HiFiMan HE400se headphones review
- K
- Kalarovios
- gIc
- 07 Mar 2022
Hello,i am currently using Audio technica M40X and i want to upgrade to new headphones.I am looking for Bose qc35 or the hifiman 400.
I mainly listen from Spotify funk,jazz and fusion music.I don't mind cable or wireless...any suggestions for natural sound pleasure?Thanks in advance!
- Y
- Yuri84
- 0T@
- 07 Mar 2022
Prasad giving praise to non-Apple product?
I guess I missed quite a lot of stuff!
At the same time, the tone of the article... I can't say I enjoyed reading it much. If at all.
- prasad-gsma
- X$i
- 07 Mar 2022
Hello Life, 07 Mar 2022"Compared to other headphones in their price range, th... moreI won't argue with your subjective preferences but both the headphones you mentioned are bass-boosted in the mid-bass and upper bass regions. If that's the type of sound you prefer then you likely won't prefer the HE400se or any headphone with a neutral leaning sound profile. But it also doesn't make those headphones necessarily better.
- prasad-gsma
- X$i
- 07 Mar 2022
Anonymous, 07 Mar 2022No mention of amp? This beast definitely needs an amp to dr... moreThere is an entire paragraph on amps.
- prasad-gsma
- X$i
- 07 Mar 2022
imparanoic, 07 Mar 2022Do you understand the reason why balanced output (can be 4.... moreThere is nothing that prevents single-ended outputs from driving high impedance headphones. Balanced outputs do generally have higher power output on the same device as they produce higher voltage but there's nothing stopping a manufacturer from simply increasing the power output of a single-ended connection till it reaches the desired level. The only real advantage of balanced connections is the elimination of background noise and ground loop, which may be an issue in some setups but by and large the power difference isn't noteworthy.
- R
- Rkm
- DkZ
- 07 Mar 2022
Hello Life, 07 Mar 2022"Compared to other headphones in their price range, th... moreAll that dissing to praise the m50x? Those are one of the most V shaped headphones I have heard. The soundstage was so congested. Surely , it can't be that bad. You just need to give it more power.
- prasad-gsma
- X$i
- 07 Mar 2022
Sean, 06 Mar 2022Its kinda hard to take this review seriously when you menti... moreThe headphones are not criticized for not being bass boosted and that is never a criteria for judging sound. The HE400se have an aggressive roll off in the lower registers and while that may be characteristic of all open back headphones, it is still an objective, measurable deficit. And there's enough content out there, including music, that can benefit from a more linear response in this range.
- G
- Gerald
- YUU
- 07 Mar 2022
Hello Life, 07 Mar 2022"Compared to other headphones in their price range, th... moreU for sure need an amp to drive this, I have them, they sound completely different, when u give them power, it opens up its sound else it sounds meh and muffled, It's a known issue in planar magnetic, not sure why its not mentioned here
- ?
- Anonymous
- YUU
- 07 Mar 2022
No mention of amp? This beast definitely needs an amp to drive it, else they sound muffled and unimpressed. Its a day and night difference
- H
- Hello Life
- PG5
- 07 Mar 2022
"Compared to other headphones in their price range, the HE400se are often in a different league altogether and barely worth comparing" LOL NO......... Just tried them, returned.. I currently have M50X.. I have good experience with Hd598 Open backs.. and Shure Se.. and all of these sound better than HE400.. If you want open back.. HD 599s are far better choice. Hifiman is a great brand.. and Their true headphones like Ananda and Arya are truly majestic.. but these HE400s are just not as good as M50X or even the Sennheiser's in this budget.. But rest assured,, the JBLs, Beats, Sony's and specifically any TWS or wireless headphones dont come close.. in that sense Mr. Prasad's statement holds true
- V
- Vijey
- D0d
- 07 Mar 2022
KondriX, 06 Mar 2022'In terms of impedance, the HE400se do require a dedic... moreYou said it right! TWS is garbage for sure
- D
- AnonD-999710
- 81L
- 07 Mar 2022
imparanoic, 07 Mar 2022Pointless review, no mentioning of how high the Ohms and se... more EDIT: My post got truncated (last 80% missing) and frankly, I don't want to bother retyping it.
- i
- imparanoic
- 2Wm
- 07 Mar 2022
Cooe, 07 Mar 2022Stop being stupid. Basically ANY planar magnetic set is goi... moreDo you understand the reason why balanced output (can be 4.4mm or 2.5mm) via a DAC or digital audio player is there in the first place? Unbalanced output isn't powerful enough to run high Ohms and low sensitivity iems or headphones, but with balanced output, you can easily drive 100ohms headphones with low sensitivity, the only case you will struggle is very high Ohms headphones such as sennheiser hd600 /hd800 at 300ohms
It's why nearly all audiophile headphones and iems allow interchangeable cables in the first place, as unbalanced output 3.5mm can't drive it, but unbalanced output can, there is even a dedicated mobile with 2.5mm unbalanced output onkyo dp-cmx1
Shows your understanding of home audio and in particular headphones is lacking
- C
- Cooe
- Ibx
- 07 Mar 2022
imparanoic, 07 Mar 2022Pointless review, no mentioning of how high the Ohms and se... moreStop being stupid. Basically ANY planar magnetic set is going to need a dedicated amp for suitable volume and sound quality. Drivers that freaking large need a lot of power to move back & forth. That shouldn't need to be repeated. If you're buying planar magnetic headphones, you should always expect to need a suitable DAC + amp setup to use them. That's not what makes this review "bad". It's the ridiculous levels of ignorance that do, like confusing aluminum and plastic... -_-
- M
- MasEnha
- y{0
- 07 Mar 2022
When coming to planar magnetic, I would prefer Audeze, at least LCD-2 even if its a second hand (we should only buy 2nd hand headphones from collector or audiophile). This Hifiman having low impedance (25ohm), but 91db, which is power hungry hence amplifier is a must to reach its peak performance. Furthermore, we should careful when selecting the amp, because usually amp designed to reach good voltage (targeting for dynamic drivers) while planar magnetic needs good current instead.
- ?
- Anonymous
- fCg
- 07 Mar 2022
imparanoic, 07 Mar 2022Pointless review, no mentioning of how high the Ohms and se... moreHe did say you can't drive from the headphone jack of a phone and that you should use an external dac/amp. I don't think it's necessary to go into the numbers after hearing that. Planar magnetic headphones typically need a proper amp stage to drive. A phone just won't do.
- i
- imparanoic
- 2Wm
- 07 Mar 2022
Pointless review, no mentioning of how high the Ohms and sensitivity to determine whether these phones need an dedicated amp, even if you're phone doesn't have 3.5nm and uses USB type c, all you need to drive it is not necessary an amp, you can also use DAC with balanced output 2.5mm will can drive it, also sounds singificantly sounds better as the dac is better than phone supplied type c adapter
- ?
- Anonymous
- 6wN
- 07 Mar 2022
I love all types of headphones\earbuds. I have 8 pair.
- prasad-gsma
- X$i
- 06 Mar 2022
Anonymous, 06 Mar 2022*HD58XI don't have first hand experience with the 58X but from everything I've seen it seems to me they are going to have very similar tonality and roughly similar technicalities aside from some differences due to the driver structures. Having imported stuff from Drop in the past to India, I didn't have to pay any import duties but that may just be due to the item being relatively low cost. I think the HD58X should be a good pair of headphones and Sennheisers are definitely known to be more durable than HiFiMan. The HD560s is also a good option.
As for IEMs, the Etymotic ER2SE or ER2XE may be a good alternative but it's difficult to compare due to fairly notable differences in sound between IEM and open back headphones.
- S
- Sean
- 86D
- 06 Mar 2022
Its kinda hard to take this review seriously when you mention the treble as the highlight and the bass as a "mixed bag." The treble is fine for the price, but is splashy in character likely due to ringing in the 8-10kHz region, and is easily of lower quality than the bass.
These are not lacking bass, they are ruler flat down to about 50 Hz, and then there is a gradual roll off. There's also very little musical information in that region, so very little is actually lost. Criticizing a headphone for not being bass-boosted is bad practice and amateurish; bass quality matters far more than bass quantity, and HE400se bass quality is exceptional for their price bracket.
If they're weak in any area, it is absolutely the uneven midrange. All things considered, though, these are the best headphones at $150 or under, period.