Massdrop x HIFIMAN HE4XX Measurements and Impressions

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Aug 1, 2017.

  1. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

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    This is the question, two entry level planar's with big modding potential
     
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Not really comparable. TH-X00 is slightly colored off- neutral and also a closed headphone. X00s definitely got more bass and arguably scale higher with better gear. Timbre can be coarse at the high end.

    HE4XX is an "open" dipole planar. The bass isn't over emphasized and the response is more neutral albeit with a few warts. The timbre is less grainy or smoother although some might say it's more plasticky. The bass quality is nicer, clearer, more articulate.
     
  3. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Do they have to be open cans? Just Frankenstein some Lawton cups onto them, dynamat the driver surrounds, and I bet it will do something* to the bass.



    * = "I told you my compound would take you places. I never said they'd be places you wanted to go."
     
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I wouldn't worry about the low end so much unless you happen to listen exclusively to electronic music with a lot of 32Hz sustains. It's only 3db down at 30Hz from 100Hz, and 30Hz is even with 300Hz.

    Think of it as a slight mid-bass bump at 80Hz with extension down to 30. There is very little content below 30Hz anyway in 99.9% of music.
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2017
  5. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    I see what you did there...

    But seriously, guys, this does seem like a no-brainer.

    Buy one, slap a layer of shelf-liner in the front to tame the treble peak, and just call it a day.

    You may have to race me on August 3rd. :)
     
  6. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Meh. My Massdrop purchase rules state never get in on the first drop. You'll end up with bubble wrap marks on your cups and a wild customer service fiasco. Feel free to beta test these for me though. =)
     
  7. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    If I buy these, am I back to mid fi purgatory?
     
  8. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Eh... I wouldn't worry too much about the shell at this price, honestly.

    $169 for $49 ear pads + $120 HiFiMAN planar drivers + some parts that I can use for an all-wood re-housing that may cost like... what? $200?

    Bubble wrap marks be damned! :)

    Hi fi is a lie.

    (also you have Andromeda anyway)
     
  9. ktmracer12345

    ktmracer12345 New

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    So to clarify, are the drivers based on the 400S, 400i, or the original 400?
     
  10. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    You had me at wood.

    Slap some ziricote on the lathe and turn some replacement cups... might be worth it.
     
  11. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    I don't pretend to have knowledge of this (because I really don't!), but I did read the discussion section on Massdrop and saw someone getting bent out of shape while trying to insist that driver details be revealed.

    And I don't think you should be...

    Note the measurements in the 1st page and it's clear: with the same pads, these measure differently from an HE-400S drivers. I'm sure that if you were to put the same pads on HE-400i and HE-400, you'd also get different results.

    So my guess (I'm not 100% sure, but this is more a guess based on what I'm seeing in measurements and what I'm seeing in specs) is that it's probably... none of the above. It's a custom driver that's probably based on design cues from all of those drivers, but it's none of them. It seems to have the midrange of HE-400, the response of HE-400S (but more even), and from Marv's impressions, I'd say HE-400i's speed. Best combination of the bunch, I'd say.

    Yeah.

    I mean... seriously, think about it.

    The cheapest modded T50RP headphone is probably more expensive than this thing here. Hell, T50RP mk.3 is still selling in some places just about as much as these. And if nothing else, the HE-4XX does seem to have bigger drivers, which means... more fun to me. :)

    As for the wood thing, it's just that I'm a sucker for wood parts (@Mshenay can confirm this).
     
  12. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    I had a pair of he-400 that I kept for about a month. I forget which version they were but they were that ugly blue color. Something about them was kinda funky, not my thing.

    But for $169 I'll take a chance on these. As long as I don't have to wait 6 mos or something ridiculous.
     
  13. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    Probably a heavily tweaked 400i. Higher distortion, though.
     
  14. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    FR would disagree, though. HE-400i would have a bit more sub bass, with more of a peak at around 8KHz, and then there's that "ortho wall" that's suspiciously missing here.

    In fact, FR-wise, they're closer to HE-400S, but I'd bet that it's not HE-400S either.

    Funny enough, they do seem like HE-1000 measurements... if only @Marvey would do an overlay, just for shiz and giggles maybe. :p
     
  15. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

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    Mhm, he an I are in the same boat, my HE 4 is cupped with Mango wood now as we speak, which combined with my 5 year old Beyer DT 880 pads grants my HE 4 a magical mid range, gatta double down on the snake oil

    Yea... but at that point I might as well buy a D2K and mod it right? Still I'd be curious to see how this bad boi frankenstein's

    and @Marvey I'd like to see the overly of these with other HE cans if you have the time, and I suppose for the price the roll off is ok, but as some one who enjoys a lot of heavy metal and Electronica that nice flat down to 10hrz bass on the HE 4 is appreciated and often missed when I switch headphones, I'm not always a big fan of mid bass humps... I really like a nice flat Planar bass or a dynamic with a sub focused down tilt
     
  16. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    Overlay with Massdrop Sennheiser HD6XX?
     
  17. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    If you go back and look at the 400S and 400i results Marv posted, the former with Focus-A pads, I believe, they look very similar save for the 400i having more of a upper-mid bump. And the 4XX has more of an upper-mid bump than the 400S. And the impedance and sensitivity specs on the 4XX match the 400i exactly, I believe.

    So it's probably a tweaked variant on the 400i.

    Which is fine, since it's cheap.
     
  18. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    We already have HE-400S overlay on the first page. Less 1KHz area, only "slightly" more 2-5KHz, and much less of a peak at 8KHz.

    And I don't think HE-400i measurement looks any closer either, still 1KHz peak. 8KHz peaks are very obvious in the 400/400i/400s series. And they also don't have a downward-slanted slope like this one. So I wouldn't conclude that it's a tweaked HE-400i just yet, although many would like to believe that that's the case.

    Yeah, sensitivity and impedance are closer to HE-400/400i, but I think that's where similarities end.
     
  19. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I was focusing on that 3-5KHz bump. The 400S and 400i both get a lil' weird around 1Khz if the 400S has the Focus-A pads, per Marv's measurements.

    Obviously HFM did something to the driver, enclosure, and/or pads to smooth things out. But I'm sticking to my guns and saying it's a 400i relative!

    Do I need to use my photochop elite FR overlay graphic skills on you? :p (Life must be good if one's main concern is whether the 4XX is more akin to the 400S or 400i.)
     
  20. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Yes, pls! :D (too lazy to do it myself)

    Honestly, I'm just saying it doesn't look like 400i or 400s. Looks like HiFiMAN tweaked the driver to get this response. It's almost like a... gasp... HD650 in planar form.
     

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