rrickitickitavi t1_j9nqq16 wrote on February 23, 2023 at 7:42 AM

Do you listen electronic music by any chance?

Line6Guitarist OP t1_j9nu4vr wrote on February 23, 2023 at 8:27 AM

I listen to pretty much any type of music. I feel like these struggled the most with classical music and most mid focused tracks.

flyedchicken t1_j9pcu4q wrote on February 23, 2023 at 4:55 PM

Hifimans are known for a bit of suck-out in the mids, at least most of them except maybe Sundara. 'Warmth' tends to not be a characteristic of their headphones I have noticed.

They do impact, details, and staging pretty well first and foremost, with slightly elevated mid-bass and treble as an afterthought. I can see how you may be underwhelmed especially if you've been demoing them with classical. Gotta say I really doubt more power is going to help here.

You may just not like the tuning.

If you like a lot of rock and classical, one of the many Sennheisers or maybe Sundara would be more your cup of tea I think. But they all cost significantly more than the 400se :/

Line6Guitarist OP t1_j9prha9 wrote on February 23, 2023 at 6:24 PM

Yeah this hobby is not really cheap. But the weird thing is that I don't really see these things you praise. I'm starting to feel like I got a defective unit or something. When I tried the sundaras everything felt so textured and I could make out so many little details. But with the he400se I'm sure they're not gonna compete with the sundarad but they just sound cheap. I really have no way to describe them except for cheap and low resolution.

flyedchicken t1_j9pvwjp wrote on February 23, 2023 at 6:52 PM

Could be a bad cable tbh. That's the first thing I would try if you have another one that's compatible. If you are able to try a different cable and still don't see a difference, then it's either a defective unit or you hate the tuning.

I had a pair of HE-4XX that I passed on to my gf (same drivers pretty much same headphones) and they easily went toe to toe with the HE560 I replaced them with. To my ears when I listened to them both through the same amp the 4XX were like 90% as capable easily, and those HE560 are a $300-500 headphone.

They are tuned a little bit different than Sundara and probably lean a bit towards "fun" rather than absolute detail.

Line6Guitarist OP t1_j9q2isa wrote on February 23, 2023 at 7:33 PM

Yeah I tried 2 cables, one balanced 2.5 mm and one normal 3.5 mm but no cigar. The more I listen to them the more I appreciate them but yeah I think I just dont like them and can't differentiate between low quality and something I simply don't like.