Teen correspondent Harry Smith continues Hifi PIg’s « Headphone Month » with his thoughts on the HifiMan RE-400 In Ear Headphones

Hifiman area Japanese company that make headphones, earphones, media players … Ranging from the affordable to the not so affordable. The RE-400s are a very small form factor in-ear that packs a punch for their small design and affordable price. ($99)
In the box you get the earphones (obviously), a carrying case and plenty of earpieces that can fit all shapes and sizes of ear including ones made out of memory foam that are the most comfortable for me. I think its great that Hifiman took the trouble to including so many extras for customisation.

The earphones themselves are very well built and feel solid, although the aluminium on the back is prone to scratching. The cable is braided which you don’t see much on budget earphones.

When listening to to the RE-400s you often forget that you have something in your ears. The memory foam does a great job of filling your ears so no sound can escape. Hands down, the most comfortable earphone I have ever used. The highs and mids are crisp and are very well balanced. Personally I feel that the bass could be a bit lacking but these are tuned to an audiophiles ear and not a teen bass nut. The RE-400s sound best with acoustic pianos and guitars. Female and high male vocals sounded sublime. Whatever you listen to they do a great job at layering the music and make it feel like a live band.
I don’t often take the time to listen to classical music but it actually sounded very good. Not that I would listen to it again, but violins had an amazing resonance.

The stand out track for me was “Within” from Daft Punks newest album. I could hear everything individually whether it be the drums, the piano, the organ or the trademark Daft punk vocoder voice. All the individual sounds combined into a huge orchestra. I felt that I was listening to the music in a huge concert hall. The earphones performed just as well with the entire album.

When listening to more bass heavy genres like dub-step it sounds different to what I’m used to. You hear more of the top end and it changes the whole character of the music.

All in all, there is not much to say about the Hifiman RE-400 as they do barely anything wrong and so many things right. Its comfortable, sounds very good and has solid build quality. You can’t do much better for its price. I recommend these to any audiophile who wants great music on the go and on a budget. $99 well spent !

Price when tested-$99

Build quality-8/10

Sound quality-8/10

Comfort-9.5/10

Value-8/10

Overall – 8.38