[fengwei007]

  That is pretty exciting. I am looking forward to what board comes out on top. 

So far I've had/tried all Hifiman cards: balanced, IEM, Minibox, classic, classic II,  AD8397, and the new discrete card, I enjoy new discrete card the most, especially with headphones like RS1, ED8 and even the HE560. It gives out more juice even than the balanced card in balanced mode (I've had balanced cables/plugs for all these three headphones), and it has better extensions in high and low frequencies. The balanced card sounds a bit dry and dull compared with the new discrete card.
 
My previous favorite card was the Minibox, yes, I liked it more than the balanced card. Now I only use the new discrete card  

 

[fengwei007]

1. Original 901 stock AD8397 card
2. Balanced card
3. Minibox card
4. IEM card
5. Original Discrete card v3
6. 802 stock Classic Card
7. Angel card
8. New Discrete card

Yup didn't count wrongly... 8.

You missed one card. Actually the classic card (#6 in the list) has two versions, the first version came out together with 802, and also was bundled with 901 when the card is available. Then Hifiman improved it further and made a second version, which is called Classic-II card. It produces better sound (from most users, and myself too) and has more gains too. This is the current stock card for 901 and 802, and the future 650 as well. 
 
The 1st version: 
 

 

The 2nd version:
 

 

 

[jamato8]

Card collecting. :*)

 

[kkcc]

You missed one card.

Yes I'm keenly aware of that. But nope I didn't really set out to collect them all but I do love rolling the boards for different IEMs/headphones... And none of them really sound alike too much that I deem them overlapping. The closest in sig imo is actually the iem and the balanced card, but balanced being balanced one can't replace the other. I'm still hoping they will release some more card that is balanced but with warmer or cooler etc sig...

 

[fengwei007]

Yes I'm keenly aware of that. But nope I didn't really set out to collect them all but I do love rolling the boards for different IEMs/headphones... And none of them really sound alike too much that I deem them overlapping. The closest in sig imo is actually the iem and the balanced card, but balanced being balanced one can't replace the other. I'm still hoping they will release some more card that is balanced but with warmer or cooler etc sig...

 

 
Nice collection you got there     I only have two cards at the moment, don't feel like to have any other one for now, unless they make some new (better cards) in the future. 

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

The line out of HM-901 is pretty impressive for a DAP. Anyone has experience on pairing it with higher grade portable amp?
I am borrowing mass kobo 385 or 395 from Gavin later this week...i hope they gel well..

 

[seeteeyou]

.

 

[fengwei007]

The line out of HM-901 is pretty impressive for a DAP. Anyone has experience on pairing it with higher grade portable amp?
I am borrowing mass kobo 385 or 395 from Gavin later this week...i hope they gel well..

I didn't try 901 w/ other portable amp, but I use it together w/ my preamp and speakers sometimes, the sound is excellent. I think they sound even slightly better than I play CD w/ Teach UD501 as DAC in the same setup  But my CD player isn't fancy though, it's a Sony Blu-Ray player which used to be part of my HT setup (which got an upgrade version now). 

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

  I didn't try 901 w/ other portable amp, but I use it together w/ my preamp and speakers sometimes, the sound is excellent. I think they sound even slightly better than I play CD w/ Teach UD501 as DAC in the same setup  But my CD player isn't fancy though, it's a Sony Blu-Ray player which used to be part of my HT setup (which got an upgrade version now). 

yes... I had nothing better to do the other night and saw the LOD lying around... to hook the 901 to leben , then A/B a bit with the Chord Hugo RCA out...
Although 901 has a more aggressive, upfront and not as smooth presentation, i thought that it really sounds excellent being a DAP line out..how much dynamic this DAP can pump out..especially for Jazz orchestra.. It is why I am interested to find a portable amp that has good synergy with 901... it seems something we have not explored in ..

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Basically the Oyaide rhodium-plated female mini jack could be important, and that short WireWorld Platinum Eclipse IC was also beneficial between HM901 and EarMax Pro

http://www.headphoneclub.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=250421&page=2#pid3314880

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=19850543559
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=36127718121
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=37797373634

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=35031652508
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=38564124605

dude, u r trying to make us broke...? I finally went to the ApLiu street shop u recommended that carries WireWorld cables..one of these days....

 

[seeteeyou]

.

 

[OICWUTUDIDTHAR]

question about the iem card, is it possible to use this card with a trrs cable in balanced mode or is it trs only?

 

[kkcc]

question about the iem card, is it possible to use this card with a trrs cable in balanced mode or is it trs only?

No, IEM card is not balanced. All hifiman cards except the balanced card are not balanced and won't benefit from a trrs terminated headphone.

Tho the trrs cable itself can be used with any of these amp card in 901 as the headphone jack is a combo trs/trrs jack and you can switch it for trs or trrs cables, but if the amp card is not balanced, using trs or trrs cable will give you same sound.

 

[OICWUTUDIDTHAR]

Oh i see, thx
 
its probably better to use the iem card then the balanced card with se846s right?

 

[LarsHP]

  question about the iem card, is it possible to use this card with a trrs cable in balanced mode or is it trs only?

Since the IEM card is single ended there is no point soundwise in using the TRRS connection. However, if you only have a TRRS cable and just don't want to use an adapter, that's a different story which I can't comment since I only have the Balanced amp card.