Guys. the longer I spend with the T51 the more I find myself giving in to the prospect of buying the HM-801 early next year when funds permit. This isn't a criticism of the T51 - far from it - its a realisation that I just *might* be able to get the scale I'm after in a higher-end (trans)portable source. I can see what Mike at Headfonia meant in his review of the T51, but I categorically disagree with his assessment of the Teclast player as 'bass light'.
There are many outside Head-Fi who continue to view the HiFiMan players with derision, and I can only imagine what they would think of the T51 / SFLO:2, but I can only assume that they never travel. I dont really care about the silicon inside the T51 (or the HM-801), but if the Chinese can pull off sound like this in a player that *retails* for $139, what the hell are Apple and Sony doing ??
At the risk of repeating old 'news, this is Mike's assessment. I can only suggest that Mike needed to get a few more hours on his T51 and try it with a pair of bassy IEMs - I'm not experiencing any of the 'too polite' issue he mentions at the end.
The dual wolfson circuitry of the T51 is definitely a very potent one, and definitely better than the DAC section on the Ipods and the Sony X. The Imod has quite a wide soundstage, but the soundstage of the Teclast still remains more three dimensional than the Imod. The problem with the RWA Imod, is not in the modifications done by RWA. The problem, it seems (I can only guess), to be the digital to analog circuit used in the Ipod. As much as the Ipod has evolved throughout the years, it seems that Apple was improving stuff the non-audio stuff like user interface, exterior design, storage size, while adding other features like video, podcasts, the Genius. For the most part, the RWA mod has improved the sound signature of the standard Ipod, but the same DAC circuitry still remains, and so you’re still stuck with the Ipod sound, that starts to show its limits, once you add high end amplification and headphones at the output side.
Okay, the sound quality the T51 seems to be everything I’m looking for in a portable DAC. It’s smooth and slightly warm, yet it remains very lively. What’s amazing is how the T51 presents the soundstage. For the most part, if you aren’t using a resolving enough headphone or IEM, the soundstage of the T51 will sound very close to the HM-801, and for some people, the livelier character of the T51 will even sound more impressive than the relaxed and dark sounding HM-801.
I find myself really liking the T51 sound, it’s smooth sounding throughout the frequency range, but never piercing or harsh despite the lively sound. I find that the Ipod has an unnatural presentation on the lower treble and upper midrange. The T51 is so much smoother than the Ipod. I was really impressed with the smooth treble and midrange, the wonderful soundstage of the T51 that I actually “missed” hearing the bass section.
Good thing a friend of mine made a comment about the T51′s bass, and he happened to be right! The T51′s bass punch is a little too polite (aka lacking), and even compared to a standard Ipod, the bass feels lacking. It doesn’t have both the Ipod’s bass punch and bass extension. Low bass presence is also missing, definitely less than what I hear through the Ipod (even the Classic). So, where does that leave us now? If you listen to a lot of Accoustic, Vocal, or Jazz, perhaps the wonderful soundstage, treble, and midrange of the Teclast will make up for the lack of bass. My friend, however, loves listening to bass guitar solos, and so the Teclast sound is killing his music.
