[tommyjp]

cheers for reply. am going to have to find some way to audition as it sounds (pardon the pun) largely down to taste. difficult to do since i'm in london and it's chinese.

 

[melomaniac]

@kryten123, seems like a headphone matching challenge to me, if you have a few other options to try maybe that can redeem the HM-601 for you. the lusher darker sound I won't dispute - but you may get closer to the sound you want from your HM-601 in a different combination. it may also be that your cowon got you used to a certain sound (esp decay) and that your ears will need to relearn some things over a week or two.
 
Quote:

Your points are fair enough. Maybe I've used the wrong terminology to try and describe what I am hearing...that will be down to my newness in this arena.
 
However, what I was trying to describe was that the vocals and guitars although clear, sound darker and less bright. It is as if on the HM-601, the singer is ever so slightly mumbling the trailing edge of the words, whereas on the S9, the words have much clearer pronunciations and are projected more forward....and even though the guitars sound like guitars, the strings dont really ring out and the difference is very noticeable with Dobros.
My guess is that the problem lies with the combination of the T1s and the HM-601 and with those IEMs I just prefer the sound of the S9.
 
I really want to like this player because where it is good, it is really is good ie the Bass is incredible. Also the sound appears "fuller" (correct term?) It's like hearing the difference between low quality mp3s and FLAC, its just a shame that it currently just seems too dark for me.
 
What I really wanted to highlight with my write up is not to expect miracles from it. From reviews I had read, I was expecting something truly epic and I have so far been left somewhat disappointed.

 

 

[kryten123]

Hi All,
 
Well after some additional listening, I have to confirm that it appears that the really dark sound I was getting seems to have been my T1s. The T1s have been sent off to be repaired, as the right ear piece has stopped working, so until I get them back and retest, I wont know if the imminent failure was somehow colouring the sound or its just the way the HM-601 sounds with the T1s.
 
However, while the T1s are away, I have had to resort back to my Shures SE530s and the difference is instantly noticeable. The HM-601 with EQ off sounds very similar to my S9(EQ set to Rock) ie the sound is bright - the guitars ring out, the vocals sound clear and life like and sound stage and instrument seperation is wider. I have also noticed that the HM-601 somehow sounds fuller and richer in the mids, than my S9 with the SE530s.
 
I want to make the HM-601 my main player as it sounds much better than the S9, but only with the Shures. I'll retest when I get the T1s back, otherwise, it might be time to consider another high end pair of IEMs. I've been thinking about the JH13\16 Pro - does anyone have any experience with the JH and the HM-601 ?
 
Thanks

 

[rasmushorn]

I have posted my impressions of the HM-601 vs. the Hisoundaudio Studio-I in another thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/548036/review-hifiman-hm-601-vs-hisoundaudio-studio-i
 
 

 

[kryten123]

Great review rasmushorn.
Its interesting to read your comments on reduced treble and resolution - that sounds very similar to what I was hearing with the T1s.
I guess the moral of this is that in the quest for great sound, all components are interdependant.
I'm not sure about investing in another player just yet, especially considering its limitations. Maybe I will investigate alternate IEMs for the HM-601 first.
I can feel my wallet trembling.

 
 

 

[debitsohn]

i purchased the 601 to use with my jh16... the buzzing was horrible.  it was even louder when the little LCD screen was on.  i was pretty disappointed after reading such good things about the SQ.  i had to return it because the buzzing was just too loud.  so  i return it and was only refunded 249, when i paid 259 +10$ shipping.  they took 20$ for shipping saying its non refundable.  i sent an email and a pm saying that it was only 10$ shipping but no response yet.  pretty bad transaction.  if the 601 doesnt handle the jh16 very well it should be stated then i wouldnt have  wasted time and money.  
 

 

[rasmushorn]

@kryten123:
Thanks. Yes, synergy with different headphones is alpha and omega in pairing and selecting portable players and amps. 
 
@debitsohn:
I do not understand how HiFiMAN can let a product with that kind of hiss and noise pass quality control - especially for a product aiming at this segment. 

 

[debitsohn]

Quote:

 
@debitsohn:
I do not understand how HiFiMAN can let a product with that kind of hiss and noise pass quality control - especially for a product aiming at this segment. 

baffles me too.  i thought for sure a DAP would be made to handle an IEM. to me, the gain was turned up way too much to try to power full sized.  could be there was a problem with my unit, but i just didnt want to deal with it.  i could hear the hiss/buzzing even with music playing although it wasnt as noticeable of course.  interference some may say? could be... but come on. if its to the point that its that bad, something needs to be changed. 
 

 

[Scizz]

Hi there!
I just got my 601 yesterday and as far as SQ I'm pretty hooked. It sounds stupendous.
But there's a bit of a letdown concerning the UI.
I'm used to browsing my music via folders. So I select "SD Card" or "Flash On Board". Now here's where the annoying part starts.
The player won't sort the folders by alphabet but regarding the date they were added to the storage - from first to last.
On some occasions the songs are messed up too.
There's one folder where the songs are named "Artist - Tracknumber - Title.flac". For example "Vessels - 01 - Monoform.flac".
The order presented by the player is 8,9,5,6,7,1,2,3,4.
First I thought this was only due to my SD-Card but it's the same thing on the build in storage.
 
When I browse my music by artist some artists show up multiple times. And the songs are not sorted by album but by alphabet. So when all the songs are numerated, there are a few songs starting with "01", "02" and so on, right below each other.
 
I'm hoping this can be fixed one way or another as it is only a problem with the software/firmware.
Or maybe I'm just too stupid to get it fixed.
So I'm relly hoping you can help me as I would love to keep the player. But with the UI so messed up it will be hard not to return it...
 
Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[rasmushorn]

 
Quote:

baffles me too.  i thought for sure a DAP would be made to handle an IEM. to me, the gain was turned up way too much to try to power full sized.  could be there was a problem with my unit, but i just didnt want to deal with it.  i could hear the hiss/buzzing even with music playing although it wasnt as noticeable of course.  interference some may say? could be... but come on. if its to the point that its that bad, something needs to be changed. 
 

Well - given a second thought. My iPhone 4 also has a constant hiss from the headphone-out so it might just be an issue every player has to deal with somehow. So maybe I should not blame the HM-601 too much for this. 
 
 
 

 

[debitsohn]

Quote:

 

Well - given a second thought. My iPhone 4 also has a constant hiss from the headphone-out so it might just be an issue every player has to deal with somehow. So maybe I should not blame the HM-601 too much for this. 
 
 
 

my j3 is 100% silent.  /shrug... i dono whats going on.  but to be fair, the SQ otherwise was very, very good.
 

 

[melomaniac]

Quote:

Hi there!
I just got my 601 yesterday and as far as SQ I'm pretty hooked. It sounds stupendous.
But there's a bit of a letdown concerning the UI.
I'm used to browsing my music via folders. So I select "SD Card" or "Flash On Board". Now here's where the annoying part starts.
The player won't sort the folders by alphabet but regarding the date they were added to the storage - from first to last.
On some occasions the songs are messed up too.
There's one folder where the songs are named "Artist - Tracknumber - Title.flac". For example "Vessels - 01 - Monoform.flac".
The order presented by the player is 8,9,5,6,7,1,2,3,4.
First I thought this was only due to my SD-Card but it's the same thing on the build in storage.
 
When I browse my music by artist some artists show up multiple times. And the songs are not sorted by album but by alphabet. So when all the songs are numerated, there are a few songs starting with "01", "02" and so on, right below each other.
 
I'm hoping this can be fixed one way or another as it is only a problem with the software/firmware.
Or maybe I'm just too stupid to get it fixed.
So I'm relly hoping you can help me as I would love to keep the player. But with the UI so messed up it will be hard not to return it...
 
Thanks in advance for any replies.

you can edit your folders - but not if you mount the SD card by itself, I tried that on my mac mini and it wouldn't let me edit. if you mount the hm-601 via USB, you can either replace (delete and load) or edit your folders, and see if it is either tagging or a naming issue you're dealing with. I've had no such issues really, and certainly won't return mine - it works just fine for me, except for the terrifying sound it makes when it runs out of battery...

 

[Scizz]

Ok, thank you for your report.
I'll try an play around with the folders to see if I can get it fixed.
 
In the meantime I've found another issue.
Some of my FLAC files appear to be broken when played on the Hifiman (track is skipped or a lot of noise in there).
Though they work fine on my laptop and my Cowon Player.
I've read that the Hifiman cannot play 24 bit files. How can I find out if my FLACs are 16 or 24 bit?
(Sorry if this is a stupid question... I'm new to all this stuff )
 
Thanks!

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Ok, thank you for your report.
I'll try an play around with the folders to see if I can get it fixed.
 
In the meantime I've found another issue.
Some of my FLAC files appear to be broken when played on the Hifiman (track is skipped or a lot of noise in there).
Though they work fine on my laptop and my Cowon Player.
I've read that the Hifiman cannot play 24 bit files. How can I find out if my FLACs are 16 or 24 bit?
(Sorry if this is a stupid question... I'm new to all this stuff )
 
Thanks!

It plays 24/44 and 24/96 fine.  Not 24/88 or 24/192.  Right click on the file and look at properties or your player could show it.  Depends.
 

 

[Scizz]

Quote Anaxilus:

It plays 24/44 and 24/96 fine.  Not 24/88 or 24/192.  Right click on the file and look at properties or your player could show it.  Depends.

 
 
Okay, I've checked that, loaded the files into foobar and it told me:
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Bits per Sample: 16
Channels: 2
 
So I guess the hifiman should play those files just fine.
 
Still I can't get the folders to be sorted by alphabet.
I took out the SD-Card, cleared the internal storage and put just two folders on there. Still the same crap.
Oh and it will show me the file name rather than the tags either though all files are tagged properly.
 
Maybe I got a defective unit?
Though those are all seemingly software based issues.
The firmware is 0.05 so it's the latest version I guess...
 
If it would just stop playing tricks on me I'd be the happiest person on earth and enjoy my music for good with my new lush sounding gear *sigh*
 
Thanks for your efforts so far.