RE-400 Waterline Unboxing and First Impressions
More product unboxing and quick review, even though I am not qualified to review. Previously I have owned HiFiMan’s RE-0 IEMs and now HiFiMan now has the RE-400 as the, what I would consider, successor to the RE-0. Currently, my audio setup to compare with would be using the Fiio E17 Alpen DAC/amp, Cowon J3 player, AKG Q701 headphones and VSonic GR06 IEMs.
So why have I bought the RE-400’s when I have the perfectly usable GR06, which are touted as one of the best all-around IEMs for around $50? Well, I realized how much I am annoyed by wearing them over-the-ear, without a choice of being able to wear them down (normally). While this is a minor annoyance perhaps, the cable is a bit thick which seems to have some cable memory, or perhaps it always bent away from my head, which meant it always tried to go back over my ear. This wouldn’t have been a problem, if the cable guides included with the IEMs were part of the cable, rather than cheap things that you stuck on the cable – loosely I might add. Thus, it became a hassle to keep them on my ears, having to twist the cable to coerce it to stay on. Also, I suppose the tips were not well fitting, which would be my fault for not bringing them, considering how many are given with the headphones. In any case, back to HiFiMan.
So wait, I said I had the RE-0 previously, but didn’t list them as a comparison piece. Ah yes, perhaps a reason to be wary of HiFiMan, or maybe Chinese products in general. RE-0’s have what I would say a one year life expectancy, with a few stages before becoming terminal. I will compare it more in the unboxing. I did however enjoy the RE-0 while they lasted, although it was fairly bass-light and analytical.
Now I must preface this: I haven’t used them all that much yet, and it suffers (I suppose) from lack of burn in.
Unboxing
Now the RE-400 is competitively priced at $99 USD and is apparently named Waterline because it strives to be the “benchmark” of what high fidelity IEMs should be. So let’s see how the RE-400 stacks up to his predecessor.
Yum, Amazon Prime had it nicely in stock from HiFiMan! Two day shipping was quite delicious. Interestingly enough, HiFiMan boxed in some extras with the RE-400.
So let’s see what was given to us from HiFiMan. RE-400s, a hard clam shell case, a bag of 4 pairs of tips and two pairs of Comply T400 isolation tips (medium and large). In fact, this is much more than expected considering the extras were packaged outside of the RE-400 box!
Here is the bag of tips lined up. Three pairs of clear tips, single flange and large. The middle ones are actually slanted for some reason. The black pair of tips.. I don’t know how to explain them.
Yeah, it’s a single flange, but reminds me of a tower of Hanoi.
And here are the included Comply tips, the standard marshmallow isolation tips.
Now the main box, you can see the nice quality of the package, far surpasses the RE-0 box. If you don’t know the RE-0 packaging, it was the size of the clam shell case, the lid kept on with two pieces of clear tape.
It’s not easy to see but on the IEMs, there is the bi-flange tips installed, with filters. Inside the packaging there are a few more replacement tips.
The box sides out of the clear plastic casing, which is a nice and thick. Again I have to stress this is the best packaging I have received for IEMs (although my inexperiece shows here).
Here are the packaged tips. One set of large bi-flange, a set of small bi-flange which I believe are the same size as the ones already installed, a set of small single flange (which have this bar inside of them) and a set of replacement filters.
I am now using the single flanges since they are the smallest.
And finally the main star of the show. The lovely RE-400 terminates in the 3.5mm 45 degree jack. From the jack to the splitter is a light braided cable that doesn’t seem to have much cable memory. There is a small silver chin slider, the same colour as the housing. All in all, it looks like a fairly good quality product. However, I must note that one of the cable stress relief is noticeably ‘glued’ on. Concerns me since it is likely going to be the first thing that breaks.
Now, back on the RE-0, the cable relief will be unsealed, rather than break, and no longer stick to the housing. I believe that this problem is still possible in the RE-400. Of course, this is a minor issue that some epoxy or superglue of sorts wouldn’t fix, though it is still a bit disheartening.
Another reason why the RE-0 has a short life span is that the housing is made of two shells, basically glued together. After a year or so, that bond is weakened and the housing falls apart. Again, it’s a minor issue since technically you can glue these together since the cable connections should still be good but it can be damaging and marks the limited remaining time left to live. The RE-400 has the two halves again (of course, otherwise how else do you assemble it) but past experience worries me.
One small thing I do like about the VSonic series is the amount of tips given, but also the colour labels on them to easily identify the pairs. It’s much easier to find the right pair of tips if you have them grouped in colour.
Sound quality
Now for the real issue at hand. Of course I must point to you the review done by CleiOS on head-fi.org for a better review.
Now how does the RE-400 stand up to the GR-06? The GR-06 has a warmer signature than the RE-400, with more bass quantity but it almost felt…like a veil; especially considering I am comparing with Q701 and the RE-400. I say it’s like a veil because it feels like it “muddied” the entire sound.
In comparison, the RE-400 has accurate and fast bass, but it is lacking a bit in quanitity. It doesn’t inspire bone shaking bass which might be a fairly disapointing when listening to electronic music. It’s clean but not full.
On the other side, I feel the highs are a bit sparkly, although that might taper off once more burn in occurs. It’s very clear compared to the GR06 but it feels higher than normal. In any case it is a very vocal-centric sound. The RE-400’s clearly lack in all areas compared to the Q701s, but at under half the price that is acceptable.
So while the GR06 is great value all-rounder, the RE-400 does stand nicely to more vocal-centric music, and take some time to getting used to a more analytical sound.
In comparison to the RE-0, it does stand fairly close to where the RE-0 excelled at, a little more bass but without quantity and detailed highs. At a $99 price point, the RE-400 certainly do stand at a great value for sound with it’s predecessors: RE-0, RE-ZERO, RE-262 and RE-272. The RE-400 definitely is a true successor to the RE-0 and its price point which it was probably the top 3 IEMs for sub-$100.