HIFIMAN HE400i Special Edition Over Ear Planar Magnetic Headphones - New $150.00

S

ScuNioN

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
113
Purchased these about 1.5 months ago and now use them as my primary gaming headphones. Also have a pair of Monoprice 1060's but those are in a totally different price range ($260.00+), don't offer as wide as a sound stage (gaming and music) and are not as neutral; they are really fun but I would not use them as a competitive FPS gaming set of cans.

Paid $125.00 shipped from buydig for a set of returns. I enjoy these immensely and why I am recommending them here. Prices have ranged from $250 to $190 on Amazon, I think the Zon price right now is $220.

Pros

Incredibly light
Very Comfortable
Great sound stage
A very neutral sound especially compared to my Monoprice 1060’s
Cost

Cons

4.7’ cable


https://www.ebay.com/itm/332540777780

These probably won’t last long at this price.
 
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That short cord is silly, it's the first thing I changed on the Philips SHP9500S. I really like the Philips but I'm afraid I've been bitten by the High-End audio bug and I may have to purchase these. shrug

A reviewer mentioned Break In and said it was even in the manual.
Sure enough it is.
To obtain optimum performance, please allow at least 150 hours of
constant use for break-in of your new headphone. This break-in period
does not have to be at high volume http://down.hifiman.com/Manual/161017-hifiman-HE400i-manual.pdf​

thanks for posting
 
FishHead said:
One of these days I'll see a deal for good closed back headphones.
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The Audio Technica ATH-M50 used to go on sale quite frequently for around $100, but I haven't seen that in a while (though I think one can get the newer ATH-A50x occasionally for $120-$130).

I lucked up and got the V-MODA Crossfade LPs for $70 on Amazon a few years back...incredibly good cans for that price. I bought 3 pairs and gifted one of them. Should have gotten more. :)

The deals do come around from time to time, just gotta keep an eye out.
 
Lateralus said:
The Audio Technica ATH-M50 used to go on sale quite frequently for around $100, but I haven't seen that in a while (though I think one can get the newer ATH-A50x occasionally for $120-$130).

I lucked up and got the V-MODA Crossfade LPs for $70 on Amazon a few years back...incredibly good cans for that price. I bought 3 pairs and gifted one of them. Should have gotten more. :)

The deals do come around from time to time, just gotta keep an eye out.
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My M50 practically fell apart on my head. I ran back to my DT 770 Pro and realized they sounded much better, and they've lasted much longer.
 
FishHead said:
My M50 practically fell apart on my head. I ran back to my DT 770 Pro and realized they sounded much better, and they've lasted much longer.
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Huh, the M50s generally get favorable reviews and I've had no issues from my ATH-A900s. DT 770 Pro is one of my mainstays. I've had to have them recabled once because I accidentally yanked on the cord too many times, but they are in my main rotation.
 
I was seriously thinking about these he400i but I was the Zeos review on eBay and he said if Sennheiser hd600 were the reference 100% score then in his opinion these are a 92%. I have hd595 right now which I suspect are about the same level. I owned the hd600 in the past and loved them, but since you can get them for $200-$220 that’s just something to weigh in. Is the extra 10% or so worth $50 bucks? It’s up to you.
 
hifiman is infamous for having abysmal build quality. do your research everybody.
 
Phattio said:
hifiman is infamous for having abysmal build quality. do your research everybody.
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Zeos said they fixed those concerns with this model. He says they are about the best build quality in any headphones he’s seen. Video has cursing in it so maybe NSFW.

 
They are decent sounding, the 400i’s, but build quality of hifimans is crap to say the least and if you ever need to send them back to repaired, expect to deal with bullshit with regards to hifiman, returning them to the dealer would be the preffered route.

I would avoid unless you are extremely careful/and dont care if you get the bullshit runaround from hifiman.

To get decent quality build, you have to swerve the entire 400 line up and start at 560, even then I have heard some stories but nowhere near the 4 hunards
 
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FishHead said:
One of these days I'll see a deal for good closed back headphones.
Click to expand...

Audio technica ATH-A1000Z and 2000Z

I like and buy both open and closed cans. Depending on what I am listening to I will use either or but, I always have love for closed cans and although I do not have the 1000Z, I have used them and I do like.

Plus, in certain situations I prefer the isolation of closed cans as I do not want to let people near me hear when I am playing ABBA.

I see the monoprice 1060’s is mentioned, avoid unless its the 2nd revision with the revised connectors / do not break as easily as the first revisions and also the metal grill, the first version’s grills had razor sharp edges and would cut you, but the second revision has the edges ground down and smoothed so it is no longer a problem.

For looks alone, I like the ADV advanced Alpha planar can’s, they look nice, but I cannot get them here to add to my collection and I am not playing the customs tax game.

Tyll from innerfidelity however does not like the adv and some of the other cans mentioned here, but who cares what an old man with the hearing of a 70 year old thinks. ?
 
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These are alright. They're really only good for gaming, music, TV shows, and movies. LOL! Seriously, for $150 you aren't getting anything better. Just have to keep in mind POWER!!! And they need a lot of it.
 
Mut1ny said:
These are alright. They're really only good for gaming, music, TV shows, and movies. LOL! Seriously, for $150 you aren't getting anything better. Just have to keep in mind POWER!!! And they need a lot of it.
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They are 35 ohm and 93 dB sensitivity rating. Zeos says you can drive them off anything and they require next to no power and are easily driven by any mobile device. You guys sure you are talking about the same thing? Half the stuff said in this thread is direct contradiction to the guy who has 100 pairs of headphones in his sound-booth, and is a YouTube personality, professional headphone reviewer. See video above.
 
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Build quality - Plastic (see light weight and comfortable (long wearing sessions) in my Pros), pressure fitted, replaceable parts that make sense in a low cost product offering. Want a more substantial build, wood cups, or other bling, then pay more!

Power Requirements - I can power these with my phone, built in desktop on board sound or my super crappy $30 B&N Marshmallow tablet and reach a sound level without noticeable distortion that destroys hearing.

Geebus cripes these are $150.00! Show me another planar set of cans at this price that is as neutral and comfortable as they are. The used pair I got at $125.00 was a hell of a deal, this is even better IMHO!
 
Archaea said:
They are 35 ohm and 93 dB sensitivity rating. Zeos says you can drive them off anything and they require next to no power and are easily driven by any mobile device. You guys sure you are talking about the same thing? Half the stuff said in this thread is direct contradiction to the guy who has 100 pairs of headphones in his sound-booth, and is a YouTube personality, professional headphone reviewer. See video above.
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Yup, we are all lieing when we say hifiman 400 range of headphones are shit with regards to their build quality.

Stupid fukin reddit links.



https://www.head-fi.org/threads/broken-hifiman-he-400i-very-bad-support-service-experience.840349/

I could go on and on, but I cant be bothered.

Do not always trust a youtuber who gets freebies from companies to say they are shit.

If you do not mind shit quality which has a high chance of breaking and are willing to deal with total shit support from hifiman, then please buy, but no way will I buy them or their re2000 £2000 iem’s.

Every now and then on amazon they sell them uber cheap, I have no proof, but its probably broken ones that people rma’d, fixed and sold as new at crazy cheap prices.

I also have a large collection of headphones and iem’s, all paid for and not free and my opinion says ?

Avoid that shit.

The above ^ does not mean they do not sound good, its merely build quality issues with regards to the re400 range.
 
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I have many sets of headphones that have broken in the same spots as post above, they were all due to dropping damage; not through use. Even have a shoe box grave yard full of their remains.
 
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Archaea said:
Zeos has 100 pairs of headphones in his sound-booth, and is a YouTube personality, professional headphone reviewer.
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EVIL-SCOTSMAN said:
Do not always trust a youtuber who gets freebies from companies to say they are shit.
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"look Ma, i unbox things" as Zeos continues on and gets tumescent over cardboard, now that's what I call personality.
There's no accounting for taste, if anything being a YouTube "personality" is a Huge minus.
 
Thing is, if hifiman upped their build quality they would infact be very good for the price, it’s just a shame that people are still buying these with their hard earned and still suffering from the same or similar problems that were present a few years ago.

Also, hifimans support supposedly is a nightmare, never tried their support but with what I have heard, they (hifiman) try to say the damage was caused by misuse on the owners part and trying to wiggle out of having to repair/replace them.

Its just a pity as they could of been a great set of cans for the price had they taken a little more care with regards to build quality, after all they have had a good few years to rectify the situation.
 
Archaea said:
They are 35 ohm and 93 dB sensitivity rating. Zeos says you can drive them off anything and they require next to no power and are easily driven by any mobile device. You guys sure you are talking about the same thing? Half the stuff said in this thread is direct contradiction to the guy who has 100 pairs of headphones in his sound-booth, and is a YouTube personality, professional headphone reviewer. See video above.
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Ahhh, this must be why these are "Special Edition"...the non-SE require a lot of power, the HE-400's before them even more. My bad, I wasn't paying attention to this models specs.
 
Well that sucks. I bought a pair of Monoprice M1060 V2s for $200. They also were reported to have some build issues but mine were fine. Sold them here to another member and he has not reported any issue. So maybe go that route if you want planar. I did not find them good gaming headphones. Not a big enough sound stage. Great for music monitoring though.
 
I did have to send my Massdrop x Hifiman HE4XX back for a replacement (by Massdrop)- the right ear cup became finicky about cable rotation, and then dropped out altogether.

Overall I'd rate them perhaps slightly better than my HD600 cans in terms of audio quality (clarity and bass), but also worse in terms of comfort. I don't think I'll ever let those HD600's go, as I don't think there's a set that comes anywhere close in terms of audio quality and comfort, at any price.
 
spaceman said:
Well that sucks. I bought a pair of Monoprice M1060 V2s for $200. They also were reported to have some build issues but mine were fine. Sold them here to another member and he has not reported any issue. So maybe go that route if you want planar. I did not find them good gaming headphones. Not a big enough sound stage. Great for music monitoring though.
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Totally my take on them as I own both.

M1060 = Music especially rock and modern
HE400i = Good balanced sound with a wide sound stage
 
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