Hifiman HE400SE Review (Headphone)

[pk500]

Wired or Wireless is not important
only Fidelity
I have 300 AUD
Solo3 is 300 AUD
HE400SE Stealth Magnets is 210 AUD + lightning to 3.5 jack 15 AUD

The HE400se isn't a portable can, per se. It can be, but it doesn't run that great off a phone. It uses planar-magnetic drivers, which like power.

I still recommend HE400se -- but only if you have an amp or a dongle DAC. It will crush the Beats in terms of fidelity.

 

[Splork]

I have tried all three of the amps that you have mentioned above. They all have the ability to drive the HE400se without an issue, being that they are planar they tend to be inefficient which means they do require more current to drive them. None of the choices you mentioned above will fall short, they're all equal in their capabilities.

I'm a beginner audiophile who plays games as well. I just got the HE400SE, and we all know, at 100 volumes on a laptop (such as my i7-10th gen ROG Strix gaming laptop, Windows 10), they're just okayish loud. Naturally I had plans to get a dac amp. I'm getting the Fosi Audio K5 Pro for 63$, the E10K Olympus 2 for 56$ and after watching rave reviews online, also seeing the FiiO KA13 for sale at 65$. Which one out of these would churn out the best out of the 400SE. Or if you suggest that for the best possible headroom I need at least something like FiiO K11, should I buy that one? The K11 costs more than the options mentioned above (145$), so will have to save for a month or so. Cant get the Atom+ as I live in India and imports costs will push it to almost double the price.

 

[KikoKentaurus]

Just noticed this stuff, does anyone know if it's a rare occasion? Should I grab it like right now?

Spoiler

 

[_thelaughingman]

I'm a beginner audiophile who plays games as well. I just got the HE400SE, and we all know, at 100 volumes on a laptop (such as my i7-10th gen ROG Strix gaming laptop, Windows 10), they're just okayish loud. Naturally I had plans to get a dac amp. I'm getting the Fosi Audio K5 Pro for 63$, the E10K Olympus 2 for 56$ and after watching rave reviews online, also seeing the FiiO KA13 for sale at 65$. Which one out of these would churn out the best out of the 400SE. Or if you suggest that for the best possible headroom I need at least something like FiiO K11, should I buy that one? The K11 costs more than the options mentioned above (145$), so will have to save for a month or so. Cant get the Atom+ as I live in India and imports costs will push it to almost double the price.

I think they're all decent amps, I like FiiO as a brand and they do make great portable amps, KA13 should suffice for a decent amp.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Just noticed this stuff, does anyone know if it's a rare occasion? Should I grab it like right now?

Spoiler

View attachment 332723[/SPOILER

Spoiler

These retail for this price often, so it's a good time to buy them.

]

 

[ROOSKIE]

USA and CA.
$59 B-stock shipped no tax
Pretty sweet

Search results for: 'he400se'

Default Description

store.hifiman.com

 

[Smitty2k1]

USA and CA.
$59 B-stock shipped no tax
Pretty sweet

Search results for: 'he400se'

Default Description

store.hifiman.com

Thanks picked them up as my Sennheiser HD 598 are starting to fall apart. Will be powering them through a Topping DX3+. Need to start looking into EQ.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Thanks picked them up as my Sennheiser HD 598 are starting to fall apart. Will be powering them through a Topping DX3+. Need to start looking into EQ.

These need very little EQ which makes them ideal, I'd recommend the Amir EQ that he has from the review.

 

[staticV3]

Thanks picked them up as my Sennheiser HD 598 are starting to fall apart. Will be powering them through a Topping DX3+. Need to start looking into EQ.

These need very little EQ which makes them ideal, I'd recommend the Amir EQ that he has from the review.

Amir's EQ (black) has boosted mids and treble relative to Harman:


Instead, I would recommend oratory1990's PEQ preset: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sy7w95pv0lzm7wy/Hifiman HE400se.pdf?dl=0

It's also the one preferred by the community:

Poll: Which HE400se EQ Preset sounds best?

Here's a little experiment to see which HE400se measurement produces the best EQ preset when corrected to Harman OE2018. Note that this headphone has impressively low unit variation, which might make deciding rather difficult, so I'm giving you three votes. The presets can only be used with...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Smitty2k1]

Amir's EQ (black) has boosted mids and treble relative to Harman:
View attachment 334476

Instead, I would recommend oratory1990's PEQ preset: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sy7w95pv0lzm7wy/Hifiman HE400se.pdf?dl=0

It's also the one preferred by the community:

Poll: Which HE400se EQ Preset sounds best?

Here's a little experiment to see which HE400se measurement produces the best EQ preset when corrected to Harman OE2018. Note that this headphone has impressively low unit variation, which might make deciding rather difficult, so I'm giving you three votes. The presets can only be used with...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Oh neat! I'm limited to 4 band PEQ through the Wiim so I'll start with Arims and see how it goes.

 

[staticV3]

Oh neat! I'm limited to 4 band PEQ through the Wiim so I'll start with Arims and see how it goes.

Amir's PEQ is 5-band and therefore not compatible with the WiiM:


You can use https://autoeq.app/ to calculate the ideal 4-band PEQ.

Simply select the HD 800 S and choose Custom Parametric Eq as equalizer app.
Then enter the value limitations of WiiM's PEQ implementation and the tool will give you the ideal PEQ settings.
You can experiment with setting all four filters to Peaking or a mixture of Peaking and Shelf to see which gives you the best result.

Edit: sorry I got the headphones mixed up (I have an almost identical discussion in another thread at the moment).
Amir's EQ for the 400SE is indeed just 3-band.

 

[boyboyboy]

Riddle me this, please:

Having used them for a few weeks with various genres, and after specifically checking well-known, bass-rich songs, the stock bass doesn't seem in dire need of corrections (dare I say it is basically correct?): yet everybody, their cats and most importantly their measurements and graphs, say it's light and could use a boost.

When using oratory's hand-preset, I resorted to switching off slider 2, which is the main bass shelf/bass adjustment dial (+5.5 dB default).

Now before telling me to keep calm and carry on, it's okay to not like bass boosts (I know) ...I always liked my bass, and while using other 'phones (IEMs, too, FWIW) with the appropriate presets by oratory (PDF, not AutoEQ), the bass is comparable to the HE400se in stock form.

I understand different headphones will sound different even through what should be similar-sounding presets, however the bass from the corrected HE400se is a bit overwhelming/overbearing and the difference is so obvious, no need for golden ears.

My HE400se came from Amazon, in a HifiMan display box inside a sealed Hifiman brown box with scary words in red on it, so I don't think it's fake.

The date on the box is 2022; it has the supple black cable and only that. "Stealth Magnets" sticker on the display box, but nothing on the 'phones themselves.

I'm using Foobar2000 (empty DSP chain and EQ disabled), no Windows enhancements, Peace+EAPO. I have tried two different outputs (PC soundcard 24b/48 kHz, and JM20 dongle, 32b/48 kHz), it's the same. I didn't drop the headphones or do anything beyond temporarily removing the grilles to glance at the drivers.

The seal should be good, too: my head's shaved, no glasses, and if I lift them a bit, the bass increases, as expected.

I can also hear that sleight of hand that makes them sound more spacious and accurate (new details in old songs)

As for bass, it's like I'm going mad and hearing things, except I only have to slip on something else, to have my perception confirmed.

 

[solderdude]

The thing with bass reproduction is as follows.

Good bass reproduction, at louder levels, requires low distortion in the bass. ☑
Good bass reproduction requires linear frequency response (regardless of the tilt). ☑
'Tight bass' is often associated with a small but gradual rise in response between 20Hz and 1kHz. Because of this harmonics are reproduced slightly louder than the fundamental.☑ Of course combined with the other 2 points above.
Seal is important, usually less so with open planars. ☑

Subbass requires a lift in general but should also be gradual. When slightly overdone this impresses but requires a slight dip around 200Hz for this not to start sounding 'muddy' or 'bloated'. This lift is not really needed that much at higher SPL (due to equal loudness contours) in which case low bass sounds fine without the Harman bass boost.

Also it depends on your personal reference and music genre/recording quality. Relative bass levels in recordings can deviate well over 10dB... Hooray for tone control.

So yes, most people want to hear more (low) bass than others. Perfectly shown by Harman research. You clearly belong to the minority that likes less bass. Nothing wrong with that nor with desiring a bit more bass or even a whole lot more bass (bassheads)

 

[Oso Polar]

You can use https://autoeq.app/

Any idea why this thing suggests slightly different EQ for Equalizer APO and Qudelix-5K?

 

[staticV3]

Any idea why this thing suggests slightly different EQ for Equalizer APO and Qudelix-5K?

@jaakkopasanen may know why. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[jaakkopasanen]

Any idea why this thing suggests slightly different EQ for Equalizer APO and Qudelix-5K?

The optimization process isn't 100% deterministic. Shouldn't matter in practiced though.

 

[Oso Polar]

I got HE400se not long time ago (during this B-stock sale) and something strange is going on, something that I never experienced before with any other headphones or IEMs. I like the sound and they sound mostly right to me with Oratory EQ (though may be somewhat bright?) but the problem is that they occasionally cause pain in the ears (usually in just left ear). I mean real physical sharp piercing pain. Some songs are triggering it very fast, for example, this one:

Wondering if someone else experienced something like this and how to diagnose and fix it? I guess there is some kind of very sharp peak in FR that is not very audible but, unfortunately, painful at times.

 

[_thelaughingman]

I got HE400se not long time ago (during this B-stock sale) and something strange is going on, something that I never experienced before with any other headphones or IEMs. I like the sound and they sound mostly right to me with Oratory EQ (though may be somewhat bright?) but the problem is that they occasionally cause pain in the ears (usually in just left ear). I mean real physical sharp piercing pain. Some songs are triggering it very fast, for example, this one:

Wondering if someone else experienced something like this and how to diagnose and fix it? I guess there is some kind of very sharp peak in FR that is not very audible but, unfortunately, painful at times.

First thing I would do is , limit or stop using the headphone for at least few days if not a week. Consult an ear specialist to see if there’s any physical issue with your ears. or seek out an audiologist to see if they can help.

 

[Oso Polar]

if there’s any physical issue with your ears

I could use any other headphones I have just fine and never had something like this before. With these, however, it kind of depends. Sometimes I feel nothing, more often I feel some kind of pressure/discomfort/mild pain after prolong listening (ears feel tired), sometimes the pain is very sharp. I can continue listen to music, even loudly and the pain will go away - as long as I'll switch to another headphones or speakers. So. I'm pretty sure that this is something with HE400se and I'd really like to fix it somehow because otherwise I like them very much.

 

[xavx]

I could use any other headphones I have just fine and never had something like this before. With these, however, it kind of depends. Sometimes I feel nothing, more often I feel some kind of pressure/discomfort/mild pain after prolong listening (ears feel tired), sometimes the pain is very sharp. I can continue listen to music, even loudly and the pain will go away - as long as I'll switch to another headphones or speakers. So. I'm pretty sure that this is something with HE400se and I'd really like to fix it somehow because otherwise I like them very much.

Not sure if you're affected by some high frequencies or by the headphone itself. Having tried 5 400se extensively a year ago, both scenarios are possible...
High frequencies above 4 to 5 KHz can be felt as pearcing / aggressive to your ears.
Despite being qualified as open, the headphone membranes cover most (if not all) the inner earcup. I remember feeling air pressure from the membranes vibrations which could be the cause of the discomfort. You can feel that pressure by putting your hands at ear height when playing music with the headphone on your head.