HiFiMAN 602: Talk about your initial impressions and specs
Jun 7, 2010 at 1:29 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 1,195

CSIR

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HM-602
Size: 104mm*62mm*27mm or 4.09*2.44*1.02inch
Portable music player with USB DAC
DAC: TDA1543 NOS DAC
 
Mini Instruction Manual:
 
 
Down arrow = next track - holding it down will scan forward through track
Up arrow = reset track/previous track - as above but backwards through track.
Right Arrow = select folder or files to navigate or play.
Left arrow = inverse of right arrow
Dataexc port = storage access
USBDAC = USB DAC
Center button = select item except doesn't work on first menu choice for me but fine after that.  FW update needed likely. - While a track is playing center button will pause/play.
Recommended charge time ???
 
 
 
 

From the maker of the 602:
 
Hi Ryan, different people have different taste. HM-602 is not a "v-shape" sound signature. It will never give you "wow" in the first second when you listen to it, but you will like it after you get used to its sound signature. You can listen to it for hours and hours, and will never feel tired. However, some people like warm/sweet/analogue sound (such old meridian), some others do not (they might prefer a much cheaper denon than an old meridian player). If HM-602 is not your cup of tea, contact our customer service team and return it for refund.
 
When we designed HM-602, I used my threshold amp and B&W 808 speaker set up to test its line out against HM-801 and some other TDA1543 DACs. In my opinion, HM-602 line out is better than most entrance level TDA1543 DAC. I am not a 3gs owner so that I do not have any ideas about its sound. We did compared it to imod. I don' t think HM-602 line out is less clear or detailed than imod, and HM-602 is much more musical.  In addition, please make sure you turned of eq and set sound effect as standard, and every time before you test HM-602 against other products, pls turn 602 on for more than 15 min to make sure it is warmed up.
 
 
Jun 7, 2010 at 5:31 PM Post #4 of 1,195
Ed:
Your purchase is a pretty safe bet.  The HM-602 uses the Philips TDA1543 which is a dual 16bit DAC, so it won't be able to natively play 24/96 files like the HM-801 does for starters.  As to how it will sound in comparison?  Some of us will find out for ourselves in a few days.
 
Fang: 
Although TDA1543 is a 16bit DAC, it does support up to 192khz sampling. So 24/96 FLAC is still better than 16/44.1
 
Ed:
Yes, the specs do list support for 4x Oversampling, but you listed it as "NOS".  So that means it will have oversampling enabled for playback of 24/96 FLAC files?
 
Fang:
Think again
 
Jun 7, 2010 at 7:03 PM Post #5 of 1,195
OOOOO I can't wait until reviews are up for this baby.  It's like the person child of a Ti-85 and a Gameboy, pretty.
 
And yes, compare it to a S:flo2!
 
Jun 7, 2010 at 11:06 PM Post #8 of 1,195
Some spread out quotes
 
setmenu:
Nos dacs do not use steep filtering to remove the 'steps' in the analogue output waveform.
One of the effects of this is to roll of the high frequency output a little.
Another effect is that they can make engineers grind their teeth
wink.gif


I have built a number of my own 1543 portable dacs, they sound nice,
but not quite 'right' too my ears.
How good they sound depends on the designers circuit implementation, not all
nos dacs are equal.
I built mine point to point and they are very small.
The 1543 is also quite a hungry beast and my dacs run from a 9.6 v battery pack [regulated to 8v] consuming around 80 ma.
So not the best portable solution.


There is tons of info about them over at Diy audio:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/index.php?
 
 
luvdunhill:
I really like the TDA1543, but I've never really thought it sounds good stacked.. just concentrate on a good implementation, and it will sound phenomenal.
 
Jun 7, 2010 at 11:17 PM Post #10 of 1,195
Does the thing have an EQ comparable to rockbox? Or at least something somewhat usable? A good EQ is pretty much requirement for a portable player in my mind.
 
Jun 8, 2010 at 11:05 PM Post #13 of 1,195
Fang was nice enough to answer some questions about this player:
 
1) Amp is same as standard amp in 801 but with high/low gain switch and will not have hiss with JH 13/16 pro IEMs
2) ~10 hours of battery life
3) ~ 150-160g  (s:flo2 is 133g)
4) reiterated what was earlier posted about DAC and importance of implementation
 
Since it will be competing with the 2GB s:flo2 ($120) it will be interesting at if this sounds better (and by how much). 
 
 

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