[CosmicHolyGhost]

Personally I think the 71b is more powerful and a clearly better amp but the limitation is probably with the DAC... it just sounded a bit veiled and less transparent than the AK240. Would be interesting to A/B with the 120S+TU05/06. I have listened to AK120 stock with Tu05 and it was remarkable.

Back to 901 news, Fang posted on hifiman's official forum that they are prototyping the docking station (finally!) but still no mention of actual functionality that will be available or any timeline... I guess that at least make this dock less mythical than before....lol

To me, Hugo/120s+TU-06 > HM901 (minibox/bal) > AK240
In terms of tweaks/upgrades, 120s combo wins if money is no object. The tubes and interconnects can burn a deep hole in the wallet. LOL.. But this level is about personal preference/synergy, especially 901 has a different presentation.
Regarding the dock, fang already disclosed the features before and mentioned they are working on the usb dac stuff...balance line out was not mentioned so i guess there wont be...
They take so long to make this and i have lost interest already...

 

[Kiats]

To me, Hugo/120s+TU-06 > HM901 (minibox/bal) > AK240
In terms of tweaks/upgrades, 120s combo wins if money is no object. The tubes and interconnects can burn a deep hole in the wallet. LOL.. But this level is about personal preference/synergy, especially 901 has a different presentation.
Regarding the dock, fang already disclosed the features before and mentioned they are working on the usb dac stuff...balance line out was not mentioned so i guess there wont be...
They take so long to make this and i have lost interest already...

Thanks for your impressions, CHG. The next time I find myself in HK, we should get together with Gavin for another master class. I'll bring my iem amp card and classic card too.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Thanks for your impressions, CHG. The next time I find myself in HK, we should get together with Gavin for another master class. I'll bring my iem amp card and classic card too.

Most definitely, i wish to audition those toxic fitear cables. it will be great if kkcc can join too cos he has those rare amp cards. I am sorry that I dont have much to contribute.

 

[kkcc]

Most definitely, i wish to audition those toxic fitear cables. it will be great if kkcc can join too cos he has those rare amp cards. I am sorry that I dont have much to contribute.

 
Sure would be a fun gathering!  lol Gavin got ALL the goodies and is literally a one-man high-end showroom all by himself..... just that the 901 is simply not exquisite enough to make his fine collection any more!

 

[Edwood]

  HM901 w/ balanced card can really drive HE6? Even most powerful desktop amps can have bad memories about HE6, people use speaker amps for those monsters.

 
On a scale of 1-10, the HM-901 w/ Balanced Card drives the HE-6 to a 6, maybe 7 in sound quality.  Compared to the EF-6 driving the HE-6 to a 10.
 
But the HM-901 drives the HE-560 even better due to the HE-560 being more efficient than the HE-6. 

 

[Kiats]

Most definitely, i wish to audition those toxic fitear cables. it will be great if kkcc can join too cos he has those rare amp cards. I am sorry that I dont have much to contribute.

Indeed! I would love to hear some of kkcc's exotic cards

 

[Kiats]

Sure would be a fun gathering!  lol Gavin got ALL the goodies and is literally a one-man high-end showroom all by himself..... just that the 901 is simply not exquisite enough to make his fine collection any more!

That be so true. All we can do is offer ourselves up to test such exquisite gear. Only other thing I can offer up is my Fitear cable library.

 

[Kiats]

On a scale of 1-10, the HM-901 w/ Balanced Card drives the HE-6 to a 6, maybe 7 in sound quality.  Compared to the EF-6 driving the HE-6 to a 10.

But the HM-901 drives the HE-560 even better due to the HE-560 being more efficient than the HE-6. 

What I would be curious about is whether anyone has driven the HE-6 with the minibox amp card. That was supposed to designed for hard to drive headphones. It drives my AKG K702, beyer T1 and HD800 very nicely.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

What I would be curious about is whether anyone has driven the HE-6 with the minibox amp card. That was supposed to designed for hard to drive headphones. It drives my AKG K702, beyer T1 and HD800 very nicely.

Haha it never occured to me to try this but i just did after seeing your post. You need to set to high gain and max out the vol. Its acceptable quality (no distortion, no noise). I feel higher power will bring out more detail,open up a bit more and with better impact.
Wow, thanks for asking. I enjoy listening to it as i type this.

 

[Kiats]

Haha it never occured to me to try this but i just did after seeing your post. You need to set to high gain and max out the vol. Its acceptable quality (no distortion, no noise). I feel higher power will bring out more detail,open up a bit more and with better impact.
Wow, thanks for asking. I enjoy listening to it as i type this.

Heheh! Glad to hear that. If I ever make it up to Tianjin and their flagship store, I will surely try to come back with a EF-6 and a HE-6.

 

[qrtas]

Is there a way to connect the the LCD 3 to the 901 using the 4 pin xlr with some type of adapter and take advantage of the balanced mode.
 
Perhaps, a 4 pin xlr to 1/8 trrs adapter. Does this exist. If it does, has anyone here tried something like that.
 
I am very, very close to "hurt" my wallet and get get the LCD 3, but I am trying to see all the possibilities, before I make this huge commitment $$$.
 
Any comment here, will be highly appreciated  

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Heheh! Glad to hear that. If I ever make it up to Tianjin and their flagship store, I will surely try to come back with a EF-6 and a HE-6.

Since you own almost all flagships, it makes sense to own HE-6, too. Not sure about EF-6, I demoed and did not think to own it as it takes up so much real estate.
I am thinking about downgrading to the HE-560 so that I wont be constantly asking this question to myself "can it drive the HE-6?". It can be frustrating when I dont have the dough nor space to buy more amps. I guess it wont apply to you since you already have the he500.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Is there a way to connect the the LCD 3 to the 901 using the 4 pin xlr with some type of adapter and take advantage of the balanced mode.

Perhaps, a 4 pin xlr to 1/8 trrs adapter. Does this exist. If it does, has anyone here tried something like that.

I am very, very close to "hurt" my wallet and get get the LCD 3, but I am trying to see all the possibilities, before I make this huge commitment $$$.

Any comment here, will be highly appreciated  

Yes, most custom cable makers (moon audio, double helix, etc) can make adapters just ask for 4pin mini-xlr female to 1/8 inch trrs male.

 

[BRCMRGN]

Is there a way to connect the the LCD 3 to the 901 using the 4 pin xlr with some type of adapter and take advantage of the balanced mode.
 
Perhaps, a 4 pin xlr to 1/8 trrs adapter. Does this exist. If it does, has anyone here tried something like that.
 
I am very, very close to "hurt" my wallet and get get the LCD 3, but I am trying to see all the possibilities, before I make this huge commitment $$$.
 
Any comment here, will be highly appreciated  

I purchansed an adapter cable like that from Moon audio. They can do it in copper or silver.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

 

[Kiats]

Is there a way to connect the the LCD 3 to the 901 using the 4 pin xlr with some type of adapter and take advantage of the balanced mode.

Perhaps, a 4 pin xlr to 1/8 trrs adapter. Does this exist. If it does, has anyone here tried something like that.

I am very, very close to "hurt" my wallet and get get the LCD 3, but I am trying to see all the possibilities, before I make this huge commitment $$$.

Any comment here, will be highly appreciated  

Not sure about adaptors but I am sure Frank from a toxic cables will be able to do something for you that terminates in a trrs plug. He did a very nice balanced scorpion for me to use with the balanced 901.