Hifiman HE-350

K550 pads raise the bass so that they're less edgy. More comfortable than those velour pads which were a bit scratchy and they sound a bit more 'normal' now. They've become almost semi-closed now so that less sound gets in from the outside.

They've gone from being screechier than my k712 to smoother with a stronger mid presence. There is still a hump, I think in the treble but way less obtrusive but becomes apparent on loud string passages where violins suddenly seem to gain an extra strength up there at certain pitches, I think. Funny thing is that directly comparing the K712 makes the AKG sound 'nasal'.....

Maybe the velours leak too much and the pleather ones seal better on the front so it's blowing more out the back!! There is more punch and life in them IMO.

I'm not too keen on the silly plastic clip for fixing them down TBH though.

While I didn't mind the original sound, this is warmer and has a bit more kick. I can play them loud now!! Actually, bass seems to be going deeper, whether I've gone and raised the mid bass or it is more noticeable lower down, I don't know. Sibilance has gone as far as I can tell. The K550 pads seem to suit it.

It's kind of like the slant in FR has gone from sloping upwards to the other way.

Being memory foam, they're extremely soft and fit more closely to your head, so the front seal is pretty good. Makes them seem semi-closed. I think the drivers are slightly closer to my ears as well.

I wonder whether the stiffness of the original pads is causing big gaps on the side of my head (and possibly other people) so that the bass becomes lost because of high leakage? Or the air pressures have altered between the front and the back to cause the perceived sound differences. I'm certainly getting bass now!!

Bass boost on my Fiio amp is now a little too much whereas before it was about right!!

Is there a U.K. supplier of genuine leather Hifiman pads?

Thanks Mark. I might give them a go.

The k550 are making them too fat sounding. The 'false' detail has gone!! Been listening to a variety of albums and they've become too dull, so perhaps the Hifiman pads might give a compromise. They are actually thicker sounding than the Senn Momentum 2 now.

Original pads are better.

Thanks Frans. Well, smaller peak than the sr125 above!!

I went down to the 400i and found a curious difference in your treble measurements and Tyll's. His show the 400i dropping like a stone after 10khz, where yours shows it going on, pretty high as well.

What is surprising with the he350 is the waterfall plot. I really expected to see a nice bell ringing up there at 5 kHz but it's surprisingly clean. Shame it's so ragged up there. I took 4khz down on my Fiio and that took some of the edge away although I don't mind it either way.

I find the bass ok but slightly boosted, it makes the headphone a lot fuller and gives it more of a v shape I guess.

Funny thing is that I don't find the headphone that bad. Maybe coming from the msr7 has put a lemon through my ears.

The hd800 struck me as 'looking' close but I do realise that they are better drivers. Just shows how graphs can show something which doesn't sound the same on the head.

There's more bass distortion with the he350 so I guess colouration must be creeping in down there. The treble is all over the place but the weird thing is that I actually like the 'feathery' nature that you can sometimes get with treble like this. Especially if it extends up. There is a hot spot right on sibilance though which is a pity. It's not as 'hard' sounding as the msr7 and reproduces string tone better. It actually sounds more extended both ways than the Audio Technica.

While I can adapt to the msr7, I find the he350 easier, even with that top edge.

The k550 pads tone the top down and thicken the bass but as you said, the clarity goes and it seems dull. So the leaky velour pads are there in order to try and keep top end clarity even thought the drivers are quirky up there. Take just the 5kHz down and it changes subtlety. Even if some of the peak is there, it tones the screaming down and my feeling is that many would like it that way. It means that you can up the volume easier so bass is more apparent. I can't get at the very top peak.

What it shows that this probably a compromise on Hifiman's part. Funny that I can accept the sound and you find it so poor though. At first, I wondered whether quality control has been poor or whether yours has been tampered with.

Maybe I should make a measuring rig for myself? Then compare with what you're getting!! Superlux and AKG have shown me just how variable headphones can be. The only one that I had that seemed to develop bass after half an hour of playing which was just odd and the time when I spotted that some K550s I bought en masses for students were variable and quite different from mine.

I hadn't realised that Tyll's graphs might not be quite right up there. The drop off looks drastic and I thought that was a property of the planars.

I had a feeling that we might have the same situation here with QC because I don't hear mine as that bad TBH.

It has a rough edge and a slightly low bass response but it's cheap and has a reasonable build and I do actually like the mids quite a lot. I wonder where the drivers are coming from and whether anything else uses them?

One thing that has put me off the he400 and 560 has been those graphs from Tyll. It looks as though they both drop dead at 10kHz and I would notice that. My hearing only goes to around 15kHz now and maybe that is why I'm hearing the treble in the he350 differently? I always wore earplugs in live performances (not in recordings) but maybe I do have some damage? You've got me thinking now. I might get them checked since the last time was when I got the custom fits for my Senns.

Mind you, both of those peaks are within my plain hearing range although the very top one at around 12khz is close to my threshold where the volume is fading away for me.

I think filtering for an he350 will need to be a compromise from ideal in order to retain the headphone's natural 'guts' or else it would become a bit lifeless perhaps? Probably what Hifiman attempted to do. (And caused the long delay?) it needs a mini Kameleon for portable use really. I don't regard it as a home headphone but ok for semi-portable. I also think it needs some current to drive it properly. It seems slightly insensitive for a portable to me. The IPod needs to be quite near the top to get a focused sound.

That was a good solution for the Superlux. Subtle but extremely effective. Those passive patches are really good and ideal solution for portable headphones.

Thinking space age here ..... if only it were possible to build a passive patch for portable with a plug to power some kind of active patch to get other areas!!! For instance, patch the treble of the 350 but at home, plug in to power up a patch to raise the bass......

I know, it's all very well talking about it!!!

Perhaps a full blown Kameleon for something like this is overkill really? So it's right up at 12kHz that causes more problem? I'd presumed that my hearing might start to roll away up there, so it wouldn't affect me that much. Maybe that's it and why it doesn't affect me so much in the treble and more you?

I think I'll have to have a check on the ears.....

While that's brilliant news, I'm concerned about my hearing!!! I'm not sure if I'm glad or sorry you got one now!!! I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

It's slightly unusual at 19 ohms impedance and a sensitivity of only 93dB at 1mW. Suggests that it needs some current to drive it properly. (ie, flappy bass?) Yet it seems to be designed as a large mobile headphone with a short lead and mini right angled jack. I've been using a Fiio 12a most of the time.

I'm guessing you've managed to knock that really high peak down?

I've done a sweep and I am still hearing up to 15 so maybe I am getting that high peak .....

Did some sweeps with them and by 'ear' I'm hearing 10hz plainly (on another test) and up to 15kHz. The peak on the he350 for me is just before 5kHz. Goes really hot.



Having said that, I get a similar peak on the msr7 a bit higher at 6kHz. Bass kicks in solid around 35hz on that one though. Not very deep.

On my tone generator, I'm getting something like ...

He350
Low 10 is audible but 15 is solid
High 14,500 is audible but 14000 is solid.
Peak at 5kHz (dead on) Not getting the higher peak.

Msr7
Low 25 but 30 is solid.
High 13 but 12 is solid.
Peak around 6-7kHz but not huge.

Just shows, the msr7 is audibly less extended.

Aha ..... seen the little tuning system you've devised for the cups. Brings the slope in the top down overall. That looks like a good compromise. Can the same values be used externally on a patch Frans? Or is it too bulky to have two sets wrapped up?

I used to tune amateur radio aerial wires with a similar kind of thing.

I meant to say Mark ..... the sound does slightly change by moving the cups around but not a lot. Your natural tendency is to get the ears central. I'm still enjoying it enormously as well. The open nature of its sound and extension both up and down is great. Bit rough up top but hey, it's a £100 headphone. A small eq adjustment at 5KHz smooths it out for me, but I don't mind it with no eq either TBH. Using a tone generator shows a definite hump at 5kHz easily just using the ears, so it's quite significant. I don't hear the higher one that much though.

I think I might blast music through them for a few days just to see if anything changes. Mr Z, reckons that they settle after a while and are toppy out of the box. While I'm suspicious of these claims, mine doesn't seem as bad now but then I may have acclimatised as one does.