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Author Topic: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements  (Read 9159 times)

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TMRaven

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2014, 06:49:00 PM »
Seems like a pretty good headphone for the money, just not quite the juggernaut that Head-Fi makes it out to be.  I will be looking forward to the new 400i and 560.

And yea the whole 'we all hear differently' thing really bugs me.  We all hear pretty much the same but have drastically different preferences.
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Marvey

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2014, 06:51:38 PM »
No - definitely not the end all be all. The 8.5k peak isn't that bad. But even after EQ, I'm hearing a lot of the 5k distortion spike (which manifests as a secondary signal at 10k).


In comparison to the HE-400, I'm torn as the HE-400 has this weird funky midrange distortion.


I'd probably take the HE-500 over the others as I've become more of a tonal balance kind of guy lately.
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mechgamer123

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2014, 07:22:06 PM »
Really interesting measurements purrin, thanks for taking the time to measure these!

Someone at our university has a pair of these and I got to hear them the other day. I don't think the peak sounds quite as bad as I remember my HE-400 being, and I feel it's probably priced fairly compared to the HE-400, but I really think it would be better to just spend the extra bit of money and get an HE-500, especially while it's on sale.

Oh and re: amps, since the guy didn't want to drag his Emotiva amp to the mini-meet we had, his excuse for why it sounded bad was that our O2s weren't good enough. Thoughts? I know Nwavguy isn't thought of very highly on Changstar, but it is what it is. Never had to use a headphone at more than 1x gain because I listen at low levels so I'm not too sure if the "more power makes orthos sound better" argument applies to me...
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Thujone

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2014, 08:05:26 PM »
My biggest gripe is that this headphone is greatly overlooked. I got it for $345 brand new from HeadAmp and it's silly when I think about the $400 I spent on the HE-400. The HE-500 is obviously in a different league than the HE-400 but I think the same goes for the HE-4 (though it is also quite different than the HE-500). Overall I find the 4 and 500 to be on par, I just prefer the aggression that the 4 provides.
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Marvey

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #14 on: February 21, 2014, 12:43:16 AM »
Quote from: mechgamer123 on February 20, 2014, 07:22:06 PM
Really interesting measurements purrin, thanks for taking the time to measure these!

Oh and re: amps, since the guy didn't want to drag his Emotiva amp to the mini-meet we had, his excuse for why it sounded bad was that our O2s weren't good enough. Thoughts?

It's as you said: It is what it is. I find the O2 amp capable of producing good sound with these orthos. Maybe the Emotiva helps give the HE4 some bass weight with its damping factor or maybe that's how the Emotiva sounds. Without being more specific on why the Emo sounds better comparex to X with the HE-4, we are left grasping at straws.
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Thujone

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #15 on: February 21, 2014, 01:41:47 AM »
I listened to the Emotiva with and without 120ohm resistors and it had quite a bit more bass quantity compared to the Ember and Vali. I found it more congested and not as resolving either. I was unimpressed overall.
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TMRaven

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #16 on: February 21, 2014, 01:48:40 AM »
But, but.. x headphone needs more power otherwise the bass isn't as strong!
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mechgamer123

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #17 on: February 21, 2014, 09:32:35 AM »
Quote from: marvey on February 21, 2014, 12:43:16 AM
It's as you said: It is what it is. I find the O2 amp capable of producing good sound with these orthos. Maybe the Emotiva helps give the HE4 some bass weight with its damping factor or maybe that's how the Emotiva sounds. Without being more specific on why the Emo sounds better comparex to X with the HE-4, we are left grasping at straws.
I guess someone should do a shootout between different speaker amps for headphones and see how they compare.

On a sidenote, looks like I will be going to that person's house tomorrow evening and I can hear the Emo next to the LCD-X on both the O2 and Emo and figure out which setup is the best.
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mechgamer123

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #18 on: February 22, 2014, 06:43:47 AM »
Quote from: marvey on February 21, 2014, 12:43:16 AM
Quote from: mechgamer123 on February 20, 2014, 07:22:06 PM
Really interesting measurements purrin, thanks for taking the time to measure these!

Oh and re: amps, since the guy didn't want to drag his Emotiva amp to the mini-meet we had, his excuse for why it sounded bad was that our O2s weren't good enough. Thoughts?

It's as you said: It is what it is. I find the O2 amp capable of producing good sound with these orthos. Maybe the Emotiva helps give the HE4 some bass weight with its damping factor or maybe that's how the Emotiva sounds. Without being more specific on why the Emo sounds better comparex to X with the HE-4, we are left grasping at straws.
Well, I went over to the person's house that has the HE-4 and Emotiva setup. While I didn't compare the HE-4 between the O2 and the Emo, I did compare the Vali to the Emotiva and I don't really feel it was the extra power making it sound better, I think the Emotiva is just flatout a better amp. To me, the instrument separation and soundstage was leagues ahead on the Emo. It did also feel like the treble was a bit cleaner sounding, but I didn't really hear the bass being more "controlled" or whatever. I guess I wasn't listening to the bass very much either. I was busy listening to all the individual instruments that I couldn't perfectly make out on my O2 before.
I'm seriously considering buying one now for my Mad Dog, assuming I can add a headphone jack and massive resistors, I'm in. Add one to the Emotiva bandwagon. :)
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Thujone

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Re: HiFiMan HE-4 Measurements
« Reply #19 on: February 23, 2014, 12:20:29 PM »
Any luck with Project Sunrise, Marv?
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