@Resolve
Could you share your actual recommended PEQs for the HE400se?
And thanks for the informative post and new video:)
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Just 2 filters.
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Thanks PEQ, Andrew!
I may have missed it, but did you run distortion graphs?
If not, can you comment vs. Sundara and perhaps original HE400i (2016) or HE5xx?
Looking forward to more of your informative reviews!
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I did but THD is kind of meaningless on these since there’s no out of the ordinary behavior.
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Thanks again. Was curious as HFM touts the ‘stealth’ magnets as contributing to low distortion…Wondering if that’s BS…
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Yet another question…In the video review you mentioned one shortfall was impulse response…‘sluggish’…Can this be improved via choice of Reconstruction Filter? For example, my ESS-based Quedlix (works great Balanced) has 7. I like Minimum Phase Fast best. To me transients - in Porch Rosso soundtrack listening now - sound crisp. What RF do you use?
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The filter is used to remove frequencies above 20k which are a byproduct of the conversion process. This is not adjusting any musical ‘impulse’ properties.
As always, you can’t change the physical characteristics of the headphone by altering the input signal. You might be able to nudge an aspect of the sound one way or another (say with eq) but the headphone’s mechanical properties will stay the same.
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Sluggish was in reference to the subjective sense of initial leading edge and transient response - the ‘attack’ so to speak. Not ‘impulse response’ necessarily. Also, the stealth magnet thing likely isn’t BS - in this case it just most likely only impacts frequencies outside the audible band.
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I just received these yesterday but I need to make some trips and won’t get to them for a couple of weeks.
I am actually looking forwards to giving them a whirl.
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HE400SE first impressions:
$150. Great tuning. Really really good job. Slightly mid-forward compared to most hifimans. Bass level is good. Does roll-off slightly but not a big deal. The treble is very smooth compared to other entry level hifimans in the past up to their $1500 arya level. There is still a hint of sharpness in the treble range on occasion. I hear it when there’s a heavy piano note with sustain in the upper octaves. Its not beyer bright or anything, its just ever so there, and not as smooth as Susvara or HE6SE V2, or even HD600. It doesn’t have the microdetails or staging of the big boys, but its tuned very well and image separation is really good at this price.
The biggest difference I hear from this and its older and more pricey siblings is the speed of the driver. This one plays within its price point and has slower transient speeds than the HE6SE V2 and the king Susvara. This makes the little micro-details not as audible, and also makes it sound a little slow at times when stacked against pricier competition.
At $150, this is easily my favorite I heard. When you have to consider this or HD6XX/600/650 for $220-$400, its a tougher pick for me and I could go either way.
Build material is super cheap on the HE400SE. Feels cheaper than HE6SE V2 even though its the same part geometry. I think the finish/coatings are worse giving it a much more plastic feel.
Default cable sucks a lot, but Hifiman snuck in a new cable outside the retail box, but inside the brown shipping box. Its probably their best cable they’ve ever made, even though it feels like a $10 cable. That’s not saying much, but its at leasst usable and feels durable, though its short (1.2m)
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Nominee for “Backhanded compliment of the year.” But surely true, very true.
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I didn’t get the “extra” cable, I just got the piece of fence wire with TRS connectors on it.
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This is a pretty good test of using wire coat hangers as speaker cables:
Your fence wire may well sound about the same as anything else. However, I hope they cut the barbs off.
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Another thing to note. Pali Pads (default Sundara pads) measure the same as the default Focus Pads as expected. They are essentially the same except different lining material.
I find the Pali pads to work better for warmer days, as they breathe more, but the lining material against your face isnt as soft and plush as the Focus pads. That liner gets hot though.
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So as not to break tradition, this review is also available in Spanish on my blog and on YouTube, links at the end of this post.
The Hifiman HE400se has been kindly loaned to me by Hifiman in exchange for publishing this review. They have not requested anything specific and, as always, my opinions will be as sincere and honest as possible but it is always good to be aware of the fact that it hasn’t cost me anything to try these headphones.
Intro…
Before I start with the HE400se, I would like to go back to September last year, when I reviewed the HE400i (2020). In that review, I said that the 400i were a decent set of headphones for their price but that they weren’t great. This has brought a bunch of comments (on my channel and on other forums) where people stated how incorrect I was, to the point that I felt that maybe I had received a pair with issues.
Now, the HE400se is a set of headphones that are at a similar price point to the HE400i, in fact, they are even cheaper, coming in at around 130€ direct from Hifiman.
I have never had the chance to try a different set of HE400i, so I really don’t know if they had issues or if I simply didn’t like them, but I will say that if the HE400i that I had in my hands had sounded anything like these HE400se, I would have given them a very positive review!
Anyway, enough about the past and on with the present, the HE400se.
Presentation…
The presentation of the HE400se is very basic and it is easy to tell that Hifiman have saved as much on packaging as possible, which is a good thing when talking about a budget set of headphones.
Inside the box that is very reminiscent of other Hifiman models, we find the headphones sitting in a cheap plastic tray, along with a single ended cable and the warranty documentation.
That is it, there is nothing more to mention. This means that whatever they spent on making these headphones has gone into the headphones and not the packaging.
Build and aesthetics…
I want to get the negative out of the way first… the cable. I am a fan of Hifiman but their cables are usually not great, at least on the models I have tried. I am sorry to say that the cable that is included with the HE400se is the worst cable I have ever received, and I am not just referring to “received with headphones”, I honestly cannot think of a cable I have disliked more with anything I have purchased.
The cable feels like a single strand cable, in fact, it feels like a length of thin fence wire that has been covered in plastic and had some TRS connectors put on the end. It is not only horrible to the touch and feel, it also bends and holds the shape just like any normal piece of fence wire would. Usually, even with some of the bad cables that come bundled with stuff (not referring to Hifiman but headphones and IEMs in general), I would say it’s not great but just swap it out if you don’t like it. In this case, I literally could not use it, it irritated me. The good news is that the HE400se are just regular 3.5mm TRS connectors, one on each cup, so you can easily use a different cable.
Ok, now that I got that out of my system, the headphones…
The HE400se do not look like an expensive set of headphones, you can tell that they are not boutique quality, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t good for their price. The headband is the same as that used on the Deva and HE400i, which is a headband that works and is comfortable enough for longer sessions.
The pads are also decent, with the internal part of the pads using cloth where they touch your face, with an imitation leather around the outside. I also believe that these are the usual Hifiman size, so replacement pads shouldn’t prove to be difficult to get.
The cups are made of a silver coloured plastic that, while not being a high end material, makes the headphones very light and helps again with comfort. The yokes that hold the cups to the headband are made of aluminium (or aluminum on the US version) which also keeps them light but makes them much stronger than if they had used plastic for the yokes.
I don’t think that the HE400se is a headphone that I would consider beautiful but they are not ugly, at least to my eyes, and seem to have been built to be good without breaking the bank.
Sound…
Presentation and build go out the window when we make it this far, the sound is by far the most important part of any headphone but even more so when we are talking about a budget offering.
The HE400se uses what Hifiman calls the “Stealth Magnet”, which is designed to reduce reflections and other non wanted issues inside the cup, while still being able to present that clear and clean sound that we (or at least I) associate with Hifiman.
The general sound of the HE400se is something that is easily identified as being a Hifiman planar but let’s go through the usual steps regarding sound.
Starting with the subbass, there is plenty of that low end rumble when needed but it does not feel overdone at any point, in fact, I would say that there is a slight roll off as the frequencies drop but the HE400se manages to still seem to be present when needed . Tracks such as “Chameleon”, which is a rather demanding track in the low end, are presented in a way that the subbass is clearly defined but does not invade other frequencies. “No Sanctuary Here” is a very pleasurable listen on the HE400se, with plenty of low presence while maintaining the clarity needed. The low hits are clear and precise, no sense of bloat or loss of control.
Moving slightly higher into the mid and high bass, they deal well with electronic music, sounding very clean in these regions when listening to songs like “I Fink U Freeky”, while still being able to present natural instruments, such as my beloved bass guitars, in a way that is realistic and well balanced. From “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa, a modern take on pop music, through to “Elephants On Ice Skates” by Brian Bromberg, a mix of plucking and ringing bass notes, both sound pleasurable and it is easy to identify the various styles happening in the low end.
In the lower mids, the transition from the bass is very clean, no sense of bleed or muddyness, making it very easy to define the differences between the low mids of say a guitar and the high bass of a bass guitar.
The mids are very balanced as we move through the center of them, although there is a slight dip when starting to reach the higher mids, somewhere around the 2kHz mark. While this dip is slightly noticeable, it is not to the extent of making vocals lose their presence in the higher midrange. “Down to the River to Pray” by Alison Krauss does seem to place her voice slightly further back that I am used to on higher end planar options from Hifiman, making it a little more in line with the backing vocals rather than take that extra step forwards, but it is certainly not unpleasant. I find this to be the case with various tracks that are mainly based on vocals, although I find it more noticeable with female vocals. In the case of “These Bones” by The Fairfield Four, the voices are still very nicely presented and seem well balanced, there is just a little step back in the higher frequency vocals.
Moving into the higher mids and the lower treble, the presence is back and makes the dip around 2kHz be just that, a small dip. This elevation in the higher mids works well to overcome said dip and manages to do so without causing any side effects such as harshness or nasal sounding voices.
Into the treble areas, there is a nice extension and presence of air and space found in the higher regions. These are not the most “airy” and “spacious” headphones I have heard but I cannot think of another set of headphones at a similar price that are better. I find the treble pleasurable and, although I could say that a little more smoothness would be appreciated, I have no doubt that these headphones are well above the competition in their price bracket.
As far as speed and dynamics, well, I could compare them to higher priced options from Hifiman and pick faults, but if we stay strictly in the sub 200€ bracket, I don’t think that any other headphones could make the HE400se seem like they are lacking in details. There are a few tracks, such as “All Your Love (Turned to Passion)” by Sara K., where I do miss some of those background details but, to be fair, they are details that I appreciate on headphones such as the Ananda which are 8 times the price of the HE400se. Even with very busy and complex tracks, the HE400se may not deal with them in such an effortless manner as the higher end planars but they certainly don’t feel as though they are struggling to keep up.
As far as soundstage and image placement, the width is not huge but it is more than enough to be considered good, with a great placement of images inside that area. Again, as I just mentioned, some of the background details are not quite present, meaning that they are also difficult to pinpoint in the sound stage, but the general placement and transitions from left to right, such as in the case of “Letter”, the placement is very good, in fact, I would say almost excellent if we consider the price range these headphones sit in.
Conclusion…
The Hifiman HE400se are a set of headphones that offer far more than their price tag would lead one to believe. The overall sound and tuning is very good, except for that slight dip around 2kHZ and maybe a little roll off in the lowest regions (which does not bother me personally as I don’t like overly present bass).
Maybe the details are not up to the level of higher priced options but I think that they are way above the competition where they sit (at least amongst those that I have tried).
There are a few things that I could wish to improve on them but when I think of which headphones do these things much better, I realize that I am thinking of headphones that are way above the price of the HE400se. I would like to have a coherent comparison against the Sundara, which I feel is possible the next step up, but it has been so long since I heard the Sundara that I can’t compare them fairly.
In comparison to other headphones at a similar price, I have no doubt that I would choose the HE400se over the other that I have heard.
I think that if someone is looking for an audiophile experience on a limited budget, the HE400se is a great option that I would have no problem recommending. They do need amplification, at least I have found that they do, but they do not need some ridiculous amount of power to be driven properly. I have mostly listened to them from the Asgard 3, although I have used them a fair bit with the Atom and they were just as pleasurable.
If someone were to pick up the HE400se for 130€, add a Modi3+ for another 100€ and an Atom or Magni3 for another 100€, you have a very very capable set up for just over 300€. Well, maybe add an extra 20€ for a cable that isn’t made of fence wire and for 350€ you have a headphone set up that needs a lot more layout in order to improve it.
I have absolutely no doubt that the HE400se has become my recommended headphones for under 200€, possibly even more!
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If you’ve read enough of my reviews on headphones, you’ll surely know that I enjoy planar magnetic headphones and many of them come from Hifiman, one of the premier planar magnetic brands based in China. They have come a long way since starting nearly 15 years ago.
I’ve own my fair share of Hifiman, starting with the HE400i, the HE560, and more recently the Arya, Susvara, HE6SE V2, and now the newly released HE400SE. The original HE400SE was released in China exclusively in late 2020, but an updated international release came our in 2021 with “stealth magnets,” which is advertised to reduce reflections and improve sound quality.
The HE400SE was a bit of an impluse buy for me. I had already been quite happy with my “end-game” set-up with the Hifman Susvara, and had also had what I called “baby sus” with the HE6SE V2, but decided to try out the HE400SE after some solid reviews from people. It was also only $149 USD and I could use it in my new office setting.
Unboxing
When I first got the HE400SE, it came in a familiar brown Hifiman box. Inside the box, was another box, that looked much like other Hifiman offerings. The difference internally though was a much cheaper and lower cost presentation. Not a huge deal for $149 though. There was no silky fabric lining inside to hold the headphones. Instead, the headphone packaging was a generic plastic shell.
The cable that it came with was also quite bad, as is normal with Hifiman headphones. In fact, I think this single wire, braided silver-looking cable was so bad, Hifiman decided to give another cable in the box. Not the original retail box, but the brown box. Yes, Hifiman put a second cable in the shipping box, not the actual retail packaging! A second cable as a secondary thought.
And actually, this new black cable felt quite good. It’s durable, flexible, and has a nice L-shaped 3.5mm connector on it. Its only downside is that it is quite short. Its roughly 1.2 meters which is a bit shorter than I want. But it beats the springy, thin, impossible to use silver cable it came with.
Either way, I put both in the box after trying them out and use my own set of cables instead.
The Hifiman HE400SE features a similar look and design to my previously reviewed HE6SE V2. It looks like they took the headband of the Hifiman Deva, the silver cups of the HE400S, and put 3.5mm jacks on it and put in a new driver set and made this unit.
The unit is pretty light, weighing roughly 377 grams, and is extremely comfortable to wear. Well, sort of. The headband needs a bit of break-in time, and even then, I do find a hot spot in the center of the headband. As with the HE6SE V2, I made a quick DIY suspension strap with leather and twisty ties, and put them around the adjustable portion of the headband, and it solidifies the comfort and makes this headphone easily one of the most wearable things I’ve owned.
The feel of the headphone is quite cheap, but its lightweight! Even compared to the similar looking HE6SE V2, I felt the HE400SE felt a lot more budget. The paint felt less premium, the cups were lighter, and the overall headphone lacked the heft of the HE6SE V2. A lot of that probably has to do with a cheaper or lighter coating on the cups, and an overall lighter driver. But, as it may, the HE400SE still has a nice appearance from afar and feels feather-light compared to almost all planars on the market.
Sound Impressions
When I finally played some music with the HE400SE, I was immediately surprised. Yes, the reviews I’ve read and the graphs did not lead my astray. The HE400SE had really solid tonal balance with many characteristics similar to the Susvara and the HE6SE V2. In fact, I almost prefer the tonality of the HE400SE over the other two in some ways. The HE400SE is a very neutral headphone with a slightly dry upper mid-range but also a very smooth and unfatiguing treble. There is perhaps a small sharpness to it that is reminiscent of some other lower end Hifiman headphones that I’ll discuss a little later. All in all though, the tonality of this headphone is very very good and cleans up the market at this price point, and then some.
I do want to note that most of my impressions here come with a few simple mods. First, I swapped out the grill with a more open-cell grill, which has some minimal changes to soundstage and bass. I also added a leather suspension strap to this unit as described above.
One of my favorite characteristics of planar headphones is the bass region. Many of the good planars can reach low with good resolution, attack speed, and agility. The HE400SE has a decent reach into the subbass region, but doesn’t quite go as far down as say the HE560 or the Arya. It does compare quite well to the HE6SE V2, and actually provides a slightly warmer sound that is closer to the Arya than the HE6SE V2.
One thing I did notice quickly was that the HE400SE felt slower than its older and more expensive siblings. This particular budget model doesn’t have the transient speeds that my Susvara and, at the time, HE6SE V2 had. This in-turn does seem to make its presentation feel more rounded, blunted, and lacking in the very fine micro-details that the Susvara is so good at. The HE400SE isn’t bad though. When I compare it to others in this price range, it can take them on swiftly.
It’s biggest competitor, given its price, is probably the Sennheiser HD6XX and its own sibling, the Sundara. I do not have the Sundara to try, nor do I have the HD6XX, but I do have the HD600 from Sennheiser, and I found that both of these are incredibly good headphones for their asking prices. The HD600 has a more organic mid-range, but the HE400SE really does it better in both the bass and treble ranges, and gives a much more better presentation for soundstage width, depth, and image separation, while resolution and intricacies remain very similar between the two.
The HE400SE works well with a lot of genres, and I spent a lot of time going through music from all of the ones I normally listen to. I listened to countless hours of jazz music and found that the HE400SE’s tonal balance and imaging were extremely good for this price. In fact, I think it has that very traditional Hifiman sound that is in every one of their sets, but with a smoother sound that resembles more like the HE6SE V2 and Susvara than the slightly bright Arya and HE400i. Yes, that is quite a big set of praise, but there are definitely things you lose going from Hifiman’s flagship $6000 Susvara to their $150 HE400SE.
The major differences come with the noticeably less resolving sound, the reduced layering and depth, and the slower and more blunted transients. The 400SE probably still pales in comparison of these little technical artifacts when compared to Hifiman’s HE6SE V2, Sundara, and HE560, but for the low cost of $149 for an audiophile headphone, I really can’t take these technical talking points as a major flaw. They are minor, and still out-perform many other headphones I’ve heard at higher prices.
I am a big fan of the HE400SE, and if I found only small flaw with it, it would be that there is just a slight peak at 6KHz. This treble area only rears itself once in a while, but its ever so subtle. It doesn’t have nearly a striking attack as the Arya or even one of ZMF’s headphones. In most music, I found this peak to be quite tame and found the overall treble response very smooth, though not as smooth as the Susvara.
That said, when I compare it to the HD600 from Sennheiser, the benchmark of most of my headphone reviews, I did find that the peak was slightly more pronounced, however, the HD600 doesn’t have nearly the amount of treble that I feel like it needs to not come off as slightly congested and dark when compared to the Hifiman HE400SE.
Wrap-Up
Hifiman has come a long way over the past decade and a half, and they have a very competitive arsenal of headphones at every price point. They are quite consistent in their delivery and getting one of their over-ear planars is a lot of knowing what the expectations are. You may get so-so build quality, but you know the tonal balance and sound quality are going to be consistent and solid. Yes, sometimes their pricing is questionable, but their sale prices are more representative of what they should cost, and even then, they typically out-perform their competition.
The HE400SE is priced low and I feel it could cost a little more. It’s a spectacular offering at a low price and immediately renders its own budget lineup redundant and overpriced. There’s no reason to get any of their under $500 headphones when you can get the HE400SE. Yes, I am saying that I would rather own this over the Sundara, and that’s mostly due to the terrible headband design of the Sundara than its sound qualities.
The HE400SE is a great little set that I think will sell quite well. Good work.
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Nice review @antdroid!
I would have never thought I would see so many hi end headphones mentioned in a $150 headphone review 
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Just received the HE400se (China version, released in 2020 non-stealth magnets) 94$.
Build Quality
Overall the outside is fine, it’s the drivers that look a little shoddy. There seems to be some oxidation on the magnets, a little brownish(rust?) hard to capture this on camera. tried to use a bit of isopropyl and a cotton swab to see if it’ll come off, no dice. there’s also a tiny piece of what seems to be glue on the diaphragm. tried to nudge it off gently with a toothpick(don’t do this lol), decided to give up before i poke a hole in it. at least there’s 1 year warranty if anything goes wrong.
overall experience so far is great. using the eq settings above makes it less bass lean, which completes the package for me. even without eq it’s still pretty good. definitely my daily driver for now, as a low-fi peasant.
using an O2 on low gain to power these, default gain resistors (2.5x low gain, 6.5x high gain). the knob stays between the 1st and 2nd notch, windows vol 100%, audio interface as dac.
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also the warranty looks to be through the China website for the 2020 China (non-stealth) version. might be dependent on vendor though, the store i bought it from is based in china.