[MrGreen]

Quote:

All future reviews according to this thread should look like this?
 

 
 
DBT Scores 15/20
 
End review
 
Yea that's pretty freakin useful isn't it?

Arguably that is more useful than a large majority of reviews.
 
The aim of a good DAC should be, in essence technical excellence. A roll-off like that is not really the sign of a "technically excellent" dac, as it were, even though it performs better in other measurements.

 

[udauda]

FYI a Japanese headphile named ソノベ measured his HM-801 too- and he doesn't seem to be very happy with the result. 

 

[JohnFerrier]

 
 
Nice case. More pics.
 
 
.

 

[WalkGood]

Pictures of the internals ...
 
Quote:

 
... ... Nice case!

I'm so happy you posted that link for all to see the soldering and spew on the pcb board, I think this speaks volumes without having to say much other than my 12 year old son can solder cleaner ... this finally shows the poor quality of solder joints, judge for yourself. Is this a DAP that is worth $800.00 and the size of that power supply reminds me of what I used in the mid to late 80's, there are more pictures as I only posted a few from your link JohnFerrier, http://light-widely.blogspot.com/2009/10/hifiman-hm-801.html  You really need to use the link to see close up the poor quality, huddler just resizes the pictures too small ...
 
 

 

 

 

 

[Sonic 748i]

 
Quote:

I'm so happy you posted that link for all to see the soldering and spew on the pcb board, I think this speaks volumes without having to say much other than my 12 year old son can solder cleaner ... this finally shows the poor quality of solder joints, judge for yourself. Is this a DAP that is worth $800.00 and the size of that power supply reminds me of what I used in the mid to late 80's, there are more pictures as I only posted a few from your link JohnFerrier, http://light-widely.blogspot.com/2009/10/hifiman-hm-801.html  You really need to use the link to see close up the poor quality, huddler just resizes the pictures too small ...
 

Thanks for the pictures! It's nice looking at the components responsible for such amazing sound quality.

 

[WalkGood]

For an $800.00 DAP, the pcb not to be set up via on a soldering robot is a joke. Any reputable company would use soldering robots, if the manufacturer did it might look something like the Sansa Clip inside. And don’t come back with the argument that it’s hand made, it's just stock electronic parts pieced together by unskilled hands. The yellow is questionable, red is so bad that it should be rejected and the uppermost red circle is the scariest with the huge wad of solder around it that tiny resistor almost touches the memory chip. Seriously, as a commercial product there is no excuse for mediocrity, especially at that price this is totally unacceptable.
 
Beyond the graphs, if you add up lack of batter life, build quality, UI, sound quality all that matters when coming to a conclusion. Not to mention that wonderful 60 day warranty it’s a clogged artery just waiting to happen
 
here's the link so you can see close up: http://i41.tinypic.com/2wcmvz8.jpg
 
 

 

[Sonic 748i]

As long as the device is safe to handle, doesn't fall apart in my hands and does what it claims to do and that is output audio never before achieved by portable DAP's than it's worth every penny. The HiFiMAN lives up to all 3 of those rules.

 

[cegras]

WalkGood: The first set of pics you linked showed (what seems to me) excellent soldering. Maybe they cleaned up their practice?

 

[WalkGood]

Quote:

As long as the device is safe to handle, doesn't fall apart in my hands and does what it claims to do and that is output audio never before achieved by portable DAP's than it's worth every penny. The HiFiMAN lives up to all 3 of those rules.

 
Judging from your posts you seem to be the most stubborn fanboy or are you fang’s son? I guess what they say is true, “ignorance is bliss isn’t it.”   
 
 
Quote:

WalkGood: The first set of pics you linked showed (what seems to me) excellent soldering. Maybe they cleaned up their practice?

If you use the link to bring up a respectable size you'll see what I mean, if you can live with that quality it's non of my concern but with the limited warranty I'd bet for real postable use there will be problems ...
 
Edit: BTW they were from the JohnFerrier link, not mine

 

[Rockford]

Quote:

WalkGood: The first set of pics you linked showed (what seems to me) excellent soldering. Maybe they cleaned up their practice?

Does that excuse selling the above horribly done soldering job when it was old at the same cost, that shows horrible quality control.

 

[Region2]

Quote:

Unlike you, I prefer to judge for myself when I test them, now stop taking the thread off topic if you have nothing valid to post other than boasting, it's meaningless.

x2
 
I read a lot about the Denon D7000 and a few friends told me that since I love the AKG sound sig, I would probably hate the D7000, but I love them.  I wish the bass wasn't as boomy and I don't find the mids all that recessed, just that the bass comes off as too powerful though not muddy.
 
Sonic, have you personally tried all the other gear or is it just a coincidence your rig happens to have every FOTM in one portable setup?

 

[Sonic 748i]

Quote:

x2
 
I read a lot about the Denon D7000 and a few friends told me that since I love the AKG sound sig, I would probably hate the D7000, but I love them.  I wish the bass wasn't as boomy and I don't find the mids all that recessed, just that the bass comes off as too powerful though not muddy.
 
Sonic, have you personally tried all the other gear or is it just a coincidence your rig happens to have every FOTM in one portable setup?

I have tried a lot of other gear and at the time I ended up with the AKG 702 and Grace M902 combo. I've heard universal earphones such Westone 3, Shure SE530, Westone UM3X, UE Triple. Fi, Sennheiser IE8, and Klipsch Custom 3 all through my Grace M902 and preferred the AKG 702 with the Westone 3 as a close second. The day I got my JH13 Pro, straight out of my iPod it absolutely made everything else sound inferior. Now with my ultimate rig, I don't think I can get similar sound quality until I spend ungodly amounts of cash. $10,000+

 

 

[K3cT]

The soldering is actually pretty good but what are those white blobs? They look like... melted blu-tak?

 

[Sonic 748i]

Quote:

The soldering is actually pretty good but what are those white blobs? They look like... melted blu-tak?

I think it's thermal paste.

 

[WalkGood]

The solder is not good, the comments I posted about the yellow and red joints were actually made by a professional in the field and the white blob is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_grease
 
Quote:

The soldering is actually pretty good but what are those white blobs? They look like... melted blu-tak?