They are all single ended. The se far more likely is used as it is in BHSE to mean special edition. According to their site the modded version upgrades the normal one to SE spec
A friend bought the SE version, which is not modded, and I got an SE unit and had it modded.
I heard that HM1000 Gold/black is also out of production for some reasons. I am sure that is still enough NOS 1704 chips for sale, Audio-gd have a bunch of it and stories about inability to use these chips is pure nonsense. Hifiman told us that they use last batch when introduced r2r2000, but than came out HM1000 that also uses 1704.
I went with the R2R2K Red as I preferred it's fuller sound signature. The Black R2RK has more detail retrieval, I did try to pickup one at cost prior to being discontinued
Personally speaking the player needs to be a standalone device not a slave for my needs. I'm all about the music, I just want my DAP's to play my music; turn the phone off, tune in & tune out, no distractions, no BS...
I just load my favourite albums and use the R2R2K as a USB DAC for the rest. It takes some time to prep the albums specifically for the R2R2K. That said for the SQ it's worth the effort. R2R2K Red is far from the best technically, yet that analogue sound signature is so very seductive...
I doubt they have enough (given the benefit of doubt that they're genuine) to do a proper production run, and at the asking price, it would not be viable for a commercial project. May be good for DIYers.
May have to do with 2x versus 4x 1704Ks.
FWIW I use a dedicated iPod, no unnecessary apps installed, as a 'turntable' controller to wirelessly play music off the HM1K SD cards. There's no distractions, the UX/UI is as good as any and handling a small light and well designed iPod is so much more enjoyable than moving an entire usually big, heavy and sometimes hot DAP! YMMV of course.I went with the R2R2K Red as I preferred it's fuller sound signature. The Black R2RK has more detail retrieval, I did try to pickup one at cost prior to being discontinued
Yes, I also originally thought it strange, but count me as another one that have come to like it too. Now I wished I could use the iPod to control all my other DAC/DAPs!
It's the whole PCM1704K in HM's fabulous R2R implementation. There is no more natural, musical and still technically competent DAC/DAP in the market today, save the LP6 and its variants perhaps. Still, the HM form factor makes it unbeatable. It's a shame that the HM1K appeared abandoned; HM could've continued to make them, maybe with the Analog Devices chips, which are also very good for R2R as LP has shown, and support the series. IMO it is innovative and proof that great sound/music could be attained in a small package.
TBH I think that the HM1000 was both over priced, under developed and the lack of being capable of independent playback turned off a lot of the audience. In many respects the HM1000 was two steps forward & three steps back. I keep hoping that Hifiman will produce a dedicated standalone DAP as they very much understand audio and how to reproduce it in the most natural way...
I completely agree with you! Except for the independent playback, which I have come to prefer and am happily living with. I would be first to sign up for any next iteration along the HM1K-R2R2K line; the sound/music is at another level altogether.
LP6 yes is right up there on my list as once you get R2R you wont go back being, both a blessing and a curse LOL. I want my player's to be independent, not dependant. R2R2K is rough & read, equally delivers on SQ...
No doubt. The LP issues are well-known; but Wan/LP, and to some extent I'd like to think Fang Bian/HM too, is almost entirely and fanatically concerned about the quality of sound, that anything else is secondary and inconsequential to his design considerations. I don't think either would strategically and purposefully hold back on any tech to feed to the next hardware update; doesn't seem like they are in any rush to introduce new stuff, DAPS in the HM's case.
I am with you on the R2R train, though I have not lost hope on delta-sigma, if implemented well, there are merits there to be enjoyed too. The LP6 (probably want the Ti edition for its quad AD5790) will meet your independent requirement. I'm also hunting for one (Ti or 7AE) and noticed its prices' softening in the secondary market lately.
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To be fair L&P serves a specific market, where SQ is paramount not whistles & bells.
I am totally with you on this one and those were the reasons for me, too, why I originally bought the R2R2000 (Red). But now, a few years later, I think Hifimans idea was great but the execution bad for many reasons. Biggest problem is/was the software. Those ideas only make sense if you can provide a proper software support. They should have thought that through from the beginning. But HMs software support is utterly horrible, that`s all I can say. Second was the missing support of several types of BT codecs instead of only relying on one (short - before - death - LHDC). At least they should have included a way to update codecs via firmware. Third was a missing proper concept to use streaming services in HQ. Even though there are people in our community who still refuse it, there is no way around the fact that this is the future of music listening imo.
