HiFiMan HE400S Planar Magnetic Headphones

Description:

Key features

• Sounds terrific on your smartphone or most any portable audio device
• Superb Hi-Fi Quality with lifelike clarity, detail, extended bass and wide sound stage
• Only 350g-Long Hours of Comfortable Listening
• Innovative headband and specially designed ear pads for remarkable comfort
• Planar headphones

What is it?

One of the highest efficiency planar phones in the world! HIFIMAN’s newest HE400S sounds terrific on your smartphone or most any portable audio device. HE400S delivers all the lifelike clarity, detail, extended bass and wide sound stage that audiophiles have come to expect from HIFIMAN. Innovative headband and specially designed ear pads for remarkable comfort allowing you to enjoy your music for hours on end. Lightweight: Only 350g!
HE400S delivers all the lifelike clarity, detail, extended bass and wide sound stage that audiophiles have come to expect from HIFIMAN.

If you’re into planar-magnetic headphones but thought power requirements and price limitations might put the damper on a purchase, think again. The smart hi-fi men at HiFiMAN have figured out how to deliver the sonic benefits of planar technology—noteworthy reproduction of finer details and spaciousness, for instance—in a high-sensitivity (98dB), low-impedance (22 ohms) can that isn’t power-hungry. In fact, the HE400S is so efficient it can be driven by your smartphone with no external amp required—a rarity among planar headphones.

How does it work?

Dynamic headphones utilize conductors that vibrate in limited areas of the diaphragm. Result is that a large percentage of the diaphragm cannot be directly driven by those conductors. Planar headphones have conductive layers over almost all of the diaphragm. Evenly driven by these conductors, result is significantly lower distortion than conventional dynamic headphones.

Regarding HE400S’ technical design, most TAS readers are familiar with planar-magnetics vis-à-vis dynamic drivers, but just in case, here’s the deal: Planar technology involves a diaphragm of very low mass that has conductive layers distributed throughout its larger (relative to dynamic designs) surface. This allows the diaphragm to be driven by magnetic force more evenly, resulting in lower distortion. From a sonic standpoint, this can translate into enhanced reproduction of subtle musical details in addition to improved soundstaging.

Dynamic drivers work like this: A magnetic field causes a coil of ultra-thin wire to move backward and forward, which, in turn, moves the driver diaphragm that the coil is attached to. This chain of electromagnetic events rapidly compresses and decompresses the air, creating the sound waves that make your head nod. Planar magnetics, a driver technology that Yamaha popularized in the mid-1970s, are a completely different beastie. Instead of using a relatively heavy and rigid diaphragm, like the one found in a DD, the planar diaphragm is made of a thin transparent sheet of film. This flexible film has extremely low mass, with conductive layers distributed throughout its large surface area. That means it can be moved by a magnetic force more evenly. Upshot: a more accurate signal, lower distortion, and greater detail.

What’s in the box?

• HiFiMan HE400S Headphones
• ¼” (6.35 mm) headphone adapter
• Headphone Cable (1.5 meter or 4.9 Feet; 3.5mm plug)
• Earpads：1 pair (on the headphone)