HIFIMAN - HE400i

I agree - I myself got my FT1, I'm disappointed. I have the Denon MM400 which are better. Yes, the BD custom pro studio is worse. But HE400, XS, Steelseries Siberia even, Takstars maybe, Sony cheap closed backs etc are better. I think a couple of Senns may be better. Bass is good on the FT1 - quite good actually, but ss, imaging, and airiness is so inadequate here...

My closed back Sony MDR 7520. Not the most transparent, not the best bass, pretty narrow soundstage but easy to EQ and drive with my Qudelix 5K. Decent noise isolation, too. I’ll be taking it with me on an extended tour through Asia and Europe. The Hifiman HE400i comes a close second. Pretty neutral and easy to drive. (My Hifiman HE6SE v2 sounds remarkable but it’s too hard to drive with anything portable)

Starting to get the itch for an upgrade. Right now I kind of swap between 6xx, HE-400I, 990 pro, and occasionally a pair of modded T50rp’s (I think mrspeakers or something, I need to replace the pads). I mostly game these days but still like to do all kinds of music when I can (limited time these days so when I do have time I go gaming instead of music). I think the answer of “what you have is fine” is acceptable, but just kind of curious if there’s been anything more recently that is above this level I’m at now and worth it? Haven’t really shopped for headphones in 7-8 years I’d say.

I went from HE400 to Maxwell simply because its wireless. The HE400 is objectively better in every way. Had it paired with a Schiit Magni Unity with DAC.

I find suspension style headphones to be the best. For ex. The he400i are pretty comfy imo. I haven’t tried these Phillips but they look like they are also suspension style 

Despite the issues, Hifiman. I know, I have read so many posts over the years about their qc issues. I have owned several different over ears from them, on the lower end of the price spectrum. And have not had any issues with them. That said, I haven't had any issues with any of the headphones I've owned. Maybe I'm just ridiculously careful? The first set I bought from Hifiman was the 400i. And I still enjoy the sound offered for the price. I have the Ananda and the Sundara. No problems. Kind of prefer the Sundara, but enjoy the comfort of the Ananda.

While the ALC can drive the headphone, u wont truly unlock their real potential till u have a better AMP, or even better a proper DAC/AMP unit, lots of reasonably priced fiio units can do the job. I had a similar experience when i got my first quality headphone, was a hifiman 400i, it was even worse on my m.b sound than the crapy gaming headphones i had.. almost sold them but i got to try them on a friend’s schit amp and man it was something else completely

Not op but, x3 has less bass and a bit brighter I think. X3 is built better whereas the x2hr has a couple failure points, but nothing dramatic. X2hr sound a bit more fun because of the bass for me. I bought planar headphones recently, a pair of used Hifiman HE-400i (older version with the suspension strap). Then found a used pair of Sash Tres for a good price. With eq the HE-400i is miles clearer and just better sounding than either of the fidelios and those can be found for very cheap at least around here. Cheaply built though and expect to buy a separate cable as the original is abysmal. The Sash Tres again is in a different league than the HE-400i. So now I'm just using those.

If you can find either of the fidelios for around 150€ or less in good condition. I would not personally pay more. They're good but there are better choices around now imo. Also, it's worth checking what you can find used in your price range, buying audio gear new is almost always a pretty bad investment.

HE400i is probably the hardest $150 headphone to drive though. HD560S is much more sensitive, a powerful amp wouldn't entirely transform the sound as much as it does to HE400i

hifiman open backs, EQ correction to harman, happy days. All these sennheiser and beyer headphones lack the sub bass frequencies you need to hear in techno. yes, I agree, if you learn your headphones, any will do. But if you want to hear everything, for me, you can't beat a decent set of planars