To start with, I've owned my Hifiman HE 4 for a few months now, and I've just recently heavily modified mine! The positives is all these mods don't do anything for the sound, but rather improve the looks comfort and usability of the headphone.
That said though, many of you may remember the Frequency response graphs I posted a few months back,
That Top Green line is the basic frequency response, or objective measurement of how the HE 4 sounds!
Well seeing as the HE 4 is my new standard, I won't be doing any comparisons here, rather simply commenting on what I enjoy about it! Let's put some words to describe what the data shows!
Amplification Needed and Recommended Sadly, the HE 4 is not an easy headphone to drive at an impedance of 38 ohms and an efficiency of 86DB. It responds well to a powerful amp. I drive them with about 5wpc at home and about 2wpc on the go.
For me the HE 4 is the best of both my dynaW1000x and my LA D2k and it cost about 3/4 as both... even better all of this from a completely STOCK headphone!
So for those of you looking for a very balanced headphone, the Hifiman HE 4 takes the cake. I suggest it to users with a semi powerful amp. At least 2wpc leaves you some nice head room, Additionally, the leaner dry sound of the HE 4 would pair wonderfully with those of you who enjoy tubes. Lastly, for the newer audiophiles this is certainly a headphone to get while you can, as the headphone sounds good with lower powered sources, but it really scales well with higher end gear!
