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The_D0lph1n t1_j9os0ve wrote

How long have you had them? The brain takes some time to get acclimated to a new sound, and it's unlikely that a headphone will sound great to you right after getting it. Listen to it exclusively for a week, then go back and compare it to other headphones.

There's also the bit about expectations. I was sort of the same way when I first started getting into audiophile headphones. It's like "that's it?" I thought the changes would be huge, but over time I learned that it's not going to add new instruments to a song or anything like that, it's just going to be a small, incremental change. It also depends on what you're coming from and what sound you're used to, like in my first point.

And finally, yeah, you might just not like them. The sound might not be for you. Ears have different shapes, brains are wired differently (there's some research done when doing MRI scans of subjects where people hear different things from the same signal, and those differences are correlated with right-side vs left-side activity in certain parts of the brain [Schneider et al., 2005]), so two people can listen to the same headphone on the same amp/dac, and their brains can perceive two different sounds from them. I admit that I find it odd that someone would describe an open-back Hifiman as muddy and veiled, but I haven't heard the HE400SE myself, and my brain is not your brain. If you've given them a week and they still don't do it for you, I'd suggest returning them and getting something else, or just sticking with what you have and enjoy.

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Line6Guitarist OP t1_j9ppzq6 wrote

Huh I see I knew these weren't gonna be on the same level as the sundaras but I guess I did get a bit too excited. Returning them is not really possible where I'm from but thanks anyway

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The_D0lph1n t1_j9puira wrote

If you can't return them, you can either try to sell them, or just keep them around and revisit them every once in a while. Preferences do shift over time, and I've had headphones that I didn't like that much, but I went back to them a few months later and found that their sound was better than I had originally thought.

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Line6Guitarist OP t1_j9pv101 wrote

Aight thanks I'll keep that in mind

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RChamy t1_j9qpimd wrote

My friend hated his HD560S over his logitech headset because of the non-V EQ. He used them for a week and cant go back l.

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Line6Guitarist OP t1_j9qvhks wrote

I used to always eq my headset to be more neutral, but you might have a point, I'll give them some more time

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