If you go schiit stack. Magni 3+ will be better since it is a current feedback topology.
I use an Atom+ stack with the HE-400se. Works beautifully. Ample volume and fidelity. Very clean power.
Was hoping youâd reply as I knew you had the Atom+ stack. Glad to hear youâre enjoying them!
Thanks for the replies folks!
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Can someone perhaps try the HE400se with zenDAC only? And say if the zenCAN is necessary or not worth the extra cash? Tight budget.
Get a balanced cable for the 400se and the zen DAC should be enough, did try it with Sundara and youâll hear a quality jump from SE to balanced
The jump to the zen can is also there but imo less then the jump from SE to balanced 
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I run mine with the stock cable on a BTR5 with no problem, and they have even more power if I switch to a balanced cable. Something like a ZenDac would be a good pick too, and not that expensive.
Would anyone know the differences in the sound profile of these and the he400i (2020)?
well, I was about to post a sad message, that my 400se were DoAâŠchannel imbalance. on a whim I swapped the 6.25mm - 3.5mm to a dif and the problem disappeared. swapped it back to check and it was also fine. so seems one of the connections wasnât fully seatedâŠinto the amp or into the adapter.
another weird thing is that if I tried to turn up the volume, something like clipping would start when I tried to raise the volume to a preferred level. upping the gain caused it to start doing this at a lower level on the dial. that disappeared when I swapped to the other adapterâŠand didnât return when I went back to the one it came with.
bah, hum happy! LoL!
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What donât you personally like about the 400i? sound characteristics wise.
And just in case you want to know my opinions on the HE400se in comparison: Review - Hifiman HE400se
Did you end up trying another pair of 400i?
No, I havenât had chance to try another
Nice review btw!
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for what itâs worth I keep hearing the 400se have worse soundstage, which I kinda believe cause the 400i were really really good at that imo
Thats also what i keep hearing. So when i hear someones saying otherwise i get confused even more:)
Apologies you posted this a while back, but could you elaborate on this quality jump? What exactly changed with a balanced cable?
For the zen DAC imo its better to invest into some decent balanced cables to get more out of harder to drive HP, think someone wanted to know if he had to upgrade to the zen can for his 400se
For me the bass speed did improve when going to balanced in busy section of rock and metal bass was a bit limp and I had problems hearing some details, with the balanced output bass had more impact and it was easier to hear some details
the Zenâs balanced output is really good. the extra power will almost always help make for better sound, with a few exceptions. one would be when the headphone needs more power than the Zen can provide, essentially making the pairing lack synergy. an example of this would be the HE-560v4âŠor at least thatâs what Iâve been told as Iâve ordered one and then a couple commented not even the CANâs balanced will have enough power to drive these well, which leads to a second example, when the SE output on an amp is REALLY good. the Schiit Asgard 3 is SE only and itâs so good that many say it made the Jotunheim with itâs balanced output redundant.
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