expiredEragorn | Staff posted Dec 05, 2024 01:55 AM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
expiredEragorn | Staff posted Dec 05, 2024 01:55 AM
HIFIMAN HE400se Planar Magnetic Over-Ear Open-Back Wired Headphones (B-Stock)
+ Free Shipping$69
$149
53% offHifiman
Visit HifimanGood Deal
Bad Deal
Save
Share
Leave a Comment
Top Comments
A few basics to get out of the way first, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear what's going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening to), and are somewhat heavy (385g) and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
The he400se is decently compliant to the harman curve, with a major deficiency in bass (especially subass), a sizeable dip around 2000hz, and some messiness in the upper treble. Due to having low distortion this headphone takes quite well to eq; for a more neutral sound signature and good bass response I highly recommend eq (oratory1990 eq presets are my go-to as a starting point). While the 400se have a relatively low impedance (32 ohm), their low sensitivity of 91db means they're already a bit difficult to drive even without eq. With the require negative preamp for a proper eq being greater than -9db, an amp is recommended for these headphones.
I have a pair of he400se, and with eq the sound quality is exceptional for the price. They're excellent value jack of all trades headphones, being decent for music, gaming, and movies. With eq the soundstage is fairly good with decent imaging, dynamics are acceptable, the sound signature is overall neutral, bass is quite crisp and reasonably impactful, and the instrument separation and clarity are fairly good. It's worth noting that as planar magnetic headphones you won't get much of the traditional bass "rumble" normally present with dynamic drivers. The upper treble also has a bit of harshness and an incredibly faint almost metallic tinge. Without eq the bass deficiency in particular becomes rather glaring, and I have a much harder time recommending these headphones without eq. I find the comfort of these headphones to be acceptable, though I personally would've preferred a hammock style headband. Their weight being a bit on the higher end means it might take some getting used to for long sessions, though I personally don't have a problem wearing them for hours at a time. The included cable is decent quality but quite short, especially when you take into account the split termination (3.5mm into each cup separately). You might need to purchase an aftermarket cable if your audio source isn't in very close proximity.
These are b-stock headphones, which as far as I can tell means refurbished or open box headphones with sufficient cosmetic damage that hifiman won't sell them as open box or refurbished. As always, keep in mind that hifiman has a poorer than average reputation for quality control and product longevity. I've yet to personally run into any issues, and anecdotally I know people who have purchased refurbished hifiman headphones that came in essentially pristine condition, but there is obviously an elevated degree of risk in purchasing b-stock. Hifiman's b-stock headphones do come with the standard 1-year manufacturers warranty.
Overall, at $69 the he400se is probably the best value headphone you can get period, and if you have an amp capable of driving them with eq I highly recommend them.
24 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank BeigeRoad455
A few basics to get out of the way first, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear what's going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening to), and are somewhat heavy (385g) and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
The he400se is decently compliant to the harman curve, with a major deficiency in bass (especially subass), a sizeable dip around 2000hz, and some messiness in the upper treble. Due to having low distortion this headphone takes quite well to eq; for a more neutral sound signature and good bass response I highly recommend eq (oratory1990 eq presets are my go-to as a starting point). While the 400se have a relatively low impedance (32 ohm), their low sensitivity of 91db means they're already a bit difficult to drive even without eq. With the require negative preamp for a proper eq being greater than -9db, an amp is recommended for these headphones.
I have a pair of he400se, and with eq the sound quality is exceptional for the price. They're excellent value jack of all trades headphones, being decent for music, gaming, and movies. With eq the soundstage is fairly good with decent imaging, dynamics are acceptable, the sound signature is overall neutral, bass is quite crisp and reasonably impactful, and the instrument separation and clarity are fairly good. It's worth noting that as planar magnetic headphones you won't get much of the traditional bass "rumble" normally present with dynamic drivers. The upper treble also has a bit of harshness and an incredibly faint almost metallic tinge. Without eq the bass deficiency in particular becomes rather glaring, and I have a much harder time recommending these headphones without eq. I find the comfort of these headphones to be acceptable, though I personally would've preferred a hammock style headband. Their weight being a bit on the higher end means it might take some getting used to for long sessions, though I personally don't have a problem wearing them for hours at a time. The included cable is decent quality but quite short, especially when you take into account the split termination (3.5mm into each cup separately). You might need to purchase an aftermarket cable if your audio source isn't in very close proximity.
These are b-stock headphones, which as far as I can tell means refurbished or open box headphones with sufficient cosmetic damage that hifiman won't sell them as open box or refurbished. As always, keep in mind that hifiman has a poorer than average reputation for quality control and product longevity. I've yet to personally run into any issues, and anecdotally I know people who have purchased refurbished hifiman headphones that came in essentially pristine condition, but there is obviously an elevated degree of risk in purchasing b-stock. Hifiman's b-stock headphones do come with the standard 1-year manufacturers warranty.
Overall, at $69 the he400se is probably the best value headphone you can get period, and if you have an amp capable of driving them with eq I highly recommend them.
A few basics to get out of the way first, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear what's going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening to), and are somewhat heavy (385g) and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
The he400se is decently compliant to the harman curve, with a major deficiency in bass (especially subass), a sizeable dip around 2000hz, and some messiness in the upper treble. Due to having low distortion this headphone takes quite well to eq; for a more neutral sound signature and good bass response I highly recommend eq (oratory1990 eq presets are my go-to as a starting point). While the 400se have a relatively low impedance (32 ohm), their low sensitivity of 91db means they're already a bit difficult to drive even without eq. With the require negative preamp for a proper eq being greater than -9db, an amp is recommended for these headphones.
I have a pair of he400se, and with eq the sound quality is exceptional for the price. They're excellent value jack of all trades headphones, being decent for music, gaming, and movies. With eq the soundstage is fairly good with decent imaging, dynamics are acceptable, the sound signature is overall neutral, bass is quite crisp and reasonably impactful, and the instrument separation and clarity are fairly good. It's worth noting that as planar magnetic headphones you won't get much of the traditional bass "rumble" normally present with dynamic drivers. The upper treble also has a bit of harshness and an incredibly faint almost metallic tinge. Without eq the bass deficiency in particular becomes rather glaring, and I have a much harder time recommending these headphones without eq. I find the comfort of these headphones to be acceptable, though I personally would've preferred a hammock style headband. Their weight being a bit on the higher end means it might take some getting used to for long sessions, though I personally don't have a problem wearing them for hours at a time. The included cable is decent quality but quite short, especially when you take into account the split termination (3.5mm into each cup separately). You might need to purchase an aftermarket cable if your audio source isn't in very close proximity.
These are b-stock headphones, which as far as I can tell means refurbished or open box headphones with sufficient cosmetic damage that hifiman won't sell them as open box or refurbished. As always, keep in mind that hifiman has a poorer than average reputation for quality control and product longevity. I've yet to personally run into any issues, and anecdotally I know people who have purchased refurbished hifiman headphones that came in essentially pristine condition, but there is obviously an elevated degree of risk in purchasing b-stock. Hifiman's b-stock headphones do come with the standard 1-year manufacturers warranty.
Overall, at $69 the he400se is probably the best value headphone you can get period, and if you have an amp capable of driving them with eq I highly recommend them.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank BeigeRoad455
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
As for sound quality, they're good, they're not your typical planar bass boosted good though. They're kind of flat and really doesn't do justice for planar. However you might still think it's good as they're definitely not junk for the price. Also these are pretty heavy and you won't be able to drive them properly unless you have good amps/dac/sound equipment. Don't even think about using this on most phones.
The cord issue and headbands I believe were on on the older versions like mine.
Dont hesitate to get these!
As for sound quality, they're good, they're not your typical planar bass boosted good though. They're kind of flat and really doesn't do justice for planar. However you might still think it's good as they're definitely not junk for the price. Also these are pretty heavy and you won't be able to drive them properly unless you have good amps/dac/sound equipment. Don't even think about using this on most phones.
Thanks, that answered my question because I only have the Apple dongle and 90% of my use case would be playing from my smartphone. I think I'll just pick up the Fiio FT1 Pros on their next big sale.
HIFIMAN HE400SE Stealth Magnets Version Over-Ear Open-Back Full-Size Planar Magnetic Wired Headphones for Audiophiles/Studio, Great-Sounding, Stereo, High Sensitivity, Comfortable, Sliver https://a.co/d/aAV6fkM
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
A few basics to get out of the way first, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear what's going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening to), and are somewhat heavy (385g) and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
The he400se is decently compliant to the harman curve, with a major deficiency in bass (especially subass), a sizeable dip around 2000hz, and some messiness in the upper treble. Due to having low distortion this headphone takes quite well to eq; for a more neutral sound signature and good bass response I highly recommend eq (oratory1990 eq presets are my go-to as a starting point). While the 400se have a relatively low impedance (32 ohm), their low sensitivity of 91db means they're already a bit difficult to drive even without eq. With the require negative preamp for a proper eq being greater than -9db, an amp is recommended for these headphones.
I have a pair of he400se, and with eq the sound quality is exceptional for the price. They're excellent value jack of all trades headphones, being decent for music, gaming, and movies. With eq the soundstage is fairly good with decent imaging, dynamics are acceptable, the sound signature is overall neutral, bass is quite crisp and reasonably impactful, and the instrument separation and clarity are fairly good. It's worth noting that as planar magnetic headphones you won't get much of the traditional bass "rumble" normally present with dynamic drivers. The upper treble also has a bit of harshness and an incredibly faint almost metallic tinge. Without eq the bass deficiency in particular becomes rather glaring, and I have a much harder time recommending these headphones without eq. I find the comfort of these headphones to be acceptable, though I personally would've preferred a hammock style headband. Their weight being a bit on the higher end means it might take some getting used to for long sessions, though I personally don't have a problem wearing them for hours at a time. The included cable is decent quality but quite short, especially when you take into account the split termination (3.5mm into each cup separately). You might need to purchase an aftermarket cable if your audio source isn't in very close proximity.
These are b-stock headphones, which as far as I can tell means refurbished or open box headphones with sufficient cosmetic damage that hifiman won't sell them as open box or refurbished. As always, keep in mind that hifiman has a poorer than average reputation for quality control and product longevity. I've yet to personally run into any issues, and anecdotally I know people who have purchased refurbished hifiman headphones that came in essentially pristine condition, but there is obviously an elevated degree of risk in purchasing b-stock. Hifiman's b-stock headphones do come with the standard 1-year manufacturers warranty.
Overall, at $69 the he400se is probably the best value headphone you can get period, and if you have an amp capable of driving them with eq I highly recommend them.
Leave a Comment