[bogginhead]

I may have missed this info earlier in the thread, but I'm having a tough time finding a portable amp that will drive these to loud volumes (the HE 4XX, too). Tried the Topping NX5 and FIIO A3. Any suggestions?

 

[phthora]

I may have missed this info earlier in the thread, but I'm having a tough time finding a portable amp that will drive these to loud volumes (the HE 4XX, too). Tried the Topping NX5 and FIIO A3. Any suggestions?

The FIIO A5 does well with them, but I'm not sure if it is actually more powerful than the A3. It puts out about 800mW into 32 ohm, IIRC.

It could be that signal into the amp is too weak. Whatever your source, trying cranking that volume up all the way and see if that helps.

EDIT: Looked it up. The NX5 does 285mW into 32 ohm. The A3 does 270mW into 32 ohm. Power could be an issue then, if you listen loudly.

 

[DavidA]

I may have missed this info earlier in the thread, but I'm having a tough time finding a portable amp that will drive these to loud volumes (the HE 4XX, too). Tried the Topping NX5 and FIIO A3. Any suggestions?

Like @phthora noted, its really comes down to how loud you listen at (get some ball park measurements using an app for a smart phone, not the most accurate but good enough). FWIW the headphone jack of my UD301 puts out 100mW which will get my HE560 (much harder to drive than a HE400i) to well above my normal listening level (65-75dB, on the lower side). My old Fiio X3 DAP will easily get my HE560 to 85dB (at 100/120 on volume pot) which is at the point its getting painful for me to listen at.

 

[Loneract]

I may have missed this info earlier in the thread, but I'm having a tough time finding a portable amp that will drive these to loud volumes (the HE 4XX, too). Tried the Topping NX5 and FIIO A3. Any suggestions?

Fiio Q1mkII with balanced headphone cables.

 

[misteral201103]

I may have missed this info earlier in the thread, but I'm having a tough time finding a portable amp that will drive these to loud volumes (the HE 4XX, too). Tried the Topping NX5 and FIIO A3. Any suggestions?

The Cayin C5 does a great job but my favorite pairing by far is the xduoo XD 05 with a Burson V5i op amp installed. Plenty of drive from both of them but the xduoo really makes them sing!

 

[alphanumerix1]

Hi Everyone, new here on Head-Fi but spending a lot time in the forums. Anyway, I've had my HE-400i for about 6 months now, really loving it with most of the music that I listen to. I got the HE-400 in Feb of 2014 after I retired, a present to myself. I've enjoyed it for a few months and found this Head-Fi site and my wallet has been hurting ever since. I've done the grill mod on these and that really helped open up the sound stage to me and got the highs smoother to my ears and I also made a custom head band to make them really comfortable, to the point where I can fall asleep with them on. I've posted a picture in the HE-400 thread.

Back to the HE-400i, I got these a few months after they came out along with the HE-560 after I had a few great investments payoff. I was going to sell my HE-400 and keep either the HE-400i or HE-560 after I listened to them for a few weeks but ended up keeping all three. The sound of the HE-400 and HE-400i is different enough and since I listen to music in my living room, lanai and bedroom it made keeping them easier to justify. My impressions of the HE-400i is that its a really great headphone if you can only have one, its sound is great for pretty much all the types of music that I listen to (jazz, classic/soft rock, rock, classical, pop, J-pop, K-pop, some EDM and punk/alternative). They may not be the best for any one type of music but are more like a jack of all trades and don't really offend much. I really hate the stock cable, way to short and too stiff. I got a cable off Amazon (silver plated copper) 8 wire braid and its be great. The comfort is pretty good but not in the same class as my HD-700, HD-598, SRH-1840, and X1. Also did the grill mod on these (see picture) which made the sound stage wider and smoothed the highs like it did with the HE-400.

My son was over on a break from college and listened to the HE-560 and begged me for them so I gave it to him after only having it for 2 months. All of his friends can't believe the sound of them and I've gotten a few calls from their parents asking about the HE-560 and getting them for birthday or x-mas presents. Most freak when I tell them the cost and then go silent when I tell them that they may need an additional DAC/AMP to get the most out of them. I'm still thinking of getting a second one (sorry wallet).

Where did you get the grills from.

 

[DavidA]

Where did you get the grills from.

I made them my self and a few others.

 

[441879]

A nice definition but do you believe there is a headphone + chain out there that sounds amazing to you?

I'm on the other side where I think anything decent will usually sound good to me and I like the differences / unique sounds between headphones/DAC/amp combinations, would get boring if everything sounded the same

I’ve had several chains that sounded amazing to me with everything I put through them. Each succeeded in time by another chain which sounded better, but also was more expensive.

I’be learned that for me, the ultimate system is the one where I’m not willing to spend more.

 

[Pham thach]

I am pairing cowon p1 socks with he400i. have enough capacity for he400i. or do i need extra amp. thank you. i come from vietnam

 

[DavidA]

I am pairing cowon p1 socks with he400i. have enough capacity for he400i. or do i need extra amp. thank you. i come from vietnam

It will also depend on how loud you listen, if under 85dB you should have no problems but if much higher then you might have to consider an amp

 

[Pham thach]

[QUOTE = "DavidA, post: 14560657, member: 412652"] Nó cũng sẽ phụ thuộc vào độ ồn bạn nghe, nếu dưới 85dB bạn sẽ không có vấn đề gì nhưng nếu cao hơn nhiều thì bạn có thể phải xem xét một amp [/ QUOTE]
amp đã thay đổi chất lượng âm thanh của p1 không. tôi thích âm thanh p1 của tôi.

 

[youngarthur]

I made them my self and a few others.

I make grills, from metal, or plastic, just to see if I prefer the changes in soundstage/depth etc.( Yes, I have got too much time to waste!.)

 

[alphanumerix1]

I make grills, from metal, or plastic, just to see if I prefer the changes in soundstage/depth etc.( Yes, I have got too much time to waste!.)

Dimensions of the grill?

 

[youngarthur]

Grill diameter, three and a quarter inches.( Sorry, I was educated in the days of feet and inches, rod/pole perch etc!!.)

 

[GirgleMirt]

Could someone validate my audio-sanity? I've been trying this EQ curve for now only a couple of tracks, basically a ~1/2 dB inverse curve found here; https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/hifiman/he400i/ and so far it sounds surprisingly good! These are the latest 400i though, from the discussions so far the older one seem to sound drastically different so you might not get the same result with the older version or non-stock pads...

Spoiler: EQ content

It wouldn't let me upload the export file because of extension, so you can just copy the code in a text file, rename to .e-q, and in Electri-Q, click on the 'M' -> Presets -> Import presets.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
  <Electri-Q Version="AIXcoustic Electri-Q v1.0" Processing_Mode="Analog" Economy_Mode="Off" Bands="17" Channels="2" Channel_Link="Equal" Range="15" Analyzer="none">
    User
    <Left Bands="17">
      <Filter_1 Frequency="66.3271255493164" Gain="1.55172419548035" Bandwidth="1.30000007152557" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        1
      </Filter_1>
      <Filter_2 Frequency="561.001281738281" Gain="2.58620691299438" Bandwidth="0.299999922513962" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        2
      </Filter_2>
      <Filter_3 Frequency="462.025970458984" Gain="-2.01149439811707" Bandwidth="0.699999928474426" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        3
      </Filter_3>
      <Filter_4 Frequency="1039.27990722656" Gain="-0.862069010734558" Bandwidth="1" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        4
      </Filter_4>
      <Filter_5 Frequency="1585.63598632813" Gain="3.62068963050842" Bandwidth="0.499999910593033" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        5
      </Filter_5>
      <Filter_6 Frequency="2109.45629882813" Gain="3.50574731826782" Bandwidth="0.499999910593033" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        6
      </Filter_6>
      <Filter_7 Frequency="86.2463531494141" Gain="-0.977011501789093" Bandwidth="0.399999916553497" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        7
      </Filter_7>
      <Filter_8 Frequency="20" Gain="5.22988510131836" Bandwidth="2.10000014305115" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        8
      </Filter_8>
      <Filter_9 Frequency="270.152221679688" Gain="-0.287356317043304" Bandwidth="1" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        9
      </Filter_9>
      <Filter_10 Frequency="114.738098144531" Gain="0.0574712641537189" Bandwidth="1" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        10
      </Filter_10>
      <Filter_11 Frequency="5441.7763671875" Gain="7.87356328964233" Bandwidth="0.299999922513962" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        11
      </Filter_11>
      <Filter_12 Frequency="8494.328125" Gain="-7.98850584030151" Bandwidth="0.499999910593033" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        12
      </Filter_12>
      <Filter_13 Frequency="3649.11108398438" Gain="-0.977011501789093" Bandwidth="1" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        13
      </Filter_13>
      <Filter_14 Frequency="38.7822761535645" Gain="0.287356317043304" Bandwidth="1" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        14
      </Filter_14>
      <Filter_15 Frequency="12667.2734375" Gain="0.0574712678790092" Bandwidth="2.00000023841858" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        15
      </Filter_15>
      <Filter_16 Frequency="20000" Gain="3.27586221694946" Bandwidth="1" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        16
      </Filter_16>
      <Filter_17 Frequency="1860.47998046875" Gain="2.58620691299438" Bandwidth="1" Type="Peak Type I" Locked_Frequency="False" Locked_Gain="False" Locked_Q="False">
        17
      </Filter_17>
    </Left>
  </Electri-Q>

EDIT: lowered +15kHz by 1/2, also simplified lower end with just simple 'straight' line (too many filters for nothing..)