hifiman hm801 versus hm601 (just sound, with iems) - Page 3

I have compared the coaxial and USB input of HM801 in my review of the player. The coaxial simply sounds much better. The issue with USB input is it relies on PCM270x chip to handle the USB data which severely limits the performance of HM801's internal DAC. If you find a USB-to-Coax converter, you should at least find one that supports 24/192. If it is just PCM270x based (or something on par) with a S/PDIF converter throw in, then you'll might still get limited performance. Try to find yourself a 2nd hand Nuforce uDAC as it supports 24/192. That's what I used with HM801.

Edited by ClieOS - 4/13/11 at 7:02pm

HiFace is quite good, probably better than uDAC. The issue is more with the other more generic type fo USB-to-SPDIF converter out there. I listen to mainly CD quality music as well, but the limitation on the USB is still quite obvious on 16/44 music.

 

 

Both headphone-out and line-out can be used in DAC mode.

 

In USB or coax input mode, the HM801 can only be used as a lineout (you need an external amp).  I also found the RMAA thread more disgusting than enlightening, it just devolved into bickering between people who wanted to find a reason to hate the HM-801 without hearing it and people who had heard it and were reactively defending it.

 

I briefly tried the HM801's coax input with a reasonably high-quality USB to spdif converter (the hiFace) and my computer motherboard's SPDIF out.  Both seemed about equally as flat as the USB input to me, but I didn't do any extensive testing.  The HM801's real value lies in its high quality portable DAC player capability.  As a computer desktop DAC, I don't think it compares with the few desktop DACs of similar price that I've heard, but of course the HM801 is much more versatile.

I didn't think this was true, since you have to choose between "player" or "DAC" mode.  But ClieOS probably knows more than me. 
 

 

One of the good thing about HM801 is everything is on hardware mode, meaning the switch that select Player/DAC actually doesn't just tell the controller chip to flip from one signal to another, but actually change the feeding of signal on a hardware level as well. You can play a files on HM801, then flip it over to DAC mode and flip it back, the file will still be there playing. It is not till you feed a Coax in signal that the file will stop playing (cause the DAC can't decode two signal at once).

 

The same applies to the output. The DAC's line-level signal feed both the line-out port and the amp module at the same time. You can listen to headphone-out with headphone as well as feeding the line-out to a desktop amp if you want.

Here is my own 2 cents: When I went to a Head-Fi meet here in NYC, my favorite sound at the show was not the mega-systems, nor the HD800, nor the Beyerdynamic T1. I wish I could have listened to the Blue Hawaii but it seemed to be gaurded by sentinels. My favorite sound at the show, without a doubt, was my very own IE8's with the HM-801. I wish I could have shouted at the top of my lungs to everyone there to listen to what I was listening to but since I was a "newbie" nobody would have taken me seriously. My normal gear is simply my 160gb iPod and my IE8. To tell you the truth, it has nice portable sound but nothing to get too excited over. Yet, at this meet, I had a long conversation with Fang, and after, when I plugged my IE8's to the HM-801, I was floored. The HM-801 made my IE8's sound at least 100% better than what they normally sound like with my iPod. To get this much improvement out of my IE8's was astounding and it was also a testament to how the IE8's can scale up with better gear and to Fang's engineering prowess with the HM-801. I will never forget this sound, just as I will never forget the sound of Sennheiser's HE-90/Orpheus combination at an audiophile show many years earlier. So here is the problem with the HM-801: Being an artist, I am anal about aethetics, ergonomics, and user interfaces and the HM-801 is rather clumsy compared to my humble iPod. Top that off with reports, that I have read on this forum, that there is no customer support or repair service in the event that something may go wrong with the HM-801, now or in the future. Because of these two faults with the HM-801, I have to say I will be sticking with my humble iPod and say, "I'm out". It is hard to imagine that with my IE8's and iPod I can be a satisfied audiophile but I am. When I go to bed at night, turn out the lights, and listen to Mozart's Requiem, I am transported to another world...

Edited by davidhunternyc - 4/16/11 at 8:58pm

ClieOS is right... :o)

 

Ps: NY. I realy love your city!

 

Cheers,

 

Peter
 

 

I've been using it as a DAC for one of my systems for months. No apparent issues for the battery when it goes out.

I used the USB input for a while and it was fine, but since I had optical out from a spare laptop, I got a little converter to coax and hooked it up as input to the 801. I think it sounds great.

- Ed