My stance is generally the same as yours however I've noticed a change in bass in various (not all) speakers for example the edifiers as well as headsets within the first few days of use. The generally accepted wusdom is that the drivers become more flexible with a bit of use allowing them to produce lower frequencies more efficiently but if that was the case I'd have thought someone like Sennheiser would do more of a factory burn-in.
what headphones do you own thread - i own dt150's :)
- Thread starter garyfl
- Start date
This current HD650 sounds quite raw like every other one that came in the black box. People are saying it is the pads but I've not had this issue with the grey box HD650's.
The current sound is better I think but for music I prefer them how they used I sound just a tad. It's weird because they are not bright, it everything is so clean that the hyper detail can where the ears I listen at high volume if I can get away with it.
Think the Nighthawks complete fatigue free sound have ruined me. Regardless, the current HD650 sound fantastic. I wish I had another pair tat had lots of hours to compare.
The current sound is better I think but for music I prefer them how they used I sound just a tad. It's weird because they are not bright, it everything is so clean that the hyper detail can where the ears I listen at high volume if I can get away with it.
Think the Nighthawks complete fatigue free sound have ruined me. Regardless, the current HD650 sound fantastic. I wish I had another pair tat had lots of hours to compare.
Associate
- Joined
- 1 Sep 2007
- Posts
- 2,205
- Location
- St. Helens & Blackpool
Just added a pair of Samson SR850's to my collection, not bad headphones for £24. Nice and easy to drive too, so i can use them straight off my phone in work.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 May 2006
- Posts
- 5,786
Got my Schiit Amp & DAC.
First amp/dac I've bought, but massively impressed. Build quality is just perfect. Everything seems to be made of metal and beautifully machined. The sound is also excellent, though I have little to compare it to. One thing I did immediately notice was the highs, which seem to have more 'depth' or 'body' to them (if that makes any sense).
Sadly though I can't say the same for Hifiman HE 400i. They just don't sound right to my ears, like there's some weird dips and peaks in the frequency response. The bass seems to be lacking in my opinion, like it has no form or body to it. Mids are similarly lacking in body and depth. I don't think they are recessed, but don't sound lush like they do on my HD650. In fact, thats the main issue I have with them, they don't sound lush like the HD650 does. Even my Creative Aurvana Live! have more depth to the sound, more lushness. Finally, to make matters worse, the treble is too hot for my liking and is bordering on painful.
Not happy at all with these.
First amp/dac I've bought, but massively impressed. Build quality is just perfect. Everything seems to be made of metal and beautifully machined. The sound is also excellent, though I have little to compare it to. One thing I did immediately notice was the highs, which seem to have more 'depth' or 'body' to them (if that makes any sense).
Sadly though I can't say the same for Hifiman HE 400i. They just don't sound right to my ears, like there's some weird dips and peaks in the frequency response. The bass seems to be lacking in my opinion, like it has no form or body to it. Mids are similarly lacking in body and depth. I don't think they are recessed, but don't sound lush like they do on my HD650. In fact, thats the main issue I have with them, they don't sound lush like the HD650 does. Even my Creative Aurvana Live! have more depth to the sound, more lushness. Finally, to make matters worse, the treble is too hot for my liking and is bordering on painful.
Not happy at all with these.
Do like the build quality and aesthetics of the Schiits - what gain are you trying to drive the headphones with? the HD650s like lots of voltage gain (high gain on the amp) and the better you can swing that the better they sound (hence why on some amps they sound amazing and on others a bit dull) whereas my complete guess would be that the 400i likes lots and lots of current gain and won't be driven well with a high voltage gain (so better with low gain on the amp).
Last edited:
Got my Schiit Amp & DAC.
First amp/dac I've bought, but massively impressed. Build quality is just perfect. Everything seems to be made of metal and beautifully machined. The sound is also excellent, though I have little to compare it to. One thing I did immediately notice was the highs, which seem to have more 'depth' or 'body' to them (if that makes any sense).
Sadly though I can't say the same for Hifiman HE 400i. They just don't sound right to my ears, like there's some weird dips and peaks in the frequency response. The bass seems to be lacking in my opinion, like it has no form or body to it. Mids are similarly lacking in body and depth. I don't think they are recessed, but don't sound lush like they do on my HD650. In fact, thats the main issue I have with them, they don't sound lush like the HD650 does. Even my Creative Aurvana Live! have more depth to the sound, more lushness. Finally, to make matters worse, the treble is too hot for my liking and is bordering on painful.
Not happy at all with these.
Thats completely different from my experience with the he 400i which is strange but then again the magni/modi i found could be quite a bright setup. Ryanr i think it was has also menthioned he found consistency amoung hifiman phones was not the best.
Is anyone in here familiar with the Superlux HD-668-B please?
They are ranked 9th here,
http://www.head-fi.org/products/category/over-ear?sort=rating
They are ranked 9th here,
http://www.head-fi.org/products/category/over-ear?sort=rating
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 May 2006
- Posts
- 5,786
I've been listening to the HE400i for a fair bit now and I think I'm slowly starting to adjust to the sound. I don't think its all that bad, just considerably different to the HD650, which is probably the main reason I didn't like them at first. I'm not sure if the drivers have burned in or what, but they seem to sound more tolerable now especially with regards to the treble peakiness. I think the pads have softened slightly too, giving me better fit.
I have also tried out a wider range of music and what I'm finding is that the they are far less forgiving of poorly recorded music than the HD650. Much of the piercing highs I was talking about is simply poorly mastered tracks with distortion in the upper registers, something that the HD650 did an excellent job of masking. With good quality recordings the HE400i does genuinely sound better, with way more treble detail. This sounds really cliched but I'm actually hearing stuff that I couldn't pick up clearly with HD650. With some exceptionally well recorded material, especially live recordings, the detail is breath taking. It's like an extra layer of sound residing in the upper registers.
The bass is slightly deeper sounding than the HD650, but doesn't have same quantity and body. I also think whilst the mids are better defined on the HE400i, they lack the intimacy and richness of the HD650.
Lastly, I listen to a lot of metal music and whilst some of it is painful to listen to on the HE400i, the stuff that sounds good, sounds bloody good. The upper mid and lower treble peakiness of these headphones give the music way more bite, which is exactly what you want with metal music. For example, this following track sounds absolutely insane on the Hifimans without becoming painful.
For now, I'm quite happy with them and actually appreciate that they are different sounding to the HD650.
I have also tried out a wider range of music and what I'm finding is that the they are far less forgiving of poorly recorded music than the HD650. Much of the piercing highs I was talking about is simply poorly mastered tracks with distortion in the upper registers, something that the HD650 did an excellent job of masking. With good quality recordings the HE400i does genuinely sound better, with way more treble detail. This sounds really cliched but I'm actually hearing stuff that I couldn't pick up clearly with HD650. With some exceptionally well recorded material, especially live recordings, the detail is breath taking. It's like an extra layer of sound residing in the upper registers.
The bass is slightly deeper sounding than the HD650, but doesn't have same quantity and body. I also think whilst the mids are better defined on the HE400i, they lack the intimacy and richness of the HD650.
Lastly, I listen to a lot of metal music and whilst some of it is painful to listen to on the HE400i, the stuff that sounds good, sounds bloody good. The upper mid and lower treble peakiness of these headphones give the music way more bite, which is exactly what you want with metal music. For example, this following track sounds absolutely insane on the Hifimans without becoming painful.
For now, I'm quite happy with them and actually appreciate that they are different sounding to the HD650.
There's been two different HE-400i's on the market.
Ones been sounding warm, lush and really intimate sounding while the other has been peaky and bright but good bass extension and a leaner middle section. I personally think the HD650 is a faster more resolving headphone than the 400i. It's a tighter better controlled sounding headphone regardless of the planar tech in the Hifiman. The 400i has really god extension, at least the one I had did. Mids on the 400i where very code to my ear, God intimacy more intimate than the 650 but the HD650 has better coherency. Voices on the HD650 are more detailed, I can hear the intricacies of a voice better and nothing seems exaggerated.
Problem with detail is how much are we meant to hear? So many headphone exaggerate detail which isn't really natural. The HD650 has a almost perfectly straight response, or in linearity as there's a sight bass hump below the mids. It has no peaks at at, what ou hear is pretty much the recording with the exception of the bass hump.
Another problem with the 650 is they need a good dac and amp to get that speed and resolution otherwise they can sound a bit too polite and not very resolving.
Ones been sounding warm, lush and really intimate sounding while the other has been peaky and bright but good bass extension and a leaner middle section. I personally think the HD650 is a faster more resolving headphone than the 400i. It's a tighter better controlled sounding headphone regardless of the planar tech in the Hifiman. The 400i has really god extension, at least the one I had did. Mids on the 400i where very code to my ear, God intimacy more intimate than the 650 but the HD650 has better coherency. Voices on the HD650 are more detailed, I can hear the intricacies of a voice better and nothing seems exaggerated.
Problem with detail is how much are we meant to hear? So many headphone exaggerate detail which isn't really natural. The HD650 has a almost perfectly straight response, or in linearity as there's a sight bass hump below the mids. It has no peaks at at, what ou hear is pretty much the recording with the exception of the bass hump.
Another problem with the 650 is they need a good dac and amp to get that speed and resolution otherwise they can sound a bit too polite and not very resolving.
Just built this monstrosity so I can test different setups with my HD-600s
Easy to test different input caps, gain and buffers, etc. etc. and when configured similar to the O2 with the 4556s on the output (one of the reasons I built this circuit after some recent posts here and elsewhere) I'm really not rating it - as per your previous description it really sounds "raw" and a slightly "sickly" touch to the sound for want of a better way to put it compared to the op amps with higher slew rates. Slowly working my way down to something that works optimal with the HD-600s - its crazy how different they perform with different setups.
Last edited:
Just built this monstrosity so I can test different setups with my HD-600s
Easy to test different input caps, gain and buffers, etc. etc. and when configured similar to the O2 with the 4556s on the output (one of the reasons I built this circuit after some recent posts here and elsewhere) I'm really not rating it - as per your previous description it really sounds "raw" and a slightly "sickly" touch to the sound for want of a better way to put it compared to the op amps with higher slew rates. Slowly working my way down to something that works optimal with the HD-600s - its crazy how different they perform with different setups.
Yeah the HD600/650 change and adapt a lot. That's cool, post your findings on what you find are a good match. The 600 I found can easily sound very harsh with some equipment.
Associate
- Joined
- 17 Jan 2015
- Posts
- 1,547
I've got a Beresford Caiman Mk2 USB DAC and Yamaha HPH-MT220 headpones, and I used to be a proper audiophile but this combo is incredible. Well worth a test drive anyway!
Associate
- Joined
- 1 Sep 2014
- Posts
- 256
- Location
- US and A
Picked these up a couple of days ago:
Fostex X Massdrop TH-X00
They sound pretty decent for the most part, decent bass extension and impact. Mids aren't recessed (but not lush sounding either), no upper mid range emphasis which is good. Treble does have some noticeable sibilance though (not as much as the TH600/900) which is annoying. Soundstage is similar to the other closed Fostex models.
Overall not a bad headphone, but very much over hyped.
Fostex X Massdrop TH-X00
They sound pretty decent for the most part, decent bass extension and impact. Mids aren't recessed (but not lush sounding either), no upper mid range emphasis which is good. Treble does have some noticeable sibilance though (not as much as the TH600/900) which is annoying. Soundstage is similar to the other closed Fostex models.
Overall not a bad headphone, but very much over hyped.
Associate
- Joined
- 1 Sep 2014
- Posts
- 256
- Location
- US and A
Extension is decent, maybe not quite as good as the Nighthawk, but similar. I need to do some more comparisons to check (plus I'm using hybrid velours on the Nighthawk).
Noticeable sibilance in the treble at times so yep, that typical Fostex treble wonkiness is still there just not as bad as it is in the TH600/900.
Associate
- Joined
- 28 Oct 2014
- Posts
- 120
- Location
- Somerset
Just a cheap pair of sennheiser hd449