🦖 GearZilla Field Report: HIFIMAN HE400se

Mark at HIFIMAN generously provided the HE400se for this review, and I’m genuinely grateful for the opportunity.

There’s something pretty special about a world-class manufacturer handing you a piece of gear and essentially saying, “Go live with it. Tell us what you hear.”

That trust means a lot to me.

It also doesn’t buy a positive review.

GearZilla Reviews exists because I love discovering gear that helps people pull more pleasure from the music they already love. Whether something arrives from a manufacturer, gets purchased with my own money, shows up through a trade, or lands on my desk from a friend, the mission doesn’t change.

I want to understand what it was designed to do. I want to live with it long enough that I stop staring at specifications. I want to figure out who it’s actually for.

And eventually, I want to answer the only question that really matters:

Does this thing make me want to keep listening?

With the HE400se, that question became especially interesting because I’ve already spent a lot of time with the HIFIMAN sound. I know what happens farther up the ladder, so I wasn’t particularly interested in asking whether a $109 pair of headphones could somehow compete with models costing several times as much.

That’s not really the point.

The much more interesting question was:

How much of that HIFIMAN DNA can you actually get for $109?

Turns out, quite a bit.

HIFIMAN didn’t need any favors from me here.

At this price, the HE400se makes a pretty compelling argument all by itself.

An open-back planar for $109? Come on.

🎧 Review Setup

Every GearZilla review begins the same way.

Stock tuning. Flat EQ. No rescue mission.

Before I start messing with PEQ, amplification, or trying to push a headphone toward the holographic, vocal-lifted presentation I normally chase, I want to understand what the manufacturer actually built.

For the HE400se, my listening covered a pretty broad range of sources and amplification, including:

• Topping DX5 II
• FiiO K11
• Loxjie P20 hybrid tube amplifier
• HiBy R4 Evangelion
• HiBy W4
• iBasso DC-Tonfa
• Cayin RU3
• xDuoo DM-01
• Fosi SK01

I also spent time feeding the system through the brand-new Fosi S3 Lite streamer, with Spotify and Apple Music Lossless serving as my primary music sources.

That broader mix of desktop, portable, dongle, DAP, and streaming gear ended up being useful with the HE400se because this is one of those headphones that reminds you impedance alone doesn’t tell the whole story.

At 32Ω, it looks easy enough on paper.

At 91dB sensitivity, it still appreciates some power.

The HE400se will absolutely make music from modest gear, but give it a capable source and some breathing room and the presentation starts to fill out. The bass gains a little more authority, the dynamics feel more convincing, and the overall sound becomes less constrained.

That was especially interesting moving between smaller portable sources like the HiBy W4, Cayin RU3, iBasso DC-Tonfa, and xDuoo DM-01, then stepping up to more substantial desktop amplification from the DX5 II, K11, and Loxjie P20.

The core HIFIMAN character remained recognizable throughout, but the HE400se clearly had enough technical headroom to reward the stronger chains.

And the Fosi S3 Lite added another wrinkle to the review process because it let me live with the HE400se in a more relaxed streaming setup, rather than treating every listening session like a laboratory experiment.

That became another reason I was impressed by this headphone.

It’s inexpensive gear that still gives you room to experiment, scale, and grow.

🛋️ Comfort & Wearability: Zilla-Ear Approved

The HE400se is also just plain comfortable.

I’ll admit, when I first looked at the cups, I wasn’t completely convinced they were going to contain my Zilla-sized ears without some negotiation.

No problem.

The pads give me plenty of room, and once the headphones are on, everything settles into place naturally without my ears feeling pinched, folded, or pressed against the inside of the cups.

That matters more than people sometimes admit.

A pair of headphones can sound incredible, but if I’m constantly adjusting them, fighting pressure points, or thinking about where my ears are sitting instead of what I’m listening to, the experience starts to fall apart pretty quickly.

The HE400se never became that kind of distraction for me.

The headband distributes the weight well, the pads feel comfortable through longer listening sessions, and the overall fit feels secure without becoming overly clampy.

At 385 grams, this isn’t an ultralight headphone, but the weight never bothered me in actual use because it feels reasonably well distributed rather than concentrated in one annoying spot.

And because these are open-backs, there’s also a nice sense of physical breathability to the experience.

I never felt like I was sealing my head inside two little audio ovens.

[IMAGE: HE400se Comfort / Pads]

That combination of roomy pads, manageable clamp, and solid weight distribution makes the HE400se easy to live with for extended listening.

Which is good.

Because there’s a very real chance somebody buys these as their first serious planar and then spends the next three hours replaying half their library.

GearZilla Take:

The HE400se passes the most important comfort test I have.

The Zilla ears fit. We’re good.

💰 $109 Changes the Conversation

I usually try not to obsess over price before getting into the sound, but with the HE400se that’s almost impossible.

At $109, the value proposition is part of this headphone’s identity.

This is an open-back planar magnetic headphone sitting just above the $100 mark.

In a hobby where replacement cables can cost more than this entire set of cans, that deserves some attention.

And the important part isn’t simply that HIFIMAN managed to put a planar driver into an inexpensive headphone.

It’s that the HE400se still sounds recognizably like a HIFIMAN.

That’s what makes the price interesting.

You’re not buying a novelty planar because the driver technology looks impressive on the product page.

You’re getting a legitimate introduction to the qualities that make HIFIMAN headphones so appealing in the first place:

Openness. Speed. Air. Separation. Space.

The HE400se doesn’t give you the most refined version of those characteristics.

But it absolutely gives you the blueprint.

And that became the entire story of this review.

👹 The HIFIMAN Origin Story

I like this sound.

That was clear pretty quickly.

The HE400se has that open, quick, airy presentation that makes HIFIMAN headphones easy for me to recognize.

Music has room to breathe.

Instruments aren’t constantly fighting for the same piece of space.

Transients move quickly, vocals remain relatively unobstructed, and the presentation has a lightness that makes it feel far more spacious than I’d expect from something priced at $109.

But the longer I listened, especially after spending time with other HIFIMAN headphones, the distinction became equally obvious.

This isn’t the refined end state of the HIFIMAN sound.

It’s the introduction.

The width is there, but the depth isn’t as developed.

The separation is there, but the layering isn’t as sophisticated.

The planar speed is there, but dynamics and bass authority don’t have the same effortless confidence you get farther up the lineup.

The treble carries plenty of air, but it doesn’t have the same polish.

None of that bothered me because the family resemblance remained obvious.

The HE400se teaches you the language.

The more expensive HIFIMAN models simply become increasingly fluent in it.

That’s why the phrase kept circling back through my head throughout this review:

The HE400se isn’t the final form of the HIFIMAN sound. It’s the origin story.

And judged from that perspective, this little monster makes an awful lot of sense.

🧬 KAIJU DNA SCAN

Every monster leaves behind a genetic signature.

Here’s what this one looks like.

K • Kill Shot

The HE400se’s greatest weapon is the amount of legitimate HIFIMAN character it delivers for $109.

The openness, speed, separation, air, and planar cleanliness are all present strongly enough that I can hand this headphone to someone who has never heard a HIFIMAN before and feel confident they’ll understand the basic appeal.

The refinement comes later.

The foundation is already here.

A • Anatomy

The HE400se is an open-back planar magnetic headphone rated at:

• 32Ω impedance
• 91dB sensitivity
• 20Hz-20kHz frequency response
• 385g weight

Those numbers are relatively straightforward, but the planar driver is what shapes so much of the listening experience.

The quick transient response, controlled low end, clean separation, and open presentation all contribute to the sensation that the HE400se is doing something more sophisticated than its price would suggest.

I • Impact

This isn’t the headphone I’d buy if my entire listening philosophy began and ended with bass slam.

The HE400se is much more interested in speed and control than brute force.

There’s enough impact to keep music engaging and enough definition to follow bass lines cleanly, but huge sub-bass weight and physical wallop aren’t really the headline.

The low end behaves.

It doesn’t destroy buildings.

J • Joy

The fun here comes from realizing how much of the audiophile experience HIFIMAN managed to fit this close to $100.

The HE400se doesn’t feel like a stripped-down curiosity.

It feels like an actual starting point.

And once you hear that openness, planar speed, and separation, the dangerous question starts creeping in:

If this is the entry point, what happens farther up the ladder?

That’s how GAS starts.

U • Unleashed

The HE400se has enough underlying technical ability to reward better amplification and EQ without requiring either one to sound good.

That matters.

You can enjoy it stock.

Then later you can give it more power, play with EQ, change your chain, and hear it respond.

For a first serious planar headphone, that makes it an unusually useful little laboratory for figuring out what you actually like.

🎵 Sound

The HE400se sounds open, clean, airy, quick, and spacious.

Those qualities interact with one another rather than existing as isolated strengths.

The planar speed helps instruments remain separated; the separation makes the stage feel more open, and the air around the presentation keeps vocals and upper-frequency information from feeling trapped inside the cups.

The result is a headphone that immediately feels more spacious and organized than its price suggests.

This isn’t a thick or heavily colored presentation.

The HE400se leans into clarity and openness, giving instruments enough room that even moderately busy arrangements stay relatively easy to follow.

Vocals sit cleanly in the mix, percussion remains distinct, and the entire presentation has a sense of breathing room that’s hard not to appreciate.

The HE400se reveals its position in the lineup through refinement.

More expensive HIFIMAN headphones take these same ingredients and deepen them.

Separation becomes layering.

Width becomes three-dimensional space.

Bass control becomes texture and authority.

Vocal clarity becomes denser and more dimensional.

The HE400se shows you what all of those things can become.

It just doesn’t fully become them yet.

💥 Bass

The HE400se’s bass is more about speed and clarity than raw power.

That fits the larger personality of the headphone perfectly.

Bass notes arrive quickly, remain reasonably controlled, and avoid bleeding all over the mids.

Kick drums have enough definition to stay distinct, bass lines remain easy to follow, and the low end generally feels tidy rather than bloated.

What’s missing is weight.

There isn’t enormous sub-bass rumble, and the HE400se doesn’t have the kind of slam that makes you instinctively grin when a massive kick drum lands.

The low end can also sound less layered and textural than what I’ve heard from better HIFIMAN planars.

But I’m not sure I’d want HIFIMAN to chase giant bass at the expense of everything else this headphone does well.

The speed and control help preserve the HE400se’s openness, and that sense of organization is one of the main reasons it sounds so much more sophisticated than the price suggests.

If your definition of great bass begins with “Did my fillings move?”, there are other monsters waiting downtown.

If you value clean planar bass that gets in, does its job, and gets out of the way, the HE400se makes a much stronger case.

🎤 Midrange & Vocals

The midrange is one of the reasons I connected with the HE400se so easily.

Vocals have space.

They aren’t constantly fighting bass warmth or congestion, and the open presentation gives singers enough room to separate naturally from the instrumental bed.

That creates some of the vocal lift I tend to chase.

A singer can rise slightly above the surrounding mix rather than feeling buried inside it, and there’s enough air around voices that the presentation rarely becomes claustrophobic.

Where I hear the difference between this and the more refined HIFIMAN experience is texture and dimensionality.

The HE400se can position the vocalist.

More expensive headphones begin building the person.

You get more body, more texture, more subtle information around the voice, and that sensation that a singer isn’t simply centered in the stage but occupying an actual layer within it.

The HE400se doesn’t consistently reach that floating quality I love.

But it gives you a very clear glimpse of where that road leads.

And for an entry-level headphone, that may be more important.

🥁 Separation, Stage & Imaging

This is where I think the HE400se could genuinely surprise someone coming from mainstream consumer headphones or inexpensive closed-backs.

The soundstage has good width and, more importantly, enough breathing room that music doesn’t feel trapped between your ears.

The cups seem to disappear more easily than I expect at this price.

Individual instruments have room to establish their own positions, and the planar speed helps the HE400se keep complex passages organized rather than allowing everything to collapse into a giant musical blob.

Imaging is also strong.

Positions remain reasonably stable, and individual elements across the stage are easy to locate, so the presentation never feels vague.

The HE400se begins to hit its ceiling at depth.

The stage stretches outward more convincingly than it builds forward and backward.

I get width, space, and clear separation, but not the deeply layered, almost holographic environment that becomes more convincing farther up the HIFIMAN ladder.

That distinction matters because separation and holography aren’t the same thing.

The HE400se can tell me that several instruments are playing.

A more refined pair of headphones starts to convince me that those instruments are occupying different places around me.

That’s where my personal madness begins.

I want instruments swirling.

I want vocals floating.

I want reverb disappearing into space.

The HE400se doesn’t completely get me there.

But I can see downtown from here.

✨ Treble, Air & Planar Speed

The upper frequencies are another area where the HIFIMAN family resemblance becomes obvious.

There’s plenty of air.

The HE400se doesn’t retreat into darkness or soften everything into submission.

Cymbals have presence, strings maintain articulation, and the openness of the treble helps preserve that illuminated, spacious presentation.

I enjoy that.

It gives the HE400se personality.

At the same time, this is another area where refinement becomes easier to hear as you move up the lineup.

The HE400se has the energy and air, but not always the same smoothness or polish.

Still, I’d rather have a pair of headphones that lets the music breathe than something so afraid of offending anyone that it removes all the excitement.

And much of what makes that upper presentation work comes down to planar speed.

Notes arrive quickly.

Drums snap.

Strings remain articulate.

Bass doesn’t linger forever.

Busy passages stay organized.

That speed feeds directly into the clarity, separation, and openness I’ve been describing throughout the review.

Someone hearing a planar for the first time may not immediately have the vocabulary for what they’re noticing.

They may simply think:

Why does everything feel cleaner?

That’s part of the lesson the HE400se teaches incredibly well.

🔌 Power, Pairing & EQ

The HE400se isn’t impossible to drive, but I definitely prefer it with some capable amplification behind it.

There’s a difference between turning the headphones up and giving them enough room to sound authoritative.

With better amplification, the HE400se fills out.

The bass feels a little more convincing, the dynamics improve, and the overall presentation becomes more confident.

That’s why moving the HE400se across the Topping DX5 II, FiiO K11, Loxjie P20, HiBy R4 Evangelion, HiBy W4, iBasso DC-Tonfa, Cayin RU3, and xDuoo DM-01 was worthwhile, with the Fosi S3 Lite also feeding the chain during streaming sessions.

You don’t need an absurd amplifier to enjoy it, but the HE400se is capable enough that better sources and stronger amplification aren’t wasted on it.

The same is true with EQ.

I already like the stock tuning, so this isn’t a rescue mission.

But the HE400se takes EQ exceptionally well.

Want some additional bass presence?

Go for it.

Want to adjust the upper end?

Easy.

Want a little more body?

You’ve got room to experiment.

That flexibility makes the HE400se particularly useful for someone entering the hobby, as it provides an inexpensive platform for learning your preferences.

You aren’t just learning what planar sounds like.

You’re learning what you like planar to sound like.

That’s a lot of utility for $109.

🪜 The HIFIMAN Ladder

The more time I spent with the HE400se, the more I realized that comparing it directly against HIFIMAN’s more expensive headphones almost misses the point.

Of course those models do more.

They should.

Move up the ladder, and you’ll hear greater resolution, deeper layering, better texture, stronger bass authority, more convincing dynamics, larger scale, more sophisticated staging, and that increasing sense of effortlessness that makes premium planar headphones so addictive.

The HE400se isn’t trying to erase those differences.

What impresses me is how much of the identity survives before you spend that money.

The HE400se still sounds like it belongs in the family.

That’s huge.

Because a good entry-level product shouldn’t simply be the cheapest thing a company makes.

It should teach you why the company matters.

The HE400se does exactly that.

💰 Value

This is where the entire review comes together.

At $109, the HE400se is a steal.

Not because it’s perfect.

It isn’t.

Not because it somehow performs like HIFIMAN’s more expensive headphones.

It doesn’t.

It’s a steal because HIFIMAN preserved enough of what makes its planar headphones compelling for someone to experience the core philosophy without spending crazy money.

You get:

• Open-back staging
• Planar speed
• Clean separation
• Strong imaging
• Airy mids and treble
• EQ flexibility
• Enough scalability with amplification to keep the headphone interesting as your chain evolves

That’s an enormous amount of legitimate headphone for the money.

Some entry-level products feel like:

Here’s the cheap one.

The HE400se feels like:

Here’s your first one.

There’s a big difference.

And that difference is why this headphone works so well.

👤 Who Is This For?

The HE400se might be one of the easiest recommendations I can make to someone who’s curious about audiophile headphones but hasn’t tried an open-back planar.

If you’ve spent years with Bluetooth headphones, gaming headsets, mainstream consumer cans, or inexpensive closed-backs and you’re wondering what all this planar magnetic nonsense is about, the HE400se gives you a legitimate way into that world without turning the purchase into a financial event.

Put on music you know well and pay attention to the space around instruments.

Listen to how quickly notes arrive.

Listen to the separation.

Listen to the air.

Listen to the way vocals have room to breathe.

That’s the lesson.

If you already own significantly more refined HIFIMAN planars, the conversation changes.

You’ll hear the shallower layering, the lighter bass authority, the limitations in texture, and the places where additional polish would help.

But that isn’t a failure.

That’s context.

This isn’t supposed to finish your HIFIMAN journey.

It’s supposed to start it.

🦖 GearZilla Score

💥 Slam: 3.6/5

Fast, controlled, and nicely defined, but the HE400se isn’t built around enormous physical impact or deep sub-bass authority.

🎤 Vocal Lift: 4.0/5

Clean mids and an open presentation give vocals plenty of room to breathe. They don’t consistently achieve the floating dimensionality I hear from more refined HIFIMANs, but the foundation is absolutely here.

🌌 Holography: 3.9/5

Very good openness and width for the money. Depth and true multidimensional layering are where the HE400se most clearly reveals its place in the lineup.

🎯 Target Lock: 4.1/5

Strong imaging with clean positional information. Instruments remain easy to locate and reasonably stable across the stage.

✨ Air: 4.3/5

One of the defining qualities of the HE400se. Open, illuminated, and unmistakably HIFIMAN, even if the upper presentation doesn’t have the refinement of the company’s more expensive offerings.

🧪 EQ & Customization Potential: 4.8/5

Excellent. The planar driver responds beautifully to EQ, while the stock tuning remains enjoyable enough that tweaking feels optional rather than mandatory.

💰 Value: 5.0/5

Monster-level. An open-back planar magnetic headphone with legitimate HIFIMAN DNA for $109 is borderline absurd.

🦖 Overall GearZilla Rating: 4.4/5 • S-Class Value Kaiju

📣 Final Roar

The HIFIMAN HE400se reminded me why great entry-level gear matters.

Not cheap gear.

Entry-level gear.

There’s a difference.

Cheap gear exists because somebody needed to hit a number.

Great entry-level gear introduces you to an idea.

And the HE400se introduces the HIFIMAN idea beautifully.

I’ve heard better HIFIMAN headphones.

I’ve heard models with more resolution, deeper layering, stronger bass authority, richer texture, more convincing holography, and that wonderful sense of effortlessness that begins appearing as you move farther up the lineup.

The HE400se isn’t pretending to be those headphones.

It doesn’t need to.

Because it gives you the blueprint.

You hear the openness and realize how much room music can occupy outside the center of your head.

You hear the planar speed and notice how cleanly notes attack and disappear.

You hear individual instruments separate instead of smearing together.

Vocals get breathing room.

Treble brings air into the presentation.

The entire experience starts opening a door.

And then the dangerous part happens.

You start wondering what comes next.

If this is $109, what does the Sundara do?

What about the Edition XS?

The Ananda?

And suddenly you’re reading Arya reviews at one in the morning, telling yourself this is definitely research and absolutely not the beginning of another purchase.

That’s the trap.

But the HE400se doesn’t need that eventual upgrade path to justify itself.

At $109, it already delivers enough to stand on its own as a genuinely enjoyable open-back planar headphone.

That’s what impressed me most.

It isn’t an inexpensive pair of headphones, and I enjoyed them because I constantly reminded myself what they cost.

I simply liked the sound.

Then I remembered it was $109 and liked the value proposition even more.

The HE400se isn’t the most refined expression of the HIFIMAN sound.

It’s the origin story.

It introduces the powers before the monster gets the full budget.

It gives you enough speed, space, air, separation, and planar character to understand what the fuss is about, while leaving enough refinement on the table that you can still hear exactly why the rest of HIFIMAN’s lineup exists.

And at $109?

An open-back planar?

Come on.

This thing is a steal.

More importantly, it might be exactly the kind of headphone that makes somebody discover why this ridiculous hobby is so much fun in the first place.

And once that happens?

Yeah.

Good luck with the rabbit hole.

✅ Buy If

• 🎧 You’ve never owned an open-back planar magnetic headphone.
• 💰 You want outstanding performance around the $100 mark.
• 🌌 You prioritize openness and spaciousness.
• ⚡ You enjoy fast, clean transient response.
• 🎤 You like clear, unobstructed vocals.
• 🎯 You value separation and imaging.
• ✨ You enjoy an airy presentation.
• 🧪 You like experimenting with EQ.
• 🔌 You already have or plan to add a decent DAC/amp.
• 🦖 You’re curious about the HIFIMAN house sound.
• 💸 You want your first serious audiophile headphone without financially leveling an entire city.

❌ Skip If

• 💥 You need enormous bass slam and deep sub-bass rumble.
• 🔒 You need isolation.
• 🏢 You regularly listen around people who don’t want to hear your music too.
• 🌑 You strongly prefer thick, dark, or very warm headphones.
• 🌌 You expect high-end depth and holographic layering.
• 🔍 You already own significantly more refined HIFIMAN planars and are specifically looking for an upgrade.
• 📱 You want something designed primarily around weak portable outputs.
• 💸 You have absolutely no interest in discovering what the next HIFIMAN sounds like.

Hear the GearZilla Roar. 🦖

Ready to meet the monster?

Visit the HIFIMAN Store directly to check out the HE400se:

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/he400se.html