HiFiMAN HE400se HiFi Headphones for Mobile Use with Stealth Magnet Technology, Silver, Adjustable (packaging may vary)

Got these headphones at an absolute steal of a price at a special limited price of only £69 which at that price it would be damn right rude not to add these to my growing headphone collection.These at that price or in fact any headphone below £150 I would say are the best bargain in HiFi land.Build quality is really not that bad, I have heard lots of negative reviews on the build quality of Hifiman headphones but I do think that was based on earlier models or production runs as they seem to have now got their act together on build quality.The headphones are well built and use of decent enough materials with a mix of metal and plastic. The pads are comfortable and big enough to accomodate my slightly larger than average ears. A mix of soft pleather with a fabric surround as where it touches your head, comfort is very good in my opinion.The cable is decent enough and they have upgraded this cable from earlier 400 models, fitting an aftermarket cable is easy enough as the fittings are standard 3.5mm connectors and you can easily run these balanced too with a cable without breaking the bank.I run these on my Fiio K9 Dac amp on medium gain at around 2pm on the dial and I do listen loud on my 58 year old ears.Sound is extremely clear and present with stonking amounts of smooth treble detail presented. Mids are quite forward but very present and vocals in your face if you like that kind of presentation (not unlike Grado presentation).Bass is very good , definitely not bloated or muddy but it does dig quite deep and has a decent amount of sub bass before rolling off.Soundstage is not huge but definitely bigger than my HD600 but imaging is not so precise as that reference headphone. Imaging is good enough though especially for a headphone at this price point.If you can get this headphone below £100 its a no brainer provided you have a half decent amp to power them, even at their list price now on here at £129 I do think these are stellar value to get into the FUN of Planar Magnetics.Out and out recommendation from me!

I own a lot of headphones and for the past two years or so I have been very happy with the addition of my Hifiman Edition XS planars. Definitely the best of the bunch, but as others have noted, a large noggin is a prerequisite, which I have.Given how delighted I have been with the Edition XS, when I saw the HE400SE planars selling new from Amazon themselves for under £70 (insane!), I was very keen to get a pair. A review I had read over on Audio Science Review was very favourable, albeit for a slightly older version of the HE400SE that came with a lousy, scrawny cable. The black cable I received with my HE400SE is the almost the same, good-quality one that came with my Edition XS.When I first tried my HE400SE I was very impressed by the overall quality of them. Incredibly comfortable, a sound signature that was fabulous straight out of the box (in particular, a marvellous sense of scale similar to the Edition XS), and generally well built.Despite not being as good as my Edition XS, I was so impressed with the HE400SE that I bought a second new pair a few days later for the same price. However, upon arrival, when I ran my usual 20Hz to 20kHz frequency sweep at a sensible volume, the right driver (or possibly the driver casing) had a nasty, fixed, high-frequency resonance that occured at numerous points when sweeping between 1.3kHz and 5 kHz. A total deal breaker. To be 100% certain the issue was with the driver, I swapped the cables running into the headphones and the resonance was still there on the right driver/casing. I knew then that they were going back to Amazon.As others have said regarding this headphone, if you get a good pair you may be as delighted as I am with my first pair. For the approximately £70 I paid they are an incredible deal and are a worthy addition to my collection.Overall then, l highly recommend these excellent headphones. However, I strongly suggest running a 20Hz to 20kHz sweep from a good source to highlight any potential manufacturing faults or issues that may have occurred in transit. This is something I do with any new headphones, earphones or speakers.