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Planar magnetic cans, worth it?

smdMario
By smdMario
in Audio
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Hey guys

 

I have a pair of semheisers hd558 and i enjoy them quite a lot, i saw at Mexico ebay a pair of HIFIMAN HE400 at a good price and since i have never tried planar magnetic cans i was wondering if the hifiman were a step up from my senheiser hd 558 for openback cans?

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Absolutely. Planars have much lower distortion and better bass extension and impact, among other things. Most would agree that the HE400 are a step up from the HD558.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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HE-400 is a very well regarded headphone, basically it's the entry level planar magnetic headphone. If you like your treble a bit forward, buy it and you should be happy with it

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I could list down a ton of reasons to go for planar magnetic cans, but I'd probably be going off topic.

So, yeah, HE-400 are very well regarded, so go for it.

My Grading System on headphones: SS= 98-100, S= 95-97, A+= 91-94, A= 86-90, A-= 81-85, B+= 76-80, B= 71-75, B-= 66-70, C+= 61-65, C= 56-60, C-= 51-55, D+= 46-50, D= 41-45, D-= 36-40, F+= 31-35, F= 26-30, F-= 21-25, Tier 1 crap= 16-20, Tier 2 crap= 11-15, Tier 3 crap= 6-10, Dahell tier= 1-5, No hope= 0                 Nevertheless, "Enjoy what you enjoy without starting some silly culture war" - Lachlanlikesathing. If you Recommend the M50/X in a thead, I would probably send you a dick pic.

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As always, 'worth it' or not is subjective, subject dependent. 

 

Biggest drawback is the weight. Almost every planars weigh about twice as much, maybe more, compared to dynamics. As for HE-400 specifically, the sound is much better when used with the velour pad, but their velour is hard as a rock. And HE-400 needs a pretty big, stable amount of current, what even something like xonar DG can't provide. 

 

For me it's worth it, even if sacrificing a certain degree of comfortability. For others, comfortability might comes first.

HE-400 personal review , ATH-AD700 personal review, Aune T1 MK2 personal review, Lepai A2020+ personal review, Field report of Jakarta USF

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Ok so i got these puppies (HE-400) and boy they need a lot of juice to power up!, but hot diggity they are good, the base is clearly superior and the sound stage perception is even better, i guess planar magnetic is indeed worth every penny. The blue color also was a win :D. Thank you guys a lot!!!

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Ok so i got these puppies (HE-400) and boy they need a lot of juice to power up!, but hot diggity they are good, the base is clearly superior and the sound stage perception is even better, i guess planar magnetic is indeed worth every penny. The blue color also was a win :D. Thank you guys a lot!!!

Awesome choice :D

My Grading System on headphones: SS= 98-100, S= 95-97, A+= 91-94, A= 86-90, A-= 81-85, B+= 76-80, B= 71-75, B-= 66-70, C+= 61-65, C= 56-60, C-= 51-55, D+= 46-50, D= 41-45, D-= 36-40, F+= 31-35, F= 26-30, F-= 21-25, Tier 1 crap= 16-20, Tier 2 crap= 11-15, Tier 3 crap= 6-10, Dahell tier= 1-5, No hope= 0                 Nevertheless, "Enjoy what you enjoy without starting some silly culture war" - Lachlanlikesathing. If you Recommend the M50/X in a thead, I would probably send you a dick pic.

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