The newfantasia ones on Amazon are surprisingly decent. If youāre planning on upgrading eventually, Iād get a nice balanced cable and an adapter to single ended. These do respond very well to power so balanced eventually would be worth it.
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i contacted the guy about the grills and he put more up. HIFIMAN Aluminum Headphone Honeycomb Grilles-Set of (2) Black | eBay
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Always wondered about the grill mods. Isnāt it risky with dust and hairs getting in and getting on the driver?
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Iād be more worried about small steel objects getting sucked in but itās such a drastic difference to stage and also clarity. If youāre not careless itās nothing to worry about.
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What size are the plugs for the ear cans? (Is it 3,5mm?) and would you recommend changing the cable even if canāt use a balanced amplifier? Im currently using an beyerdynamic dt 990 with an fiio k5 pro and plan to upgrade to the he 400se stealth
Dual 3.5mm. And yeah the stock cable is a nightmare. It seems to have a mind of its own. @Musician
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I actually got the 400i before they were gone cause the 5xx wouldnāt ship and the only comparison I was able to found mentioned the 400se being brighter and heavier (and uglier), but yeh I still wonder if I effed up, Iām loving the 400i and theyāre about at my limit of brightness so I think I did ok tbh
The only he400se reviews out there are the Chinese version that doesnāt have the stealth magnets
it was some guy on reddit, he had the stealth one, from what I know itās basically more v shaped, with maybe a bit more soundstage? found some german forum where a guy more or less said that too, could still return the 400i if the se are that much better but I doubt it tbhā¦
The stage is the first thing I noticed. With the grills Iād say the stage is ever so slightly better than my Aryaās and quite a bit bigger and more natural than my he6se and the imaging is so much better than any he series can Iāve heard outside the he6se. Might be a burn in issue but every time I try to use a single ended cable they donāt sound that great but with a balanced cable and some power these are really really good for the price. Also I think the stealth drivers arenāt just snake oil because when these are on someoneās head they are really loud and have easily the some of the highest sound leakage (with honeycomb grills) Iāve ever heard.
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Got the HE400se with stealth magnets today from Amazon and am only an hour into them, so VERY, VERY early impressions.
ā Good sonic balance across the spectrum. Nothing feels too hot or overemphasized. As Thom Yorke sang on āKid A,ā everything is in its right place.
ā Iām not sure what Iām supposed to hear with āplanar bass,ā as this is my first planar. But Iām not getting anywhere near the slam I get with my warm, bassy Meze 99 Classics. Even my Sennheiser HD 560s have more present bass. Not punchy, but present.
ā Average detail retrieval. My Sennheiser HD 560s are a touch more detailed.
ā Soundstage much more narrow I imagined. My Meze 99 Classics (closed back) and Sennheiser HD 560s both put the sound further out on my shoulders than the 400se. The sound with these is very much inside the head. I expected more from a planar, even an entry-level planar.
ā Very nice imaging. There is nice separation among the instruments. Maybe just a touch behind the Sennheiser HD 560s.
ā Clear mids. These cans definitely donāt have any veil on the mids.
ā VERY comfortable. Tons of room in each ear cup. Nice velour padding. Headband also padded in the right spots.
ā The stock cable provided is janky as f*ck. Iāve seen $40 IEMs with better cables. This cable works fine, but it looks about as durable as a strand of tinsel on a Christmas tree.
ā Donāt believe HiFiMan for a second that these cans can be properly driven by a phone. Iām running these with a TempoTec Sonata HD Pro tricked into high-gain mode by using a 3.5-male to 3.5-female adapter, and comfortable volume for me is about 60 percent up my iPhone 12. Youāll need to almost max out an iPhone to get proper volume out of these cans. Maybe a more powerful Android, such as an LG, will work better. But I would think an amp is almost mandatory for these cans due to their low sensitivity.
These are extremely impressive for $149 cans. But I canāt call them giant killers, especially with the Sennheiser HD 560s at $199. The 560s seem to have better detail and soundstage. But the HE400se are a bit warmer, more musical and a bit less clinical, if that makes any sense.
Again, VERY early days, but I think the 560s is better at detail retrieval and sound stage and probably has a more present and accurate bass.
More impressions to come. Feel free to ask any questions!
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Pop the grills off even if just for a test listen. Itās how theyāre meant to be. I honestly donāt like any of the circle can hifiman headphones the way they come but with the grills my he6se is my favorite pair of headphones and they slam with the best of them. Very few planars can slam hard and I really canāt see the 560s being more detailed than these on a balanced cable and the stage with the honeycomb grills is way bigger than the 560s but I donāt have them to compare with anymore for detail but they never really wowed me with detail when i had them. Iām gonna try some eq and pad swapping and see where I get and Iāll report back.
Dude: Iām not big on ripping apart and modding headphones to get better sound, especially if I may return them within 30 days to Amazon. I pad-swap and cable-swap, and thatās about it. EQ, too.
Iām doing a straight-up comparison between the bone stock HE-400se and bone stock HD 560s. Itās the only fair apples-to-apples comparison, as I donāt think Iāll keep both.
Yes, the 560s have slightly better detail retrieval than the HE-400se at first listen. Granted, the 560s have many more hours of play and burn-in.
Iām VERY impressed with the HE400se, especially for $150. They would be a no-brainer if I never heard the 560s.
But I do like the detail retrieval of the 560s, especially since my other daily driver over-ear is the Meze 99 Classics, which are warm, bassy and fun as hell but not exceptionally clinical or detailed. Iām looking for horses for varied courses, as I also have the middle-of-the-road but excellent Moondrop Starfield for IEMs.
Still, as janky as the cable is with the 400se, I still prefer it to the 10-foot, 6.35mm-jack monstrosity that Sennheiser packs with the 560s. That thing is such a pain in the ass. I must buy a shorter cable with a stock 3.5-mm end.
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Really? The 400i 2020 are by far the widest, most speaker like hps Iāve had and I had the hd560s until not that long ago(sold them in february I think), they also sound much fuller, less harsh, more slam and with better separation, legit an upgrade in almost every way imo, maybe the 560s had a bit more bass but still sounded thinner with the boosted highsā¦
The 6xx are still my main cause of tuning but the 400i actually do a lot of things better, I kinda hated the 560s tbhā¦ hope the 400se get into the hands of someone with both, but itās kind of a worthless comparison for most if they discontinued the 400i already, The more impressions I read the more it sounds like a downgrade tho.
Well, everybodyās ears are different. Itās VERY early hours with the 400se. I do like them very much, and Iām not reaching for the cups to take them off any time soon.
The 400se are a super value for $150. They absolutely SLAUGHTER the overrated Audio-Technica M50x (closed-back, I know), which are the same price.
Deciding between the 400se and 560s wonāt be easy. Maybe I just will have to keep both, as I think the 560s still are a better reference can. But the 400se are fun to listen to, with absolutely no area thatās offensive. Thatās important, as Iām pretty treble-sensitive, and there is a frequency spot in the highs that can grate me a touch with the 560s.
I think the 400se are a touch warmer and more full than the 560s, as you said about the 400i, which Iāve never heard or owned. Thatās good for me. I donāt like harsh treble, and I have tinnitus. So certain elevated treble frequencies cut through my ear canals like rip saws. Itās why most Beyers are off-limits for me.
My Meze 99 Classics donāt sound like either the HE400se or the 560s, so they will stand alone and stand tall as my āfun houseā cans. I listen to them when I donāt give a toss about accuracy or the Harman curve and just want to rock and get lost in warm, rich tones.
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Quick update on the comfort after wearing for two hours. Plenty of depth and room in ear cups, even for the protruding pinnae in my right ear.
But the head band ā ooof. I had a damn dent in the skin of my bald skull, with a red hot spot, after wearing for two hours. Iāll try to adjust the headband, as maybe I had the cups too low on my ears, forcing the band to do too much work.
Otherwise, Iāll need Dekoni Cubes or some sort of Velcro headband wrap for these.
Still quite impressed with the sound. A really easy headphone to hear.
I donāt own the HE400se but Iāve owned the HE400i 2020 and the Sennheiser HD560s at the same time as well. The Hifimanās imaging, instrument separation and soundstage is no contest leagues above the Sennheiserās, but the Senns have more natural timbre, better treble and slightly more detail. I also owned the HE4XX from Drop btw, in my experience Hifiman headphones drastically benefit from burn-in, so just give it some time.
The one thing that made me decide to return the HD560s and keep the HE400i was how they behaved in the busy passages of the music. Night and day difference. HD560s are excellent all around for the price but they canāt handle complex drumming and bass sections the way Hifiman headphone do. I donāt know about other headphones from them, but the HE4XX and HE400i 2020 feel like a knife going through butter, incredibly effortless.
(Coincidentally I also owned the Meze 99 Classics, but I believe itās the worst sounding headphone I ever had for the price. The bass at first feels impressive but they canāt handle busy passages. If you listen to Pop and Synthpop they give the impression theyāre very good when in fact their low end is as loose as it gets. Also worst mids ever lolā¦)
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Quick follow-up on night three of ownership. I REALLY like the sound of these headphones. Stunning for $150.
But ā¦ the headband might be the most uncomfortable Iāve worn on any headphone in my life. I get a serious headache within 30 minutes of wearing these due to seemingly all of the weight of these cans being centered on a small hotspot in the dead center of the band. Iāve tried adjusting the cups, with no luck.
Iām bald, so I donāt have anything to act as additional padding. And I have a pretty big head. But these are downright painful on the top of the head despite fitting very nice around the ears.
Maybe Iāll try the old style HE-400i with the suspension headband or return these and save for the Sundaras. No chance I can keep these if this fit persists. Bummer, as they sound lovely for $150.
More testing and tweaking ahead.
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Yes, these do handle complex music better than the HD 560s. But I really like the timbre and detail of the Senns.
Some more listening notes, after A/B comparisons to the Sennheiser HD 560s.
I was wrong about the soundstage on the HE-400se upon first listen. Itās wider than the HD 560s but not by the margin I expected. Same with the imaging. Itās better than I thought.
But I still think the timbre and detail of the HD 560s are better.
As you said, one edge that the HE-400se has is the ability to handle more complex, faster music better than the HD 560s. The instruments never collapse into a grainy wall of sound with the 400se. Maybe thatās a characteristic of a planar, as this is my first planar. It rarely happens with the 560s, but it does.
But holy hell, the 560s are immensely more comfortable than the HE400se on my head ā especially the headband. The headband was the LAST thing I thought would be a deciding factor in which of these two cans I would keep. But itās going to be tough for me to justify keeping a headphone that gives me a headache every time I wear it.
More to come.
As for the Meze 99 Classics, I know much of the audiophile world shits on them. Could care less. I know theyāre far from sonically perfect, but theyāre a lot of fun to hear when critical listening or accuracy arenāt the primary goal. I still get a kick out of them, no pun intended. Plus the build quality is exquisite.
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Wow, what a bummer if this good sound gets dragged down by bad comfort. I ordered mine today, I also have a fair big head.
Do you think the headband will become softer over by usage or will it stay so stiff?