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Hifiman HM-801 DAC performance

post #1 of 24
5/17/10 at 3:55pm
Thread Starter 

Hi everyone! I have a Hifiman HM 801 on my way and am wondering how does its DAC compare to other DACs (e.g., Stello DA100, gamma 2, Audio-gd compass, Ibasso D10, pico, ect)? Owners of HM 801, please share your thoughts.

 

I will use the HM 801 line out to my AMB M3 to drive ATH-AD2000s; hopefully this combo will outperform my Compass.  At the same time, if I get a gamma 2 and feed to M3 & AD2000s, will I do better?

 

When I mentioned Benchmark Dac1 and Lavry DA-10 in the context of HM 801 to Fang, he answered :"I don't think they will make huge difference comparing to HM-801. This is just my opinion after we did a comprehensive test between different DACs." Is the 801 really that good? Has anyone done such test?

 

Thank you in advance!


Edited by zzffnn - 5/17/10 at 8:57pm
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post #2 of 24
5/17/10 at 6:46pm

I am especially interested in the comparison between the Hifiman and the Audio-GD DACs since both use the PCM1704 DAC chip.

 

Anyone???

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post #3 of 24
5/17/10 at 7:07pm

The HiFiMAN sounds better than my Grace M902.

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post #4 of 24
5/18/10 at 10:48am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for your input, Sonic 748i. Please clarify: were you comparing 801 line out vs 902 line out, or headphone out vs. headphone out? I am asking because it seems that the headphone amp part is Grace 902's major selling point, more so than its dac part?


Edited by zzffnn - 5/18/10 at 3:56pm
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post #5 of 24
5/18/10 at 2:37pm

I was comparing the HiFiMAN and Grace M902 line out to the ALO Rx.

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post #6 of 24
5/18/10 at 8:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pekingduck View Post

I am especially interested in the comparison between the Hifiman and the Audio-GD DACs since both use the PCM1704 DAC chip.

 

Anyone???


I've compared the Hifiman (line-out to amp) against the Reference one DAC for an hour or so.  Absolutely no comparison, the RE-1 is in another league and toasted the Hifiman.  Even though they use the same PCM1704, the RE-1 had way larger soundstage, extended detailed highs, & smoothness.

 

IMO, they're in a league around the Pico Dac and Apogee mini dac.  The Hifiman sounds great portable-wise but there's no time for it with higher end dacs around the house :)


Edited by tamahome77 - 5/19/10 at 1:11am
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post #7 of 24
5/18/10 at 8:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tamahome77 View Post




I've compared the Hifiman (line-out to amp) against the Reference one DAC for an hour or so.  Absolutely no comparison, the RE-1 is in another league and toasted the Hifiman.  Even though they use the same PCM1704, the RE-1 had way larger soundstage, detail, & smoothness.


LOL, it should, the Reference one has 8 of those PCM1704's. 4 for each channel.

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post #8 of 24
5/19/10 at 6:26am

It's more about the power regulation in the Ref dac's giving the soundstage, according to Kingwa.

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post #9 of 24
5/19/10 at 8:10am


 

Quote:

Originally Posted by tamahome77 View Post

 

I've compared the Hifiman (line-out to amp) against the Reference one DAC for an hour or so.  Absolutely no comparison, the RE-1 is in another league and toasted the Hifiman.  Even though they use the same PCM1704, the RE-1 had way larger soundstage, extended detailed highs, & smoothness.

 

IMO, they're in a league around the Pico Dac and Apogee mini dac.  The Hifiman sounds great portable-wise but there's no time for it with higher end dacs around the house :)


No doubt.

Actually when I said Audio-GD DACs I was thinking along the lines of similarly priced ones (DAC19, DAC 3.. etc)

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post #10 of 24
5/19/10 at 4:47pm
Thread Starter 

they're in a league around the Pico Dac and Apogee mini dac.


tamahome77, Did you mean that HM 801 is in a league around Pico and Apogee?
 

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post #11 of 24
5/19/10 at 5:04pm
Thread Starter 

I will be surprised if HM 801 beats DAC-19 or DAC-3SE from Audio-gd. I will see next week if 801 performs better than my Compass.

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post #12 of 24
5/20/10 at 2:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zzffnn View Post


tamahome77, Did you mean that HM 801 is in a league around Pico and Apogee?
 


I have the HM-801, Pico DAC, and the Grace m902, and use them all on a regular basis.  Despite what the RMAA naysayers say (most have not even heard or even seen an HM-801 in real life) the HM-801 has noticeably better sound quality when listening to REAL headphones with REAL music. 

 

The Detail and Soundstage of the HM-801 is on another level.

 

That said, the HM-801's USB input is a big let down, which is not surprising considering it's not an optimal straight to I2S implementation.  It sounds only marginally better than the HeadAmp Pico DAC, if at all.  The HM-801's best performance is with FLAC files on SDHC cards played internally.

 

-Ed


Edited by Edwood - 5/20/10 at 7:20am
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post #13 of 24
5/20/10 at 2:51am

I seriously doubt that the HM-801's USB DAC is better than similarly priced stand-alone DACs at that price range.

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post #14 of 24
5/20/10 at 11:04am

Sad to hear about the mediocre USB implementation

Since FLAC files are so big, its a shame that the SDHC card has limited storage capacity (32 gb?)

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post #15 of 24
5/20/10 at 7:03pm

You can hot swap the SDHC cards.

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