最近更新又加了HE400.排名24。
For readers who have been following this review since its “original edition,” I will mention here that the HifiMan HE-400 was the first headphone to be added to my initial post. No, the HE-400 is not a flagship headphone and was not intended as such. However, I received a large amount of requests to have this headphone added to the evaluation.
Currently, the HE-400 is at a similar price point as the Sennheiser’s HD600 (a long-time favorite of the audio community). While I would not say the HE-400 sounds anything like the HD600, I would say that its performance-level manages to be on the same plane. For this reason, the HE-400 is a welcome edition to my collection.
Whereas the HD600 succeeds in being slightly lush, romantic, and slightly slow without veering too far from the line of neutral or transparent, the HE-400 is noticeably more colored, but with a wonderfully-layered and detailed sound that, with time, may find as many champions.
It is important to mention here that since its debut (not even a year ago) the HE-400 has undergone at least one significant sonic revision (and as many as five from some sources). According to the manufacturer, the version which I own (acquired in November of 2012) is the stable version.
It is also worth mentioning that HifiMan ships the HE-400 with faux-leather earpads pre-installed. Whereas the HE-500 and HE-6 ship with both the faux-leather earpads and velour earpads (my preference for both models), the HE-400 unfortunately does not. However, one can acquire the velour earpads directly from the manufacturer or through one of their authorized dealers. Switching the earpads is not a very difficult process, but it does require that the user be meticulous, as the flaps which connect the earpads to the ear-cup are rather delicate.
STRENGTHS
BASS: Very few headphones possess as deeply textured, well-extended, and impactful bass as the HE-400. I must stress that the bass in particular is drastically improved when switching from the stock faux-leather earpads to the HifiMan velour earpads (which one must purchase separately). When listening for the fullness of sub-bass and bass frequencies, the HE-400 performs with flying colors.
DETAIL: The HE-400 offers a fast yet natural-sounding attack and a smooth decay, which brings forth a great amount of detail. In my experience, most headphones which produce as weighty-a-sound as the HE-400 do not simultaneously manage to be as resolving. The HE-400 is very impressive for being able to accomplish both feats.
JAZZ & ELECTRONIC MASTER: In response to its deep, impactful bass, I initially wanted to suggest that the HE-400 was a top choice for rock music, but after several hours of listening, I began to feel that its sound-signature was better-suited for jazz music. The reason is that there is a dip in the upper mids which slightly reduces the presence of vocals and accentuates the forwardness of metallic instruments. For me, this sound presentation is not problematic, but rather a fantastic seasoning for jazz music (particularly well-recorded jazz music) and electronic music. If you're a jazz-head, break out your ECM recordings.  If you're a fan of electronic, consider that the HE-400 exhibits the necessary bottom end for a visceral experience, and the often-lacking quickness for ultimate detail retrieval.
UNIQUE TONALITY: The HE-400's tonality is not "fun" in the sense that it is totally un-neutral - It is fun because it has a very specific upper-mid dip that allows the listener to home-in on specific instruments. The HE-400's tonal balance is not the definition of neutral, but it is also not the complete antithesis either. It manages to find a unique equilibrium between "colored" and "neutral."
TRANSPARENCY: Despite certain obvious colorations in the mids, I find that the HE-400 fares pretty well with regard to transparency. It is not quite on equal footing with HifiMan's own HE-6 or even the HE-500, but it isn't too far off the mark regardless. I am certain that the exceptional transient response and decay properties offered here help offset the slightly awkward midrange presentation; this ultimately finds the headphone to still be fairly transparent without being entirely neutral.
EASY TO DRIVE: The HE-400 sounds significantly improved when paired with a headphone amp, but it still sounds impressive when plugged directly into a computer headphone output and even an iPhone. It definitely trumps most of its similarly-priced competition in this regard.
IMAGING: I'm tempted to suggest that at its pricepoint, the HE-400 is the best at imaging of all the headphones I've heard. It's not quite as good in this regard as the HE-500. However, with regard to imaging (and perhaps soundstage as well) it is a definitive step above Sennheiser's HD600 and HD650.
TREBLE: When contrasted with the upper-mids, the treble sounds a bit forward. However, it is neither harsh nor abrasive. The treble may benefit from being a tad more extended, but either way, the treble sounds rather natural to my ears.
DETACHABLE PARTS: As with all the HifiMan headphones I've come across thus far, both the cable and the earpads are removable. I'm not particularly fond of how the cable disconnects/installs from the ear-cups, but nevertheless, having this detachable capability preserves the headphone long-term. The HE-400 stock cable seems sturdily built. The earpads also detach/attach in a slightly haphazard manner, but again, detachable parts are my preference.
WEAKNESSES
DESIGN: During the course of writing this review, I found that my third-party HifiMan cable shorted, presumably because of the fact that in order to lock the cable into place, one needs to screw it in; if you do this a lot you may also run into a short in your cable. In my case I was flipping between the HE-400, HE-500 and HE-6 for review purposes. Even before this happened, I detested the screw-in HifiMan cable design because it frequently unscrews. As previously mentioned, the HE-400 ships with faux-leather earpads. The faux-leather earpads do not allow the headphone to sound as good (to my ears), as the HifiMan velour earpads. One can acquire the velour earpads and carefully swap them with the faux-leather pads. Unfortunately, the velour earpads attract dust, lint and hair unlike any other earpad I've seen.
STORAGE: In its current revision, the HE-400 ships in a very basic cardboard box. The box itself is rather fragile and unimpressive.
REVISIONS?: At the time which I write this review, the HE-400 is not even a year old and it has already undergone at least one significant sonic revision (some sources say four or five). According to many, the first incarnation of the HE-400 was darker and duller sounding. If in fact there have been as many as four revisions in such a short time span, it may be difficult to know what you're getting should you buy a used HE-400.
ON THE FENCE
SOUNDSTAGE: The HE-400's soundstage is more impressive than most of its similarly-priced competitors. While it is not the widest, it exhibits significant depth and height. It is a fairly natural sound presentation.
MIDS: The mids here are interesting. The lower-mids are significantly forward while the upper-mids are significantly recessed. However, this is not as problematic as it sounds. The mids are recessed in the region where many odd nasal characteristics typically emanate. Here there is none of that. Of course, the recessed upper midrange will find detractors. It prevents this headphone from being "neutral." But I must counter this by suggesting that this coloration is not offensive to my ears, and I think many people may ultimately be won over by the headphone's ability to render detail without sounding shouty or nasal.
COMFORT: The HE-400 is not one of the most supremely comfortable headphones I've ever worn; the headband's grip is slightly tighter than optimal, but I don't find them to be uncomfortable by any means.
FOR THE PRICE
A+
The HE-400 has a rather unique sound-signature that many will find appealing. The HE-400 is simultaneously a fun-sounding headphone and an articulate-sounding headphone. It assumes a fun character because of its thickly layered bass response and recessed upper-mids; it exhibits an articulate sound-signature because it is fast and detailed, much like the other HifiMan headphones in this evaluation. The HE-400 is one of only five headphones in my evaluation for which I have awarded an A+ value rating. The other four include HifiMan's own HE-500, Sennheiser's HD600, Beyerdynamic's DT880, Audio-Technica's ATH-AD900
QUICK CHECK
DESIGN: Full-Size
DRIVERS: Planar Magnetic
IMPEDANCE: 35 Ohms
ISOLATION: Little to None
AMPLIFICATION: Recommended
MY PREFERRED AMP: Woo Audio 5 / TTVJ Millett 307A
SOUNDS BEST WITH: Jazz / Electronic
CABLES USED: Stock / A Pure Sound V3 balanced
REVISIONS KNOWN: At least one known to me
FLAGSHIP STATUS: Never was
PRODUCTION STATUS AS OF 2012: In Production
COST: $399.00 |
楼主: garyvictor
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发表于 2012-12-31 18:43
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