General/Packaging/Build/Comfort
Hifiman needs no introduction, it has already made itself well known in the audiophile community with various headphones ranging from the budget range all the way to their top of the line. Today I have with me the RE400 Waterline, which was released some time ago, i’m here to find out in today’s day and age, is it still relevant?
The packaging is very premium and not gonna discuss much about the packaging, you may refer to the pictures from Hifiman’s site.
Product Packaging Page
The only gripe I have with RE600 is the cable. It doesn’t look like it will break anytime, but it is easy to get tangled, the plus point of the cable is that it doesn’t have much microphonic noise. The IEM itself is also very light, you can go to sleep with it as well. The shell is made out of metal and the quality is on the higher side
Gears used for this review
Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far
Sound Impression
RE400 to my ears is neutral with a slight hint of warmth, to my ears, the low end although quantity is lacking, the note weight from the lows still carries sufficient weight/texture to it, paired with Earmen Angel, which is a reference sounding DAC/Amp, the dynamics are very impressive. The timbre sounds natural to my ears, nothing to complain about. Let’s take a look at the breakdown below:
Bass
Bass presentation is neutral, sub bass does roll off early
Not the star of the show, but the speed of it is very good, it handles high BPM song effortlessly
The bass has got a slight warmth to it, giving it a pleasant texture that doesn’t sound too thin
Mid bass has is punchy and doesn’t bleed into the mids
This IEM is definitely not for basshead nor it is suitable to listen to EDM
Mids
The mids are lush sounding to my ears, not recessed sounding
Vocal for both male and female are not recessed and has good texture to it, female vocal especially (Florence+Machine), it sounds sweet and has good texture with the right energy to it
Male vocal is not as forward as female’s, but it still retains good texture and note for male’s vocal
Treble
Treble is smooth and plenty of details in this range
However, there’s a slight graininess i noticed on this range
Doesn’t sound harsh nor anywhere near sibilant
It has got a good amount of air to not make RE400 dark sounding
Detail retrieval is good for the asking price, considering it cost only 20$, the technical performance is actually quite respectable
Driveability
RE400 is fairly easy to drive, but as with most micro drivers, they perform better with more power
Pairing it with a slightly warm source, the iFi Go Blue, in my opinion is a very good pairing, the added warmth just thickens the overall note weight, a little bit more punch on the bass, with the xBass turned on, the whole experience is very positive
Comparison (RE600)
In terms of bass, both the RE600 and RE400 sounded very close, the difference is very minor during my A/B test
Construction wise, they are more or less the same in terms of weight, both of them are quite light, both have different cable, RE600 has better cable compared to RE400, which make sense because of the higher price
Mids on the RE600 is slightly more forward and more detailed compared to RE400, vocal performance on both is largely similar
Treble on the RE600 does have not have the slight graininess of RE400, detail retrieval is also better on the RE600
Soundstage is quite similar, imaging is where RE600 takes the lead, with much better imaging
In short, if you are tight on budget, the RE400 will do its job just fine, offering roughly 70% of RE600’s performance and fair asking price that will not break your bank
Final Thoughts
RE400 is the IEM that you don’t get the WOW effect when you first listen to them, similar to its bigger brother the RE600, it does grow on you as you spend more time with them.
Everything sounded natural and the performance of the mids is what really captivates me, having heard some other IEMs costing more than the RE400, the performance doesn’t come close except for the bass (more quantity). Released in 2013, is it still relevant today? Yes, I would say so. Recommended? Yes! If you want a no frill experience (No cable colling), prefer something neutral, look no further..
*RE400 is sent over by Hifiman for the purpose of this review. I thank them for the opportunity. At the time of writing, the RE400 is on a sale price of 20$ instead of the usual 79$, which is a steal in my opinion
Hifiman RE400 Product Page - Non Affiliated
Comments
Post a Comment