HIFIMAN HE400se Review: $109 Planar Magnetic Headphone?

The HIFIMAN HE400se seems to be criticized by some people and loved by others. The opinions about that headphone seem to be so vastly different, depending on whom you ask, that it’s unbelievable they’re talking about the same headphone.

So what’s up with it?

The HE400se is a stupidly cheap open-backHeadphones with perforated or meshed ear cups allowing free air exchange; produces a more natural, spacious presentation with no isolation from ambient sound. planar magneticA driver using a thin membrane with embedded conductors suspended between magnets, producing sound from the entire surface for very low distortion. headphone. Its price has dropped to $109 - that’s REALLY cheap. Being a budget planar, it still offers HIFIMAN’s rounded-off Stealth MagnetsHIFIMAN's asymmetric magnet geometry on their planar magnetic drivers, designed to present a more acoustically transparent surface to the diaphragm and reduce wave reflections that would otherwise distort the response. technology, to achieve less distortion and more transparencyThe quality of a system that conveys the recording with minimal added coloration or character of its own; transparent components are "invisible" in the chain. in sound. Stealth Magnets used to be present only in higher-end headphones, but as we can see, they’re possible to implement at a very low price.

Build and Comfort

They don’t feel like a top-of-the-line product at all. Hmm, maybe because they aren’t? I’m not going to complain about it, as they cost just a little over $100 - and I did not find any potential points of failure. They simply aren’t made entirely out of metal, but rather plastic. The earcups, covers, and headband are all plastic. The only metal part is the yoke.

They feature the Deva-style solid headband, without the suspension strap. They’re quite lightweight though, so it shouldn’t result in any hotspots on your head - unless the headband’s curvature really doesn’t match your head shape.

The earcups swivel, tilt, and can be adjusted. But I’m really not a fan of this type of adjustment - it doesn’t feel right when you do it. Doesn’t sound right when I say it…

The pads on the HE400se can be either amazing or not so great for you. They’re generally really soft, angled to fit your head shape better, and hybrid - meaning three different materials to achieve the ultimate comfort in contact with your head and to improve the sound.

But the thing you need to take into consideration is the inner diameter of them. Your ears are somewhat likely not to fit entirely inside. In that case, they’re going to touch the pads from the inside. For some folks it’s not a problem, for others it can get slightly uncomfortable. I wouldn’t be too worried about it though - just a little soft touch never hurt nobody.

Amplification and Sound Quality

A sensitivityThe output sound pressure level for a standardized input - typically dBSPL at 1W/1m for speakers, or dBSPL at 1mW or 1V for headphones. of 91dB and impedanceThe total opposition (resistance + reactance) a speaker or headphone presents to the driving current, measured in ohms and varying with frequency. of 32 ohms is a combination that makes them want some juice to unfold their potential. Nothing crazy is needed, don’t get me wrong - I believe you’re going to be just fine with most decent amps. I wouldn’t recommend using them without any external amplification though, as their loudness and sound quality can easily degrade, leading to a tiny, thin, and quiet sound.

Tonally, they sound… interesting. I found many frequency responseA graph showing output amplitude vs. frequency - the most fundamental measurement of any audio component's tonal character. graphs, and they’re vastly different from each other. Some indicate a huge drop in the bass, some a linear response all the way down to 20-ish Hz.

Starting from the bass: extension is simply lacking below 60Hz. It may seem like they don’t have a lot of slamThe visceral impact of low-frequency transients - kick drums, bass drops, tympani - felt as much as heard. High-slam systems combine deep extension with fast transient attack and high SPL capability without compression. and punchBass impact in the 60-150Hz region - the chest-thump of a kick drum or the snap of a slap-bass note. Distinct from slam, which extends lower; punch is about the leading edge of bass transients, not the depth. in the bass region, but from my experience, they absolutely have it. It’s not crazy, for sure, but they can definitely hit somewhat hard in the bass. There isn’t a lot of information or detail in the lows, but they are clean and pleasant.

The mids sound just like every other HIFIMAN’s headphone - with a larger dip at around 2kHz, which emphasizes the boosted treble even more. The mids sound quite muffled for some reason, which I’m not a huge fan of.

The highs are alright. There’s some detail, not a crazy amount, and it’s not the brightest headphone on the market. There are a bunch of typical peaks and dips, which is a common characteristic of planar magnetic technology. They don’t really affect the sound nearly as much as it looks like.

Soundstage and Vocals

The soundstageThe perceived three-dimensional acoustic space in a stereo recording - width beyond the speakers, depth front-to-back, and sometimes height information. is pretty narrow. They don’t get wide, no matter what you listen to. It’s not too precise, so if you’re looking for a wide soundstage, look elsewhere. But for the price - it’s pretty nice. There are much narrower headphones on the market, even at a higher price point. Because of the pretty narrow soundstage, the positioning is also lacking a little bit, but it’s still decent. In games specifically, I’ve had no problems telling which way enemies are making sounds.

Vocals are a little bit backed off. They don’t cut right through the mix, but rather stay blended in. That doesn’t make them sound boring though - just not as forwardA tonal character with elevated upper midrange or lower treble that pushes vocalists and lead instruments ahead of the mix; can sound exciting or fatiguing. compared to the rest of the mix.

Detail Retrieval

It’s really good for the price, considering the HE400se costs around $100 at the moment. It obviously can’t compete with higher-end headphones in terms of detail retrieval - but that would be a bit too much to ask for. It simply doesn’t quite give you the sense of clarity present in other, more expensive options. The sound can seem a little muffled, which I’m not a fan of, but at this price, with that great tonality and other characteristics, I think it shouldn’t be a problem to take one compromise, which is just that.