[BlueA]

It seems that all the pricing get up. EF400 raised so now EF600 is only 200$ from serenade.
In Europe it is 1400€... I aim for the Himalaya Pro but this is a little too high for the product.

Also found that there's the high end product, the EF1000Dac that use it too.

Hifiman EF1000DAC​

 

[stuck limo]

I cannot find any reviews on this item at all. edit: besides this one https://post.smzdm.com/p/a7nm96zo/

 

[Zhon]

There are some videos on bilibili, though they are in Chinese. You can also try typing in "hifiman小夜曲评价“ and google translating the articles that come up

 

[stuck limo]

"The sound of old serenade and prelude is pure amp. Serenade, you say it is small, it is not small, but listening to thousands of drizzles, small bridges and flowing water, it sounds very docile, but in fact there is no dynamic, no separation, no nothing Contrast, the overture is up immediately, except that the background noise is basically zero, everything seems to change from turning on the projector in a sunny room to the projection effect in a dark movie theater. After listening to the prelude, I don't want to listen to the serenade anymore."

http://bbs.erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2306300

down the rabbit hole....

 

[BlueA]

Out of stock in a lot of shop.
Also it seems that some asian shops offer 3 color choice!

 

[Zhon]

Out of stock in a lot of shop.
Also it seems that some asian shops offer 3 color choice!

That may be the older goldenwave serenade with the 9038pro and not the r2r from hifiman

 

[SirIppo]

It's now $1k on sale now during the summer sale at the hifiman store. I'm not able to find anywhere if its NOS and OS. Anyone know?

 

[TheMiddleSky]

It's now $1k on sale now during the summer sale at the hifiman store. I'm not able to find anywhere if its NOS and OS. Anyone know?

Currently using Serenade for night listening time. I searched this thread because I was looking for an option for NOS/OS but couldn't find any in the menu.

In the quest to search secondary set up, actually I tested Gustard R26 yesterday (home demo), and while it sound ok, but I prefer Serenade (as DAC + Pre Amp to feed my tube amp). Serenade feels airier, cleaner, bigger soundstage, while Gustard is thicker, darker, and a bit more intimate.

 

[SirIppo]

Currently using Serenade for night listening time. I searched this thread because I was looking for an option for NOS/OS but couldn't find any in the menu.

In the quest to search secondary set up, actually I tested Gustard R26 yesterday (home demo), and while it sound ok, but I prefer Serenade (as DAC + Pre Amp to feed my tube amp). Serenade feels airier, cleaner, bigger soundstage, while Gustard is thicker, darker, and a bit more intimate.

Thank you for your thoughts, I'm still contemplating on the serenade. 1k is the price I wanted but the schiit released a new class A amp I want to get as well. But the serenade looks very good on paper. A really nice all in one device. I know the ef400/600 have the option for nos/os.

 

[drspeter]

Currently using Serenade for night listening time. I searched this thread because I was looking for an option for NOS/OS but couldn't find any in the menu.

In the quest to search secondary set up, actually I tested Gustard R26 yesterday (home demo), and while it sound ok, but I prefer Serenade (as DAC + Pre Amp to feed my tube amp). Serenade feels airier, cleaner, bigger soundstage, while Gustard is thicker, darker, and a bit more intimate.

Interesting new DAC. I was interested in R26 but having a new entity in the equation, I would wait more impression about Serenade. Do you mind sharing the setup that you used to compare those? Are you using Serenade as a DAC+AMP or just DAC and external amp connected to it (same amp as you test R26)?

 

[Music225]

P.S.
A review I read (https://post.m.smzdm.com/p/a7nm96zo/) on a Chinese forum claimed that the Serenade was better suited for dynamic headphones, paraphrasing: Drives Hd800s and TH900 very well, but may not be suitable for planars due to lack of overtones from the fast transient response (comes from the Serenade's liveliness characteristic). Take that for what you think it's worth.

Gotta chime in on this. The Th-909 and 900 is known for amp picky. I got the chance to demo it yesterday and have to say it's the best pairing I've found for my 909 so far. It tames the peaks very well without killing the sparkle and gives more body to the bass, tight and impactful, without boominess. The vocals still forward and sweet and also opens up more, almost no harshness and sibilances.

Others amp/dac I've tried to match with the 909 are dx160, dx170, dx320, gryphon, hugo2(bad pairing, too harsh), bu1, akcro ca1000, burson playmate, topping a30pro.

Would have immediately bought the serenade, but I really don't like how it look. Plain, bland, big, black rectangle. Would look weird on my desk.
So the quest continues for a similar result in a more compact form. It sounds really good imo.

 

[jkteddy77]

Currently using Serenade for night listening time. I searched this thread because I was looking for an option for NOS/OS but couldn't find any in the menu.

In the quest to search secondary set up, actually I tested Gustard R26 yesterday (home demo), and while it sound ok, but I prefer Serenade (as DAC + Pre Amp to feed my tube amp). Serenade feels airier, cleaner, bigger soundstage, while Gustard is thicker, darker, and a bit more intimate.

There's sadly very little buzz and feedback surrounding this album, so we're coming for your opinion also

Would you mind providing your opinion on the All-In-One sound on its own and your preferred Amp with it normally?

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Interesting new DAC. I was interested in R26 but having a new entity in the equation, I would wait more impression about Serenade. Do you mind sharing the setup that you used to compare those? Are you using Serenade as a DAC+AMP or just DAC and external amp connected to it (same amp as you test R26)?

I used Serenade + Ultrasonic Oblivion + ZMF Caldera Resin Stabilize Wood. Used Serenade as DAC with Pre Amp Mode to my tube amp.

There's sadly very little buzz and feedback surrounding this album, so we're coming for your opinion also

Would you mind providing your opinion on the All-In-One sound on its own and your preferred Amp with it normally?

Well, yeah, very little impressions here.

Serenade, as All In One unit, kind of more mature version of EF600. Better soundstage, clearer texture and micro detail, while retain the balance-warm character, smooth on top, punchy on bottom, with natural vocality.

My tube amp is kind of "rare" and impossible to get new unit as the company shutdown already (the founder passed away), so I think no point to do the comparison.

 

[classymaillot]

I just received a serenade after a long wait (8+ weeks as it was OOS). While waiting, I tried a couple other AIOs and settled on one of them (RME ADI2 which I found to be a good match with HE1000SE and DCA Expanse). So I ended up not opening the serenade (part of me does not want to to start comparing options again). I will post the Serenade up for sale (brand new in box). I’m in the US. DM if interested

 

[honeyjjack]

If i have both headphones and speakers(rear xlr) connected, how do i get it to play only through headphones? Kinda defeats the point of using headphones if the speakers are also playing full blast.