HIFIMANHE400SE Stealth Magnets Version Over-Ear Open-Back Full-Size Planar Magnetic Wired Headphones for Audiophiles/Studio, Great-Sounding, Stereo, High Sensitivity, Comfortable, Sliver

I have never owned or heard a planar headphone before. I am not a major audiophile, and the best headphones I have owned are V-Moda M-80, which I have had for a while, and Philips Fidelio X2HR, which I got a few weeks ago. I have been happy with both of these for casual listening, but wanted to try planar drivers without spending a lot of money. I decided to take a plunge with these entry level planars.I like the way they look. The colors are understated, and the size is about the same as the X2HRs. The build quality is not as good as the Philips cans, which use a lot more metal. The HE400se sound a bit more creaky when handling, and seem to be built with a much looser tolerance between parts. They do seem sturdy enough to last, but only time will tell.The headband is not as good as the Philips suspension support, but it is well cushioned, and better than how the V-Moda cans fit. The earpads are quite squishy, and distribute the clamping force quite well.Where these headphones shine is in the sound quality. The other two dynamic headphones I have aren't bad per se, but the bass seems to be a lot less crisp. Rapid changes in pitch never seem to get out of sync with the planar drivers, resulting in every drum hit, string pluck, and cymbal crash sound much more precise. These also resolve much more detail from layered songs, which make you notice nuances you miss with other headphones.I first drove these directly from my computer, and they seemed much quieter than my other phones. This is due to the planar drivers being more power hungry. I really couldn't drive them efficiently this way, as turning us the volume too much would cause my sound output start to clip. These issues were resolved after I added an cheap mini amp to boost the computer sound output, after which these came in line with the levels I was used to with my dynamic headphones. I also added an EQ profile to correct the response to be closer to the Harmon target.These now sound smooth, crisp, and detailed. The soundstage is nice, and the response is totally neutral. A great value for the money when you properly adjust the settings, and now my primary listening device.P.S. - This is getting to be an expensive hobby, or is it actually rising to the level of an addiction? I got a Fiio BTR5 and a balanced cable and matched them to this. The balanced signal is much louder and the output level is comparable to other headphones now. I can't tell if it made the sound quality better over the single ended 3.5 connection, but it certainly didn't make it worse, and louder is better, am I right?

I already own the Hifiman HE400Is I got on here five years ago, so why did I buy these? I tried to buy the IFI hIP dAC V2 AMP, only to find that it lacks a 3.5" basic input, all USB, which is not what I neededfor my simple but solid Fiio X1 player/Fosi Audio amp rig. I am not using my smartphone for most musiclistening. I use the iPhone14 in the car and it's great for that. I realized I was looking a gift horse in the mouth: I have the player and amp I love, so don't mess with it! Headphones can always be improved, however. At least, until you hit the diminishing returns wall, but I'm not in the market for $10,000speakers or headphones, in any case.Instead, this came up at $100 on here and I realized I was staring a true deal right in the face.I love the He400Is but they aren't terribly portable. Well, these are slightly more portable, butstill a big, bulky headphone, let's face it. But, the tradeoff is sheer luxury, sound quality, andto me, the build quality is fantastic and solid. Maybe Focals are better, i dunno, but my budgetis not for $8000 phones, sorry. I know some have had issues with Hifiman's quality control,I haven't. I tend to baby my gear, anyway. I'm not about to lug these around outsideall day long, etc.I was willing to bet on Hifiman again, and I'm so glad I did. These beauties showed up Sat.night and I unboxed them gingerly, tested them on the Fiio player with .wav files, hoursof Miles Davis Quartet the Second box set, (Columbia CD edition) Wish You Were Here (latest remaster), and some Morton Feldman For Bunita Marcus by Aki Takahashi (newest Mode edition CD). All sounded sublime, but particularly the Miles Davis. This is half the reason to invest in Hifimans or planars or electrostatics, treating yourself to quality music, well recorded, etc. I'm a heavy metal fan too,but I wouldn't buy these whatsoever for speed or death metal. Get something with more slamand heavy bass if anything. Beats, whatever.Even if you're not a jazz or classical fan, and I'm mainly a rock/pop guy, or dance,these are a darned good reason to expand your horizons and get a good headphone amp,portable or not, a good high res player (not your phone!), and load it with HQ sourcesand you're in for a real treat. Put on John Coltrane's Heavyweight Champion box setand have a good ol' time. Steely Dan! Hells yes.As with the HE400Is, these open backs shine with the detail, wide soundstage, solid but notsuper deep bass (just "true" but with bass boost/EQ on it extends more), and shimmering, naturalsounding treble. The mids are decent, if not super extended. But the mids are anything but"screechy" or sibilant, either. Comfort level of the pads, suspension, and headbar are off the charts,at least for me. My head is smaller so I don't even extend the bands. You can sit there with these or the 400Is for hours and never get fatigued, either your ears, or your head. They bleed sound in room....who cares!? Don't worry about it unless you're in a public space with tons of people near you. I thinkthe treble in the 400Is might be a bit clearer, or sharper, but I'm not sure since I haven'tused those in a while.This is extraordinary in the headphone world, where in myexperience, cheap earbuds and headphones are often totally lacking in comfort. Pioneer,I'm talking to you! These actually seem very efficient for planars, my Fosi Audio amp powers them very easily, and I only have to crank them up a bit more than say, my Sennheiser Urbanites XL toachieve the same level. I wouldn't try this without an amp, however, and let's face it, planars will only truly shine utilizing a good amp, so get one! Though via your phone with a good amp would be fine, too.Don't bother with Bluetooth either, you'll only cheapen the experience, and degrade the signal.As for Bass-heads: these are NOT for bass heads. There is some good bass here, but it's not likenightclub Beats over the top super sub bass. What you get instead is some of the tightest,truest general deep bass you're going to ever hear. It's all about accuracy, in the bass, but,never clinical, either. The 400Ses are accurate, detailed, but warm, maybe a tiny tad "dark"sounding.For $100 these are a total steal, I believe. You can spend $1500 for Audezes, I'm sure they'reworth every penny (they are, I've heard them), but if you're starting out with mid-Fi, or audiophile stuff, you can buy these and be confident that your $100 was spent very wisely indeed. Just don't takethem to the beach, for goodness' sake! Even better running these from a really good desktopheadphone amp or receiver, but portable amps will do fine! At 32 ohms and "high sensitivity,"these shine with an amp but you won't push the amp beyond belief. They also look phenomenalwith a beautiful black and silver metal suspension and those velour pads. OMG!Get them now before they are discont'ed and sell for $1000. A bit of burn-in time will likely'be a good idea, too.