Hifiman HE400se Planar Magnetic Headphones Review

The sound is good, but you can do better

Photo taken by the author.

When I first started listening to Hifiman’s very popular and relatively cheap HE400se headphones, I was impressed by their sound performance and daunted by their vast and varied reputation. Hifiman makes headphones across the whole gamut of price ranges, from this ~$130 base value all the way up to pairs costing many multiple thousands of dollars. Their house sound signature is known for its flat bass and detailed highs, and their build quality is known for being a little all over the place.

After two full weeks listening to the headphones and after exorcising some demons regarding the “fun” of writing online reviews, I’ve come to this: the HE400se headphones indeed sound great for their price, but I don’t personally like them all that much.

Before you grab your virtual pitchfork, I don’t think they suck. I just think that, for my tastes, there are better options around this price.

The Hifiman HE400se (official site here) sells for a standard price of $149, but it’s almost always on sale for a bit less than that. They’ve recently been discounted all the way down to $110, and that’s the price I bit at on Amazon. I wasn’t asked to write this by the company, nor did they compensate me in any way. Unlike most audio…