HiFiMan HE400i What am I missing?

A pair of HE400i's just came in the door for review. Initially, I'm running them through a Lavry DA11.

They're light and comfortable. But sound is quite spitty in the upper mids. There's a 6K spike that reminds me of the HD800s.

After even 10 minutes, my ears were hurting.

I'll let them burn in.

Any HE400i fans out there?

 

Your description is sort of how I remember them from my demos. Kind of why I didn't buy them even when sales price last year dropped to around $300. But at that price not a bad headphone IMO, just not for me personally. My recollection is that the 400s were less problematic albeit had less of that planar bass extension.

 

Looking at measurements they have a spike rising from 6khz to 7khz of about 7db give or take and staying that way until they drop off at 10khz. So you're right on the money with your observations. Seemes fairly easy to reduce with eq if you have that option. I've seen similar spikes on a LOT of headphones btw...

 

The 400S is by far my preference as well, that or the old HE-500.

 

Thank you.

[ Drops the mic — like a muthatfuckin' boss. ]

 

I tried 3 different pairs and same conclusion : too bright for my ears. But apparently the peoples on reddit like them

 

I remember Bob Katz comment from the Big Sound 2015 event. When he heard the name Hifiman he was expecting that spike. @Dot: Sry for being slow in discovering that you have a review site. I noticed that you have some Beyers coming down the pipeline for reviews. I guess you have more "spikey experiences" to come in the near future. (I have a pair of DT990 premiums in the drawer along with some other Beyers ) .

 

I enjoyed the 400i, but felt the vocals weren't very natural sounding. Far too forward in the presentation and a little harsh sounding.

Went to the HE-500 in the end.

 

Yep, I had the 400i for a brief period of time, and my ears could not handle the upper peaks at all. Half an hour was the max amount of time I could spend with them on.

 

Actually, I'll even take the "comfortable" part back. WTF is up with the big paperclip design? Try and kick back, lie down on the couch with a pillow. It's like having a big papercliip on your head, and that design actually moves and rotates the headphones forward on your head.

I've tested and eval'ed hundreds of products over the years. The HiFiMan HE400i is being awarded, "Piece of Shit of the Year 2016" at Pro Studio Reviews.

 

Posted a link to this topic on FB. If you're on there, friend me at https://www.facebook.com/proaudiodan

 

Hifiman needs a product manager who actually knows what he's doing. Their product range, price range and house sound signature is all over the place and pretty confusing to newcomers.

But I have faith in them though, they churn out gems every now and then. But yeah, serious growing pains.

 

I think you're going a little overboard with the hate here

I had no comfort issues and really enjoyed the headphones overall. The peakiness didn't bother me. I also thought the bass was pretty decent. Not super hard hitting, but relatively clean sounding and present when it needed to be.

 

After further listening, the sound of the HD400is outside of the headphones is quite loud. Louder than any other hps we have here.

Also the sound coming from the outside of the headphones is fairly distorted. That can't be adding to a good overall sound.