HE400SE Stealth Magnets Version Over-Ear Open-Back Full-Size Planar Magnetic Wired Headphones for Audiophiles/Studio, Great-Sounding, Stereo, High Sensitivity, Comfortable, Sliver

I’m picky when it comes to my music’s sound, and have tested a ridiculous number of open-back/over-ear headphones in the last year, including Philips Fidelio X2HR, Sennheiser 599, 600, 650, 660s2, and 6XX, AKG k702 & k712, as well as HiFiMan Sundara (2020 version), Edition XS, and Ananda Nano. All but one pair went back, but it made for some really good perspective re comparing cans. I have spent the last 9 months happy as a clam with my AKG k702 + Schiit Stack (Modi Multibit, Loki Mini+, Vali 2++/3), but recently fell back into the research rabbit hole (oops) and decided to give the HiFiMan he400se a try, and boy am I glad I did. These deliver full and warm sound very consistently via an orb-like soundstage, i.e. music feels like it’s coming from all directions around your head, like being at the center of a large globe. The Edition XS & Ananda Nano are applauded for a large soundstage, but I found it to be too vertical in both, like having a “wall of sound” on each side of your head, and the headphones themselves were comically large for my small head. The he400se are super comfortable by comparison; they do not clamp too hard but aren’t too loose either, the ear pads are amazing, and the body is hefty without being too heavy (as someone who gets headaches really easily, this is a big win). They only ever sit on my head or their stand, so I can’t really speak to their durability as I’m not tossing them into a backpack or anything like that (be gentle with your beloved audio gear!!), but their brushed metal grilles, padded PU leather headband, and stepped per-ear adjustment feel very high-quality. I know people have had issues with HiFiMan products in terms of defects, but this pair was perfect right out of the box. There were no issues with the stock cable either, but it was too short for me (at around 3ft), so I am replacing it with a custom 6ft Hart Audio cable (Amazon’s replacement options are great as well; there shouldn’t be any difference in sound quality). Compared to the AKG k702, in my opinion, the HiFiMan he400se are better for passive music enjoyment due to their warmer tuning & ability to bring out the best in all genres*, while the k702 would be preferable for mixing/mastering, certain games, and other analytical listening, as they have a very wide & accurate soundstage (like being in a large, flat/horizontal disc-like space with musicians scattered across it). *Note re “bringing out the best in all genres”: open-backs aren’t known for boomy bass, and I am not a bass-head. But I can confidently say that the planar magnetic drivers in the he400se brings more bass presence than any of the open-back headphones with dynamic drivers I’ve tried, and the mid-bass-boosted tuning compensates for the imminent lack of “thump.” I do recommend having some way to fine-tune the EQ. With the Loki Mini+, I’ve increased the low bass as well as the treble — because of the warmer tuning, the highs (e.g. lead instruments & vocals) can sound a little recessed stock. These can easily be driven without a super-expensive amp, but having an amp/DAC *will* make them sound better than plugging them directly into your PC or phone (either of which can be sources of lossless music with the right equipment & >40gbps USB-C cable to the source). Not only are these great value, they’re great in general. I prefer them over several much more expensive counterparts. Nobody else can speak for your ears but you, though, so you’ll only know if you give them a try :)

I already own the Hifiman HE400Is I got on here five years ago, so why did I buy these? I tried to buy the IFI hIP dAC V2 AMP, only to find that it lacks a 3.5" basic input, all USB, which is not what I needed for my simple but solid Fiio X1 player/Fosi Audio amp rig. I am not using my smartphone for most music listening. I use the iPhone14 in the car and it's great for that. I realized I was looking a gift horse in the mouth: I have the player and amp I love, so don't mess with it! Headphones can always be improved, however. At least, until you hit the diminishing returns wall, but I'm not in the market for $10,000 speakers or headphones, in any case. Instead, this came up at $100 on here and I realized I was staring a true deal right in the face. I love the He400Is but they aren't terribly portable. Well, these are slightly more portable, but still a big, bulky headphone, let's face it. But, the tradeoff is sheer luxury, sound quality, and to me, the build quality is fantastic and solid. Maybe Focals are better, i dunno, but my budget is not for $8000 phones, sorry. I know some have had issues with Hifiman's quality control, I haven't. I tend to baby my gear, anyway. I'm not about to lug these around outside all day long, etc. I was willing to bet on Hifiman again, and I'm so glad I did. These beauties showed up Sat. night and I unboxed them gingerly, tested them on the Fiio player with .wav files, hours of Miles Davis Quartet the Second box set, (Columbia CD edition) Wish You Were Here (latest remaster), and some Morton Feldman For Bunita Marcus by Aki Takahashi (newest Mode edition CD). All sounded sublime, but particularly the Miles Davis. This is half the reason to invest in Hifimans or planars or electrostatics, treating yourself to quality music, well recorded, etc. I'm a heavy metal fan too, but I wouldn't buy these whatsoever for speed or death metal. Get something with more slam and heavy bass if anything. Beats, whatever. Even if you're not a jazz or classical fan, and I'm mainly a rock/pop guy, or dance, these are a darned good reason to expand your horizons and get a good headphone amp, portable or not, a good high res player (not your phone!), and load it with HQ sources and you're in for a real treat. Put on John Coltrane's Heavyweight Champion box set and have a good ol' time. Steely Dan! Hells yes. As with the HE400Is, these open backs shine with the detail, wide soundstage, solid but not super deep bass (just "true" but with bass boost/EQ on it extends more), and shimmering, natural sounding treble. The mids are decent, if not super extended. But the mids are anything but "screechy" or sibilant, either. Comfort level of the pads, suspension, and headbar are off the charts, at least for me. My head is smaller so I don't even extend the bands. You can sit there with these or the 400Is for hours and never get fatigued, either your ears, or your head. They bleed sound in room....who cares!? Don't worry about it unless you're in a public space with tons of people near you. I think the treble in the 400Is might be a bit clearer, or sharper, but I'm not sure since I haven't used those in a while. This is extraordinary in the headphone world, where in my experience, cheap earbuds and headphones are often totally lacking in comfort. Pioneer, I'm talking to you! These actually seem very efficient for planars, my Fosi Audio amp powers them very easily, and I only have to crank them up a bit more than say, my Sennheiser Urbanites XL to achieve the same level. I wouldn't try this without an amp, however, and let's face it, planars will only truly shine utilizing a good amp, so get one! Though via your phone with a good amp would be fine, too. Don't bother with Bluetooth either, you'll only cheapen the experience, and degrade the signal. As for Bass-heads: these are NOT for bass heads. There is some good bass here, but it's not like nightclub Beats over the top super sub bass. What you get instead is some of the tightest, truest general deep bass you're going to ever hear. It's all about accuracy, in the bass, but, never clinical, either. The 400Ses are accurate, detailed, but warm, maybe a tiny tad "dark" sounding. For $100 these are a total steal, I believe. You can spend $1500 for Audezes, I'm sure they're worth every penny (they are, I've heard them), but if you're starting out with mid-Fi, or audiophile stuff, you can buy these and be confident that your $100 was spent very wisely indeed. Just don't take them to the beach, for goodness' sake! Even better running these from a really good desktop headphone amp or receiver, but portable amps will do fine! At 32 ohms and "high sensitivity," these shine with an amp but you won't push the amp beyond belief. They also look phenomenal with a beautiful black and silver metal suspension and those velour pads. OMG! Get them now before they are discont'ed and sell for $1000. A bit of burn-in time will likely' be a good idea, too.

Great headphone for those looking for an entry in to the world of planar. The stealth magnets are a huge improvement. The sound could be described as laid back and very natural but still resolving enough not to feel muddy. These headphones are also pretty easy to drive and actually sound fantastic on my ifi Zen Dac v2. This is despite the relatively high noise and low output power characteristic of the Zen Dac. While most headphones will produce a slight hiss, these are absolutely dead quiet. They are comfortable too and in my experience are not fatiguing even after hours of listening. I was lucky to not be a victim of the reported quality control issues and have not had any issues with my planar drivers thus far. The cable leaves a lot to be desired but honestly at this price I don't mind just buying a third party cable. Overall I absolutely cannot complain and as such they receive full commendation. In fact they were that good that I too caught the planar bug and ordered the Edition XS, if these blew my socks off I'm now very keen to see what I'm missing with the more advanced models.

Empezaré diciendo que hace poco empecé a interesarme en el mundo del buen audio. No voy a decir que soy "audiófilo" porque me parece un término irrelevante, soy alguien que ama la música más que cómo se escucha, aunque no significa que no me guste el buen audio. He pasado por los famosos (¿por qué?) AirPods, audífonos Bluethooth in-ear, Bluethooth con cancelación activa, JVC HARX700, Samson SR850 y desde hace 1 mes con estos Hifiman, sin duda, lo mejor que he escuchado por lejos. Los he escuchado con un DAC/AMP de la marca Ciglow comprado aquí en Amazon. El unboxing en general es simple, pero sólido. Venía muy bien empaquetado y protegido. Construcción: Bastante decente, no la mejor por este precio (Fidelio X2HR imbatibles en este aspecto), pero se siente muy bien. La headband es de piel sintética de buen tacto y el arco que une las copas a ésta es de metal. Las copas en sí son de plástico, pero para nada se sienten de mala calidad. Las mayas que protege el driver se sienten bastante firmes. Primero los compararé con los Samson y los Fidelio. Los Samson son muy buenos, pero tienen un espectro en V marcado y sin duda son sibilantes (frecuentemente tenía que bajar al volumen por los agudos) y al ser semi-abiertos el soundstage es algo limitado al igual que el imaging. Pese a esto, creo que por el precio que pagas es de las mejores opciones. Los Fidelio son maravillosos, la construcción es de lo mejor, el sonido es increíble; sus bajos y el soundstage son sorprendentes, además de super fáciles de alimentar (celulares sin problema). Sin duda una excelente opción. Pasé una tortura decidiendo entre los Fidelio o los Hifiman. Si estás en esta misma situación, déjame decirte que solo por situaciones específicas te recomiendo escoger los Fidelio y es 1: Si eres amante total del bajo y si 2: Rehúsas determinantemente comprar un DAC/AMP para los Hifiman. De ahí en fuera yo me quedo con los Hifiman, pero debo decir que me dolió dejar ir los Fidelio. Sonido: Estos Hifiman, fueron chocantes para mi. Nunca pensé que el audio (de música, películas y videojuegos) pudiera sonar de la manera que lo reproduce. Es el sonido más natural que he escuchado, los bajos aunque son menores que los Fidelio, son igual de profundos y mucho más rápidos (naturaleza de planares), y antes que pienses que es algo negativo, he de admitir que desde que tengo estos audífonos he tenido más interés en géneros como Electrónica o música Pop (que antes no escuchaba mucho). Los medios son lo mejor que he escuchado, y es sorprendente cuando vuelves a audífonos en V para comparar, donde generalmente quedan rezagados. Música acústica como Adele, Johnny Cash, Gipsy Kings se escucha asombroso. No tengo nada malo para los agudos, son extensos pero nunca se sienten sobrepasados o sibilantes. En general y en mi experiencia, TODO se escucha grandioso. El soundstage es estupendo, al grado de nunca saber con seguridad si mi TV está con el sonido encendido, y créeme, muchas veces me he asustado pensando que alguien me habló o que algo pasó, cuando en realidad era lo que estaba reproduciendo los audífonos. El imaging en música es igual de increíble, cierras los ojos y sabes donde están los instrumentos, y no me refiero solo a derecha o izquierda, sino a la derecha arriba, en medio o abajo, igual en el lado izquierdo, yendo hasta abajo mezclándose con los graves donde tienen su propia extensión dependiendo de qué tan profundos sean en lo que escuches, igual con los agudos. Incluso he llegado a sentir sonidos proviniendo de delante. Es difícil de explicar jaja, pero lo que si estoy seguro es que nunca he sentido que las frecuencias estén mezcladas o poco claras. En videojuegos es igual de genial, lo he probado primordialmente en Battlefield 5, ya que los Battlefield's tienen de lo mejor en audio. Y con estos audífonos es gloria pura, te sientes realmente dentro del videojuego por la naturaleza del sonido de los Hifiman, las explosiones no se sientes carentes, las pisadas, sea pasto, tierra, concreto se oyen reales y cercanas, los disparos son como deben de ser, estruendosos y muy satisfactorios, aviones pasando encima de ti o volando a lo lejos, sabes dónde ocurre. De nuevo, la mezcla de todo lo que he dicho en un videojuego como este es una gloria, pero no por eso son solo para juegos "competitivos", lo he probado con Detroit Become Human y se escucha igual de alucinante. En películas es igual de gratificante, las voces son súper claras y en pocas palabras, es como si estuvieras ahí. Amplificación: Siendo honesto no los uso con celulares, pero revisando rápidamente para esta reseña puedo decir que alcanza un volumen medio. Como los uso es conectando el DAC Ciglow a través de óptico a mi TV Hisense H8G y por USB a mi PC y en ambas alcanza un volumen alto, más que disfrutable. Dato extraño: Conectando este DAC al PS5 no alcanza un volumen alto, es muy deficiente así, pero directo al control si se escucha fuerte, sin embargo, el sonido cambia, se vuelve más "lodoso" o menos claro y los bajos se vuelven más invasivos. Por esto lo uso conectándolo a la TV y no directamente al PS5. Sin duda recomiendo tener o comprar un DAC/AMP para disfrutarlos al máximo. Empezando por lo menos negativo o "arreglable". -El cable con el que viene es muy corto para mi gusto y es francamente horrible, plasticoso, se enreda como resorte. Yo solucioné esto comprando el cable NewFantasia en Amazon de Estados Unidos (sale más barato). Vale mucho la pena comprar este cable. -Las pads son más que decentes, la verdad, sin embargo soy algo exigente en la comodidad, y las pads son algo delgadas, el agujero donde van tus orejas es algo pequeño y el velour que usan no es el felpudo como las almohadillas TRANSTEK, sino rugoso como las Brainwavz (que no soy muy fan) y llegan a dar picor. Yo solucioné esto comprando las pads Defean (de nuevo en Amazon de Estados Unidos) de cuero real y con el anillo ya incluido, esto si es caro ($1331) pero si eres como yo, créeme son de lo mejor y lo más cómodo (y huelen delicioso). Llegamos a lo que para mí es lo más negativo (ni tanto, pero bueno) -La Headband pese a que mencioné positivamente la sensación del cuero, tiene una espuma que se siente bien en la mano cuando la presionas, pero al principio es dura, necesitas aflojarla con las manos antes de usarla por un tiempo o con el uso mismo. Sin embargo, a mi me sigue molestando un poco después de unas 2 horas, lo único que tienes que hacer cuando pase esto es adelantarla o hacerla ligeramente hacia atrás de tu cabeza aprovechando que es delgada. Esto junto con que el plástico en el que acaba (donde viene Hifiman y el modelo) que se siente un poco barato, es lo más negativo. Creo que si hubieran decidido un sistema de banda de suspensión como los Fidelio o los Samson hubieran sido PERFECTOS. Pero bueno, nada en esta vida lo es.

I am using this to listen to records. I am not a audiophile but it sounds as good as listening directly from the speakers.

These really do offer a wonderfully clear and detailed sound at a low price. They are very well made too. They do take a bit of power to get to a decent sound level. A bit heavy but comfortable.

Muito be construído. Médios excelentes. É interessante ter um amplificador para headphones.