EQ’ing that bass in is effortless. Got a 4.4mm cable for them with a nice braid.
I do gaming with them and it just feels so freaking wide.
I’m a percussion guy. Drums and intricate percussive ellements, in music, sound blissful.
Try listening to Dinossaur - OTR Remix, close your eyes and have fun.
Because they are made with cheap components and materials by indentured workers to indifferent levels of QC?
Indentured workers? You mean the people who are part of the supply chain of pretty much any brand, chifi or not?
Yes, them.
It’s okay within 10 years or so we will be falling down towards them/they will be rising up over us, people just do not understand how the world works. When they’re cold hungry and fighting like the dark ages they’ll all miss the cheap chinese/indian manufacturing I bet.
Yeah I’ve tried all kinds of headphones, they all just broke and yellow stuff exposed out of it.
Hmm - I think you may have actually been listening to eggs.
Common mistake for a beginner audiophile to make.
🤣 how is this comment not more appreciated
Probably around $200 a week in U.S. dollars working 50 to 60 hours.
Your phone is more than likely made by child labor.
Very likely involved at one or more components of the total supply chain, yes.
If not the main construction, then in the gathering or the processing of the resources and materials that go into the end product.
Not just child labour, but legit slavery.
Look up uygher slaves
Slave labor
Ordered a pair to replace my broken HM5s. What are some good tracks to try these out with to feel the difference? I listen to anything from In Flames to Maria Callas, Ice Nine Kills to Aretha, Blackgold & Skindred to Beatles and Norah Jones (sorry, but they sound great on HM5s!)
As a fellow HE400SE user, I absolutely love them too!
Allow me to step in here - as a seasoned audiophile who has owned well over 30 different headphones (over as many years) and attended headphone only trade shows, I can tell you unequivocally that they are one of, if not THE best bargains in all of audio. I currently have a electrostatic-based headphone system totaling slightly over $20k, but needed a quality pair of cans for use with my iPad and for travel, etc. I purchased a pair of the 400se about a year ago and am continually amazed at how good these are - ESPECIALLY at the price. When my non-audiophile (& less crazy) friends ask me to recommend a good full-size pair of headphones, the 400se are always my first choice. (BTW, I have owned no less than 6 different HiFiMan headphones, over many years, and can attest that this is a great and well established headphone manufacturer). Don’t hesitate - BUY THESE. You and your ears will thank me later. Cheers!
It depends, I sold the same model in few days.
Get a BJ2 from Aura
What DAC & Amp do you have to run those drivers?
I run them off of a iFi Hip Dac 2 out of the 4.4 balanced output.
Could these be run straight off a PC or an apple dongle or not?
straight up no, don’t do it. you’ll hear sound but it ain’t gonna be enough. it’ll feel forced and someone I read said it’ll be “tunog multo” (ghostlike)
lol I find myself running them with my Shiit Magni on High-gain setting.
I probably should get my hearing checked, but they love raw power.
Apple dongle no, anything else reasonable yes
They’re quite hard to drive, around 88dB/mW. So they might be quiet, and if you want to use EQ (which improves them a lot) you need to use a negative pre-amp which further drops the volume. They will play at Apple dongle levels, but better out of an amp or at least a more powerful dongle.
Sundara or Ananda are much easier to drive.
I wasn’t impressed with my Sundara’s until I plugged them into an amp. If those are easier to drive than the HE400SE, then I wouldn’t try using an Apple dongle with them.
It depends a lot on how loud you listen and whether you want to EQ. Sundara is very well tuned and doesn’t really need much EQ, a small bass boost at most.
Sensitivity on the Sundara is 94db/mW, that means you get 94dB out of 1mW of power. The US version of the Apple dongle will do its full 1V into 32Ω without clipping, which is 31mW.
If I’m listening to it without EQ, about 1mW is a comfortable listening level, 2mW is loud and about as high as I’d go (Qudelix reports exact voltage/power).
The EQ I use with them, if I do, has a -3dB negative pre-amp, so putting that back would be a further doubling of the power to 4mW… it’s still not a whole lot.
The HE400SE is harder again at 91dB/mW though and in measurements even a bit lower. So it needs twice the power of the Sundara for the same volume level.
I’d never suggest the Apple dongle for these (or for that matter the Sundara). But if someone has the Apple dongle already, it’s worth trying. It does depend how loud you listen.
I’m going to level with you.
A Dongle is very capable of getting them to a nice volume.
But if you want to play with EQ, you do need a better source.
The dynamics also scale with a better source.I do have a dongle and it drives them nicely (at least for what it is)
Hey man, what are some resources that I can read more from on this topic? Specifically, how different DAC/Amps affect sound from a technical perspective.
It’s so subjective in some areas that there isn’t a “centralised” data base or resource channel for this kinda stuff.
I get my bearing from reddit (not too much tho), head-fi, a few reviewers such as Resolve from The Headphone Show, Crinacle, and a few others.
I can’t get a neat unanimous answer on DACs/Amps anywhere.
For me is just searching and getting a grasp of what the majority have to say about the subject.
Though I’m not best person to ask about these things.
You can try to join the Headphones Show discord and ask Resolve himself.
He’s usually prone to conversation.
Hello, I just got them a couple of hours ago. May 2021 mfg so got the white braided cable which I’m told are useless. Will buy better cables after 1 Dec when I get my salary lol. Complete newbie to this. Tried it on my ROG Strix laptop. Even at full volume, it’s like 20 for my Razer Blackshark V2 usb. They seriously need something to push them. So I think I’ll get the balanced cable to see if they’re better. Then get a dac/amp like a Dawn Pro or Fiio Ka13. Regarding eq for laptop, I tried installing Equalizer APO, somehow its not installing, after complete installation, and restart, it still doesnt show any where, i tick marked all the audio options that I want the APO for. Strange. Any other laptop eq that would be good for the HE400se?
Apo is the eq software. But you need the GUI. For that you have to install Peace gui.
This 2 softwares are a combo.
Only then will you be able to eq to your hearts content.
The moondrop Dawn pro should be plenty.
If you want to get my balanced cable just tell me and I’ll send you the Aliexpress link.
Thanks a ton! I was able to eq according to Oratory’s eq. Can’t find too much of a difference for now, but will wait for dac amp and maybe then I’ll notice the difference.
Yeah, the negative pre amp lowers the volume so you need more juice to get them going.
Yeah the HE400se can sound anemic for lack of a better term on a poor amplifier. What I use as a poor source to test a headphone is the 3.5mm output of my Xbox One X controller. The bass sounded a little strange and fell off very fast. 3/4 volume to be listenable. I do use them on my iFi Zen DAC via 4.4mm and it works wonders. I did try them on the unbalanced output but there’s barely any difference if I can even say, and it’s quieter compared to balanced but all that needs is more on the volume knob.
Comparing a xbox controller to a dongle seems kinda odd though. I have not seen any testing done on its amp or dac capabilities, but I can almost bet on that they didn’t bother to include a decent dac in them compared to even the shittiest phone dongles haha.
I wasn’t comparing them to a dongle. I use it for kicks to see how much a source matters for headphones. Not the best testing method though.
Sorry about that. Clearly I read it wrong. But yeah the source will matter hehe 😅
Regarding your Zen DAC, I have the same experience with my Hip Dac 2.
The 3.5 output drives them nicely already.
If you bother with DAC and amp while listening to spotify 192 kbps may god help you.
People out here talking like Spotify is 128kbps MP3 from limewire…
Different headphones matter far more.
I can’t hear the difference between lossless and 160kbps opus, 192kbps is good enough.
Lol i meant what is his AMP & DAC he’s using to power his hifimans correctly.
Not the kilobits of a music lmfao
Here’s Andrew from the headphone show using Spotify to test the Sennheiser HE-1 … lol
Well if you have 320kbps using premium it’s fine. Difference between 320kbps and lossless is not as crazy as 320bkps mp3 and spotify free “high quality” 160 kbps
Even an Apple dongle is a dacamp and sounds considerably less noisy than most built in DACs in Laptops and windows PC’s, no matter if Spotify or not.
I found this posted 2 years ago while trying to figure out if there are any mods to make it more comfortable
Credit goes to ATXK
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/u2jgfi/he400se_suspension_headband/
there is another way of doing this without removing the yokes but instead punches 2 holes on the leather strap you created then use black twist ties or leather cord to hold it in place. (I would have prefered black leather instead of brown) but to each his own
idk man, these stop me buying more expensive cans tbh
I’ve started having classes at a studio. I tried the HD 600 … REFERENCE.
I didn’t like them as much as my HE400se … it’s uncanny.
They’ve been my first pair of planars and while I can’t use them for longer sessions due to their weight and the imo uncomfortable headband, I enjoy them a lot.
If you live in the UK try this out:
https://youtu.be/RFbya-CPNu8?si=8Tzc9hZnapFe-bvK
I bought it for my Edition XS and can now wear them for hours without the band irritating.
I had the same problem si i wrapped piece of foam in cloth and mounted on the headband and its perfect now, I can wear them for 10s of hours with no problem
I concede … I have huge afro so the headband isn’t as much of a big deal to me. But I get you.
I bought this and Senn 800S at the same time and honestly I thought well 800S is so good but how come the 400se is this good at less than 10th of the 800s’ price. It made me question my ears (and my spending habits).
They have that effect for sure!! The HD800 has become sorta controversial as of late. A lot of conflicting opinions on it.
With EQ, 800s just blows my mind, so good. But man, he400se is maybe 80% of the sound for 1/10 of the price :)
Yea they are very good, but man the headband is absolutely not comfortable… might try the sundara soon, but the he400se have a weird headband which doesn’t suit my head that well… but other than that the sound is veeeeery good for the price
I wish i could’ve enjoyed them more than i did. Mine came with a channel imbalance issue and stopped working. Some friends also said my copy didn’t sound right from the start…
Did you warranty them?
That’s a real shame … Saddly the QC isn’t to a solid standart yet.
Though people are reporting the QC getting better.
I have them, I like the sound and the technicalities.
However the comfort is a big step down from my Sennheiser HD559s.