What are the sound signatures of Hifiman HE400i and Grado SR60i? Finding my personal preference...

[shaney777]

What are the sound signatures of Hifiman HE400i and Grado SR60i? A post on SBAF has the HE400i as being U-shaped. Is that accurate? The reason I ask is because, to my ears, the HE400i has recessed mids, and I really don't believe I enjoy the sound signature after coming from Grado SR60i. I assume they have very forward mids? Set me straight on this!

 

[_thelaughingman]

What you hear from your headphones is unique to you, due to the anatomy of your ears. A U shaped signature means the FR of the headphones to a target such as Harman Curve. I wouldn't worry about the sound signature on a particular headphone as long as you can hear what you like off them. Besides you can EQ them to your preference as it suits your needs.

 

[solderdude]

Depends on which HE400i you mean (the pads).
The original HE400i is bass light (not bass shy). Is a bit too 'laid-back' as in lacking clarity/forward sound of SR60 and has smooth but sharpish treble up top.
Grado is bass shy, overly 'forward/clear' sounding with sharp elevated treble.

 

[Jimbob54]

I find generic descriptions of sound profiles less than helpful.

As the dude of solder say, depends on which versions of each HP you are talking about but a quick look at the FR of each measured on the same rig speaks volumes.

SR60e https://www.dropbox.com/s/o6l73ut2b02f4lc/Grado SR60e.pdf?dl=0
400i 2020 https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld9y8k3r67ikujw/Hifiman HE400i (2020).pdf?dl=0

Looking at the top left chart of each PDF and even ignoring the blue Harman target line, I can far easier relate what I see to how @solderdude describes the sound than any attempt to align either to a letter of the alphabet.

Comparatively and absolutely the Grado has a massive upper mid/ treble boost and zero bass. The Hifiman is far more even. If you are used to/ enjoy that level of 2-4k action then yes, the 400i will sound a bit lifeless.

Neither look very much like a U, V, W or any other letter of the alphabet.

 

[shaney777]

What you hear from your headphones is unique to you, due to the anatomy of your ears. A U shaped signature means the FR of the headphones to a target such as Harman Curve. I wouldn't worry about the sound signature on a particular headphone as long as you can hear what you like off them. Besides you can EQ them to your preference as it suits your needs.

What is FR?

 

[shaney777]

Depends on which HE400i you mean (the pads).
The original HE400i is bass light (not bass shy). Is a bit too 'laid-back' as in lacking clarity/forward sound of SR60 and has smooth but sharpish treble up top.
Grado is bass shy, overly 'forward/clear' sounding with sharp elevated treble.

It's the 2016. Is there more than one version of the 2016? Mine is the 3.5mm, if that makes a difference.
When you say clarity, do you mean resolution/detail/transparency? I was under the assumption that HE400i should be a much better headphone than SR60i. Entry level vs. mid-fi, right?

 

[_thelaughingman]

What is FR?

Frequency response of the headphone

 

[shaney777]

I find generic descriptions of sound profiles less than helpful.

As the dude of solder say, depends on which versions of each HP you are talking about but a quick look at the FR of each measured on the same rig speaks volumes.

SR60e https://www.dropbox.com/s/o6l73ut2b02f4lc/Grado SR60e.pdf?dl=0
400i 2020 https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld9y8k3r67ikujw/Hifiman HE400i (2020).pdf?dl=0

Looking at the top left chart of each PDF and even ignoring the blue Harman target line, I can far easier relate what I see to how @solderdude describes the sound than any attempt to align either to a letter of the alphabet.

Comparatively and absolutely the Grado has a massive upper mid/ treble boost and zero bass. The Hifiman is far more even. If you are used to/ enjoy that level of 2-4k action then yes, the 400i will sound a bit lifeless.

Neither look very much like a U, V, W or any other letter of the alphabet.

Wow, thank you for the links. This is cool! How can I find all the headphones tested? I would like to see what has the highest listener preference.

 

[Jimbob54]

Wow, thank you for the links. This is cool! How can I find all the headphones tested? I would like to see what has the highest listener preference.

That's from oratory1990 reddit site. Well regarded hp measurement and eq source https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets/

 

[shaney777]

That's from oratory1990 reddit site. Well regarded hp measurement and eq source https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets/

Thanks a lot!