[fotomeow]

What does 901 come with by default? And this is the thing i like about hifiman that you can carry forward your upgrades that you accumulate over the period. I was actually eyeing hm 901s instead but its a 1500$ dap i can afford it but i didnt want to go all in especially since its my first dap maybe a year or two down the road i might get 901s and i will be able to tell the difference in SQ and everything else maybe i will appreciate it more

Plus i think its for China only they might now ship it to US

Check the website to see what the 901 comes with, I'm not sure, probably a choice of amps. I bought my 901 used. 
I buy used gear 90% of the time. If you do the research you can find very good deals. 
the 901 i bought came with a Classic 2, Minibox, and Balanced. 
 
Ya, buying gear, listening to it, then buying better gear and moving up the chain is part of the hobby.
***But here is the thing you should really know if you want a 901s: in the US, if you have a 901,
you can send it to HiFiMan and for $500 they will send you a brand new 901s (while supplies last). 
 
http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/exclusive-offer-for-loyal-901-owners.html
 
So, you dont need to send them a new 901 for a new 901s; You only need to send them a USED 901 for a NEW 901s for $500. 
Ya, $500 is a lot. But if you buy an older, beat up 901 for a good Used price (eg, $500), then pay the $500 to get the upgrade to the "s" version,
then you have only spent $1000 for brand spankin new 901s valued at $1500. 
So if you then dont like the 901s, you can sell it used ($1200) and actually make a little money ($200). 
IOWs, you have options. Part of the hobby and the game.

 

[fotomeow]

   
dude you're not helping my wallet here lol
 
Brings back memories.."Welcome to Head-fi, sorry for your wallet"

Dante's Hell: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here".
 
Maybe not helping your wallet, but def helping your ears!
 
the good news is that with the 901s out, there are more 901 units on the used market for cheaper than before

 

[fotomeow]

Guys there is a minibox amp on promotion for about 116$ its brand new and part of 12.12 promotion so is it good value for me? Because i have already ordered the player with power amp 2.

The problem is that i cant wait and listen to power amp 2 first and then decide whether i want to buy this or not as the promotion will run out and it will go back to 250$ mark again

Im in the US and I went to the Tmall and TaoBao sites looking for sales on HiFiMan amp cards. (I want the Minibox Gold).
but they were all full price, I didn't see any sales. Or is that b/c I translated the page to English, so they think I have $$$?

 

[uzairahmed101]

Sorry for replying late i have been a little busy and like i said minibox gold was not on sale it is still there for full price it was the regular minibox card that was 50% off i have bought it with power amp 2 now i am waiting for it to arrive

 

[catspaw]

Cant seem to find info on how much power it outputs.

 

[Teguh Prasetyo]

is theres anyway to make this HM650 bcome more analog and warmy sound.... ??
because from my opinion,this HM650 has neutral sound sig n sounds slightly lack of bass/low sector,it feels likely thickless,even i play song with flac 24 bit 192 khz. and if i compare with cassete tape ismore thick bass,fun,n of course analog rather than this Hm650.
i preffer cassete tape than this.more has comfort sound than HM650.
 
is it the player had gone wrong or just my ears which gone wrong ?

 

[fotomeow]

Sorry for replying late i have been a little busy and like i said minibox gold was not on sale it is still there for full price it was the regular minibox card that was 50% off i have bought it with power amp 2 now i am waiting for it to arrive

OK, I misunderstood about the Gold on sale. you'l be happy with the minibox.

 

[fotomeow]

  is theres anyway to make this HM650 bcome more analog and warmy sound.... ??
because from my opinion,this HM650 has neutral sound sig n sounds slightly lack of bass/low sector,it feels likely thickless,even i play song with flac 24 bit 192 khz. and if i compare with cassete tape ismore thick bass,fun,n of course analog rather than this Hm650.
i preffer cassete tape than this.more has comfort sound than HM650.
 
is it the player had gone wrong or just my ears which gone wrong ?

I think your ears are correct. I think the 650 is mostly neutral with a little bit of warmth. If you read more threads on HeadFi about the older HiFiMan DAPs, they have the reputation of being warmer. 
 
In fact, look at the last 2 pages of this thread, another user was very courteous in posting info on an older 600 series HiFiMan DAP that was on sale for very cheap in China. He provided the URL to the vendor too. I think it is a 601 or 603 series. That is probably the one you want.
 
Alternatively, if you like analog that much, you can buy a vintage/older high end portable cassette player from eBay. You could record the digital music you have onto quality cassette tapes, and use the portable cassette player. But i dont know if the older cassette players will have a good enough amp for your headphones. 
 
Ultimately, I would like to record some of my digital music onto analog tape, and listen to it thru a reel-to-reel machine. I've heard this set up before, it sounds excellent.

 

[Teguh Prasetyo]

 
I think your ears are correct. I think the 650 is mostly neutral with a little bit of warmth. If you read more threads on HeadFi about the older HiFiMan DAPs, they have the reputation of being warmer. 
 
In fact, look at the last 2 pages of this thread, another user was very courteous in posting info on an older 600 series HiFiMan DAP that was on sale for very cheap in China. He provided the URL to the vendor too. I think it is a 601 or 603 series. That is probably the one you want.
 
Alternatively, if you like analog that much, you can buy a vintage/older high end portable cassette player from eBay. You could record the digital music you have onto quality cassette tapes, and use the portable cassette player. But i dont know if the older cassette players will have a good enough amp for your headphones. 
 
Ultimately, I would like to record some of my digital music onto analog tape, and listen to it thru a reel-to-reel machine. I've heard this set up before, it sounds excellent.

damn, i was wrong at pick this hifiman .but for the first time i heard this hm650,is lovely and cool.but after i had a littletime for fixxing myoled walkman sony fx 241 and play a cassete,wow surprisingly my ears cannot move on with walkman sound,n after that i listen again with HM650,my ears feels kind of fatigue.
 
oh yeah,is it true,if we too much listening onto caassete player or warmy sound sig would be had an bad effect with our health?? coz my one of my fraid said so.he recomend it to me to stick n stay w/ flat n detail sound.
 
how about if i pair with chinese amps tube Rhyme RD801 w/  2pcs x 6J1 tubes on this HM 650,would be upgrading significant the low sector n add an analog colour in sound sig HM650 ? Or just change a little bit ?

How do we do record the digital music onto cassete ?? is it using tape deck record playback ??

n about vintage cassete player,could u give some recomendation about the type of product should i get ??  coz i had a 2 choice for choosing Sony FX 50 or Panasonic RQ-P40 ?? what model should i pick,coz i very like warm sound n bass ahead n sound vocal that comes to real.

 

[uzairahmed101]

is theres anyway to make this HM650 bcome more analog and warmy sound.... ??
because from my opinion,this HM650 has neutral sound sig n sounds slightly lack of bass/low sector,it feels likely thickless,even i play song with flac 24 bit 192 khz. and if i compare with cassete tape ismore thick bass,fun,n of course analog rather than this Hm650.
i preffer cassete tape than this.more has comfort sound than HM650.

is it the player had gone wrong or just my ears which gone wrong ?

Which headphones or iems are you using? I got my hm 650 last night and like you i like the warm sound signature so when i tried it with he 400i it felt a bit thin but its just because the i version has a slightly different bass and its not boomy rather very controlled and tight so i think that's exactly what i heard not lack of bass moreoever i tried razer kraken forged edition headphones and yeah they are no audiophile headphones and they are boomy and listening to it on hm 650 gave me that boominess so i think hm will give you the sound as it is according to your choice of headphones hence neutral

 

[Teguh Prasetyo]

Which headphones or iems are you using? I got my hm 650 last night and like you i like the warm sound signature so when i tried it with he 400i it felt a bit thin but its just because the i version has a slightly different bass and its not boomy rather very controlled and tight so i think that's exactly what i heard not lack of bass moreoever i tried razer kraken forged edition headphones and yeah they are no audiophile headphones and they are boomy and listening to it on hm 650 gave me that boominess so i think hm will give you the sound as it is according to your choice of headphones hence neutral

im using ATH M50X for the headphones and RHA M750i for my iem. 
way more better enjoy n fun listening a song / sound trough my old zunev1 2006 than this HM650.
 
n still be question is :
how about if i pair with chinese amps tube Rhyme RD801 w/  2pcs x 6J1 tubes on this HM 650,would be upgrading significant the low sector n add an analog colour in sound sig HM650 ? Or just change a little bit ?

 

[jono454]

Has anyone had a chance to compare the HM650 to more recent DAPs? (i.e. Fiio X5ii, Lotoo Paw 5000, etc)
 
While I love this device there aren't many reviews/comparisons for the HM650 out there. In the chance I  want to switch/upgrade to something else i'd be curious to know how HM650 stacks up against the competition.
 
From what i've gathered...SQ is quite up there with the HM802.

 

[CJG888]

is theres anyway to make this HM650 bcome more analog and warmy sound.... ??
because from my opinion,this HM650 has neutral sound sig n sounds slightly lack of bass/low sector,it feels likely thickless,even i play song with flac 24 bit 192 khz. and if i compare with cassete tape ismore thick bass,fun,n of course analog rather than this Hm650.
i preffer cassete tape than this.more has comfort sound than HM650.

is it the player had gone wrong or just my ears which gone wrong ?

Frankly, I think you'll be better off picking up the HM-603S while it is on sale (just look up my earlier post). I have both for a reason...

Adding a tube amp s not the answer. A good tube amp should offer a clear, transparent and limpid midrange, together with a little mid-emphasis. If it sounds "warm", this is probably subtractive colouration (i.e. you are losing detail). Plus, at the price at which I bought mine, you will not be able to find a decent tube amp!

 

[Teguh Prasetyo]

All those of you on this thread who may be curious about NOS sound have a last chance to pick up an HM-603S for cheap here in China:

https://detail.m.tmall.com/item.htm?id=36982945742&sid=9fca2e94f62e378d294d1a6ff6f9d158&rn=227d3cb8fd20c5a62385ae157d599740&abtest=5&sku_properties=5919063:6536025

Just one example - there are several other Taobao sellers. The 603S is basically a 601 with the amplifier section of the 603 (no USB DAC capability, but enough power to drive full-size cans).

It seems that they are offloading their last stocks of TDA1543s.

I do feel that it sounds slightly better than the HM-601LE (enjoying mine through Dunu DNKs as I write this).

I will miss cheap and easy access to all this Chinese gear when I go back to Europe in a couple of weeks!

is it this post that u mean ??
 
anda wanna ask NOS sound what is the meaning or refer to ?

 

[uzairahmed101]

Guys i am experiencing random crashes like every 10 minutes or so my hm 650 shuts down what's wrong with this thing? Just bought it brand new