[mrarroyo]

Aaron if you sent me the Hifiman I am not sure it would find its way back to you!

On a serious note just sent the EF2 to Skylab say next week or so.

BTW, I have the Solo SRGII which is burning in and I will send it out w/ the Solo SRG so you and three others can do a side by side and see how you like it. It may take another 2-3 weeks before the Solo's can be shipped since it is half way through the burn-in process. Cheers.

 

[immtbiker]

OK Miguel.

Repeating what I said in the Head-Direct's Sponsored HM-801 forum, the is absolutely, 100%-ly, no hiss with the JH-13s or my UE-10's even at top volume.

 

[Tidus]

Another impressions?

))thanxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Woody469]

Any other impressions?

 

[Edwood]

I've had mine for a bit.

Here's my initial impressions:

The Good:

1. High End Sound. Very Clear, HeadAmp Pico USB DAC sounds veiled in comparison. (will need to listen more for better impressions)
2. Little to no hiss noise, even maxed out, with even the most efficient IEM's like the Westone ES3X.
3. Powerful built in headphone amp.
4. Lightweight for it's size.
5. Fast Boot Up and Fast User Interface (having issues with latest ver 0.06 Firmware taking 25 seconds to read SDHC card with first power up, previous firware was faster)

The Bad:

1. Confusing Front Panel Button layout, User Interface still needs a lot of work.
2. Large Size for a DAP
3. Huge and Heavy charger. It weighs over a pound! Makes travel more difficult.
4. Lean Bass (but very tight, this is with the internal Amp, line out is fine)
5. No Charging indication when turned off. (How do I know it's done charging without having to turn it on?)
6. Sometimes swapping SDHC Cards or switching back to Player mode causes "Updating hifiman HM-801 Media" (with previous ver. 0.05 firmware, does not so this often with ver. 0.06) which takes anywhere from 1 -15 seconds
7. USB DAC mode and Internal SDHC mode playback does not sound the same. Internal playback from SDHC is better. Likely from USB receiver and it not going straight to I2S.

The Ugly:

1. Slight very high frequency noise emitted when touching the buttons or the upper front metal panel surrounding the LCD. Can be avoided by not touching the top panel when listening. It's not loud enough to hear when listening to most music, but noticeable in quiet passages. Most noticeable with my JH13's and R10's. Still noticeable with the line out to my HeadAmp Pico, but no noise with my Grace m902. It's likely a grounding issue would be my guess.
2. Headphone amp too powerful for IEM's, very little volume adjustment available
3. Pulling the USB or Coax cable causes delays or weird static noise, and nearly always locks up the player requiring hitting the reset switch. Must power off the player before unplugging.
4. Build quality has issues. Fingerprints, debris, scratches, and smudges under the LCD cover (not visible when LCD is on, though). Crooked screws partially protruding. Metal case parts not lining up with noticeable gaps. Minor imperfections in the paint job (I'm nitpicking here).

Despite it's issues it's all about the sound quality. I love it so far. And the convenience of carrying it everywhere I go.

-Ed

 

[Nirmalanow]

Thanks Ed. Nice to hear some more impressions....

Now if only batch 2 was shipping.

 

[GreenLeo]

Thanks Ed for the review. Would you mind share your opinion if the gap between the JH13Pro and the ES3X is widened or not when using the 801?

 

[testrichard]

The Bad:
[*]Lean Bass (but very tight, this is with the internal Amp, line out is fine)

hopefully software EQ could help bump up a little may be ??
[*]No Charging indication when turned off. (How do I know it's done charging without having to turn it on?)

this could be really annoying ! for paranoid people !
[*]USB DAC mode and Internal SDHC mode playback does not sound the same. Internal playback from SDHC is better. Likely from USB receiver and it not going straight to I2S.

really? would the line out to external amp helps ? one of the selling point of hifiman is its DAC function and quality chip, was hoping it could be use as DAC for the job at least beat the low to mid range stand alone DAC may be ?

still, like you said the music quality for portable use is most important. besides " Likely from USB receiver and it not going straight to I2S " sounds like there is space to improve so probably no biggy

the review in Chinese website r very positive! there r 1st formal brief review out already, not much of A-B test with other portable DAP or even the desk one how ever the reviewer put it in desk DAP league and consider hugely improved than current portable DAP. ( i wonder how it would match with Sony D50/D1 ?? )

by the way, the price are not likely to come down in short time i suppose as Fang express his concern regarding the price competition within China export via ebay and and to make sure consistency around price. its a business decision not to compromise even though under substantial pressure as chines buyer consider pricey ~

P.S congratulations to Fang's dream come true and his team's hard work

 

[GreenLeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by testrichard /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Bad: [*]Lean Bass (but very tight, this is with the internal Amp, line out is fine) hopefully software EQ could help bump up a little may be ??

I think it's fine. We know that the amp is not as good as the pico (according to the impressions from other head-fiers). As long as the lineout is good, the pico or other amps may be used. I do not fancy adjusting EQ that much though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by testrichard /img/forum/go_quote.gif [*]No Charging indication when turned off. (How do I know it's done charging without having to turn it on?) this could be really annoying ! for paranoid people ! [*]USB DAC mode and Internal SDHC mode playback does not sound the same. Internal playback from SDHC is better. Likely from USB receiver and it not going straight to I2S. really? would the line out to external amp helps ? one of the selling point of hifiman is its DAC function and quality chip, was hoping it could be use as DAC for the job at least beat the low to mid range stand alone DAC may be ?

Again, this is OK. The USB of the 801 can't handle 24/96. If one uses USB as the source, why not copy the files to the SDHC card directly.

It seems that the coax is OK because Ed did not comment on it.


Quote:

still, like you said the music quality for portable use is most important. besides " Likely from USB receiver and it not going straight to I2S " sounds like there is space to improve so probably no biggy

Yeap, portable use is my major concern as well.


Quote:

the review in Chinese website r very positive! there r 1st formal brief review out already, not much of A-B test with other portable DAP or even the desk one how ever the reviewer put it in desk DAP league and consider hugely improved than current portable DAP. ( i wonder how it would match with Sony D50/D1 ?? )

Can you show the link of the review in the Chinese website as well? Thanks.

 

[testrichard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenLeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can you show the link of the review in the Chinese website as well? Thanks.

¡¾¶ú»ú´ó¼Ò̳ÆÀ²â¹¤×÷ÊÒ¡¿HIFIMAN HM-801 ÆÀ²â£¨µÚÒ»²¿·Ö£© ¶ú»ú´ó¼Ò̳ ¶ú»ú,¶úÈû,¶ú»ú·Å´óÆ÷,ËæÉíÌý,DIY,ÒôÀÖ

2 units been review, 1 said is on the way to reviewer. the tide has changed and head-direct post more frequently and answers more questions now on chinese website, still taking orders too. but same no mass delivery yet at all

i can only thinking of 2 reasons why it is delay the shipment ?

one is Intellecture property issue, perhaps Fang waiting for patents etc etc before mass shipment so to protect his companies' invesement. if this is the case we might have to wait forever !!

two is they r still fixing the bugs, albeit at a very slow pace ~ very very slow pace but it doesnt make sense unless it is so custom hand assemble and test each and every one still wont make sense coz at least slowly one after another person should be getting their unit but in reality the delivery just completely shut down !

(may be the third is again they r waiting for parts again)

the anxiety is growing and every one stops talking about it any more here in Headfi ~ new inquiry and new comers start posting with question marks now while not really much of passion.

i think clarity would be appreciated if head direct can come out and say some thing.

(update: the third review just came out http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=775345&keyword=hifiman
to be honest i dont know what to say any more, i give up ~ i lost my passion now, dont care what they do any more and dont think i will visit headfi much as well, it all starts here and shouldnt be surprise to end here as well )

 

[Nankai]

I am very sorry to see people becoming so upset. We apologize for the delay.

I want to make an announcement here:
1. Will ship rest first batch orders next week.
2. Will ship second batch orders at the end of Nov.
3. We don't have patent issue.

I want to clarify that we only sent one test sample to erji.net. (It is one of the test samples made in August, not the final product). All orders will be shipped according the following rule: No matter where you come from, if you made your payment earlier, you will get it shipped earlier.

 

[immtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenLeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think it's fine. We know that the amp is not as good as the pico.

You're stating this as fact. Is it?
It would be nice if Justin and Ray
made a Pico and Shadow amp to fit into the 801.

Nankai, posted the specs for them to use. That would be the only real way to know, for sure.

 

[GreenLeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif You're stating this as fact. Is it? It would be nice if Justin and Ray made a Pico and Shadow amp to fit into the 801. Nankai, posted the specs for them to use. That would be the only real way to know, for sure.

I'm stating this as a fact (according to the impressions of the head-fiers) and I've edited my original post to reflect that this "fact" is not my words.

I think Nankai has already posted the electronic spec in one of his posts for other vendors to use but so far none of them has voiced out any interest. For me, I'd rather the amp of the 801 tops over the rest

.

 

[GreenLeo]

Thanks testrichard for the links.

 

[John2e]

Quote:

Originally Posted by testrichard /img/forum/go_quote.gif ¡¾¶ú»ú´ó¼Ò̳ÆÀ²â¹¤×÷ÊÒ¡¿HIFIMAN HM-801 ÆÀ²â£¨µÚÒ»²¿·Ö£© ¶ú»ú´ó¼Ò̳ ¶ú»ú,¶úÈû,¶ú»ú·Å´óÆ÷,ËæÉíÌý,DIY,ÒôÀÖ to be honest i dont know what to say any more, i give up ~ i lost my passion now, dont care what they do any more and dont think i will visit headfi much as well, it all starts here and shouldnt be surprise to end here as well )

Welcome to the world of hi end audio / video. Products get delayed. In 1997 I was waiting 1 year for the release of DVD. Stuff happens

http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/ImaPoser.gif

This should be eveyones biggest problem.