Hifiman 801: How does it compare to traditional usb amp/dac combo's?

I'd like to know too!

I don't have enough background to speak with any authority on this. I have a PopPulse 1796 DAC that I think is pretty nice for my desktop system. I have a builtin and upgraded DAC in the Glow Audio One amp I have for the downstairs system. It's also pretty good. And the DAC in the Sony Playstation 1.

Every day I carry the HF-801 up and down the stairs to switch it in from system to system because its DAC is obviously better to my ears than the others.

Your mileage may vary. I've only had it a few weeks, so it could be honeymoon too. But it just seems to have more muscle from a subjective perspective.

- Ed

The HiFiMAN to my ears bested my Grace M902 which retails for $1,600. So I sold it and stayed with my HiFiMAN. So I doubt those entry level USB DAC's can touch the HiFiMAN's DAC.

I wasn't aware that either of those amps had a build-in optical dac. As far as I know the only portable amps with build-in optical dac are the old iBasso D1 and the current iBasso D10. The HiFiMan is clearly better than a RockBoxed iRiver optical out into a D10 playing flac files.

I asked a very similar question here http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/492634/hifiman-hm-801-dac-performance

Sorry....did not know this thread exist. I, too, am wondering how does the DAC of HM 801 compare to other DACs (especially,  TPA Buffalo, Stello DA100 and gamma 2)? Since I have a HM 801 coming my way, I like to know what will be the next dac on my wish list?

Edited by zzffnn - 5/19/10 at 12:33am

iBasso will be coming out with a portable balance DAC along with a balance portable amp with a balance input and a balance/single-ended output soon.

Depends on module you have. The old ST module with high gain sounds great with normal headphones, only issue with it is its performance with in-ears since the gain was way too high, and due to its design not well suited to drive low impedance loads. The GAME-card or high-end module or what you want to call it sounds really good, and bests my RSA Tomahawk in every performance aspect fed from the line-out of the HM-801. The GAME module seems very well suited to the Westone 3s and drives the Sennheiser IE8s to perfection. I have not heard the very latest in-ear amplifiers from RSA, so cannot really comment on its performance when compared to more modern offerings.

 

Rudistor makes one too as does Headroom (portable desktop). Not sure if the Rudistor is a clone of the D10 as it looks identical.

Edited by John2e - 5/19/10 at 10:54pm

It outperformed grace 902? Thats unbelievable

 

Little dot will release something like hifi man at end of july this year, let's see how it goes.

I hope to hear the Hifiman at a meet soon. If the amp section is not as strong as the DAC, hopefully it will improve when paired with a separate full-size amp?

Edited by greenrenewables - 5/20/10 at 3:58pm

HM 801 does improve a lot with line out to my full-size AMB M3 amp, feeding ATH-AD2000.

How much better is the Hifiman 801 compared to the most common DAP's? I know it's always hard to compare improved SQ per dollar but when the device costs $800 compared to a $200 Ipod Classic the Hifiman must have a lot better SQ? Do I need customs to fully enjoy the Hifiman or is the improved SQ also quite noticeable with 530's and TF10's?