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Author Topic: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions  (Read 11117 times)

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Anaxilus

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #60 on: August 31, 2015, 12:57:07 AM »
Quote from: Psalmanazar on August 31, 2015, 12:25:36 AM
Tried this today. Major bass bleed into the lower mids; the separation and levels of bass and guitars were strange. The peaky treble made sparkly cymbals too sibilant and actually harsh ones painful. Something was up with the upper mids too and it didn't seem very sturdy. Not worth 300$ when compared to the HD 600/650.


What amp was this with?
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Psalmanazar

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #61 on: August 31, 2015, 02:09:03 AM »
Quote from: Anaxilus on August 31, 2015, 12:57:07 AM

What amp was this with?
The O2+ODAC combo with FLACs of some rock and metal tracks (no brickwalled remasters!) that warm setups can screw up. The bass bleed was much worse than the expected cymbal sibilance. It might sound better with different genres of music that I don't listen to often. Some problematic recordings:

Dismember's "Override the Overture" which opens with lead guitar, the bass guitar comes in to reinforcing the leads, then the ridiculous distorted rhythm guitars appear, and finally the bass switches over to reinforcing the rhythm guitar to provide a wallop to the face. This sounded off on the 400s.

Iron Maiden's "Aces High". The bass being atypically high in the mix will overwhelm the leads on bloomy setups with bass bleed. That's exactly what happened with the 400s.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2015, 02:39:58 AM by Psalmanazar »
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joch

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #62 on: September 07, 2015, 02:07:02 PM »
How do the 400S scale with better amps?

Despite its high efficiency, would feeding it with more power--better power--make them blossom?

I'm also wondering if putting some resistors in the cables (a la ER4P to a ER4S adapter) would yield a better sound.

 
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ultrabike

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #63 on: September 09, 2015, 06:44:21 AM »
Some brief impressions and measurements of the HE-400S.

I didn't noticed the brightness that assaulted me before when I heard this at T.H.E. Show. Somehow I feel this pair is somewhat better behaved in the mids and treble than what I think I heard before. However, this particular set seemed to lack bass. This is not something I got from the measurements, or something I read. This I jotted down before making measurements. However, the measurements indicate more bass roll off than what I think I heard. The pads I used were the velour/slanted ones. Do I think these sound like the HD600? Not exactly.

Given the differences of what I heard with this pair and what I heard at T.H.E. Show I don't discard the possibility of different tuning, just as I don't discard the possibility that the songs I heard at T.H.E. Show were too bright. Currently, I was able to directly compare my HD600s with this HE400S set.

Frequency Response



Distortion Right



Distortion Left



CSD Right



CSD Left



vs. HD600

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Anaxilus

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #64 on: September 09, 2015, 06:59:12 AM »
Quote from: ultrabike on September 09, 2015, 06:44:21 AM
Some brief impressions and measurements of the HE-400S.

I didn't noticed the brightness that assaulted me before when I heard this at T.H.E. Show. Somehow I feel this pair is somewhat better behaved in the mids and treble than what I think I heard before.

I told you and OJ it was the amp. Marv didn't believe me either till I broke out the Leckerton and made him listen. I didn't believe it till Tyll made me have a second listen cuz I gave up on them myself.
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"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

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ultrabike

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #65 on: September 09, 2015, 07:08:34 AM »
All I can say is that at T.H.E. Show and to my ears this was something else. If HiFiMan didn't play with the tuning, and the songs were alright, I dunno what else to blame but the amp either.
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Psalmanazar

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #66 on: September 09, 2015, 10:27:54 AM »
The FR of that bass and lower mid hump matches up to the bass bleed into the lower mids in the pair I heard at the Capital Audio Fest. Much warmer and bloomier than the current HD 6XX. At least as bad for guitar and bass as the launch black driver 650s but I didn't think to directly compare those two.
« Last Edit: September 09, 2015, 10:50:46 AM by Psalmanazar »
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Bill-p

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #67 on: September 09, 2015, 02:24:29 PM »
I don't think I heard bass bleed with this one. Perhaps it was the amp?

On that note, this thing is very surprisingly amp-dependent when I tried it. Now that I think about it, the brightness I heard may have been caused by the amp, and not the headphone. This thing should sound neutral, and it somewhat seems to be that, save for bass roll-off. I think bass on my HD600 was fuller, but that could have been my imagination.
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ultrabike

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #68 on: September 09, 2015, 03:23:31 PM »
Quote from: Bill-p on September 09, 2015, 02:24:29 PM
I think bass on my HD600 was fuller, but that could have been my imagination.

If it was your imagination, you and I imagined the same thing. To me the HD600 has much more bass presence than the particular HE400S I heard. Other stuff is not bad.
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Marvey

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Re: HiFiMan HE400S Measurements and Short Impressions
« Reply #69 on: September 09, 2015, 11:57:32 PM »
Did I include the Focus pads in the box? Try those. Bass extension should be much better.
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