REVIEW: HiFiman HM-601 - Page 9

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernmac 

Thanks for the info re charging the 601. Cheers xabu and shigzeo.  Looking forward to recieving mine.

The charge from USB is super slow and will not charge whilst being used as a DAC. You'll also need an adapter for mains, it has straight pins not angled like ours, i got one for $2.50 shipped from ebay.

I have a question about tags. Does it read tags that are not in English such as Chinese or Japanese?

I'm currently using my SM3's with the X1060 and S:flo2 and wanted to know if anyone has tried the SM3's with the 601, is it a good fit?

The matering engineer who has a digital setup probably is trying to reproduce the same effect using a very cost effective approach of EQing the mids. But of course the more anal engineers use the famous distressor http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ELI8M/ to add analog warmth to a digital recording.

Agreed that amps and headphones can distort. The distortion of amps is different than those of headphones. Usually headphones distort when they run out of headroom. Amps distort depending on the electronic components inside. Here you can use tube transistors too make the recording warmer through harmonic distortion. My preference would be to have no distortion, this is the most accurate presentation with no emphasis on mids, bass or highs.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp11801 

Actually warmth tends to be more associated with a midbass bump. You'll hear mastering engineers talk about inserting a bump around 125hz to warm up a recording.

Sources, amps and headphones can all distort sound. No distortion is prefered by most folks but people get way too wound up over specs. I'd take a well designed 2a3 or 300b amp over many solid state amps. It's not distortion I crave it tonal accuracy which very often triodes get correct. Oddly the 601/602 for an NOS DAC gets tone spot on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernmac 

Thanks for the info re charging the 601. Cheers xabu and shigzeo.  Looking forward to recieving mine.

Just so you know you will need one of those US to AU plugs/adapters to use the charged in Australian wall sockets. They can be bought on eBay (from China) for like $5.
 

EDIT: Beaten to it.

The JH16 has bores. The tubes I was referring to are vaccuum tubes, which have been replaced by the solid state transistor.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyanm 

 

Very interesting about 2nd harmonic distortion.  The IEMs like my JH16 does have little tubes, does this suggest that they might be generating 2nd harmonics?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJGeorgeT 

The JH16 has bores. The tubes I was referring to are vaccuum tubes, which have been replaced by the solid state transistor.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyanm 

 

Very interesting about 2nd harmonic distortion.  The IEMs like my JH16 does have little tubes, does this suggest that they might be generating 2nd harmonics?
 

 

Haha, right, wrong tubes!

The SM3 and EM3Pro share some similarities, the EM3Pro having just a bit better treble echo. They are very nice with the 601, but then again, pretty laid back. I like them, but not as much as I like sharper sounding earphones like the ER4S and the CK10. Overall, only really warm and detail-less earphones don't mate well with the 601 and the SM3/EM3Pro are not those phones.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Kev 

I'm currently using my SM3's with the X1060 and S:flo2 and wanted to know if anyone has tried the SM3's with the 601, is it a good fit?

I am so excited! Just ordered the 601/Zero combo. Right now I have the Ipod>HA5000>W5000 (I have dedicated dac, but sounds best like this) probably since the HA5000/W5000 is incredibly detailed, that some softer transients are really welcome. I am hoping that the HM-601 will smooth the sound out and provide a more analog feel, if it can do this, I will be one happy bloke! Will post my impressions once I receive the product! Cheers, 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikePio 

I am so excited! Just ordered the 601/Zero combo. Right now I have the Ipod>HA5000>W5000 (I have dedicated dac, but sounds best like this) probably since the HA5000/W5000 is incredibly detailed, that some softer transients are really welcome. I am hoping that the HM-601 will smooth the sound out and provide a more analog feel, if it can do this, I will be one happy bloke! Will post my impressions once I receive the product! Cheers, 

I think you are going to be a very happy bloke!

happily broke?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anaxilus 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikePio 

I am so excited! Just ordered the 601/Zero combo. Right now I have the Ipod>HA5000>W5000 (I have dedicated dac, but sounds best like this) probably since the HA5000/W5000 is incredibly detailed, that some softer transients are really welcome. I am hoping that the HM-601 will smooth the sound out and provide a more analog feel, if it can do this, I will be one happy bloke! Will post my impressions once I receive the product! Cheers, 

I think you are going to be a very happy bloke!

That's great to hear! Now the wait begins... Also looking forward to the Zero's, listened to my friends RE-0, not sure what the difference is, but if it's anything close to what I heard I will be walking around my town with a big smile. Happy listening, 

601 in the house!

I guess it might be a good thing the 601 only has 2GB of internal memory. I'm putting my favorite songs in there and never touching it again. The transfer speed is really slow and I can only imagine what 16GB like the 602 would be like. I'll be using my 8GB sdhc from my camera and using a 2GB in the camera instead for the time being. I'll buy a 16GB card if I feel like it later. Impressions to come.

Give it 3-4 days of run through before your review IMO.

Of course :) I'll have impressions over the next couple days and then probably will have a verdict on keep or sell in a week or two. The size of the 601 reminds me of the ipod photo except probably a bit thicker. The gap between songs isn't as long as I thought it would be and really short. It's something I can live with. I'm not sure what the point of the "dap mute" button is as the center button on the left effectively is a play/pause button as the dap mute button still has the music going but is just muted. Also is there any way to have the screen off but still use the buttons for play/pause, next or previous song? It has one of those press a button to turn the screen back on and then go from there. UI is pretty simple and definitely not as bad as some Cowon players I've tried such as the D2.

Just curious but are there any cases that others keep their 601 or 602 in. The pouch that comes with the 601 is a bit big and probably will attract too much lint and dust.