[Garraty]

Hey everybody, I just ordered a pair of the RE-400's, just for school since the earbuds that came with my phone are neither comfortable nor sound good. While I've heard these earphones are wonderful, I'm concerned about the reliability of the IEMs. Has anyone had any negative experiences or positive accounts of the reliability of these earphones? 
 
I'm just wondering because even if they sound good, they simply are not worth it if one side bites the bullet within one week like many users claim to have happened. Thanks!

 

[Tom22]

Hey everybody, I just ordered a pair of the RE-400's, just for school since the earbuds that came with my phone are neither comfortable nor sound good. While I've heard these earphones are wonderful, I'm concerned about the reliability of the IEMs. Has anyone had any negative experiences or positive accounts of the reliability of these earphones? 

I'm just wondering because even if they sound good, they simply are not worth it if one side bites the bullet within one week like many users claim to have happened. Thanks!

In my experience the overall build quality is a huge disappointment compared to the sound. The strain reliefs are rubbish the cable is not very reassuring, mines okay so far after about a year. The j shape jack is not well relieved either.

So just take care of theses guys, when using it. Take them off grasping the housing not by tugging the cable (like most ppl i find). Use the case whenever your not listening, dont wrap it around ur device.

You should be okay, ( at least i hope so since thats what im doing)

 

[Garraty]

In my experience the overall build quality is a huge disappointment compared to the sound. The strain reliefs are rubbish the cable is not very reassuring, mines okay so far after about a year. The j shape jack is not well relieved either.

So just take care of theses guys, when using it. Take them off grasping the housing not by tugging the cable (like most ppl i find). Use the case whenever your not listening, dont wrap it around ur device.

You should be okay, ( at least i hope so since thats what im doing)

 
Thanks for the account, Tom. I think I'll still get the HifiMANs if only for the claims of the brilliant sound for this price. Anyways, if they keep on breaking during the one year warranty, I'll just return them.

 

[Tom22]

   
Thanks for the account, Tom. I think I'll still get the HifiMANs if only for the claims of the brilliant sound for this price. Anyways, if they keep on breaking during the one year warranty, I'll just return them.

brilliant sound they are indeed, i haven't found anything really cheaper that sounds this good (i'm eyeing the zero audio tenores so i'll have to see for myself). like i said you just need to take care of them for the most part (everything i listed in the previous post) and you'll be fine (the driver shorting out thing, can't really be avoided, if it happens it happens, as long as your not blasting music through them you'll be okay)

 

[AngryGoldfish]

  Hey everybody, I just ordered a pair of the RE-400's, just for school since the earbuds that came with my phone are neither comfortable nor sound good. While I've heard these earphones are wonderful, I'm concerned about the reliability of the IEMs. Has anyone had any negative experiences or positive accounts of the reliability of these earphones? 
 
I'm just wondering because even if they sound good, they simply are not worth it if one side bites the bullet within one week like many users claim to have happened. Thanks!

The build quality is fine. If they break within a year, replace them for a new pair. $100 for a year of awesome sound and comfort is still pretty good value. They're phenomenal earphones for the money. Not perfect, but you won't find that at this price. And perfection is such an abstract concept that unless we tried **** out we'd never experience anything.

 

[Garraty]

  The build quality is fine. If they break within a year, replace them for a new pair. $100 for a year of awesome sound and comfort is still pretty good value. They're phenomenal earphones for the money. Not perfect, but you won't find that at this price. And perfection is such an abstract concept that unless we tried **** out we'd never experience anything.

Thanks for your viewpoint! The only concern I have as I said is reliability- that these earphones may just cut off for whatever reason within a week of light use and babying. (according to one person's review) However, I'm willing to take the plunge.

 

[AngryGoldfish]

  Thanks for your viewpoint! The only concern I have as I said is reliability- that these earphones may just cut off for whatever reason within a week of light use and babying. (according to one person's review) However, I'm willing to take the plunge.

That will not happen. If it does, it is an exception to the norm, which is that these are built as well as almost any other $100 earphone. What quality you do sacrifice on you are rewarded with amazing sound, service, comfort, and price. I replaced my UE700's (a $300 IEM) with these and they sound just as good if not better and should last just as long. The UE700's broke recently and I only had them for two or three years. They are also more comfortable and I prefer the longer cable.

 

[Garraty]

Hey guys,
 
So I got the RE-400's in the mail yesterday and I've been burning them in/listening to them to see how they compare to my HD 598's. 
 
Impressions and Comparisons with the HD 598:
 
Source: Samsung Galaxy S5, Toshiba Satellite C675-S7200
           FLAC and 320 LAME MP3 files
 
Design: I have no experiences with IEMs so the RE-400 seem quite small to me, which is a plus for portablity, cable seems a little thin to me but it's nothing too bad, has a wonderful supply of tips/earbuds of every kind that make sure I can get a good seal and a nice little black case that can hold the RE-400's and some extra earbuds on the go
 
Treble: Pretty well extended, perhaps even moreso than my HD 598, a tad smoother than the HD 598's so it doesn't have that sparkle which is a hit and a miss, but the treble is fairly clean and well-done
 
Mids: Seem to be less forward than the HD 598's but are still slightly forward, pretty realistic vocals and mids overall, very pleased with the mids but I have noticed it does seem to be a little dry compared to the HD 598's
 
Bass: Fairly tight and accurate bass and can extend low, has a noticeable lack of sub-bass, even more than the HD 598, I'll have to wait and see if burn-in will help (or getting used to the sound presentation for all you burn-in disbelievers)
 
Soundstage: Definitely smaller than the HD 598's but I do like that the soundstage seems to be angled
 
Detail: Seems to be pretty detailed for the price as so far as I can, but they do seem to be slightly grainier than the HD 598
 
Overall, I am pleased with the RE-400's so far and I'm excited to see how they fare in the future once I've burned them in. To note, they do seem neutral but not overtly so but also are a little warm. Durability is unknown for now.
 
 
Thanks for reading my impressions and I hope you have a wonderful day.  

 

[jpguy]

Hey, I just lost the case of my RE400 . I want to buy a new one, but apparently I can't find it for sale anywhere... Maybe someone of you is willing to sell his case or help me find a site where to buy it?

 

[varuzza]

Mine last only three months before a got bad contact on the cable.

 

[Matias]

RE-600S ordered and waiting to hear it.

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

Hi,
Just want to let everyone know that HifiMan will be exhibiting at the upcoming Capital Audio Fest in DC. The show will take place between July 25th through July 27th at Sheraton Hotel in Silver Spring, MD. Please come visit us and try all of our amazing products including the smoking hot HE-560.
 
For more information about the show, please visit www.capitalaudiofest.com.
 
 

 

[lueneburg]

  The build quality is fine. If they break within a year, replace them for a new pair. $100 for a year of awesome sound and comfort is still pretty good value. They're phenomenal earphones for the money. Not perfect, but you won't find that at this price. And perfection is such an abstract concept that unless we tried **** out we'd never experience anything.

 
Rant: Not quite, Angrygoldfish, as one artist once wrote (on a poster he gave me), "We should be angrier than we are". It is absolutely not OK for any equipment to suffer from what is either some poor construction or planned obsolescence. And especially not for a 100€ IEMs pair (if it were merely a 10-15€ IEMs pair I would not complain much, but 100€ is not just peanuts, even though some 'audiophiles' who pay 10x more for IEMs might snob such considerations.) These things should be aiming to last several years!
 
Customer experience: My RE-400 got the same issue as several other people, after about 7 months and a half of light/moderate (once or twice a week only on average) and careful use,  i.e. the left ear went nearly silent all of a sudden while listening to them, a couple weeks ago. Good thing though, is the guarantee: The customer service from HifiMan has been perfect, very courteous and very fast feedback, same thing from the local representative in Germany Sieveking Sound (I shipped the defective unit back to the German company), very fast and very courteous, whose replacement RE-400s I just received (the less positive aspect however being that they sent me a pair with a dirty cable at one place - some kind of big dirt was on it (looked sort of like earwax, some dark yellow thing), it got wiped off easily but was weird ; and a few very small indentations on the plastic section of the cables ; and the backs of the aluminium cases look partly scratched which imo is not exactly what Sieveking Sound claimed to be a 'neuwertig' (i.e. "like new") unit, i.e. the replacement unit looks somehow older than the defective one I returned). Am just burning them in a bit now (even though I suspect they already have gotten some usage), so I will be checking in a day or two that they sound as they should - but at least I can already hear that both sides work, on this replacement unit.
 
Prospective: However, I now hope, and expect, that the replacement unit will be of a better quality/durability, and will last more than just one year. Or else I will have to forget Hifiman (and IEMs) and switch to something like Sennheiser full cans instead... So am crossing my fingers for the better, hoping I can enjoy these IEMs for a longer while and thus keep a high opinion of their manufacturer.
 
By the way: Regarding the sound quality: Am not a big expert. All I can say is I like them even with my iBasso DX50 (even though some more knowledgeable Headfiers say these 2 don't fit). And they definitely sound better than the Bose QC15 cans I more recently acquired. But the QC15 are unbeatable for peace of mind while in a plane, train or other machine-noise environment (e.g. even while driving), in which cases the IEMs are not offering enough sound isolation at all for me (whatever tips I use), so in such special cases the QC15 is still the better option.
However,neither of these nice and practical headphones (and the DAP) can compete with coming home and listening to the good old Nautilus 804 speakers in my living room, even though I use them 'only' with an AVR (Marantz SR7007) instead of a proper stereo-amp (but I did not expect it to be otherwise, i.e. HeadFi is just not as nice as real HiFi).
 
So, in summary:
- @ fellow users: be extra careful with your RE-400s, they are indeed ultra-fragile (at least for the units sold back in 2013) ; but do use the warranty, Hifiman is giving great customer support.
- @ HifiMan reps: Thanks for the great customer support, thumbs up, but do hear the warnings about potentially disappointing customers over build quality/durability 

 - I hope it was just the first production batch that was of lower quality (as I read a few weeks earlier) and that the RE-400s you currently ship out to people (like hopefully the more-or-less-newish replacement unit I just received) are sturdier and made to last.
 
The Extra Question: Would the RE-400 benefit from a small-priced destkop tube amp (like the Bravo Audio Ocean) connected to my iBasso-DX50? Am curious about maybe getting such a nice-looking and tube-equipped little device either for the bedroom or the office...

 

[Tom22]

   
Rant: Not quite, Angrygoldfish, as one artist once wrote (on a poster he gave me), "We should be angrier than we are". It is absolutely not OK for any equipment to suffer from what is either some poor construction or planned obsolescence. And especially not for a 100€ IEMs pair (if it were merely a 10-15€ IEMs pair I would not complain much, but 100€ is not just peanuts, even though some 'audiophiles' who pay 10x more for IEMs might snob such considerations.) These things should be aiming to last several years!
 
Customer experience: My RE-400 got the same issue as several other people, after about 7 months and a half of light/moderate (once or twice a week only on average) and careful use,  i.e. the left ear went nearly silent all of a sudden while listening to them, a couple weeks ago. Good thing though, is the guarantee: The customer service from HifiMan has been perfect, very courteous and very fast feedback, same thing from the local representative in Germany Sieveking Sound (I shipped the defective unit back to the German company), very fast and very courteous, whose replacement RE-400s I just received (the less positive aspect however being that they sent me a pair with a dirty cable at one place - some kind of big dirt was on it (looked sort of like earwax, some dark yellow thing), it got wiped off easily but was weird ; and a few very small indentations on the plastic section of the cables ; and the backs of the aluminium cases look partly scratched which imo is not exactly what Sieveking Sound claimed to be a 'neuwertig' (i.e. "like new") unit, i.e. the replacement unit looks somehow older than the defective one I returned). Am just burning them in a bit now (even though I suspect they already have gotten some usage), so I will be checking in a day or two that they sound as they should - but at least I can already hear that both sides work, on this replacement unit.
 
Prospective: However, I now hope, and expect, that the replacement unit will be of a better quality/durability, and will last more than just one year. Or else I will have to forget Hifiman (and IEMs) and switch to something like Sennheiser full cans instead... So am crossing my fingers for the better, hoping I can enjoy these IEMs for a longer while and thus keep a high opinion of their manufacturer.
 
By the way: Regarding the sound quality: Am not a big expert. All I can say is I like them even with my iBasso DX50 (even though some more knowledgeable Headfiers say these 2 don't fit). And they definitely sound better than the Bose QC15 cans I more recently acquired. But the QC15 are unbeatable for peace of mind while in a plane, train or other machine-noise environment (e.g. even while driving), in which cases the IEMs are not offering enough sound isolation at all for me (whatever tips I use), so in such special cases the QC15 is still the better option.
However,neither of these nice and practical headphones (and the DAP) can compete with coming home and listening to the good old Nautilus 804 speakers in my living room, even though I use them 'only' with an AVR (Marantz SR7007) instead of a proper stereo-amp (but I did not expect it to be otherwise, i.e. HeadFi is just not as nice as real HiFi).
 
So, in summary:
- @ fellow users: be extra careful with your RE-400s, they are indeed ultra-fragile (at least for the units sold back in 2013) ; but do use the warranty, Hifiman is giving great customer support.
- @ HifiMan reps: Thanks for the great customer support, thumbs up, but do hear the warnings about potentially disappointing customers over build quality/durability 

 - I hope it was just the first production batch that was of lower quality (as I read a few weeks earlier) and that the RE-400s you currently ship out to people (like hopefully the more-or-less-newish replacement unit I just received) are sturdier and made to last.
 
The Extra Question: Would the RE-400 benefit from a small-priced destkop tube amp (like the Bravo Audio Ocean) connected to my iBasso-DX50? Am curious about maybe getting such a nice-looking and tube-equipped little device either for the bedroom or the office...

stupid question but how long does the warranty last? 
 
i got mines in 2013 around june up here in canada and paid 139$ been using them on and off diue to the amount of gear i have. not that their bad sounding. but its because i'm so worried about their build, i end up using them at home or soo carefully on the go.
 
they really don't feel substantial in the hand at all. if they upped the price to 139$ usd or 179$ but fixed that build. i would still purchase it willingly (now anyway after owning it, not sure about others) but its appeal is really because its under 100$

 

[lueneburg]

  stupid question but how long does the warranty last? 
 
i got mines in 2013 around june up here in canada 

 
I'm afraid it's just 12 months from date of purchase, so it looks like you're overtime now.