Hifiman HE400SE Review (Headphone)

[abdo123]

Sooooooooooooooo tempting .... but I really don't need an other headphone right now (typing while enjoying my Sundaras ).

We can have some beer and compare the two in person if you want. I ordered one for myself.

 

[RHO]

Yea just enjoy those Sundaras, definitely don’t need an entry level pair.

I don't care about the price if the performance is good. Nothing wrong with entry level headphones that perform well.

 

[RHO]

We can have some beer and compare the two in person if you want. I ordered one for myself.

I don't drink alcohol but a coffee would be nice.

 

[ishouldbeking]

with all due respect to planar headphones designers, I don't know why almost or maybe ALL the planar headphones I've read or tried have issue one way or another. You cannot just say it's hifiman doing a bad job of QC when pretty much audeze, abyss, goldplanar and others were adequately reported to have durability issues as well.

actually I'm really curious if someone can tell me why planar designs are bound to face driver failures this easily. I swear for every 1 pair of dynamic headphones I read died there'd be like 5-7 planar headphones died or so. I love some planar models too much so I can somehow tolerate the risk but still, it's sad to think that my headphones can just suddenly die anytime even though I take good care of them

Yeah, reports of planar driver failure are definitely pretty common across many brands. I'd put Abyss in their own category (not necessarily for QC, but for inflated claims about their products), whereas Audeze seems to experience an unnerving amount of driver failure considering the price for an LCD-2 (or above). From what I understand, planars are just extraordinarily sensitive by nature, and I know they're very easy to damage in shipping (which is why the general advice is never to buy a used Audeze LCD-2 unless you're doing a local pickup and can test it in advance, and if you decide to take the chance, make sure they're insured).

I don't know enough about the Hifiman planar design to directly compare, but I know for the Audeze LCD, a major issue that many owners don't know about is just how easy it is to destroy them through normal usage. If you put a pair of LCDs on, let them seal around your ears, and press the cups against your head... it's extraordinarily easy to damage the driver. Needless to say, don't do that! Even gentle pressure that lightly compresses the pads can do irreparable harm. (I have a nervous habit of pressing my Sennheisers and Beyerdynamics against my head to compress the pads and ensure I have a good seal; it would take some conscious unlearning if I wanted to switch over.) I think it was OG headphone reviewer metal571 who used to advocate for having Audeze add a warning sticker so unsuspecting purchasers could avoid this issue.

But I digress. Back to Hifiman: no one is publishing failure rates, so all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt. But you can get a general sense of which brands experience higher than average failure rates when those failures continually recur on every major forum, and you see the same issues reported time and again. Hifiman's QC reputation isn't just for driver failure, but for a long history of issues with peeling pads, wonky headband designs, gimbals or yokes that fall apart, and all manner of bad cables. These are well documented on forums, and often addressed with a v2 (or v3 and beyond) revision.

Don't get me wrong: lot's of companies have major QC issues! Fostex has one of the worst gimbal designs imaginable; Sennheiser 560's apparently have significant issues with channel imbalance; Beyerdynamic has done a million stealth revisions to the DT pads, many of which impact sound quality; all of these issues matter, and people should be aware of them. I'm not saying anyone shouldn't buy Hifiman products. Considering the price, this still seems like a pretty good deal. But go in with both eyes open, pay attention to your warranty options (e.g., if you're located outside of China, don't buy the market-restricted China-only model, which has no warranty support outside of China), and make sure you buy from a respectable seller with a good return policy in case there's an issue.

EDIT: just wanted to add that I am actually quite interested in this particular model. Hifiman seems to design through a constant series of iterative tweaks, and this version of the HE400 seems like it resolves a lot of issues with the earlier models (such as the headband design and the actual frequency response). The low distortion is definitively impressive. I plan to keep an eye on how this model is received, and who knows, maybe I'll pick one up some day. Considering the core HE400 design has been around for a while now, here's hoping they've ironed out the major QC issues by now, which would really make this a tremendous deal.

 

[Raindog123]

I think there is quite a bit of this present in the “I’ve heard of planar reliability issues” arguments.

 

[coomean]

I think there is quite a bit of this present in the “I’ve heard of planar reliability issues” arguments.

View attachment 170908

or maybe a reversed version of that

 

[abdo123]

I think there is quite a bit of this present in the “I’ve heard of planar reliability issues” arguments.

View attachment 170908

I would argue that the popularity of the headphones could be the reason behind the 'increased' reports of failure, not sure where the airplane analogy of WW2 fits here. Yet again i hardly heard of a high-end Sennheiser failing (honestly i barely hear any failure stories of headphones in general).

 

[Velocipede_Acoustics]

Just got a pair and I'm quite happy with them.

Driving them with Schiit Magni and Modi with great results.

The EQ suggested on the review works well.

 

[solderdude]

Sooooooooooooooo tempting .... but I really don't need an other headphone right now (typing while enjoying my Sundaras ).

When you have the Sundara's there is no need to buy the (lesser) HE400SE

 

[Velocipede_Acoustics]

When you have the Sundara's there is no need to buy the (lesser) HE400SE

I've not heard the Sundara's. What makes them superior?

 

[abdo123]

I've not heard the Sundara's. What makes them superior?

better tuning out of the box.

 

[Velocipede_Acoustics]

better tuning out of the box.

I see. Do you think with those that have EQ available, do you think this may be the better buy?

 

[abdo123]

I see. Do you think with those that have EQ available, do you think this may be the better buy?

No one can really say.

 

[Leiker535]

there are differences in harmonic distortion, and some models have nasty resonances or cancelations that are removed with smoothing. Also the high-end models have often great L and R matching. All these are important factors, just less important.

I also think there are differences on building materials. Of course they all still feel very fragile IMO, as in don't put your Hifiman in the upper shelf because it is most likely one way trip; but I suspect the magnets for example are different in the upper model than in the 400se, which seem to be much more brittle and prone to cracks. (just don't drop them ).

I also suspect the taller driver on the upper models, aside from comfort if you have dumbo ears like me, also influence things like soundstage and overall perception (sundara vs ananda/arya):

 

[coomean]

I see. Do you think with those that have EQ available, do you think this may be the better buy?

One thing I found out consistent with the Hifiman headphones that I have owned (HE560v2, Sundara, Ananda, Arya, HE6se), I can always find the traits of improvement as you move up the price bracket in their lineup. Even after EQ.
Whether or not these improvements are worth the price difference that Hifiman is asking for, is total subjective.

 

[Deleted member 27694]

When you have the Sundara's there is no need to buy the (lesser) HE400SE

???

 

[_thelaughingman]

Don't get me wrong: lot's of companies have major QC issues! Fostex has one of the worst gimbal designs imaginable; Sennheiser 560's apparently have significant issues with channel imbalance;

Yea I had a pair of Foster T50rp that broke from the gimbal's when they fell from a four foot distance off the stand. They were my fave planar' and I have since decided to replace them with the HE400se.

 

[solderdude]

View attachment 170914
???

Based on objective measurements from Amir of these 2 headphones.

 

[TheTalbotHound]

Yeah, reports of planar driver failure are definitely pretty common across many brands. I'd put Abyss in their own category (not necessarily for QC, but for inflated claims about their products), whereas Audeze seems to experience an unnerving amount of driver failure considering the price for an LCD-2 (or above). From what I understand, planars are just extraordinarily sensitive by nature, and I know they're very easy to damage in shipping (which is why the general advice is never to buy a used Audeze LCD-2 unless you're doing a local pickup and can test it in advance, and if you decide to take the chance, make sure they're insured).

I don't know enough about the Hifiman planar design to directly compare, but I know for the Audeze LCD, a major issue that many owners don't know about is just how easy it is to destroy them through normal usage. If you put a pair of LCDs on, let them seal around your ears, and press the cups against your head... it's extraordinarily easy to damage the driver. Needless to say, don't do that! Even gentle pressure that lightly compresses the pads can do irreparable harm. (I have a nervous habit of pressing my Sennheisers and Beyerdynamics against my head to compress the pads and ensure I have a good seal; it would take some conscious unlearning if I wanted to switch over.) I think it was OG headphone reviewer metal571 who used to advocate for having Audeze add a warning sticker so unsuspecting purchasers could avoid this issue.

But I digress. Back to Hifiman: no one is publishing failure rates, so all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt. But you can get a general sense of which brands experience higher than average failure rates when those failures continually recur on every major forum, and you see the same issues reported time and again. Hifiman's QC reputation isn't just for driver failure, but for a long history of issues with peeling pads, wonky headband designs, gimbals or yokes that fall apart, and all manner of bad cables. These are well documented on forums, and often addressed with a v2 (or v3 and beyond) revision.

Don't get me wrong: lot's of companies have major QC issues! Fostex has one of the worst gimbal designs imaginable; Sennheiser 560's apparently have significant issues with channel imbalance; Beyerdynamic has done a million stealth revisions to the DT pads, many of which impact sound quality; all of these issues matter, and people should be aware of them. I'm not saying anyone shouldn't buy Hifiman products. Considering the price, this still seems like a pretty good deal. But go in with both eyes open, pay attention to your warranty options (e.g., if you're located outside of China, don't buy the market-restricted China-only model, which has no warranty support outside of China), and make sure you buy from a respectable seller with a good return policy in case there's an issue.

EDIT: just wanted to add that I am actually quite interested in this particular model. Hifiman seems to design through a constant series of iterative tweaks, and this version of the HE400 seems like it resolves a lot of issues with the earlier models (such as the headband design and the actual frequency response). The low distortion is definitively impressive. I plan to keep an eye on how this model is received, and who knows, maybe I'll pick one up some day. Considering the core HE400 design has been around for a while now, here's hoping they've ironed out the major QC issues by now, which would really make this a tremendous deal.

Abyss QC i've heard bad things about too. Audeze have said they want to tighten up on their failure rates and especially on unit variation which has been a problem for a while there. Hifiman headphones with EQ remain the best value option for open back headphones, and unless someone else takes that crown, it's hard to foresee people being driven away by the failure rate unless it is much higher than it currently is. Also yes, sampling bias, those whose drivers have failed are more likely to report that fact than those whose drivers have not.

 

[amirm]

They have changed that.

When did they do it? Does it look different than mine in the review picture?