It’s 32 ohms, so you’re getting 257mw out of it. I think it’s probably solid - but yes an upgrade will be in order with a lot of these planar I think.
I’m merely suggesting that the bass output may likely be a bit lower with the Hifiman, and to see if you’ll be okay with that.
The gaming folks can chime in to help more than I on that front.
Have you looked at HarmonicDyne Zeus?
no i havent, i was going to ask if i dident go hifiman, what else should i consider.
all my shopping is only done on amason.ca
i saw 2 Zeus’s one for 470ish and the other for over 1k
in stock form the bass on the 400se is pretty decent if you have a really solid amp and with some solid leather pads the bass quantity shoots through the roof
“I’m a bass nut” “open back hifiman under 300” pick one
hmm some conflictions here.
most of the good hifiman headphones are above this unfortunately, but if you must try one… try to find the Sundara as I found that to be essentially the best bang for the buck of the lineup so far… 400se isn’t bad at all but I definitely appreciate Sundara much more in many aspects.
NONE of the hifimans have this, your looking at the wrong brand for this I will tell you that much right now. All of them share a similar trait in that the bass falls under neutrality excluding the drop variations but even those are rather sub par. Bass is one of the weakest spots of a hifiman as they are centered around fantastic mids and highs.
Depends on what you mean by “great for gaming” if its competitive… yes they are extremely exceptional but for casual… theres better options
400SE would probably be the best bet just to audition then
definitely not this brand. I’d see if you can swing a cheap aeon at this point if you want a planar with some bass to it, if its casual gaming and you really want that bassy planar sound though absolutely see if you can swing an argon.
However, all of these demand power.
I think the questions here would be… does it have to be a planar? Why hifiman? which style of gaming are you mentioning? You want great bass but it sounds like you want competitive gaming… these conflict with one another as it screws with positional accuracies I hope you are aware of this?
I would argue that his current headphone is already rather exceptional for his use case… the 400se isn’t going to compete against the 177x go over there in terms of bass… your comparing a closed back to an open back that has recessive bass tones.
Love this headphone to death, doesn’t get enough love imo… that and the nighthawk carbon are some great bassier open backs.
mx3 should be enough since the 177x is designed to be portable. the 177x isnt really like its brother headphones as it doesn’t really gain big benefits from larger amps and dacs. Personally, for a bass fan? I definitely would suggest sticking with the 177x here
if you need a bassy open back alternative that would most like be like the Tygr 300r which is the dt 990 just redone up… This way you keep that beyer house sound, comfort, good bass tones, but you gain the soundstage and imaging of the 990. Seeing that price of your 1990s though good lord…
CAM is the only great source of used gear across Canada.
IMO, Kijiji only works if you are buying locally.
My favourite headphone dealer in Canada is www.headphonebar.com
Also, I would agree that bassy and HiFiman are not really compatible. 
thnx for the great reply, wow
guess i just wanted to try hifiman cause they seem to be popular.
i do like the sound i get in the 177x
i guess the better question for me is, what cheaper openback would be the closest equivalent.
no competitive gaming here, more solo open world survival for me
very happy with my 177x, but sometimes i need to hear whats going on around me.
looking for the right headphone for me to fill that gap
only have the mx3 for now, plan to get the topping a30 pro later down the road
i would have purchased the dt 1990 by now already but they are 955 on amason
i will look at those tygr 300r’s
Well, they are by no means a bad headphone… granted the brand does have quality control issues the headphones themselves have a great sound just not the best for a bass lover.
open back, casual gaming, and bassy?
Let me think… I believe I just listed a few on another thread on these but Harmonic dyne has good tones the helios is alright but the zeus is killer as mentioned previously but these may be out of budget, Sivga phoenix is alright but may not fit the ears bit of an issue for it really, Fidelio x2hr is dirt cheap usually bleeds a bit but has very good warmth, Tygr 300r is the alternative to your 177x go… its got a bit of a different signature little less in the mids but as mentioned you gain a lot of soundstage and laser imaging, Argons if you can get them as they are a T50RP mod has some of the best low end in the cheaper ends… I think they are like $300 ish now? Somewhere around there, nighthawk carbon was discontinued but is a bit of a gem headphone… dark and bassy, pretty sure there are many others im missing here but others can help fill that in if they wish. In terms of accuracy of imaging? Best bang for the buck there is with the Tygrs and Nighthawks
Yeah, that would be the tygr then… though your in canada this may be a hard sell to find… suggest digging around the more used markets for that so you can get it outside of its bundle as otherwise it normally has to be ordered straight from beyer. Less your gonna sell off the 177x in which… you could try to snag a T1 2nd gen if you can find it in the typical $400 off the used markets… throw some suedes on it and your golden… though that is a 600 ohm headphone so it absolutely needs some juice.
Always worth the upgrade, though not so sure on the toppings to be honest… im not a big fan bit too sterile for my taste
That’s just… insanity. Nah 1990s can be found in the USA if you search around for like $400 same for the t1 2nd gen.