[Dodgercat]

I'm finally narrowing down my next headphone purchase. The two choices seem to be the Ultrasone 900 Vs the Hi-Fiman HE 400. I have quite a discerning ear. I know the 900 is famous for bass, and the HE 400s are receiving just fantastic reviews. I probably can't go wrong with either. They are both quite similar in price, although there seems to be several offerings on the 900 on e-bay for new in box offerings for around $ 269, and the HE-400 for around $ 300. What kinds of questions should I be asking myself to make the choice ?
 
One thing that crosses my mind is that even though the 900 is by no means small, or even medium size, it still is somewhat smaller than the 400 - which seems to define the nickname of " cans " for larger headphones - in no way would one deem them portable from the pictures I've seen. Portability isn't huge for me, but it would be nice to wear them to Starbucks one in a while - without people laughing and asking where is my airplane ?
 
The 400s just appear massive. If the 400 is still recommended as the Superior headphone by a considerable margin, than I might be able to just " swallow " the funny looks I am sure to get in public. An outlay of this kind of cash is huge for me, and I am just hopping some of you might be able to knowledgeably help push me one way or the other.
 
 
Thanks !!!

 

[TheRedGourmet]

The He-400 is open. They won't isolate at all making them terrible for portable use.
What kind of music do you listen to?

 

[Tsujigiri]

I use open headphones on the go sometimes. I wouldn't say that being open precludes them from portable use, but they won't work well in noisy environments, and you might annoy people with sound leak. So if all the situations you would be in are like that, I would not use open headphones, but if you're walking around in quiet areas without a lot of people they're fine. I have the Pro 900's and think they're great for electronica, but they're by no means neutral or natural sounding. They also have a bit of a metallic sound to them. You could be very happy with them if you're looking for that kind of sound signature, but the HE-400 is probably a safer bet, and more of an all-rounder.

 

[DefQon]

I found the Pro 900's fairly dark to be honest. 

 

[Dodgercat]

No rapp, I love electronica - especially di.fm, chanell Euro Trance. Wide sound spectrum. A good yard stick for performance of a headphone, in my oppinion, is the classic church organ - like Bach.....Ultra deep massive bass pipes, to tinny little spindle pipes, that produce higher tone than just about any modern music. Regarding them being open, if someone complains, I can allways just turn it down a little or move. But aren't open hp considered generally to be better performers than closed hp ? Am I just looking at the product pictures wrong, but the He-400s do seem to be quite large, maybe a little to airplane pilot like, where the 900s seem large too, they don't have that huge " Can " look to them. But hey - I know you have to sacrifice somewhere, right ?

 

[TMRaven]

HE-400 aren't just open, they project sound outwards, unlike regular headphones that just leak sound outwards.  They're basically restricted to home use.

 

[Dodgercat]

Wow, thanks - leaking sound is one thing, " Projecting it outwards " is another. I think that is a big minus for me. Given that - would the 900 be perhaps your 2nd choice ? I was thinking about the SH 650 - but for now - that's just not in my price range. I'd like to find some kind of " deals threead " hp, that will get me in the $ 250-300 range. Thanks

 

[rahulsharma]

HE-400 is best one i personally used so many times it's really great product.

 

[jackwess]

Quote:

I found the Pro 900's fairly dark to be honest. 

 
If the Pro900 are plugged to a bad source (or without a good dac), and they have few hours of burn-in they can be disappointing.