I’m only about fifteen minutes into this set with the HE400SE on, and I’m liking them. I’m driving them with the MOTU M4, which is said to be too weak to drive planars fully. But the beats sound excellent, filling my head.
Unlike my Monoprice HR-5c, I can move the earcups around for comfort and the sound doesn’t change. At all. So the planar audio field is doing its thing.
Update1:
The headphone port on a PS4 controller will drive the HE400SE, but you have to nearly max the volume. Previously, I had been using the Sony WH-1000XM4s in wired mode. I ended up switching back to the Sonys fairly quickly because the playstation is near a window that is usually open, urban Chicago is loud, and the open-plan kitchen is adjacent. Having ANC is more important than the extended bass and detail of the HE400SE.
I also tried the HE400SE with my Yamaha MG12/4FX. The Yamaha doesn’t seem to have any trouble driving them. I ran the Lyra into Space and Space into the Yamaha and droned away for a while. Then I hit play on a MnM pattern I created previously.
I can clearly hear a difference between the HÖR set and my own noodling. My stuff sounds less differentiated with a flatter spatialization. This isn’t surprising, but it is easy to hear with the Hifiman headphones. I’m not sure if these would be good mastering headphones, but they seem like they should be excellent sound design headphones.
Initial rating:
- Very good for listening to well produced music like the HÖR sets. Could be fatiguing for mediocre music / listening
- Acceptable for video games, but possibly overwhelming
- Likely very good for sound design, but I need to explore more
From a pice to performance perspective, these headphones are amazing.