Next comes the moment of truth when the headphones are plugged in and the HE-400i’s do not disappoint. On the contrary, they surprise with a sound that in very many respects closely parallels that of HiFiMAN’s new HE-560 (the sonic ‘family resemblance’ is unmistakable). But here’s why I chose the word, “surprise”. The original HE-400 was and is a very good headphone, but critical listeners who heard both the original HE-400 and HE-500 side-by-side would probaqbly concede that the performance gap between the 400 and 500 was a fairly significant one (the 500 offered marked more neutral voicing and dramatically better resolution). The surprise I alluded to centres on the fact that the new HE-400i actually sounds quite a lot like its almost twice as expensive big brother, the HE-560. Now please don’t misunderstand me. The HE-560 is, without a doubt, the better headphone of the two and as with the predecessor models the differences centre on tonal neutrality, resolution, and focus—all three being areas where the HE-560 enjoys a clear-cut edge. But with that said, let me also point out that the perceived ‘gap’ between the HE-400i and HE-560 is much narrower than was the gap between the HE-400 and the HE-500, which is encouraging news for those shopping for mid-priced headphones. Moreover, and this is a somewhat tricky observation to put forward, the performance differences between the HE-400i and the HE-560 only become fully apparent when using upper-tier headphone amp/DACs (with good but not great amp/DACs the sonic differences between the headphones are still there, of course, but they are much less apparent). This, too, is good news for headphonistas on a budget.
Next comes the moment of truth when the headphones are plugged in and the HE-400i’s do not disappoint. On the contrary, they surprise with a sound that in very many respects closely parallels that of HiFiMAN’s new HE-560 (the sonic ‘family resemblance’ is unmistakable). But here’s why I chose the word, “surprise”. The original HE-400 was and is a very good headphone, but critical listeners who heard both the original HE-400 and HE-500 side-by-side would probaqbly concede that the performance gap between the 400 and 500 was a fairly significant one (the 500 offered marked more neutral voicing and dramatically better resolution). The surprise I alluded to centres on the fact that the new HE-400i actually sounds quite a lot like its almost twice as expensive big brother, the HE-560. Now please don’t misunderstand me. The HE-560 is, without a doubt, the better headphone of the two and as with the predecessor models the differences centre on tonal neutrality, resolution, and focus—all three being areas where the HE-560 enjoys a clear-cut edge. But with that said, let me also point out that the perceived ‘gap’ between the HE-400i and HE-560 is much narrower than was the gap between the HE-400 and the HE-500, which is encouraging news for those shopping for mid-priced headphones. Moreover, and this is a somewhat tricky observation to put forward, the performance differences between the HE-400i and the HE-560 only become fully apparent when using upper-tier headphone amp/DACs (with good but not great amp/DACs the sonic differences between the headphones are still there, of course, but they are much less apparent). This, too, is good news for headphonistas on a budget.