HifiMan HE-4XX Review 

I daily drive Beyerdynamic dt1990 And Sony mdr7506, i also have dt770 And m40x but i don't use them that often as my Sony pair or the dt1990, for my amplifier solution i use a 80's loudspeaker amp, more specifically gradiente 120, i love that thing, with that i Could blow t50rp xd, And i also use a tube amp wich is a 60 year old tube amp, tubey goodness af.

Like the review, have the 4XX's myself. Really enjoy them. But I use my Thinksound On1's ( on-ear, closed back, wood cups, very portable) with my Cayin N3 going through a FiiO E17K portable Amp/DAC. At home, I use both of them with a Audinst HUD-Mini Amp/DAC combo and a SMSL T2 hybrid tube amp. Has a little more power. New to this game and this what my lack of a budget can get me right now.

He-4xx With smsl M6.

Detroit Tech HD-6XX with Xduoo XD-05 (trans)portable dac/amp, although they sound okay straight out of an iPhone or iPad with the volume almost maxed. I like the flexibility of being able to listen anywhere in the house, not tied to a desk.

Nice! That was how I felt. I needed to hear some planars. I could not be more happy with them! It's a very fun but expensive hobby

Many people are complaining that they arent long lasting, what about your thoughts?

Awesome, thanks!

Which is your favourite pair of Hifiman cans under $1000, I have the 4XX for a year now and love them !

@@Losbass I'd have to say my favorite pair of hifiman for under $1000 would have to be the hifiman he5LE or he5SE (they are the same just different looks). After that it's a close call between the Ananda ($999) and Sundara ($499). The Ananda is twice the cost of the sundara but I still prefer the Sundara over the Ananda on most occasions. After that I would have to go with the he560 or he4xx which is an extremely neck and neck tie. Here is my $1000 and under personal ranking list. 1. HE5LE / SE 2. SUNDARA 3. ANANDA 4. HE500 5. HE560 V2 (WOOD GRAIN EDITION) 6. HE560 V3 (SILVER & ORANGE EDITION) 7. HE4XX 8. HE400S (ONLY WHEN MODDED WITH DEKONI AUDEZE ANGLED HYBRID PADS) 9. HE400i (switch with he400s if they don't have the pad mod) 10. HE400 (FIRST EDITION) 11. HE350 (MASSDROP EDITION) 12. HIFIMAN EDITION S 13. HE300 Above $1000 gets tricky but I'd say my favorite hifiman of all time is the ultra rare hifiman "Jade" original version and then version 2 after. Ranking as follows: 1. Jade (original version) 2. Jade (version 2) 3. Susvara 4. He1000 (v2) 5. HE6 6. Edition X (v2) 7. He1000 (v1) 8. He600 9. Edition X (v1) These are my personal rankings and only subject to my own personal hearing preferences. Others may have a completely different order of them. This however is like I said how I personally feel. I literally have close to if not over $30k wrapped up in just my hifiman collection. It's ridiculous and my wife hates it 😂. It's my passion though and every penny is a penny well spent in my opinion.

@@soldierboy2350 Thank you for the informative response , that's quite the collection! I've been on the fence about grabbing the Sundara's , looking for a bit more sub bass extension , than what the 4XX has to offer! I'm also interested in purchasing either LCD2- Classic , or LCD - X in the future.

@@Losbass the audeze have a better sub bass extension than any of the hifiman headphones. That's not to say that some of the hifiman's don't have great bass but they just don't get quite as low as audeze. I've tried so many high end headphones it'll make most people's heads spin lol. Out of all the headphones I've tried I've just never come across any that compare to the hifiman soundstage and precise imaging. To each their own and my own is the hifiman sound for sure. If I could describe the sound of the sundara in one word it would be "beautiful." In my opinion they just sound so incredible for the price. I still remember the first time I heard them I was absolutely blown away. I didn't take them off my head for like 16 hours straight. If your looking into buying them don't hesitate. Save the money if you have to. It's completely worth it. If you can pick them up used in great condition on eBay or something for around $400 or even less jump on it immidiately. There is absolutely nothing wrong with buying used good condition headphones. You can sometimes find incredible deals that way.

@@soldierboy2350 Yeah I've heard very favourable reviews on the Sundara's , I'll probably grab them soon! I'm looking at this deal here : headphonebar.com/collections/headphones/products/hifiman-sundara-b-stock

I bought mine back when they dropped to $160. Well worth the price, though I have a tiny noggin so I had to put a pair of Dekone Nuggets on the top band. They're inefficient so they need the current from the Emotiva a-100 power amp.

Exploring the HifiMan line is on the list :)

Only one pair of headphones and one pair of earbuds!?!?!

I've been wanting to have some variety. Closed back, semi open back, open back, dynamic, planar magnetic, different sound signatures, etc. So far I have the Sennheiser HD 660 S. My next ones to get are Audio Technica Ath m40x, Beyerdynamic Dt 880 premium 600 0hm, Hifiman HE4xx and eventually the Sennheiser HD 800 S.

Hi Shawn, I got curious about it, what's the reasons, could you try to explain it more?

I really like mine. I like them more than my hd6xx's. You will probably want an amp tho.

@@lok777 I actually do have an amp not the best amp but has enough to power these puppies up, Gonna put my order into drop today and they ship on the 11th. can't wait for my first planars : D.

TesHX9x9X dude I also just ordered one.

@@phongbach7248 yeah pretty good deal I'm testing my 599s with my amp on just RU-vid on the hifiman 4XX headphone profile makes these 599s have more width and balance hope that's what I get with the 4XXs can't wait for Planar!

Hey you should also massdrops accidental damage insurance for 3 years for $20 hifiman build quality can be hit or miss and if there a problem after 30 days you cant send them back with the warranty

The yoke is metal with the 4XX so that (hopefully) shouldn't be an issue. I did have a screw on mine come undone but that was easily fixed. Nothing that broken yet /fingerscrossed

I'll have to check out the Elemental Watson. I'm intrigued.

store.jaben.com/products/elemental-watson-class-a-valve-mosfet-hybrid-tube-desktop-headphone-amplifier They run deals every so often, so you can nab them on sale occasionally. Edit: And they already come with two nice tubes that normally cost decent money for. Having an amp for EACH channel makes them a steal at just over $200 before shipping.

Cheers!

In my experience the 4XX is more detailed and analytical. The 58X is warmer and definitely has the Sennheiser veil.

Unfortunately, that is something I can't answer. I only got these a few months ago. They're fine for me but I'm not very hard on my headphones either.

I think I'm getting the same drop though shipping will take longer, and then it's another month for my first amp (O2) to arrive. I'm curious how they scale with a more high end amp like the Mojo, if you don't mind commenting.

They'll work. They're technically 32 ohms. They do perform a bit better the more power you feed them, though.

yes sir

4XX all the way for me. They're cleaner and more detailed. They have a flatter EQ and thus a little less bass but the separation and stereo imaging is better. We just did a comparison of the 4XX, 6XX, and 7XX in the newest video - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LhAmYSBpMmc.html Check it out!

It really depends on the headphones your using. The 4XX are rated pretty low for impedance but I use them on the high gain setting on my Magni 3 and the volume they put out is similar to 250 ohm DT990s. If whatever your using has enough power, perfect. These just tend to shine when you are able to pump a good amount of juice into them.

Thanks for the prompt reply! I find my DAP has more than enough power to drive my Grado GH2's, Sony Z7's and Meze 99 Classics. Hoping the HE4XX would be a good addition.

Yeah, I would think you would be fine. Usually if I'm saying "you need an amp" I'm talking to people who are thinking about just using their computer or cell phone jack. They'll be a great addition.

@@DetroitTech I am using a little stereo tower next to my pc with an 6.35 mm audio jack, honestly i don't want to go over 20% cause my ears will die. For the HE4XX that is.

We're interested in doing that. We need to get our hands on a pair of 58X and Massdrop does not have them, currently. We'll work on it 😀

I just ordered a pair of 58x on massdrop last week, and it's expected to be here within 2 days from what tracking says. A vast improvment from the month+ it's taken in the past. Probably just got in at the end of a drop cycle though. 58x for $140 seems like a good deal though and is getting excellent reviews on the v2 revision that's shipping now

@@MordecaiWalfish v2 revision of 58x? Meaning.. like 58x version2? Sorry if my question was dumb.

Yeah they fixed some things from the original release from the end of last year, which I think maybe only went out to reviewers

I compared my 58x to the HE4xx at a meet last Saturday and that the general signature was the same but the HE4xx had more spacious sounding, faster, more authority, and generally better across the board in every category....like 10% better across the board.

I'm not sure. It looks like they may not due to excessive customs fees but it may also vary for each individual drop.

Detroit Tech hmmm, ok, i'll figure a way to ship the headphones to México xd, thank you for replying ^^

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this as well.

@@Margatroid ditto.

We've got a video up with the differences between 3 different Massdrop headphones including the 4XX and the 6XX. Check it out!

It all depends on when you look or find a deal on them. At the time of writing, it was around $50 cheaper. The reason people are so positive about the headphones in general is because you're getting the same sound form more expensive headphones and you gdon't have to spend as much. That lets you buy more headphones.

I think one advantage of the Massdrop ones even if you find them at the same price is they use standard 2.5mm jacks for the cable as opposed to Hifiman's (apparently very annoying) proprietary connector. It was what motivated me to choose the 4XX over the 400i...

@@SirLoinOfsteak85 Hifiman actually doesn't use that anymore, they switched to 2.5mm and have apparently upgraded to 3.5mm quite recently

These are basically all metal. I did have one of the screws come loose eventually but it was a simple job of screwing it back in.

@@DetroitTech i see, i have already ordered them, they are 130$ now. I was just worried about build quality. Anyway do you have any suggestion for a cheap amp?

Schiit Magni