Hifiman HE400SE Review (Headphone)

[MrBlitzpunk]

As a demanding consumer I would have liked to get for 142 euros:
1) one single cable: the black one+50 cm fits the bill
2) The same headband as the he400 before 2020
3) Better ear-pads, as mine didn't come with perforated earpads
I even would have been happy to pay 20 euros more as, again, the sound quality is amazing.

Wait.. what pads did yours came with? Mine (chinese ver) came with the perforated pads, i just assumed it's the same with global ver. But i guess the non-perforated pad has smoother treble

 

[Snoopy]

Wait.. what pads did yours came with? Mine (chinese ver) came with the perforated pads, i just assumed it's the same with global ver. But i guess the non-perforated pad has smoother treble

The global version on Amazon shows the perforated pads

 

[Xombul]

I don't know ??.
On my HE 400se the pads are composed with 2 rings of "leather" and one piece of "velvet". Only the smallest ring is perforated. That synthetic "velvet" is directly in touch with the ears and I found it so uncomfortable and scratchy that I changed the earpads for my HE560 dekoni lambskin earpads. The "velvet" touch reminds me a little bit the Grado foam earpads

 

[bravomail]

View attachment 171870

For those that can understand the graph and draw their conclusions, this is the comparison of the Harman Curve for HE400se,HE4xx and Sundaras. BTW Oratory does not mention if these are V2 or V1, do interpret at your own discretion.

does this mean drop Hifiman HE4XX is very different from HE400se?

 

[_thelaughingman]

does this mean drop Hifiman HE4XX is very different from HE400se?

He4xx conforms a little better to the Harman Curve but they’re not that dissimilar.

 

[moosso]

Great review! I bought he400se from amazon ($130) and was amazed by it's performance, I sold sundara before but I'm going to keep this one. For now I use amirm's EQ but reduce the gain of 1950hz to 3db which make the mid not too forward.

 

[abdo123]

Wait.. what pads did yours came with? Mine (chinese ver) came with the perforated pads, i just assumed it's the same with global ver. But i guess the non-perforated pad has smoother treble

I have the stealth magnet international version and it has perforated pads.

 

[solderdude]

These have Hifiman HE4XX pads (so it seems)

 

[MrBlitzpunk]

These have Hifiman PaliPads

those are slightly different than what i have

 

[solderdude]

Indeed these are quite different from the 'standard' Hifiman PaliPads (picture below of the pads on mine) and hifiman don't seem to sell these as spare pads (yet) probably because they appear to be HE4XX pads (cheaper made and lesser quality ?)
HE4XX pads are reported to be falling apart after some time. Hoping quality improved ...

PaliPads have cloth instead of velour (as on the HE400SE) pads and thickness differs.
Pali Pads are 17 to 25mm thick, HE400SE pads are 27 to 32mm thick and thus also have a different angle.

 

[Xombul]

Interestingly enough the absolute phase is 180 degrees off (driver + is connected to common)
Obviously till today no one picked up on this so I don't think it is audible. HE400i has correct absolute phase.

For comparison the impulse for HE400i (phase was correct)
View attachment 174039



Below Edition XX (had correct phase)
View attachment 174037

I am not a specialist (at all) in electronics. However could it be just a wrong cabling of the drivers inside the cups? or a wrong positioning of the internal/external face of the drivers (the drivers seem to be perfectly symmetric)?

 

[solderdude]

Reverse absolute phase is not uncommon in headphones.
Most headphones have 'correct' absolute phase though.
I suspect all 400SE are reversed in phase... not many measurebators check for this though.
I did not see it in all other hifiman headphones I measured.

 

[Chester]

Am I reading these graphs right? The 400SE has less distortion than the Sundara, Ananda and Arya?

If so, that really is something for the price. I ordered myself a pair for Christmas (got them very cheap in the UK) and I have to say I am really quite surprised by how good they are, even with some high expectations. They certainly don’t embarrass themselves alongside my others (Dan Clark Noire and Senn HD800S).

Subjectively of course.

 

[Shameless]

Just received a pair of these, 95 bucks from Reddit band new, been listening for a few hours now and I'm enjoying them greatly! My mains are HD600 and the added bass is welcome! Been missing it since I've sold the LCD-2C which were not getting anywhere near enough usage to justify keeping them. Definitely a keeper! (especially for the $)

Edit: Did a bit of back to back listening between the two and I'm still struck by the beautiful timbre the HD600 has!!

 

[GeekyBastard]

Reverse absolute phase is not uncommon in headphones.
Most headphones have 'correct' absolute phase though.
I suspect all 400SE are reversed in phase... not many measurebators check for this though.
I did not see it in all other hifiman headphones I measured.

Is there a reason that some company might do this on purpose, or it's just a manufacturing mistake?

 

[solderdude]

Production oversight, probably caused by how wires came from the driver and how they were soldered onto the socket in the prototype which is then copied (my assumption).

I don't think it was done on purpose.

 

[GeekyBastard]

Production oversight, probably caused by how wires came from the driver and how they were soldered onto the socket in the prototype which is then copied (my assumption).

I don't think it was done on purpose.

I wonder is there any way of solving this problem except resoldering the wiring? Or would the issue be audible?

 

[Chester]

I wonder is there any way of solving this problem except resoldering the wiring? Or would the issue be audible?

And, how would an amateur like me test for this? Not that it matters, purely out of curiosity.

 

[_thelaughingman]

These are rated at 25 ohm impedance, would these pair well with Sabaj A10h that are rated for nominal impedance of 32 Ohm? The specs on the Sabaj a10h says it pushed 2wX 2 at 16 ohm which I wasn't sure if they're compatible to that amp.

 

[solderdude]

I wonder is there any way of solving this problem except resoldering the wiring? Or would the issue be audible?

Its not an audible issue. I am not even going to bother myself (probably a few minutes job).

It can be solved in 2 ways:
1: open it up and wire correctly to the connector.
This requires popping out the ring on the back that holds the rear plate (pry open with your nail, be careful NOT to break it) and you can access the connector and wires. Simply swap the wires on the connector. It is easy to see why the driver is wired in counter phase... the wiring is 'logical'

2: Make a custom cable and wire the 2x 3.5mm plugs in reverse (so sleeve on tip and tip on sleeve)
You can then only use that cable on the HE400SE.

personally I am not bothered by it and only notices after I measured it otherwise, like all other HE400SE owners and reviewers would never have known.
It's a non-issue in practice.