Heads-up on HE400i on sale

Joined
27 Jul 2005
Posts
13,038
Location
The Orion Spur
Just noticed these are on sale for only £180! with the current price of the HD650's these are a total bargain surely?

I did email hifiman during the summer having a polite rant about the UK never being able to get in the their summer sales and Mark emailed me back saying that "Plans are afoot", so hopefully this is what he meant.

I was tempted to grab the 560 which was already on sale (£383) but with the 400i at only £180 I'm wondering whether the 560 it's really worth the 200 extra?

Anyone else grabbing one at this price?
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Jul 2012
Posts
7,373
Location
Ankh Morpork
It's been this price on and off for a couple of weeks at least, with occasional jumps back to it's ridiculous £350 is price.

I'm trying to get some funds together and if I make it then I will be buying
 
Associate
Joined
21 Apr 2016
Posts
1,967
Location
Oh Canada!
I had the 400i for a year and sold them. I was using them with a TEAC UD 301 and a Schiit Aasgard. I was impressed with the fidelity. Damn impressed. But the bass let me down, as did the inconsistent performance across different genres of music. I definitely fed them enough power. For their impedance, my amp was feeding them nearly 1000mW. More than enough. Just not beefy enough in the low end for me.

I also got the chance to use the Oppo PM-3 for a month with the same setup, and I would honestly say that the PM-3 blow the HE400i out of the water in an absolutely massive way. Pricing is similar.

The PM-3 is like a concert in your brain. I watched the second hunger games movie on them and my jaw was on the floor the entire time with my mind being blown over and over and over again. These are my dream headphones and when funds allow I will buy myself a pair. Recommended 100,000%. They are 100 out of 10 headphones. They beat the pants off the 400i.

An added bonus with the PM3 is that they are closed back, and so can be used in public without annoying people, they are lighter weight and more efficient so you can use them with a "I'm not worthy of these headphones" device like an iPhone passably where the 400i would be so quiet with that sort of output that they wouldn't be worth listening to.
 
Associate
Joined
21 Apr 2016
Posts
1,967
Location
Oh Canada!
That's definitely a good price for them but I still feel the PM-3 is an overall superior headphone, regardless of cost. JM2C. Hope u like them. You have to feed them a lot of juice to really make them kick. Keep that in mind.

Just to follow up- If I can sum up the audio experience with the PM-3 watching a movie, it was like being in a top end IMAX theater watching a blockbuster movie, but somehow even better. I honestly couldn't imagine anything sounding better (though of course there are better headphones).
 
Associate
Joined
26 Nov 2012
Posts
938
This is pretty tempting. I was waiting for the HD650s to come down to somewhere near the £250 mark but even then, that's still £70 more than the HE400i...
 
Associate
Joined
21 Apr 2016
Posts
1,967
Location
Oh Canada!
Pm-3 is 349 @ a certain forest website.

This is pretty tempting. I was waiting for the HD650s to come down to somewhere near the £250 mark but even then, that's still £70 more than the HE400i...

I have listened to the 400i and the 650's at length and the 400i is much better. Much cleaner sound. Better fidelity overall. I'd argue that the dynamics are better also.

PM-3 still mops the floor with both of them.
 
Associate
Joined
26 Nov 2012
Posts
938
I have listened to the 400i and the 650's at length and the 400i is much better. Much cleaner sound. Better fidelity overall. I'd argue that the dynamics are better also.
Finger's crossed.

How are you finding the PreSonus Eris 4.5? I'm looking at these after not getting on with Edifier R1600T. The only slight negative I've read about the Eris 4.5 is maybe some people experience a hum/buzz, but eqaully a lot of people suggest it's normal, to turn up Windows volume, turn down the speaker volume, to not rely on internal mobo / sound cards and reduce interference by using USB etc.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Jul 2012
Posts
7,373
Location
Ankh Morpork
I joined the club, £180 was just too good to pass up and I have no interest in the replacement as the price will probably be extortionate

Question now is do I retire my AKG K702s or buy another Asda mug tree to hang them on :D

My mug tree corner will now be holding my HD650s, HE400is, MDR-1As and MDR-100AAPs - I do believe I am done buying headphones (for a while at least) :)
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Aug 2005
Posts
3,864
Location
Top of the world
Nice one, I'm also done for a while, my GF wasn't too happy, she doesn't understand why I need more than one headphone lol, I now have AKG K240 mkII, K602, K712, Grado SR225e, and now HiFiMan HE-400i (coming today woohoo!).

Just ask her why she needs more than one pair of shoes or more than one handbag next time she complains, whos money is it anyway.;)
 
Associate
Joined
21 Apr 2016
Posts
1,967
Location
Oh Canada!
Finger's crossed.

How are you finding the PreSonus Eris 4.5? I'm looking at these after not getting on with Edifier R1600T. The only slight negative I've read about the Eris 4.5 is maybe some people experience a hum/buzz, but eqaully a lot of people suggest it's normal, to turn up Windows volume, turn down the speaker volume, to not rely on internal mobo / sound cards and reduce interference by using USB etc.

Meh.. they're not bad for the price. Like most speakers of this type they're very much dependant on room size and shape and contents. If you put them in a proper room they sound quite nice. Better on stands, of course.
They sound good for the price, but for not a lot more I can get Yorkville YSM 5's which sound at least twice as good IMO.

The cleaner the source you feed them the better they sound. Mine never buzzed, and they work fine after two+ years. They have been usurped by KEF X300A's and now live in my bedroom.
 
Joined
27 Jul 2005
Posts
13,038
Location
The Orion Spur
I've just sent mine back, really glad I got the chance to audition them, for the money they are a bargain, but, they are supposed to be an upgrade to my K712's and although they were technically better in some areas it wasn't enough of an upgrade for me for the outlay, the sound stage was a too intimate for me, I will miss the air between the instruments on them though, that stood out straight away, also nice bass.

To be honest I was quite surprised that they sounded more similar to my K712's than dissimilar. Overall I found the 400i's a little too warm for me which meant I lost out on some genres of music.

I think what this has taught me is I need to up my game, I have the HD600 on my list of 'cheaper' headphones to try but I have a bad feeling I'm going to need something like the HD800/s to really be satisfied.
 
Back
Top Bottom