[jelt2359]

When the HM901 has the balanced card installed, does it have a hunchback like the HM801?
 
The HM801's hunchback makes it tough to tie to other amps. Sounds awesome, so I won't be giving it up, but limits my use cases.

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

When the HM901 has the balanced card installed, does it have a hunchback like the HM801?
 
The HM801's hunchback makes it tough to tie to other amps. Sounds awesome, so I won't be giving it up, but limits my use cases.

What do you mean? Hunchback? The card is internal. No difference is size of the 901. 

 

[kkcc]

What do you mean? Hunchback? The card is internal. No difference is size of the 901. 

The hunchback is the retrofitted trrs balanced output jack for the 801 balanced amp board on the amp board slot back cover. I believed the 801 wasn't designed to have a balanced out.

 

[fermelom]

I did.  Test were done with two 24/192 FLACs on all cards

Sound quality wise I cannot tell a different.

Even directly comparing the slowest Sony and the fastest sandisk extreme pro I cannot tell.  

Of course I'm still buying faster card just simply because I want to have faster write speed when transferring music.  The extreme pro does writes much faster

Having the same SQ with any card it's definitely a good thing. Then the difference it's about reliability.

 

[jelt2359]

Thanks KKCC. That's awesome news. Anyone had a chance to compare the HM801 and HM901 balanced vs balanced?
 
I'm in two minds about this. The HM801 is something quite special, and as the 901 also has the same opamps on the amps, I'm not sure whether to go for the 901 or get one of the other FOTMs eg. Tera or DX100
 
Thoughts?

 

[jonckr]

Thanks KKCC. That's awesome news. Anyone had a chance to compare the HM801 and HM901 balanced vs balanced?

I'm in two minds about this. The HM801 is something quite special, and as the 901 also has the same opamps on the amps, I'm not sure whether to go for the 901 or get one of the other FOTMs eg. Tera or DX100

Thoughts?

For the newly revised price for Tera, you could get a dx100 and a hm901. I've never heard dx100, so I can't commend. I personally own an rsa protector paired with my rwak100. Combine both together, they're still no where as detailed as my hm901 on the balanced amp board. Get the 901 and you wouldn't regret

 

[musicday]

Had DX100, and AK120 and sold them.I have never listened to HM901,and don't feel the need.
I am Very happy with Tera Player.
Can still be had for old price new.

 

[zachchen1996]

It's funny how people raged at how expensive the hm901 was when the price was first announced, now compared to the tera player and the ak120, the hm901 seems like a bargain

 

[Mimouille]

It's funny how people raged at how expensive the hm901 was when the price was first announced, now compared to the tera player and the ak120, the hm901 seems like a bargain

Once again, debatable. I got the ak120 for 1k and 1.3k is really the max price. According to kkcc who owns both 901 and ak120, you need the balanced card to beat the ak120 sq wise, which brings you close to 1.3k. So for 1.3k, you either get great Sq, functional UI, great battery life, small size and great design, good capacity, dac function and dsd, or you get wonderful Sq, larger size, shorter battery life, buggy UI and the need to get a dock for dac function. I think the value of each offer is comparable, with a slight advantage to the ak120. I am still considering the 901 for the sq though.

 

[kenz]

No doubt about it, the AK120 and HM901 are not cheap regardless how we look at it.
 
However, with progressive software updates and improvements, am sure the HM901 will scale higher than what they're capable of today.
As it is, even with the standard amp, personally, they are better than most (if not all) high end players by a good margin.
 
Once the software is optimized, can't imagine how much more we can get out of the dual sabre dac.

 

[brunk]

Quote:

Once again, debatable. I got the ak120 for 1k and 1.3k is really the max price. According to kkcc who owns both 901 and ak120, you need the balanced card to beat the ak120 sq wise, which brings you close to 1.3k. So for 1.3k, you either get great Sq, functional UI, great battery life, small size and great design, good capacity, dac function and dsd, or you get wonderful Sq, larger size, shorter battery life, buggy UI and the need to get a dock for dac function. I think the value of each offer is comparable, with a slight advantage to the ak120. I am still considering the 901 for the sq though.

Eh, all of that is debateable too, since you skewed it in AK120s favor. How about amp versatility, (HM-901 has a "functional" UI), it still has good battery life just not with balanced card, it also has a replaceable battery, "great design" is had by both, HM-901 also has good capacity, HM-901 also has DAC function, DSD is possible in future firmware update, AK120 also has a dock but it doesn't have WiFi like the HifiMan will, nor the myriad of options it has.
 
Regardless, both are great players, but atleast be objective in your overall comparison

 

[Mimouille]

Eh, all of that is debateable too, since you skewed it in AK120s favor. How about amp versatility, (HM-901 has a "functional" UI), it still has good battery life just not with balanced card, it also has a replaceable battery, "great design" is had by both, HM-901 also has good capacity, HM-901 also has DAC function, DSD is possible in future firmware update, AK120 also has a dock but it doesn't have WiFi like the HifiMan will, nor the myriad of options it has.

Regardless, both are great players, but atleast be objective in your overall comparison

I admit I forgot the replaceable amps which are great...the UI, let s wait and see. The 901 will not allow the Dac function unless you get the dock and the battery life is still shorter, from what I am told. Design is just a matter of taste. Both great players indeed, I feel one is a better all rounder if you want portability while the other has better SQ and can scale more with the amp cards.

 

[jonckr]

Quote:

Had DX100, and AK120 and sold them.I have never listened to HM901,and don't feel the need.
I am Very happy with Tera Player.
Can still be had for old price new.

 
You're happy with the tera player because you've never heard the HM901 

 

[kkcc]

The way I see them after owning both for a while is that both are very good player with different design philosophies and (minor) compromises.

Which dap one prefer boils down to his/her priorities. I see merits in both design decisions and got both and enjoy both. Neither one is head and shoulder above the other even pitting area of strength against weakness as whatever weaknesses they possesses aren't major or remotely close to being deal-breaking for me, which really is the expectation at such exorbitant price point.

Can't go really wrong with either. Personally I still think AK120 is the overall more all-rounded pocketable player, while 901 /w either the balanced or the cheapo diyer discrete amp board gave me the absolute best sound at the expense of the sleek profile/finishing and single charge battery life of the ak120.

 

[kkcc]

You're happy with the tera player because you've never heard the HM901 

Jonckr it is really futile to compare the Tera with any other DAP as it took a vastly different design philosophy catering to different priorities than for users considering ak120 or hm901 etc.

The drawback or deficiencies you and I may see are actually unique selling point for Tera users and they are willing to pay a premium for that (e.g. no screen, big buttons, etc). There is really no alternative to it for people who value such attributes and they became price insensitive.