HiFiMan HE400se Measurements and Review

Just checked second hand market in China, The price can be low as ~$65, but the shipping cost would cost a lot for you people.

But hey, if you want a cheaper HE400SE with non-stealthy magnets and better cable, there's Drop HE-X4.

 

They actually sell 2 versions right now in mainland china, one double sided magnet for 529rmb, and another stealth magnet for 799rmb, which I think is equivalent to the global one.

Hifiman marketing is some weird shit in mainland china as well, hence I think the adorama HE560 and HE6SEv2 are the real bargain here, as they are even cheaper than the price in China. There is a saying in Chinese headphone community that you should never buy new released product from hifiman, the used price never catch up with brand new price drop from the company, plus the reoccurring QC problem on basically anything the sell.

 

In terms of this thread, I think what we're dancing around is that HiFiMan's aggressive marketing and sales tactics make their products hard ones to review. The products change by location and over time.The prices differ by location and time, and drastically fall during sales. There are models and sub models some with names 'Sundara', others with numbers “400” or years or editions. The labels then get reused with products inspired but very different from earlier ones...

The tactics are all legitimate business practices, similar to what happens with mobile phones. But they're being applied to a product with much slower innovation and much longer lives than phones. 10 year old HE6s are still supposed to be amazing, while a 10 year old phone is unusable.

I like my he400se headphones very much and will recommend them, but I could never be a loyal customer of this style of company generally. It's the manic pixie girl of headphone companies.. fun to date if you catch her on the right day in the right place, in the right mood.. certainly, definitely not "the one".

 

If they want their headphones to be hard to review they would not name their revisions differently. Almost all of their revisions have different names (take notice Audeze!). Also they're one of the most manufacturers to send their products to reviewers (take notice Abyss!).

Atleast their revisions are usually better. I think we audiophiles used to the slow ass development and releases and when Hifiman or Focal actually try to speed up this lame industry people get upset??.

I mean their practice is what made the sub $1000 really competitive and even gave birth to good value products especially for the discontinued or second hand products. Yes not great for first buyers but it's for the greater good overall. (Also they actually gave upgrade options to the HE1000 owners for earch revision unlike Abyss which simply gave the middle finger for the 1266 owners even tho they paid more and it got even more revisions that the HE1000.)

 

My "Stealth Magnets" pair purchased on Amazon came with both cables. The black (China) cable was loosely placed in the foam outside the product box but inside the sealed Hifiman shipping box (which was itself inside an Amazon box); the silver one was inside the inner box in the normal place for a cable to go. The QC date is 3/10. Maybe newer ones come with both cables?

 

My purchase from Amazon came with both cables as well.

 

Just received. Quick listen: sound a little bright but nice otherwise, so I ordered focus-a pads for padrolling. Check out what happened to 4XX during pre-production when it went from regular focus pads to focus-a pads. Courtesy of @purr1n

white = regular focus
g/r = focus-a

Middling technicalities and medium bass quantities, nothing exceptional stands out. Id like more bass and less highs. Technicalities not as important as tonality. Could be worth keeping around for casual things. Ive had ~5 Hifimans in past: I really like the physically big open airy enclosure/driver and quick bass, but I dislike tonality and plastic timbre.

Ill take before/after measures and share impressions after more listening time and after focus-a pads arrive. There are other pads that linearize frequency response better, but focus-a maintains the close driver to ear distance and wide ear holes for that open airy nature I like.

 

Forgot to mention that it seems like the membranes crinkle when you squish the pads/cups down on your head when wearing. Have you guys experienced this or do I need to exchange?

edit: Sent Hifiman a query. They replied that they needed purchase info for warranty inconveniences. I sent, and hopefully amazon warehouse is covered. The invoice shows it was sold as “used - very good”.

 

From memory, less resolving than 4XX. 4XX had upper dip and plasticky timbre though. Focus-a pads arrive in 5days.

 

Update. Hifiman response.:


Sorry to inform you that the dealer where you purchased your device is not an authorized dealer.

Kindly ask you to contact them for the after-sale service.
Hope you will understand.


I will try contacting Amazon support next. Id rather return than exchange. Not that comfortable: headband hotspot at top due to headband being a bit stiff, also a bit stiff length adjustment and cup articulation. Ill give the focus-a pads a try and measure before return. Surprised “Amazon.com Services LLC” is not an authorized dealer. I gave HFM the invoice. Maybe because it was used condition?

 

Wanted to clarify that I wasnt trying to create the membrane crinkling. Its heard during normal earpad repositioning for fit. Ive also tried to determine that it is not from another source like enclosure, pads, or cable. The silver cable is also a little microphonic but not too bad and nowhere near as loud as the crinkle.

 

I experienced a crinkle a couple of times with my Audeze LCD2-C. It seems to have been a common enough issue for Audeze to respond to comments about it on forums (the source of the following quotation can be found here):

"Since air is trapped between your head and the diaphragm it creates a pressure zone, and as the headphones shift with movement you may hear a slight crinkling sound from the diaphragm. This is a normal occurrence with planar magnetic drivers and is nothing to be concerned about, it's the sound of the thin diaphragm moving back and forth with the changes in air pressure.

Sometimes as the driver film stretches slightly with age, the sound can become more apparent, and sometimes it may also lessen again. This is mostly influenced by factors in your environment (such as temperature and humidity), and we don't have control over whether or not this occurs.

We recommend exercising certain cautions when handling planar magnetic headphones: trapped air can create high pressure and sudden pressure changes could damage the diaphragms, and this is not covered by warranty. When you put the headphones on or take them off, it’s not a good idea to press them hard and fast against the head, so we recommend slow and steady movement to allow the air pressure to stabilize."​

I wonder if the same thing is going on with your HiFiMan 400se? Then again, I'm not sure I've seen others mention this issue for HiFiMan headphones before.

 

That describes what is happening with my 400se. It is loud, not worth the aggravation - not even close.

Ive experienced similar planar crinkle once before, and it was similarly loud. It was with a vintage ortho so no warranty.

Amazon rep said Hifiman rep was probably being lazy. Amazon accepted return.

edit: Forgot to mention that Amazon rep advised against exchange if this is Hifiman’s response to warranty claims. lol

edit2: Posted same at Head-Fi. I pinged @TeamHifiman there for comment.

 

HFM keeps giving me reasons never to buy their products.

 

They already released the second revision?!
https://www.linsoul.com/collections/all/products/hifiman-he400se

My guess it is the one that ships with two cables?.

 

Update from @teamhifiman. Amazon is not an authorized dealer. Must use the hifiman store front at amazon. Understandable and not condemnable, my apologies.

No comment from hifiman about crinkle.

I returned the broken 400se before receiving hifiman focus-a pads.

 

I'm curious which Hifiman entry level is worth having at this point, 4XX has served me well enough but have we compared this 400se Stealth to the HE X4 [Non stealth mags I guess] and the HE 4XX all at once?

 

After comparing Hifiman HE400SE and Hifiman HE-X4, I choose Hifiman HE-X4 for its cable, Aesthetics and price, sound quality they are the same.

• Comfort - HE400se > HE-X4
• Weight - HE400se > HE-X4
• Aesthetics - HE-X4 > HE400se
• Cable - HE-X4 >>>> HE400se
• Sound Quality - HE400se = HE-X4

 

Interesting findings.

I've had a set of HE-X4 for a couple months. They replaced a set of 4-XXs that had developed an issue with the right driver (buzzing on low freqs). These cans love current and the more, the better they sound. Not detail champs but for the price you'll get the HiFiMan planar sound signature and, albeit a bit heavy, a nice light clamp and soft pads.

They're now going for $109, down from $129, over on Drop.

 

I put some Focus A pads on the these. I don't have measauremenst but it 100% sounds like it killed the 10K spike (as was theorised by @Philimon and others). My concern was that it might just move it to 8K ala the HE4XX - but no such problems as far as I can tell, the steely timbre of those phones has not transplanted over. They sound pretty balanced.
Anyone care to compare with the Sundara? I'm curious about planars after listening to this one for a bit - is there a rational upgrade? Thanks in advance!