Got part of their translation.
I’ve divided this test in several parts, each part composed by the same kind of headphones (in terms of quality or price). The HM801 has been compared to the Cowon S9, the Touch 2G, the Sansa Clip and the Rio Karma
Low end and middle class : Panasonic HTX7, Philips shl9560, koss porta pro, brainwavvz beta, atomic Floyd highdef drum
Not a surprise, but these headphones are not suited for high end dac, even the difference between average and good players is hardly noticeable. I can’t even hear any difference with the beta and the atomic Floyd. The porta pro is too weak with trebles (in both quantity and quality) to reveal something.
The Philips SHL9500 is the most revealing here, mainly because of its trebles quality. We can notice that the Rio karma, 2G and Sansa Clip are not as detailed as the S9 and HM801. This is really not obvious here, and definitely don’t worth 800$.
What about the famous trebles roll off ? Yes, I can hear the HM801 sounds different compared to the Cowon. But I don’t feel it as lack, it’s just a warmer sound than the S9, but definitely not a less detailed.
In this range, blind tests are quite difficult but definitely not impossible, thanks to its warm.
High end : Hifiman re252, Shure srh840
The re252 is very detailed and quite revealing with noisy source. Differences are more noticeable here, but only for an audiophile ear. This is also true for the roll off, the S9 sounds crisper.
But with the Hifiman the sound is deeper, and the soundstage is increasing compared to the S9. Plus, there’s a real gain with bass, more detailed and definitely more accurate.
The improvement is better on the shure SRH840, where the OPAMP of the HM801 is taking the lead. The SRH840 is easy to drive, but is way more fast and accurate with a good amp.
No difference with trebles. But low mediums and bass can’t be compared. With the Shure, I can easily feel the difference.
Very high end : JH Audio JH13 Pro
Don’t need extra power of a big OPAMP here, it’s all about quality. The main difference (first I have notice) is mediums, smoother and more natural; they are really good through this player. S9 is still very good, but sounds almost “hissing” compared to the hm801.
With JH13, there’s a global improvement. Actually HM801 just sounds better.
High impedance headphones: Sennheiser HD600, AKG K701
Definitly not a surprise, but the high impedance cans show the improvement with a real amp.
The hd600 sounds aggressive through the Cowon S9, there’s no control in trebles and serious lacks in bass. The Hifiman easily drive this product and it’s quite amazing. Everything sounds more natural and accurate, the gain is more than obvious with bass.
The better experience of this review is probably with the K701. Soundstage and details are just amazing through the HM801, far beyond the S9.
Last “detail”. There’s almost no parasitic noise with the amp, even with a very sensitive iem.
With flac 24bits
The Dac can play 24Bits/96KHz tracks, could be a good experiment. To be honest, i didn’t feel a real improvement (except on voices) and these tracks reduce the battery life. Plus, the interface seems slow down when playing 24Bits.
Conclusion
Pioneer of the high end players, the HM801 is somewhere between a good player and a home setups, with both qualities and problems. Theoretically far better than other DAPs, the real improvement begins with high end IEMs and headphones.
If you want to be free to move with high end headphones, then that’s the only solution. Big warning, everything here is a matter of sound. Forget any other options and friendly interface. If you are not this kind of user, then this new kind of player is not for you. Of course we can’t neglect that it’s also a DAC
