[Review] HE400se - $109 Planar Magnetic Headphone?

[GCS Cheats]

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?

He400se is a stupidly cheap open-back planar magnetic headphone. Its price has dropped to $109, that's REALLY cheap.
Being a budget planar, it still offers Hifiman's rounded off, Stealth Magents technology, to achieve less distortion and more transparency 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, 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 moreover 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.

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 present on the he400se can be either amazing or not so gear for you. They are generally really soft, angled to fit your head shape better, and hybrid - meaning 3 different materials to achieve the ultimate comfort in contact with your head and to improve the sound.

But the thing you need to put 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, sound quality*
Sensitivity of 91dB and impedance of 32ohms is a combination, that makes them want some juice to unfold their potential. Nothing crazy is needed, don't get me wrong. I believe that you're going to be just fine with most of the decided amps that are somewhat decent. 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 response graphs, and they're vastly different from each other. Some indicate a huge drop in the bass, and some a linear response all the way down to 20-ish Hz.
I believe that this frequency response graph is the most true-to-life.

Starting from bass, we can see that the extension is simply lacking below 60hz, it may seem like they don't have a lot of slam, and punch 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.

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

Highs are all right, 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.

Now the soundstage - it's 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 so forward compared to the rest of the mix.

For the details - it is really good for the price, considering it costs around $100 at the moment. It obviously can't compete with the 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.