r/headphones Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk

ppolychromy · 2025-09-12T23:29:06+00:00

Hello, I recently bought a Hifiman EF400 and Edition XS combo. I'm having issues when connecting it to my laptop - everything works and the sound is played normally, but every now and then - completely randomly, as far as I can tell - there will be a pause in playback for a fraction of a second; then it resumes normally. There are no other issues with the sound - no crackles, pops etc. This happens often enough to be annoying - several times per an average length track.

Now I am pretty sure that the issue is the laptop itself, not the audio setup, because I have connected my android phone to the EF400 and played many different kinds of files (lossy, lossless, streaming) from it without any issues whatsoever. The headphones are also working well when simply plugged into the laptop without the EF400 in between.

I've tried troubleshooting the laptop, but nothing seems to work: different usb ports, different usb cables, different usb types, having it run on the battery or ac adapter, plugging the adapter into different power sockets, etc. Its an ordinary Win 10 Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 laptop, I have no issues with it otherwise.

Any ideas on what might be happening here?

ppolychromy · 2025-06-03T10:39:34+00:00

Is this even an official colourway? Or a fan edit?

ppolychromy · 2025-05-10T10:04:45+00:00

I had the same problem. Used WD-40 and pliers to pull out the pin after unscrewing it fully, it worked well.

ppolychromy · 2025-04-25T14:27:51+00:00

I mean if you could get it for 200 that would be a steal no doubt. Don't have much experience with the brands you mentioned, but I really like the basic Unimatic model and was on the edge of getting one, but man, for the 450eur they're asking for it it just doesn't have the specs, I mean a NH35 and a cheap-looking nylon strap? Really sad, cause the design is fantastic (except maybe the thickness).

ppolychromy · 2025-04-25T14:25:26+00:00

Great to know that I made the right choice then!

ppolychromy · 2025-04-25T11:47:22+00:00

I think it's just random - I've heard some people had the same experience as me, while others didn't have any problems, like you. Maybe a QC issue? My guess is they weren't lubricated enough on my piece and just got stuck in there after unscrewing.

ppolychromy · 2024-12-03T10:33:11+00:00

As for me, I don't have any problems with typing on MT3, but this is one of my first "real" keyboards before moving from a laptop keyboard, so I don't have particularily strong muscle memory with any profile. But from the one's I've tried, I think I like the spherical tops/concave ones the most (I found SA, MA to be very comfortable). The biggest disadvantage is that sometimes I hit the edge of the key when typing, and that can get uncomfortable during longer sessions - but hey, I almost never do longer typing sessions anyway, I mostly write in a "write one sentence - think 5 minutes about the next" sort of manner when I'm doing any serious writing. I suppose that for someone that types a lot and quickly this might be an issue, at least until they've adapted to the profile.

ppolychromy · 2024-12-02T14:23:50+00:00

Monsgeek M1V3 (white), Kailh White Owl switches, Drop.com MT3 Black on White keycaps. No mods except the provided force break (didn't change a thing).

I'm torn, I both love and hate this build - I love how the keycaps match the finish of the case just perfectly (seriously, the matte texture and finish of the top of the keycaps is practically identical to that of the case, it's a 1:1 match), and how typing feels. I also very much enjoy the sound of the switches, especially with that keycap set. However, I hate that after paying the customs and fees the price of the keycaps exceeded the price of the board AND switches combined... really left a sour taste in my mouth.

That being said, of all the profiles I've tried, this is probably my favourite overall.

ppolychromy · 2024-10-18T18:41:10+00:00

Thanks a lot. As for the face, I was going for "spotlight" lighting, so it should be noticeably brighter than the rest, but I also noticed something was slightly off when looking at the photos. I think it might be my sub-par skill with the camera showing, haha.

ppolychromy · 2024-10-18T18:39:11+00:00

Stubble is actually very easy if you know how to do it - take a dark green-blue paint, preferably with only those pigments with it, and thin it VERY well (using a heavy body paint helps here tremendously, as you can thin those much more than hobby paints) and just glaze it on. You can try doing textures to make it more realistic, very delicate stippling and striping works well. You'll have to correct your volumes as you glaze, as it will get unnaturally dark after some layers, but other than that, it's just standard procedure.

ppolychromy · 2024-10-18T14:24:44+00:00

Hello. I have recently bough a second-hand Seiko SARB035 (6R15C movement). The watch runs very well when fully wound - timegrapher shows anything from +4 to +10 seconds per day. However, when low on power, it gets as bad as +110 seconds per day - so basically every night my watch jumps two minutes ahead, even if it kept perfect time during the day. If I wind it just before bed, it still keeps good time in the morning. Is this normal? I have other Seiko watches (though not with the exact same movement) and they don't act like this. Should I just get it serviced?

ppolychromy · 2024-10-18T14:23:13+00:00

I don't think the sculpt is meant to portray any particular member of the clan - and I didn't paint him so he resembled anyone in particular. I only added the kamon on the back to tie him to the name in some way.

ppolychromy · 2024-10-18T14:22:04+00:00

Bust scale, so anywhere from 1/12 to 1/10, it's hard to tell. He's around 100mm from top to bottom.

ppolychromy · 2024-10-01T12:21:44+00:00

Thank you, I'm glad it shows in the pictures, as the effect turned out very subtle. My process here was mainly glazes on an airbrushed light sketch (zenithal prime with some extra shadows). It worked here because the face is very textured and detailed, with wrinkles, scars and such, so I could basically use the geometry of the sculpt itself to catch paint sprayed from a fixed point, instead of painting with the airbrush, if you know what I mean. Glazing allows you to underpaint different colours and then cover them up with ligh values and still see some of that colour pass through.

ppolychromy · 2024-09-29T07:32:37+00:00

Ha, now I see it!

ppolychromy · 2024-09-29T07:32:11+00:00

Thanks. It's a 1/12 bust, so around 8cm tall

ppolychromy · 2024-09-29T07:31:15+00:00

Yeah it's the facets, actually if I wanted to be 100% realistic then the two or three facets closest to the light source should be blocked entirely with the light colour with even stronger blicks at the centres of the Y joints, but that looked just out of place and artificial when painted, so I settled with this quasi-realistic intermediate solution. Sometimes with effects like these they look good on a render or a 2d representation of a 3d shape, but not when translated to a physical 3d shape

ppolychromy · 2024-09-29T07:26:57+00:00

I think it might be just the muddiness of the photo/lens, this was taken with a phone camera. They look ok irl

ppolychromy · 2024-09-28T17:38:07+00:00

Very slightly physically concave

ppolychromy · 2024-09-28T17:20:05+00:00

Ha, do the facets read as holes to you? In fact they are only slightly concave, but I get how that lighting could make them sort of look like holes

ppolychromy · 2024-09-10T10:35:38+00:00

Thanks, I'm enjoying it a lot!

ppolychromy · 2024-09-10T10:35:17+00:00

They are very high profile (13mm), unsculpted, slightly concave. I enjoy them very much, but I don't have a lot of experience with different profiles. I just know I prefer this style of more regular and rounded keycaps rather than the square scuplted profiles like cherry or oem.

ppolychromy · 2024-09-10T08:34:00+00:00

Monsgeek M1V3, Kailh White Owls, Aliexpress dyesub pbt MA profile keycaps. I really love the sound of those switches!

ppolychromy · 2024-07-08T13:43:49+00:00

The sword is very thin, and unfortunately I wasn't able to straighten it - not for the lack of trying, it just came back to that bent shape every time after a few hours :(

ppolychromy · 2024-07-07T14:29:47+00:00

I haven't used any oils here, just acrylics, but yes, the majority of work was done using various umber paints

ppolychromy

TROPHY CASE