HiFiMAN - HE400i 2020 Version

I have been using the he400i the original version since last 2.5 years.both the headphone are same except for obvious change in headband design which is good since the last design was extremely brittle and I had to change it with sundara headband as the last one broke.I have paired this headphone with ifi nano iDSD black label and it compliments this headphone nicely.It has an overall neutral sound with good soundstage and instrument separation is spot on.
The bass is a proper planar bass and linear,mids are sweet sounding and highs are relatively crisp instrument like Cymbals and guitar sound natural.The headphone is brilliant if you listen to jazz music and is brilliant for movies too.Minor downside of this can is that it can sound a bit harsh on some poorly recorded song and in some already bright song.overall an excellent value headset with a planar sound.

(Look at the cons to understand the rating - I have returned the headphone and will not be buying it again)
I'm new to the audiophile headphone world and I was looking for a pair of headphones(HP's) so thought why not try the audiophile-grade than our usual Bluetooth HP's. Most of my experience has been with a good pair of stereo speakers with an integrated amp.
So did my bit of research and decided on Hifiman 400i 2020.
Build Quality: Pretty good. The cups feel a bit flimsy but that is the design and nothing to worry about. The pictures might mislead you to believe the outer covering of the cups is flat and even but they are not. At least not in my unit. And the mesh moves when I tried to wiggle it a little. Overall decent but I expected more for the price.
Sound Quality: Well the HP's do sound great and open as expected from open-back HP's.
The bass is good and audible not boomy or distorted. Not for anyone looking for a bass-heavy can out of the box. (But EQ these cans and they respond well)
Mids are a little recessed but still clean and clear.
Highs can get a little sharp at times depending on the audio quality and track you listen to. It is detailed and has a good resolution.
Soundstage - It is ok, would not say great. I could feel the stage behind me to be better than in front of me. And it is nowhere comparable to a pair of speakers(For anyone new who does not have experience with HP's).
Imaging - Well I could not really verify this properly in my pair due to the driver imbalance issue.
Cons - The major one that no one here seems to have posted about or addressed. With Hifiman it's a very risky affair. The pair I got had a driver imbalance issue which upon return, Hifiman did not address properly. I raised a return request within 7 days for a replacement. It was sent to Hifiman for verification and they returned back the HP's after 2 weeks stating the issue was with wire and have been resolve. But the issue still persisted when I tested them. Kudos to Headphone Zone to have supported me during this situation and arranging another return to verify the HP's themselves, and agreed to replace or provide a refund.
Now it would be ok if it was an issue with just 1 unit, but I see similar comments in amazon.in for the same product. And what's more, I purchased deva next and am facing the same issue yet again. (My hearing is fine as the issue this time is in the opposite direction) I might post a review for deva as well after the issues with it are dealt with, so check out that page for the review.
Overall a great pair of cans and does not really have any great alternatives at this price point. So you need to decide whether you want to invest your money, time, and effort into them.
I was skeptical about ordering from Headphone Zone, but after experiencing the support I received from them, I would not have any problem shopping from them again.

I use these headphones for casual music listening on my computer. The headphones are comfortable to wear, but do warm up the ears when wearing for more than 30 minutes. The headphone cable is braided and durable, however seems to constantly get in my way as it is so stiff and thick. The sound quality is pretty good, but I have not been blown away when compared to a much cheaper monoprice headphone pair. They possibly need a good break-in period and I have not listened to them long enough to notice improvements related to break-in. Another plus seems to be that the headphones work fine with mobile phones. I have not used these with a dedicated DAC yet, but rather use the amplified headphone jack that I get with my 2.1 logitech computer speaker set.

Its my 2nd headphones from HIFIMan (first was he400) and the are meet and exceeded my expectation! All my conclusion is after a 150 hours burn-in as suggested by HIFIMAN manual that came with HE400i The sound is more refined and smoothed then he400. Every instrument can be well followed and hear every nuances of the musicians, hence have a wide soundstage. The highs that are ear peircing on he400, here on 400i they are more smooth which are good for because I hate when the treble have picks. It still has some picks but are noticeably smaller then he400.

worth the buy .