HIFIMAN HE

Best Headphones under $700

First off, I cannot stress this enough, these need a good amp with plenty of power, No, they deserve a good amp! At least an Asgard 2, yes a Magni / O2 will work, but no it's not good enough for these. Get a Gustard H10, Teac UD-301, Chord Mojo or maybe a Jotunheim if you really want to experience these for what they are. The Best, most Versatile Headphone in (at least) the under $700 range. Great for Rock, Electronic, Pop, Hip Hop, Blues - probably good for any genre as long as you like an intimate ON Stage or Front Row sound. Pros: Everything Bass - Tight, Fast, Controlled, Layered ( 3 Planar), can hit hard especially if you can EQ (will not distort the sound by doing so) Mids- Sweet, Warm, Forward (great for Vocals) Treble - Detailed, but not overly/ artificially so. Aggressive, but not sibilant and still smooth. Natural sounding Cons: Sound stage isn't big, nice and intimate if you ask me. Some will prefer larger. Imaging is good, but there are better (Hd 700 comes to mind). Comparisons: Vs. Hd 700 - Similar in a lot ways, Bass is a little better on 400I, Mids are similar, Treble is better on the 400I, but slightly more detailed on HD 700. No fatigue on the 400I, I do get some on the 700 from longer listening sessions. Probably due to treble spike at 6khz. Which may also be why they sound a slight bit more detailed. 700 has larger sound stage by a lot. Vs. HD 650 - 650 has lusher mids, everything else 400I kills it. Bass is much tighter, faster, controlled. Treble is not rolled off and has similar levels of detail. Way faster response on the 400I. 650 sounds slow and boring in comparison. Vs. HE-400S - Very similar, if you can't afford the 400I, get the 400S. 400S is a liitle thinner / colder, maybe slightly less detailed. You can find the 400I for close to the 400S price, definitely worth the upgrade... but if it has to be brand new the 400S is probably 90% of the 400I. Vs. HE- 560 - Again similar. 560 has bigger soundstage, maybe slightly better detail. 400I is up close / intimate sound - 560 is 20 rows back. 560 slightly colder sound, not as warm as 400I. Very good, but not worth 2 times the price. 400I (other than soundstage) is 98% of what the 560 is. If you don't hear them A/B you probably can't tell any difference other than soundstage (This is through the Gustard H10 BTW, which is supposed to pair well for both). I would say I also prefer the warmer sound of the 400I over the colder sound of the 560 - you may be different. Depends on amp / dac and genre of music. In A/B comparison I usually liked the 400I better.

Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: dermoian