HiFiMAN HM-801 Portable Player / DAC Review: Part One of Two - Page 25

I cannot agree more.

The problem is that there is no one single review on the hifiman. We completely have no idea of what hifiman would sound like, though I trust head-direct and yuin.

My Three And A Half Cents

OK, heres the deal. I see, as I'm sure others do,the HiFiMAN HM-801 Portable Player / DAC's full potential as a standalone audiophile grade portable player. No hit or miss amp matching. No hit or miss wire matching. Audiophile grade parts. Upgradeable in that you can add more storage and a different or better sounding amp module as they come out. All the guesswork has been eliminated. In other words, if it doesn't sound good to you there is only one place to look and that would be to try different headphones.
No need for EQing either. Let's be honest. EQing is just a way of "fixing" something that your audio system is not doing correctly. It is a "band-aid" if you will for a poorly implemented system whole. Ever wonder why we have 20 pairs of phones or 6 portable audio devices for example? WE are hunting. We are mixing and matching. We are consumed with audio gear and less with music. If someone wants to take all the guesswork out of it for me (and I spend less as a result) I say, "Yes please, I'll have one of those." I'm gonna let em. If someone doubts me on this just go look at the For Sale section. Most of it is great stuff that the user doesn't like with this or that setup for one reason or another. I just can't say enough for synergy.
OK, so what's the problem you ask? I say here is the rub in a nutshell. I WANT one of these. I WANT one of these REAL BAD. The problem is, I'm having a hard time paying for something "before" it is even successfully finished. I have no problem putting my name on a list for "potential" buyers. I remember talking to someone (It may even have been Ray himself) from RSA one afternoon. I wanted him to take my money right away ensuring I'd get a P-51 Mustang as soon as they started to ship. I was politely reminded that was not the way they do it. "I don't take the money until I have the product" was his answer. What I did do instead was "sign up" for one as a "potential customer" When they were tested and deemed ready for shipment, we were notified and we sent our money in at that time. The entire process went very smoothly I thought. The whole thing only added to my sense of satisfaction. I felt comfortable sending my money knowing that the device's creator was in essence letting us know, it is ready, come get it.
Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost faith in Head-Direct. I mean seriously, if want to speak bang for the buck!!! I only recently bought a pair of REO's and for $99 I can't think of a thing they are missing.( I guess they used to cost $200)
But back to what I was saying. I have no idea where in its stage of development this HiFiMAN HM-801 Portable Player / DAC is, but I feel if I wait too long I will end up paying $700 instead of $600. That would be just wrong.
Anyone knowing something about this product's progress that I am not aware of, please let me know. I DO understand family emergencies and the reason Part 2 of the review has not been completed. I DO HOPE ALL IS WELL with that situation.
OK, well I'm through venting/voicing my concerns.
Anyways,
Till Later........................

hmmm I agree to an extent with this

this I totally disagree with, I use EQ rarely; but it is very useful IMO. each persons ears have a frequency response as well. each pair of headphones will sound different to different people because of this. also, your statement would hold more true if a person had only one set of headphones; for many here that is not the case; so EQ is a means of matching multiple components to the one source.

hasnt taken the guess work out at all, this particular system may be matched to the designers ears, but whether it is matched to yours is another thing entirely. whether it matches your music is another thing entirely; whether it matches your headphones is another thing entirely. for best results you really need to hear it for yourself and with your gear in order to make an informed decision. i'm sure the hifiman will be very nice sounding, there is little doubt about that, but it will not be for everyone; many already have a favourite amp or dac that they love and like to use that with their dap of choice.


I understand your problem here; i'm sure Fang is doing his utmost to get this finished; but the lack of a realistic timetable is disconcerting.

why dont you ask the guy on ebay selling them for $1200USD; he seems to have ten of them; surely he has a good idea what they sound like??

BTW I messaged that guy on ebay telling him what a rip-off merchant he was and that we at head-fi were onto him and his page had been reported here. so that cuts a fair chunk of his potential suckers out. funny; I got no response

BTW I messaged that guy on ebay telling him what a rip-off merchant he was and that we at head-fi were onto him and his page had been reported here. so that cuts a fair chunk of his potential suckers out. funny; I got no response [/QUOTE]

Is that guy still advertising? I can't believe he hasn't been shut down. Way to go !!

hehe; not sure I havent looked since then; that was a week or so ago. I would doubt he is, if he is that would be very slack on ebays part.

was rather satisfying sending it though

I think you're making an assumption there that the headphone amp section is clearly going to be world-class.

We haven't really heard what the default amp is. We've heard what some of the chips are, but maybe it's just a custom cmoy.

When are people getting the damned things lol I need to make my next move and it is either a better dac or possibly a new player XD

Oh, by the way.

As others have stated and restated, Rockbox is coded by volunteers on their own time for no money, so they do ports to hardware they have already. What's more, they don't understand why some people think some DAPs sound better than others, so they are unlikely to jump on this one.

HOWEVER, Rockbox is open-source, so if head-direct were willing to respect the GPL and community cooperation standards, they could port rockbox to this DAP - which means contributing GPL code to the rockbox project in cooperation with the existing contributors - and ship with rockbox as the default firmware. If they wanted to. Not saying that they do.

Why aren't you guys on the AMP3 posts which seems to me is a cheaper version of the Hi Fi man but it is there and I have it and its wonderful for $150!!

I still think there's a gap in the market for a portable hard driver transport with an optical/usb out. People are still using irivers because of this void that begs to be filled.

What's the meaning of XD please?

greenleo, its a big smile with closed eyes.

I think you overestimate the number of people who use the digital i/o on their h120.

• If the 801's DAC is what I expect, I can knock off the price my V-DAC will resell at, and have a stellar DAP/nice desktop DAC combo at an attractive price point.
• Reports point out the cold, clinical sound of amp3; this may not be my cuppa wine, whereas the 801's amp module system should hopefully allow for worthwhile mixing and matching.
• The Amp3's size is diminutive compared to the 801's, but for ultra-portability it doesn't compare to the featherweight Clip which is just the thing for anywhere, anytime, anyhow audiobooks/language/workouts/etc.

Notable advantages of the Amp3's other than size would clearly be price and battery life, but for me personally the 801's battery life would be acceptable, and other things are considered first.

I'll probably not buy the 1st gen of either, but keep reading impressions and updates with great interest in both cases. So, enjoy your Amp3 while I'm stuck out in the shade with a measly Clip; avantguarde, I salute you!

I'm still interested how this kit compares to other good sources such as the Amp3, iMod+Vcap, iRiver+D10 combos in terms of sound.