Hifiman HE400 just announced

[marcusd]

Announcement from Hifiman

At the upcoming CES in Las Vegas in January, HiFiMAN will be introducing an exciting new planar magnetic model, HE-400.
Until CES close on January 13, we are offering HE-400 at special pre-order pricing of $349.  Save $50 by ordering by Monday January 13. We will do shipping on Jan 15th, 2012.
 
 
What makes HE-400 special is:
 
1)      it is 92.5DB efficient so it can be driven by virtually anything including an iPod.
2)      It has the familiar HiFiMAN sonic signature which means it is very detailed yet warm
3)      It is only $399 MSRP. We price it at such a price because we finally figure out a way to mass produce hi-end sound quality planar driver headphones in a much easier way than before.
 
Spec
 
Sensitivity: 92.5 DB
Impedance: 35 Ohm
Weight: about 440 gram or 14.5 Oz
Frequency response: 20Hz to 35 KHz
 
 
Accessories
OFC copper headphone cable (3 meter or 10 Feet)

[Racio]

Will the upcoming can have an all new (perhaps smaller) shell bro?

[jcruiz]

good news since we get a taste of the hifiman sound for a lower price.

but i'm not too fond of the color. maybe because i got used to seeing hifiman headphones on just different shades of black

[marcusd]

Now sure on the shell size Racio and yeah blue is one odd choice of color - I also am confused by the use of the HE400 as the code - I am presuming HE now means easy to power unlike the simple H series which is harder to drive.

Perhaps blue is but a range of colors and we will get white and black and red also 

[Tsundere]

It seems to be a more efficient version of the HE-4. Hopefully, they are not too bright and a bit more balanced this time around.

I'm definitely going to buy these if they have the color pink. 


 

[marcusd]

I still want them to switch to mini xlr or turn-key 3.5mm connectors - i hate the screw ins to be honest lol.. oh well if I get to review these I feel that sentence will be cut and paste from the other 3 reviews

[Boymasskara]

I hate Fang and his elves! still thinking what to buy and here they are, releasing a new headphones that's cheap

[solomonella]

blue? hmmm...i hope they release other colors, preferably black as usual

[erwinandrew]

Ohhh! What if Fang made it sound like an he-500 but used cheaper materials (on parts that doesn't affect audio quality) and kid candy colors to take off some visual sophistication?

With the breakthrough he claimed in making the manufacturing process cheaper, I wonder if he could make a headphone close to the sound of the omega 2 but priced at less than US$1,000.

[RexAeterna]

it's good to see companies like hi-fi man make planers more mainstream but i wish fostex would step up and make others besides their studio RP line-up and so far to me fostex seems to be the only planer magnetics around with potential.

[marcusd]

I reached out to Hifiman for more info on this yesterday - just waiting for a reply

[donunus]

I am also interested in a budget ortho that is easy to drive and doesn't have a V-shaped response. This will be interesting

[dogears]

Hmn, that would be a Fostex

[donunus]

The fostex has very mixed reviews though which is why I haven't taken the plunge yet. The Hifimans usually have lovers and haters but it is usually a very clear cut reason of being too bright or something like that for the haters.

[marcusd]

The fostex has very mixed reviews though which is why I haven't taken the plunge yet. The Hifimans usually have lovers and haters but it is usually a very clear cut reason of being too bright or something like that for the haters.

They have been getting less and less bright with each release though the HE5 to me was a lesson on how to do good treble really well when combined with their new silver cable release. I suspect the HE400 to be somewhat closer to the HE500 than the HE4.