HE400SE Stealth Magnets Version

I think recent Skullcandies are the best bet You got in the IEM side lots of stuff, for example for good sounding stuff there is the 7hz X Crinacle Divine (haven't tried em) or the Diablo, Slightly V shaped and bass head stuff on the other hand respectively Sennheiser are more audiophile stuff which is nice but yeah, while not super megaduper expensive they aren't cheap :P The issue is that if go wireless then it is a different thing, there is a lot of wired stuff that is nice. Still wired but i think the He400se if you can get them at a decent price somewhere (because tarrifs in the US) plus a TRN Black Pearl would be nice, the thing doesn't really have bass but you can use the TRN thing (it is a dongle dac btw, Amplifies and converts digital to analog) to EQ it and get that sub bass that has a roll of in the lower end and to get that bass up in a more nice way because the dongle dac will provide this EQ Does he plays videogames?, if he does like what kind, movies? music? is he a basshead? has he used more audiophile stuff? The most context the best answers you can get haha :)

Bright Neutral with sub bass rolloff. He400se works well.

I bought the Hifiman HE400se, near the end of April, 2025. The right Ear randomly stopped working 3 days ago, been researching how to fix.(I tried different sources and 2 different cords, balanced, non-balanced). It is cleary a driver issue. And cause of the algorithm I never once saw all the posts on how bad Hifiman's QC was, but now I found alot of posts confirming this. Feeling really disappointed, for now my iFi Zen DAC v2, is a paper weight. From what I have read is that they will not ship replacement drivers. Which is really stupid, for it would take all of 10-min to swap drivers myself, literally 2 screws. Now I'm debating to get more Hifiman headphones or another brand, for I think I really like the Planar Sound. Or posting on marketplace to see if anyone has a broken left ear then splitting the cost of a new pair of HE400se's so each of us can fix our headphones. Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone try the Clearance/Refurb section of Hifiman's store? It has some good deals, or a recommendation around the max of $300cdn($215ish USD)? Thank you.

IMO you need an amp to drive these, I was running them off an Apple dongle and they were too quiet for my liking

To me they were garbage. But a lot like them so fair enough. The mods do help a lot and arent hard to do which is good. Poor build quality as well sadly

Nice job! A few issues/criticisms I can see with some arguments here: > The HiFiMAN HE400se at $79 gives you a planar magnetic driver, the same technology that costs $5,500 in the Susvara for under $80. I don't think I'd view planar magnetic as a premium technology. It's just another driver type. Just like a silk/metal dome tweeter vs a ribbon tweeter. One isn't inherently more premium than the other and there is a massive range of quality and prices of dynamic, planar, and electrostatic headphones. I'll also add that planar magnetic headphones tend to be a bit more fragile than dynamic headphones, which is worth considering when talking about products for the masses. Something like pushing a closed-back headphone tight on your ear and creating a large amount of pressure is more likely to cause issues with planars than it is with dynamics. > The ATH-M50x that every "studio headphone" list recommends? 62.5%. The term "studio" headphones is annoyingly misunderstood. The most common use of headphones in a studio is not mixing, mastering, or other tasks where you're doing critical listening. It's tracking (listening to other musicians and/or the tracks you are playing along to). You need something with reasonably good audio performance for that of course, but I'd argue that durability and reliability are more important than sound quality for this. Yes, headphones are used for critical listening as well, certainly more now than they used to be as headphones are better now, far more common, and you see a lot more amateur/home "studio" work, but monitors are still by far the primary listening medium for critical listening. > Reddit doesn't actually like the headphones that the mainstream keeps pushing. I'd say that's often the difference between products that target enthusiasts or professionals vs mass market products that you see everywhere. It's often that people genuinely don't know these higher-end or professional options exist until they start looking into these communities. Just like with headphones (or high-end audio in-general), you often don't come across these products, including entire brands, until you look into these communities or specialized retailers/distributors (so not general places like Amazon, Home Depot, etc.). > My honest advice based on going through all 40, start under $100. Figure out if you like warm, neutral, or bright. Figure out if you need open-back or closed-back. Then upgrade intentionally. Don't start at $300 because a YouTube review told you to. Absolutely! I often recommend people start with something that has a fairly neutral tuning so that they have a point of reference in figuring out what they like. Also realize that your own tastes will likely change with time and experience, and that's totally fine. And I completely agree on not just following the advice of others. I will also give a big bit of advice: if you are able to, to find a place where you can demo gear yourself. Ultimately, no one has your ears and your taste (you can never eliminate the subjective part of audio). Keep up the good work!

HE midSE Objectively claustrophobic, subjectively the most boring headphones in the price bracket