HifiMan HE-400i First Impression and Review

[xtroria]

Finally, my first planar headphone! I was originally considering the HE-500, a headphone that I've auditioned before and prefer over the $1K Audeze LCD-2. For the note, I purchased the headphone as a returned unit from RazorDog! Audio for $330. The headphone's MSRP is $500 although previously there was a big sale where you can purchase a new HE-400i for $300.

 

Unboxing experience

 

 

Usually, when you buy a headphone you'd expect to receive a USPS cardboard or whatever cardboard from the store. Not this time. The cardboard itself was provided from hifiman with HE-400i tag on it and the printed picture of the headphone. This shows how hifiman has matured over the years and understands how their products are being sold across the world.

 

As you open the cardboard, you're welcomed with this leatherette box with impressive presentation which shows you that you bought an expensive product. If you show someone the box and tell them the headphone costs $1000, I'm sure a lot of people would believe you.

 

Build Quality

 

In a word: Excellent.

 

I'd say the quality is on par with Fidelio X2, a headphone made by a very experienced manufacturer.

 

Even though the paint of the plastic is glossy, the color shifts slightly between very dark blue to black. This gives the headphone a slightly piano colored finish. 

 

As for the connector, I don't think it really gets better than 2.5mm TRS connector. It's a small connector that's still very robust and easy to plug in and out. Not to mention 2.5 TRS is a pretty easy connector to find and solder should you decide to make your own cable.

 

The cable is  4-5 ft braided cable that terminates to L-shaped 3.5mm connector. Let me say first that I'm not a big fan of this cable. I prefer a normal rubber insulated cable as it results in less cable noise overall and straight cable termination is better then L-shaped termination unless it's intended for portable use. However, the quality of the cable itself is simply top notch and I don't have any complain should I look at it objectively.

 

 

Comfort

 

Just like the build quality, the comfort is excellent being a planar magnetic headphone and great as a headphone overall. The headphone is more comfortable compared to first generation hifiman headphones and audeze line of headphones. However, it simply can't compete with dynamic headphones like DT880 or HD800 in terms of comfort.

 

The headband is wide and large with a decent amount of padding. My favourite thing about this headband is how you can use the headphone for a long time and then leave the house without needing to comb your hair again. People with thick hair would notice how their headphones leave marks after half an hour or so.

 

The clamping force is very slightly above average giving you a sense of security that the headphone won't just fall off when you're shaking your head.

 

Any parts of the earpad that touch your ears are made out of velour which doesn't suffocate your ears in the first place, making the headphone suitable for long hours of use continuously. 

 

Bass

 

Being a planar magnetic headphone, it's natural for the headphone to have a superb bass. HE-400i presents the bass in a very clean, un-colored way. Bass extension isn't a problem at all with its huge driver size and you won't get that mid-bass bloom that's very commonly found on popular dynamic headphones such as HD600 or Fidelio X2.

 

However, if you're bass lover, this headphone isn't for you. It has a really great bass in terms of 'quality' but the quantity itself is nothing to write note about. For this headphone, the bass is there to decorate the music. The bass isn't the music itself for HE-400i. For bass heads, Audeze LCD-2 should be the ultimate headphone you look for.

 

Mid

 

Just as bass, planar magnetic headphones have a common sound signature when it comes to the mid. The mid on the headphone is very sweet without being over-bearing. Male vocal sounds very rich and warm with this sense of weight to it. As for female vocal, it sounds slightly more forward compared to male vocal with a very nice clarity.

 

Treble

 

For me, this is where the love/hate part of the HE-400i begins. The headphone has a slight peak around the lower treble where badly mastered music would produce sibilances. Other than that, the lower treble is really great.

 

As for the higher treble (above 10kHz), I'd call the headphone slightly dark. It's important to note that I used AKG K7xx before, a headphone that's still very lively above 10kHz. I reckon though, people prefer a darker high treble as it's less fatiguing.

 

Soundstage

 

I'd describe HE-400i as a headphone cone-shaped soundstage. As details or instruments are being placed farther away horizontally, the headphone can presents a better vertical soundstage. This coned-shaped soundstage IMO generates an intimate sound for vocal while giving a good sense of direction for the other instruments.

 

For comparision, I'd describe the soundstage on HD800 like half-sphere on each side and AKG K7xx has a donut-shaped soundstage. 

 

Conclusion

 

It's slightly hard to describe what HE-400i sounds like. My best description would be HE-400i is a neutral headphone with everything being presented forward. Generally, when you listen to headphone, one of the three areas (bass, mid, treble) would be sacrificed to make the headphone sounds engaging and lively. Also, when you're listening to a headphone with a neutral sound signature, the headphone would sound bland at times or over critical to the point where it becomes fatiguing for long terms use. 

 

This isn't the case with the HE-400i. If you ask me which part of the HE-400i I like the best, I can't answer the question. The same thing applies if you ask me which part I hate the most about it. HE-400i really is a great example of trade of all jacks, master of none.

 

One more thing that I really love about this planar magnetic headphone is sheer speed of decay. With dynamic headphones, you will lose some details when you're getting into a very fast paced and difficult passage. However, being a planar magnetic headphone, HE-400i was able to handle it without losing any details.

 

Would I recommend this headphone? Absolutely! HE-400i doesn't come out at the top in terms of bang for buck. But then again, no headphone that costs above $200 can come out on top in terms of bang for buck. Anyone who's spending $300 and above on headphones generally knows what kind of sound signature they want and they're willing to spend 200% of their previous headphone's price for a performance increase of 25% - 50%

 

If you're looking for a comfortable headphone with neutral sound signature but doesn't sound boring and you have $300-500 lying around, HifiMan HE-400i should be near the top or the top of your list 

[UnlimitedTMD]

sexy as fuck, must have... must have

[Volbet]

Is that the new 2.5mm jack connectors? I'm so glad to see HiFiMan moving away from the mini coax connectors that they used to use.

Those mini coax connectors seemed to break as soon as you took the headphones out of the box. 

 

I'm looking forward to the full review.

[SSL]

Is that the new 2.5mm jack connectors? I'm so glad to see HiFiMan moving away from the mini coax connectors that they used to use.

Those mini coax connectors seemed to break as soon as you took the headphones out of the box. 

 

I'm looking forward to the full review.

 

Yes. So much better.

 

One of the mini-coax on my HE-560 was defective; bad threads and wouldn't even attach. TRS is much more reliable.

 

Looking forward to the review.

[Rmusic10891]

Yes. So much better.

 

One of the mini-coax on my HE-560 was defective; bad threads and wouldn't even attach. TRS is much more reliable.

 

Looking forward to the review.

Better? Yes.

 

Still kinda stupid? IMO yes

 

Is 3.5mm too much to ask for?

[SSL]

Better? Yes.

 

Still kinda stupid? IMO yes

 

Is 3.5mm too much to ask for?

 

Or how about Mini XLR? What a concept!

[FloRolf]

Love mine!

Subbed to see what you think of them.

Edit

Just a tip, you should always fold them together like this or otherwise the cushins are getting pushed in.

The foam will recover itself but it's nice to not even happen you know

[SuicideAnomaly]

Pure sexiness. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them.

[roctrebira]

Cant wait

[Marziman]

Or how about Mini XLR? What a concept!

Mini XLR to quarter inch, something to have wet dreams about.  At least, for a HiFi Man HE headphone.  I have the 400i's, I have to say they are pretty warm for my tastes, I thought they'd be more like the 600's but they're certainly more akin to the 650's.

[xtroria]

Review is up! 

[SSL]

Nice. I disagree of course on the connectors (XLR is better) and the build quality; unless Hifiman has managed to improve their build drastically in the last month. I also find their cables to be very stiff and plasticky; supple cables are much nicer. I think this contributes to the microphonics.

 

More direct comparison with the K7XX would be nice; do you feel the HE-400i is a clear upgrade?

[xtroria]

Nice. I disagree of course on the connectors (XLR is better) and the build quality; unless Hifiman has managed to improve their build drastically in the last month. I also find their cables to be very stiff and plasticky; supple cables are much nicer. I think this contributes to the microphonics.

 

More direct comparison with the K7XX would be nice; do you feel the HE-400i is a clear upgrade?

 

I believe the cable the HE-400i is different from HE-560's although I don't know if they were made using the same finish

 

As for connectors, while XLR is also nice, I think it's a bit too big. I like just how TRS is really small and unobtrusive.

 

When compared to K7xx, imo HE-400i is more engaging. K7xx while sounds very nice, at times you can feel like it's a bit detached. Sound signature of the two headphones are actually very similar. The bass goes to HE-400i, no contest here. The same applies for mids as I previous stated, HE-400i is simply more engaging. For treble, i pick K7xx a bit over HE-400i due to its bigger sound stage.

 

The build quality of HE-400i and HE-560 are similar i think, which would be disappointing if you spent $750 for it. If you pay max $500 however...

 

One important thing to note though, K7xx is crazy in terms of bang for buck. No headphone with $200 MSRP come close to it. Given that I bought HE-400i for $330, I think the upgrade is worth it