šŸ”¶ Hifiman HE4XX

both are possible, because itā€™s not my expirience at all either. itā€™s very open, bright and pretty dang wide soundstage. tbh it might be a bad pair, considering their QC issues too

hmm yes I thought about that too, but I couldnā€™t find anything on the headphones. I didnā€™t use the original cable, I used my own. I also gave it the 150 hours of warm-up time. It delivers slightly better details than the Fostex trx00 in The highs go well but the rest is not enough for me. Especially the mids and bass is just so subdued for me. You can get used to it but when I unpack the D7200 or the Tr x00 it looks very different, even the old D2000 sounds better, with even better stereo separation from everyone.
I think itā€™s because of the pads. I also bought these Elite Hybrid pads from Dekoni for the Tr x00 and it was exactly the same. Because the pads on the outside leather have fabric on the inside, the Tr x00 also sounded dampened.
Do not understand how to sell such a vote but apparently many like it.
I do not see a pad to try through, because that can also make them poor. Maybe the Sundura might fit well. That was my reason, because it should be better than the He4xx, but I heard it only via cd player without amplifier and nothing to load in an audio. That was nothing, so Iā€™m out again, also because you unconsciously wanted to suggest the Staxx to me.

And about the Asgard 3 i hear good things,i think is not a Amp problem in my eyes.

Perhaps the signature is not up your alley? Iā€™d suggest looking into the recommendations of the above messages I personally canā€™t speak for em since I donā€™t have the income to do so, but it general consensus means anything, they ought to be more befitting of your acoustic tastes. :ok_hand:

I really like the sound from my HE4XX. Just want to know what a worthy upgrade path looks like.

sundara -> ananda -> arya (-> HE1000V2 -> Susvara)
can go with edition xx as well (what I did)

1 Like

On the headphones themselves you can only do something with the pads, thatā€™s it.
Otherwise I would have just said sundura and the Sendy and the Monolith M60 or something would certainly be worthy.
It also depends on the budget you are aiming for and, of course, whether you have the necessary power in the Dac if you want to stay with planar listeners, so what can quickly cost something for an upgrade. But everything depends very much on the Dac. You say you should always invest in headphones first, which is true. But if you plan something higher it would be better to do both at the same time. The Dac could possibly stay and look for a headphone amplifier like Lake People g103, Asgard 3, Rupert neve, possibly even a Jan Meier would be potential headphone amplifiers.

1 Like

Sundara intrigues me. Enough of an upgrade?

If I go for Ananda/Edition XX, for the priceā€¦ would I consider Focal Elex as well?

I donā€™t have the sundara, but from what I have heard, it is enough of an upgrade (although that will be up to you to finally decide). Focal Elex is different, so in theory if you know what you want clearly, you would either want the Elex or Ananda/Edition XX, but for someone that doesnā€™t know exactly what they want, it can be tricky. Personally I was between Sundara and spending more and getting Ananda, Edition XX and Elex. I wasnā€™t totally sure which would be best for me, but the FR of the Edition XX is more similar to the HE4XX than the other options, so that coupled with a good deal was enough for me to pull the trigger on the Edition XX.

Note: I have not heard the Elex or Ananda and am going off of what I have heard.

for me going from the 4xx to the sundara was a pretty substantial gain in almost every regardā€¦ I was thinking about the ananda because of my affinity for the sundara but decided to go with the elex instead because ive read quite a bit how the ananda isnā€™t that much of an upgrade (they made the sundara too good :wink: ) and im not quite ready to spend Arya money yet

1 Like

Thanks! The Sundara sounds right up my alley.

Have you by any chance heard the 177x? Iā€™m thinking maybe getting a close back for now to compliment the 4xx.

no unfortunately I havenā€™t heard the 177x

Hallo is ifi zen dac/amp enough drive this headphone without balanced output and external amplifier?

It should drive it fine, and perhaps temper the highs a touch. The 4xx does like a bit of power, but the Zen should have enough.

Welcome to HiFi Guides, BTW!

Thank you for fast respond :slight_smile:

I just started getting a buzzing at 720-850Hz in the right ear cup. Is that a common problem or is there something specific I can do to fix it? Itā€™s smack-bang in the middle of the vocal range, so this sucks.

It has a 1 year Manufacturerā€™s warranty. If it is less than 1 year old either contact Drop or Hifiman.

1 Like

Buzzing can be caused by hair getting stuck between the magnet and the diaphragm. Take off the earpad of the buzzing cup and see if thatā€™s the case. If so, and if you are up for it, use a non-metal tweezer to take the hair out carefully.

3 Likes

Would you suggest going through Drop or Hifiman from outside the US?

Would that happen just at certain frequencies? I already checked the back, but I hadnā€™t checked the front yet. The pads are a real pain to get back on.

It has been awhile for me but from my experience with the Ananda, there was a sudden onset of buzzing that didnā€™t occur across all frequencies; I donā€™t really remember if it was narrow like yours but there was a range. I lifted the pad and saw a piece of hair that apparently slipped through the earpadā€™s dust cover and wedged itself between the diaphragm and magnet. Removing the hair removed the buzzing. Of course YMMV.

1 Like

You might be better off contacting Hifiman directly then.

1 Like