top of the pad tbh, they fit about exactly in them, but then the headband doesnāt really have enough adjustments to actually nail the height, pretty infuriating tbh, sundara Iām even more skeptic cause they donāt even have swivel, interesting how they can nail doing super complex planar magnetic driver but canāt get the housing rightā¦
I donāt really care if the 5xx are devas or not tbh(they at least look cooler) Iām more curious about how they compare with the other ones since they do look way more comfortable, but people claim sound worse at a higher priceā¦
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The 5XX make me curious, as watching several reviews most of them come to the conclusion that theyāre aggressive, but scale really well. And are supposed to just be the best on tubes, like the 6xx.That old school Hifiman headband though puts me off. Lots of horror stories of that plastic mechanism holding tension on where the headphone slides up and down just breaking. Weird choice for them to do considering the DEVA, 400i 2020 and 400se all have the new headband design. That couldāve been a Drop decision and not a Hifiman decision though.
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i love all black too. i was just mentioning the deva because you will probably find more info on the sound of those due to their unique bluetooth feature. twice the reviews to read through.
The 5xx is nice although slightly more specific on who itās for, itās more similar to the deva (but itās not a deva) than the 4xx/400i (havenāt heard the se yet)
Have some overall thoughts and comparisons to the other hifiman in this post and others below that follow it
I would disagree there, on most budget to midrange tube amps they did not play well imo, hybrids were nice though
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Thanks. I can always count on you for advice
Yeah that would make sense, tubes can be fickle.
Hi guys. I have the Sennheiser HD 560s with a Fiio K3 and I love it. I want to get the Hifiman HE 400i 2020 version or the Hifiman HE 400se 2021 version as my first Planar Magnetic headphone. Which one do you guys recommend? Where I live they are both the same price.
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I have the Senn 560s as well. Got my my 400seās over a week ago and love them. Prefer them over the 560s myself. Having never tried the 400 2020s I canāt offer and comparison but I donāt think you can go wrong with the SEs for the price.
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I got the Hifiman HE 400i 2020 version yesterday and I love them. With my Fiio K5 Pro it is pure class! I"m still going to keep my Sennheiser HD 560s, because they are also a beast on their ownā:sunglasses:
Loving both my phones
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How can you tell if its the Chinese version or international version?
And can someone do a comparison between this and 400i 2020 version? Thanks!
The international version has the āstealth magnetsā, the CN version does not.
Someone already did
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Hey thanks for sharing!
Catching up here, thought Iād address the 5xx. The 5xx has BIG pad openings, much more-so than Sundara/4xx. They are light and very loose. They really feel like earspeakers just kind of chilling there. I like my pair, and though build can not be emphasized as a strong-point, Iāve had zero problems with my set. Like a lot of these Hifiman, they respond very nicely to EQ, and Iād argue that the Sundara re-dux is tuned well overall, and can just take a few tweaks ā the 5xx can really really use EQ. Adding a lower bass shelf, evening out some of the treble response and adding some presence and that normal 2k trough. Their stock personality is fairly airy and neutral, good midrange tuning. I always thought the 4xx was both thicker in mid-bass and had some treble peaks that stuck out. Iāve always advocated for them due to their unique fit/form factor, not my only pair of headphones by a mile, but they fill their nitch. Iāve always wondered how they work for gamers as well, their attributes seem a good fit.
Iād also argue that the synergy with a lot of HYBRID TUBE amplifiers is nice, but the OTL Tube paring will not be impressive. Iām sure there is a design out there with very low output impedance and a ton of current, butā¦ most OTL Tube amps in this price range are not going to cooperate with this class of planar well at all. Avoid that.
Resume 400SE arguing.
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A couple more recent reviews. Hifiman picked a funny time to solicit reviews considering the nearly identical sounding HE-X4 just launched lol
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Hifiman does make questionable business decisions
Is it questionable?
The HE400se is part of their normal product cycle. The HE-X4 is an item for Drop. Assuming Drop comes to you asking for a new model headphone to market why wouldnāt you do it?
Got the HE400se today and so far theyre great, gonna write a full review when I have a lot of hours on them.
Quick observations - Initial impressions
Out of every hifiman headband this is the most comfortable one for me, by far. The pads are no doubt also the comfiest pads hifiman has made, not to say they are super high quality but theyre a lot better.
The sound strikes me as a middle ground between the tuning of he400i and sundara, I think it has the best of both worlds but need to listen further.
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