Hifiman HE400SE Review (Headphone)

[Robbo99999]

Look at the scale on the right side of the bottom (phase) plot... 1kHz is at 0°. It looks like either the polarity issue has been resolved in the current HE400SE or..
the polarity is flipped somewhere in the chain.

To check for that you need to measure the HD600 or HD800 and see if 1kHz is around 0° or at +(or -) 180°
When HD600 (or 800) is around +/- 180° then the polarity of your HE400SE is flipped.
When HD600 (or 800) is around 0° then the polarity of your HE400SE is not flipped any more.

The HE4XX around 0 degrees at 1kHz:

HD800 around 0 degrees at 1kHz:

This means then that they've fixed the absolute phase in HE400SE then, I'll include HE400SE again:

I think the simplest way to check polarity is from the impulse response - try clicking the 'Impulse' tab instead of 'SPL & Phase'.

Had a feeling you wanted this zoomed in beyond what the default screen gave me, this is zoomed in a bit for HE400SE:

Either way, based on what solderdude was saying re the 1kHz at 0 degrees, then it looks like they've fixed the absolute phase to be correct now for HE400SE, I guess that's a good thing for the purists!

 

[solderdude]

Here's how the phase was on the original HE400SE:

So it looks like hifiman decided to fix it.

Looks like the HE400SE better than the HE4XX.

Can you overlay the 400SE and 4XX or display the Delta ?

 

[Robbo99999]

Here's how the phase was on the original HE400SE:

So it looks like hifiman decided to fix it.

Looks like the HE400SE better than the HE4XX.

Can you overlay the 400SE and 4XX or display the Delta ?

Tried a few different ways of processing the data to do this and it's not working well, I can't spend much time on this. What can you glean by overlaying phase graphs of different headphones? The most important metrics are frequency response & distortion anyway, albeit I know we took a quick foray into absolute phase of HE400SE, simply because it was quite unique that it was wired up with inverse polarity, but now we know they've fixed that so we've concluded what we need.

 

[solderdude]

Just load both REW files.
Hit the 'overlay' button.
Unselect the measurements you don't want overlayed.
Click the cogwheel and then you can offset one of the traces over the other one with 'SPL offset'.

 

[Robbo99999]

Just load both REW files.
Hit the 'overlay' button.
Unselect the measurements you don't want overlayed.
Click the cogwheel and then you can offset one of the traces over the other one with 'SPL offset'.

That's good, didn't know about the overlay button! So, what can you tell me about what you can learn from the overlaid Phase diagram? I still don't know why you've asked me to do this. I also included an overlay of the frequency response too from the same measurement.
Phase Compared

Frequency Response compared:

 

[solderdude]

So, what can you tell me about what you can learn from the overlaid Phase diagram? I still don't know why you've asked me to do this. I also included an overlay of the frequency response too from the same measurement.

Sorry for not being clear about that, I just wanted to see the FR overlaid.

 

[Robbo99999]

Sorry for not being clear about that, I just wanted to see the FR overlaid.

Haha, it was actually already the last graph in my original post where I posted up all my initial "report" of the HE400SE that I posted up on Thursday:

Hifiman HE400SE Review (Headphone)

I bought mine brand new in a sale from Amazon themselves (UK) for £69.30 delivered. They came with the same black cable that my Edition XS use. I must say I am delighted with the HE400SE. I actually bought two of them at that price. That was on August 2nd. Amazon were also selling brand new...

www.audiosciencereview.com

It's also a better graph to look at because it's an overall average of both headphones compared, whereas I only showed you a comparison of two individual measurements when you asked because I thought you were talking about phase.

 

[roladyzator]

Hello
I was regarding this headphones but i read that it needs an amp\dac to be good.
I wanted this for gaming (single players games mainly) and music and i own a Soundblaster GC7 is it enough to power the Headphones? I didnt find an answer to this anywhere.

thanks

Below remarks are applicable to me using these with Oratory1990's EQ settings, which assumes -9.3 dB negative gain.

I'm using the HE400SE with GC7 and to me there is enough power and even some headroom left.
I also have a 1V Samsung Dongle and that too has enough power, but I'm within -5 to -2 dB from the maximum level.
With my phone's headphone jack, I have to drop the sub-bass shelf from EQ (it's not really audible unless you listen very loud) to be in the volume range that's satisfactory.
If I want to keep the sub-bass filter, the max volume from a phone does not provide a lot of enjoyment.

 

[Robbo99999]

@GaryH , you said in that other thread that you were going to buy the HE400SE at that £69 bargain price after we'd both seen that deal posted up by @oceansize over in the Edition XS thread. Did you end up getting it, have you worked out what you think to them yet? (and vs the HE4XX?) Thanks @oceansize by the way for posting up that deal, because I wouldn't have bought them otherwise, I'm enjoying them!

 

[boyboyboy]

Hullo folks,

now that the weather has taken a less belligerent posture, I finally dusted off my lightly used HE400se after being stuck with TWS buds for months.

Unfortunately the left driver seems to have developed a nasty 'resonance' in the high-bass region, roughly speaking.

This can be reproduced reliably by listening to The Smile's Tiny Desk Concert (<<< you can click that <<<) on NPR's official YouTube Channel, the resonance-slash-distortion appears on some of the lower notes from Yorke's piano on Pana-vision, e.g. around the 15s and 28s mark.

The issue is relatively rare so far, however it also emerges within the first 30 seconds of We Just Found Out She Died from Mary Lattimore's Collected Pieces (CD Rip stored as FLAC - try it if Twin Peaks meets harpist sounds appealing), and probably elsewhere.

I gave a few turns to the screws under the left pad, and this seems to have reduced the problem, but I'm wary of going further, out of a slight fear of stripping the threads.

Is this the dreaded 'left driver rattling' and can it be cured somehow? Is it return time already?

 

[Timbo2]

Hullo folks,

now that the weather has taken a less belligerent posture, I finally dusted off my lightly used HE400se after being stuck with TWS buds for months.

Unfortunately the left driver seems to have developed a nasty 'resonance' in the high-bass region, roughly speaking.

This can be reproduced reliably by listening to The Smile's Tiny Desk Concert (<<< you can click that <<<) on NPR's official YouTube Channel, the resonance-slash-distortion appears on some of the lower notes from Yorke's piano on Pana-vision, e.g. around the 15s and 28s mark.

The issue is relatively rare so far, however it also emerges within the first 30 seconds of We Just Found Out She Died from Mary Lattimore's Collected Pieces (CD Rip stored as FLAC - try it if Twin Peaks meets harpist sounds appealing), and probably elsewhere.

I gave a few turns to the screws under the left pad, and this seems to have reduced the problem, but I'm wary of going further, out of a slight fear of stripping the threads.

Is this the dreaded 'left driver rattling' and can it be cured somehow? Is it return time already?

From memory those screws just attach the ring that holds the pads in place. The drivers use nuts and bolts. In my case one of the nuts actually completely backed out and was vibrating. I seem to remember the heads are on the outside of the driver meaning you may have to pull the driver completely out. It’s been several years.

The build quality is one of the reasons I’m hesitant to recommend these. However if you are reasonably handy, take your time and have the right tools they aren’t awful to take completely apart.

 

[boyboyboy]

Thanks Timbo! I could try my hand at it, but with these being less than a year old, Amazon might just replace them with a new pair.

The build quality is one of the reasons I’m hesitant to recommend these.

It's somewhat baffling this still hasn't been fixed, isn't it? Doesn't exactly seem rocket science. Tiny dab of thread-locker maybe?

Bought mine whereabouts of Black Friday '23 and have been wondering if they're some kind of new old stock or what... (they had a '22 production code I think)

Still so much cheaper than literally any decent pair of more or less comparable headphones, save for the Philips, so... can't complain too much, I guess?

 

[Robbo99999]

From memory those screws just attach the ring that holds the pads in place. The drivers use nuts and bolts. In my case one of the nuts actually completely backed out and was vibrating. I seem to remember the heads are on the outside of the driver meaning you may have to pull the driver completely out. It’s been several years.

The build quality is one of the reasons I’m hesitant to recommend these. However if you are reasonably handy, take your time and have the right tools they aren’t awful to take completely apart.

Have you got any links to any vids or instructions for this, could be useful for people (and myself) in the future?

 

[Timbo2]

Have you got any links to any vids or instructions for this, could be useful for people (and myself) in the future?

No unfortunately, there is one on YouTube that shows customizing them, but not a good look at the disassembly.

You can see how many fasteners are used here in a similar Hifiman model here

Hifiman HE400se

I made 3 EQ presets for Peace APO based on different HE400SE measurements I found. Tell me what you think. 400SE is difficult to equalize, it's almost perfect out of the box. These eq's are few little touches that makes some music cleaner

www.head-fi.org

The bolts actually did use loctite, but it wasn’t well applied and from memory some go into plastic as well. It’s not a great design.

 

[boyboyboy]

You can see how many fasteners are used here in a similar Hifiman model here

Not trying to be contrarian, a fanboy or anything the like...

Flaws notwithstanding, it's kind of refreshing to see something that is held together by run-of-the-mill screws, rather than "tamper-proof fasteners" and rivers of glue, forming an unassailable monolithic contraption that might survive being run over by a truck, but burst into flames if the screwdriver slips in the wrong spot.

If this had happened after warranty expiry, I would have probably been able to fix it myself, just like you did.

One of the parts of the design that I like the least is the headband. I was pleased to find that that can also be easily replaced with the ski-band (...I think that's what it's called?) part from more expensive models, if you don't mind spending some extra money, whereas mostly everywhere the customer is politely cattle-prodded into a nigh-infinite upsell cycle.

 

[Timbo2]

Not trying to be contrarian, a fanboy or anything the like...

Flaws notwithstanding, it's kind of refreshing to see something that is held together by run-of-the-mill screws, rather than "tamper-proof fasteners" and rivers of glue, forming an unassailable monolithic contraption that might survive being run over by a truck, but burst into flames if the screwdriver slips in the wrong spot.

If this had happened after warranty expiry, I would have probably been able to fix it myself, just like you did.

One of the parts of the design that I like the least is the headband. I was pleased to find that that can also be easily replaced with the ski-band (...I think that's what it's called?) part from more expensive models, if you don't mind spending some extra money, whereas mostly everywhere the customer is politely cattle-prodded into a nigh-infinite upsell cycle.

Mine is modified with a new band and actual leather pads. It’s much more comfortable. I hated the stock band. Although the two mods probably cost 30% or more what I paid for the headphones.

The concern is that for a normal user the tradeoff in fragility is a big concern. It’s why I can’t give them an unqualified recommendation.

 

[oceansize]

Have you got any links to any vids or instructions for this, could be useful for people (and myself) in the future?

HE400i teardown. I imagine it's very similar?

 

[Robbo99999]

HE400i teardown. I imagine it's very similar?

Thanks, viewed it and also bookmarked it if I ever need it in the future. Looks pretty simple.

 

[Mr Vinyl]

Here's a strange observation - not positive or negative, just an observation. Most people say the 400se have a brighter tilt. The graphs correlate that. However, the graphs also show the Aune AR5000 to be smoother or darker in comparison. However, when doing A/B'ing both, I come up with the opposite - the AR5000 are actually clearer and brighter than the other. The 400se has a very smooth and 'creamy' high end. I love both - one for relaxed listening (400se), and the AR5000 for more daytime 'sunny' appreciation. Anyone who has both noticed that as well?

 

[Jimbob54]

Here's a strange observation - not positive or negative, just an observation. Most people say the 400se have a brighter tilt. The graphs correlate that. However, the graphs also show the Aune AR5000 to be smoother or darker in comparison. However, when doing A/B'ing both, I come up with the opposite - the AR5000 are actually clearer and brighter than the other. The 400se has a very smooth and 'creamy' high end. I love both - one for relaxed listening (400se), and the AR5000 for more daytime 'sunny' appreciation. Anyone who has both noticed that as well?

You're going to want to make sure the volume is the same from both headphones. Which is pretty hard to do.