Hifiman HE400SE Review (Headphone)

[Agony]

The HD600, HD560S are too aggressive (treble)
The HD560S has nothing to do with the Hifiman He400se.. the latter is more relaxed or more neutral.
Its major flaw is that it is difficult to feed. (Hifiman He400se)

That's it, and for its price it's a big headphone killer

The HD650 is the only one that comes close to the Hifiman between the other 2 Sennheisers, but its bass is worse than the Hifiman in comparison.

The Hifiman He400se is not aggressive and is more neutral compared to the Sennheisers, we forget the headphones on the head. That's the main thing (over the long term)

I also didnt like the 560s sound compared to 400se , but compared to 600,650,660s to my ears hd6 line is better more natural organic , i dont find HD600 aggressive at all, have you use them recently? Its really strange because my 600 new clear rings doesnt sound aggressive at all. But i understand that everyone has different ears.
At the end HE400se are like u said value for money ( if u have the equipment already to run them) .
You should try HD660s or S2 these are clear upgrades in my opinion.

 

[Xaviedie]

I also didnt like the 560s sound compared to 400se , but compared to 600,650,660s to my ears hd6 line is better more natural organic , i dont find HD600 aggressive at all, have you use them recently? Its really strange because my 600 new clear rings doesnt sound aggressive at all. But i understand that everyone has different ears.
At the end HE400se are like u said value for money ( if u have the equipment already to run them) .
You should try HD660s or S2 these are clear upgrades in my opinion.

I do not have the HD600, however it is known to be hard in the treble (reputation and curve) and looks like the HD560S for their clear sound (I can already imagine the peaks in the treble) (I can't stand it)
Amir says they are similar to the HD600 & HD650 so I didn't try the adventure with the HD600.

As my photo indicates, I only have the HD560S, HD650 and Hifiman He400se. I make comparisons quite often and it's the Hiiman He400se that comes out on top in my ears.
The HD650 has the best resolution or organic .. but it is less well balanced compared to the Hifiman that you can leave on your head all day. It's absolute comfort in terms of sound, weight, tightening, pad etc. 0 aggressiveness, just peace and the end of the party helmet for my case ..
I'm sensitive to treble because it makes the sound aggressive .. which is not the case with the Hifiman he400se, it's the perfect balance, no need to look for more than that. We sit down and enjoy with our eyes closed without the ear being attacked (calme) .. no need for EQ compared to the Sennheisers, that's where it wins out.
The 560S is the most dynamic, with a dry bass .. (perfect) unfortunately without EQ, the treble spoils everything and tires in the long run.
The HD650 is a good headphone, it is posed like the Hifiman he400se.. more resolute but it is too dark with a slightly wet bass compared to the 560S and Hifiman which are cleaner (faithful)

For me: Hifiman HE400se (balance) > HD650(dark) = 560S (light)

The sound breathes and is less suffocating on the Hifiman (less agresive) it's the big winner for me .. no gene in the long term (relax).

PS:Associate with the RME ADI 2 DAC I specify, because it is not easy to feed correctly

 

[solderdude]

I make comparisons quite often and it's the Hiiman He400se that comes out on top in my ears.

That may just as well be caused by the treble peak of the HE400SE which the Sennheisers do not have.
The HD560S does have an increased 'brightness' (4-8kHz range) where the HE400SE has reduced 1-4kHz range (clarity/forwardness) which you may prefer.

EQ can cure all that.

 

[Agony]

I do not have the HD600, however it is known to be hard in the treble (reputation and curve) and looks like the HD560S for their clear sound (I can already imagine the peaks in the treble) (I can't stand it)
Amir says they are similar to the HD600 & HD650 so I didn't try the adventure with the HD600.

As my photo indicates, I only have the HD560S, HD650 and Hifiman He400se. I make comparisons quite often and it's the Hiiman He400se that comes out on top in my ears.
The HD650 has the best resolution or organic .. but it is less well balanced compared to the Hifiman that you can leave on your head all day. It's absolute comfort in terms of sound, weight, tightening, pad etc. 0 aggressiveness, just peace and the end of the party helmet for my case ..
I'm sensitive to treble because it makes the sound aggressive .. which is not the case with the Hifiman he400se, it's the perfect balance, no need to look for more than that. We sit down and enjoy with our eyes closed without the ear being attacked (calme) .. no need for EQ compared to the Sennheisers, that's where it wins out.
The 560S is the most dynamic, with a dry bass .. (perfect) unfortunately without EQ, the treble spoils everything and tires in the long run.
The HD650 is a good headphone, it is posed like the Hifiman he400se.. more resolute but it is too dark with a slightly wet bass compared to the 560S and Hifiman which are cleaner (faithful)

For me: Hifiman HE400se (balance) > HD650(dark) = 560S (light)

The sound breathes and is less suffocating on the Hifiman (less agresive) it's the big winner for me .. no gene in the long term (relax).

PS:Associate with the RME ADI 2 DAC I specify, because it is not easy to feed correctly

The first HD600 ireland was a bit treble happy to my ears the next ones Romania and now Ireland again are not , (dont know why maybe i am getting old) But he400se sound more aggressive thats why i put a Beyerdynamic foam in front of them ( much perfect) and to me sound more smooth.

ABout Comfort , i dont get how the 400Se or Sundara are more Comfortable than HD6 line ? HD6 are lighter have softer pads after brake in , they have deeper pads , they have more swivel , they have oval pads that dont touch the down of the ears , they stay in your head when u move , they dont have hot spot up on the head , they breath better on summer months because the pads dont have fake leather aroung the pads , and the tightness when u buy them new also is good because they adapt on smaller heads .

About EQ , target is not everything its nice to follow on some point bat every one have different taste , didnt 560s follow the target better than 400se by the way ? and if yeah ... for example i like more the 400se than all HD5 series .

Agree on 400se balance 650 dark and 560s light thats how i can hear them also , but 600 to me sound more balanced and 660s and s2 more advanced technically than all the others .
But again its all about taste all of them are great headphones , and honestly 400se for the price and more is a gem .

 

[Xaviedie]

The first HD600 ireland was a bit treble happy to my ears the next ones Romania and now Ireland again are not , (dont know why maybe i am getting old) But he400se sound more aggressive thats why i put a Beyerdynamic foam in front of them ( much perfect) and to me sound more smooth.

ABout Comfort , i dont get how the 400Se or Sundara are more Comfortable than HD6 line ? HD6 are lighter have softer pads after brake in , they have deeper pads , they have more swivel , they have oval pads that dont touch the down of the ears , they stay in your head when u move , they dont have hot spot up on the head , they breath better on summer months because the pads dont have fake leather aroung the pads , and the tightness when u buy them new also is good because they adapt on smaller heads .

About EQ , target is not everything its nice to follow on some point bat every one have different taste , didnt 560s follow the target better than 400se by the way ? and if yeah ... for example i like more the 400se than all HD5 series .

Agree on 400se balance 650 dark and 560s light thats how i can hear them also , but 600 to me sound more balanced and 660s and s2 more advanced technically than all the others .
But again its all about taste all of them are great headphones , and honestly 400se for the price and more is a gem .

The 400se are more comfortable, the headband is tighter on the HD650 for example. I'm not saying it's not comfortable, just in comparison. The 560S is also comfortable but I feel better with the Hifiman, it gives less heat too.. the pad is soft, the sound is soft, less aggressive to my ears compared to the Sennheiser, the wider soundstage of the Hifiman still gives them the "air, soft, breathe, comfort, peace" side, there is no aggressiveness, it is more natural in all frequencies.

I don't have the HD600 so can't comment on them. On occasion I would try to get them (if you tell me they are less aggressive than the Hifiman he400se to your ears, I can't wait to test/compare them via the RME

 

[Agony]

The 400se are more comfortable, the headband is tighter on the HD650 for example. I'm not saying it's not comfortable, just in comparison. The 560S is also comfortable but I feel better with the Hifiman, it gives less heat too.. the pad is soft, the sound is soft, less aggressive to my ears compared to the Sennheiser, the wider soundstage of the Hifiman still gives them the "air, soft, breathe, comfort, peace" side, there is no aggressiveness, it is more natural in all frequencies.

I don't have the HD600 so can't comment on them. On occasion I would try to get them (if you tell me they are less aggressive than the Hifiman he400se to your ears, I can't wait to test/compare them via the RME

I can understand what u saying , to some people are more comfortable ... lets say that both are comfortable headphones . The Soundstage is for sure bigger than HD600 and 650 and even if the 660s have a bit bigger soundstage again is smaller than 400se.
So in my opinion for vocals and organic realistic timbre HD6 line is better, and between them i would say that 600 for neutrality, 650 for thick warm sound , 660s for speed dynamics imaging separation and smoothness is between 600 and 650 ... So if i was You i would try 660s that have darker sound than 600 and they dont have small stage.

What i uderstand in this hobby is that there is no perfect headphone but is a journey to understand what we like ... For example a lot of people like SonyXM5 sound that personally i dont . So in my ears i can go with Open backs and 400SE are amazing open backs and value for money that reminds me the Koss KPH30i when i first hear them.

Now can i have only 400se ? No because i will always miss the vocals in your head of hd600 , or the warm smooth sound on bad recordings on 650 or the imaging and separation of the instruments on 660s . On the other hand Playing games with 400se , or Listening Soundtracks or Watching movies with them is way better than HD6 line , the texture on the low end bass when hits is so good and to me is not far away from Sundara , if something is better on Sundara in my opinion is the Airiness .

So in my opinon dont get the HD 600 if u already have HD 650 then just eq them and u have what u need. But if you are like me and want them just for collection then its another story .
At the end , He400se and one from HD 6 line covers most needs depending the mood .

 

[Agony]

That may just as well be caused by the treble peak of the HE400SE which the Sennheisers do not have.
The HD560S does have an increased 'brightness' (4-8kHz range) where the HE400SE has reduced 1-4kHz range (clarity/forwardness) which you may prefer.

EQ can cure all that.

In your opinion does EQ cure aspects like Soundstage , speed, imaging, etch etch

 

[solderdude]

No but it can cure brightness in the HD560S and it can give the HE400SE a bit more subbass and more clarity.
Some people get a greater sense of 'depth' when the 1-4kHz range has a little depression as it suggests the sound is coming from further away (less forward). It doesn't for me but 'depth' is a brain thingy.

 

[isostasy]

Hi everyone. I accidentally bought this headphone (you know how it is... eBay search set up, send seller an offer 'just to see', wake up to find it accepted... ) and have some thoughts and measurements. Fyi as none of these are industry-standard, they are only useful in relation to the HD6XX used as a reference.

Mesurements

The HE400SE pads are deep and angled. This gives your ears much more clearance than the traditional Sennheiser models. This makes them a good example of a headphone which shows up the shortcomings of a flat-plate coupler:

There is the Hifiman dip at 2kHz, but as we know from amir's and many other measurements it should have risen back up by 3kHz. Instead there appears to be some channel imbalance and more lack of SPL until ~7kHz.

A measurement with an in-ear mic is far more accurate and informative:

That's more like it. Response is similar to to the HD6XX besides the obvious dip at 1-3kHz. The mid-bass is a little lower and treble generally elevated above the level of the HD6XX. Beyond 5kHz I've found it hard to get consistent in-ear measurements, however, so it's hard to determine exactly how much brighter it is, and especially whether differences in the peaks and troughs are reflective of higher accuracy or not.

Opinion

Unlike amir, I don't like the HE400SE tuning as-is. The 2kHz dip is not too broad but affects the sound a surprising amount on some songs. This might be exacerbated by the rest of the tuning being slightly more brightly tilted than the HD6XX. I don't think it would bother me if I exclusively listened to more sparse recordings, but for music with stuff going on across the whole frequency range, like metal, it's sometimes more obvious.

With no reference it's not too bad: I just think it sounds bright. Then I put the HD6XX on and it's obvious there was a big deficiency.

With EQ is so much better though. Things which were missing before, like the correct tonality of guitars, come back. I added:

• Peaking filter of 4.2dB at 1730Hz, Q=2.5
• Low-shelf at 50Hz, Q=0.6, level to taste. 12dB comfortably hits Harman 2018.

Now it sounds much closer to my HD6XX (with similar bass boost of course). It still sounds brighter, though I think the treble level is within the realms of personal preference rather than being peaky or obviously excessive. Therefore I can't recommend any specific EQ above 5kHz; this will need to be down to the individual.

Conclusion

For the price I bought these 2nd hand, and even for the RRP and sale prices you can get this new, I think it is a good deal if you can use EQ. I don't understand the motivation to buy any of the more expensive Hifiman models, as they either fail to address the main deficiency, the dip at 1-3kHz, or have it even worse. The Sundara looks slightly better in this regard, but still short to the degree that I might end up using EQ to fill in anyway.

My main concerns are more material: unlike the HD6XX this doesn't have as modular a design which poses problems for longevity, particularly in terms of replacing the headband material and finding original ear pads.

n.b. grill mods

All it does is expose the driver to dust.

 

[Blorg]

@isostasy do you have the stealth magnet version? Custom Cans did measurements finding very little difference with the grill mod on that one but far more on the non-stealth magnet version. He's using EARS for the measurements, so not the most accurate. But also subjectively thought it made a difference with the original but not worth it for the stealth version, you actually got the reverse, a little less sub-bass.

I have the non-stealth Chinese version of this and subjectively, I do think it sounds better with the grills off.

As to the 1-3kHz dip, this is preference. I don't mind it at all. It's also there in many other high-end headphones including from Sennheiser, it's in the HD800 and HE-1. It's just the HD6-- series doesn't have it. I have the Sundara as well and can confirm it is the outlier, it's far more forward in that region compared to every other Hifiman. If anything though I find the HD600 a bit too forward in this region, I prefer it the way the HD800S, Hifiman or Focal does it. Focal Utopia also has a dip there although it starts the dip later, around 1.25kHz. It's a very common tuning choice among well regarded headphones, I think the theory is it improves soundstage and reduces a certain forward harshness and to me, it works.

Original:

Stealth:

 

[isostasy]

@Blorg yes, mine is the stealth magnets version.

That's interesting, thanks for sharing the video. The non stealth magnet version looks like it might be better anyway, the bass looks better (later roll off) than the stealth? Treble looks a bit lower in level as well which I'd prefer.

The stealth stuff I think is probably just marketing ... what he says about the non-stealth magnets being physically bigger seems to me a far more plausible explanation for the difference in sound.

 

[Merkurio]

I just want to share my EQ preset with you guys, nothing complex or special, it's the same basis for the Harman target with the help of Oratory, but with some small adjustments in the high-end to add a little more air/spatial qualities and at the same time slightly reduce the presence around 6-7 kHz, keeping exactly the same tonal balance with as few bands as possible.

Preamp: -8.3 dB

Filter 1: Low-shelf > 30 Hz > Gain 4.0 dB > Q 0.71
Filter 2: Low-shelf > 105 Hz > Gain 5.0 dB > Q 0.60
Filter 3: Peak > 230 Hz > Gain -1.0 dB > Q 1.50
Filter 4: Peak > 860 Hz > Gain -2.0 dB > Q 2.00
Filter 5: Peak > 1950 Hz > Gain 6.0 dB > Q 1.60
Filter 6: Peak > 6500 Hz > Gain -5.0 dB > Q 3.00
Filter 7: Peak > 8500 Hz > Gain 6.0 dB > Q 3.00

I also attached the text file, in case you want to import it directly into EQ APO/Peace.

Hope you like it!

 

[Agony]

And that was it ... Left driver crackling... With Sundara i was lucky i got 2 years warranty and replace them 2 times. With 400se i am not under warranty.
Amazing headphone give great listening times but expected to last more than 1-2 years.

 

[hatrix]

People with crackling drivers, make sure to check and clear any stray hairs that may be laying on top of the magnets or even in the earcups. These always cause buzzing sounds for me.

 

[Agony]

People with crackling drivers, make sure to check and clear any stray hairs that may be laying on top of the magnets or even in the earcups. These always cause buzzing sounds for me.

Oh man thank u so much for replying ... When i go home i will check that out .
I have to open both sides i guess ? And removing them by air correct ? ( if there are any ) .... I hope this is the problem because i really love these headphones best VFM by far.

 

[hatrix]

Oh man thank u so much for replying ... When i go home i will check that out .
I have to open both sides i guess ? And removing them by air correct ? ( if there are any ) .... I hope this is the problem because i really love these headphones best VFM by far.

Personally I just removed the grilles first, checked inside there and removed anything I found with a pair of ceramic tweezers (that way they weren't being pulled by the magnets), and then with the opposite side I didn't take the foam pads off or anything, just made sure to lift it up so I could see the whole surface and get any hairs that were on top of the fabric cover.

Be careful working around the magnets and driver when taking the grille off, it is very easy to damage them. Air might work as a way to remove hairs but I also wouldn't want anything that's too strong.

 

[eddantes]

Just picked these up (2nd hand) for 50 bucks... Threw in the filters suggested by @amirm and - g'dam - these are some fine phones! With that bass boost - there's absolutely nothing to complain about.

 

[Chester]

They really are very good for the money.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Just picked these up (2nd hand) for 50 bucks... Threw in the filters suggested by @amirm and - g'dam - these are some fine phones! With that bass boost - there's absolutely nothing to complain about.

These are a few years old, they have no competition for the price to performance in the market.

 

[eddantes]

They really are very good for the money.

I'm not sure one needs to add the "for the money" qualifier. Objectively and (now, for me) subjectively - these are very good.