[el3ndil]

The amp on the EF400(and likely these as well) should not be overlooked. I've been comparing mine to THX AAA, MCTH, and Schiit Piety and might prefer it over them all. Its closest to the THX but stages significantly larger with a somewhat recessed midrange. I find it ever so slightly better in the technicalities(advantage of going AIO with shorter signal path maybe.) Or the THX having a touch muted treble hurts it maybe(no air/sparkle!) The other amps are different enough that judging technicalities is hard but the EF400 amp maintains biggest soundstage/air(ignoring the tube holography thing of the MCTH which is more of a 3D than spacious effect) & that U shaped frequency response.

I am using Dekoni x Hifiman Cobalt.

so its true, pairing ef400 with ananda nano is a bad idea. ef400 looks like ef500.

 

[Hyde00]

To make matter even worse, is it better to buy the currently discounted EF400 or the new EF499?

I guess we'll wait for a 3 way review.

 

[MohawkUS]

so its true, pairing ef400 with ananda nano is a bad idea. ef400 looks like ef500.

I do wonder if EF500 = EF400 with cleaner form factor & additional IO options.

 

[Eiffel]

IMO the EF499 gets more attention because the golden knobs indeed look really good with the black chassis. That said, the colour scheme won't fit everyone's system, so it is nice to have the silver EF500 too. It will be interesting to hear the difference between them, strictly as DACs.

Actually the golden knobs are the worst part in the EF499. I'll buy instantly one with an all black scheme.
But even so, it looks better than the silver one.
I usually love silver products too, but somehow the silver scheme don't fit well this design.

 

[betula]

Actually the golden knobs are the worst part in the EF499. I'll buy instantly one with an all black scheme.
But even so, it looks better than the silver one.
I usually love silver products too, but somehow the silver scheme don't fit well this design.

Looks are personal. Some customers love what others hate and vice versa. That is just how the world is.

 

[Hyde00]

Actually the golden knobs are the worst part in the EF499. I'll buy instantly one with an all black scheme.

Yeah maybe the gold and black is too much contrast?

Solution is we need an all gold unit LOLLL jk.

But even so, it looks better than the silver one.
I usually love silver products too, but somehow the silver scheme don't fit well this design.

Yeah I went from typically getting silver, then switch side to black, now back to silver again.

 

[Infoseeker]

The EF500 has what quality of binning for the Himalaya chips?

 

[cocolinho]

Please share info about output impedance.
EF400 has quite high number. Hopefully these new products will show close to 0

 

[povidlo]

Do you find the power ratings to be accurate?
@TeamHiFiMAN We'd love to get chip specs on the 499 and 500 please!

i don't have any reason to doubt the output specs, it's powerful. hopefully some third party measurements show up.

How does it fair with IEMs

ef499 is suitable for iems. there's lots of room on volume knob, it's doesn't get loud quickly. impedance seems OK as frequency response remains consistent with a hybrid like trn bax pro. hopefully some third party measurements show up on this as well.

Can you comment on the network capability? The diagram shows playback from a mobile device through a local network.

have used usb input only. my router is too far to connect it to ef499 directly.

yo man is the outputs on the back fixed or variable?

i believe rca/xlr outs are fixed line level outputs, but haven't tried them yet. i'm satisfied with internal amp for now.

 

[lucanato]

...still looking for a good amp for my he1000se, now i'm listening them in a strange way: ifi gryphon line output that enter (rca) in a kingrex preamp from which i take the output using a 2rca->female 3,5mm cable... and it sound veeeery nice and meaty instead of gryphon alone

 

[Hyde00]

ef499 is suitable for iems. there's lots of room on volume knob, it's doesn't get loud quickly. impedance seems OK as frequency response remains consistent with a hybrid like trn bax pro. hopefully some third party measurements show up on this as well.

That's good to hear, I read EF400 it's boarderline too loud to be usable on sensitive gear.

Good to see EF499 has more usable range.

i believe rca/xlr outs are fixed line level outputs, but haven't tried them yet. i'm satisfied with internal amp for now.

I'm on the other camp where I'd prefer fixed. Since I might hook it up to my tube amp if I do ever get this.

 

[CT007]

Hm, let me guess... The output impedance is still just as high as EF400?

 

[CT007]

Please share info about output impedance.
EF400 has quite high number. Hopefully these new products will show close to 0

Exactly... They are not showing us the data for this.

 

[MohawkUS]

Hm, let me guess... The output impedance is still just as high as EF400?

Where can you find information on the EF400's OI? It sounds good with my 16ohm dynamics so it can't be that bad.

 

[cocolinho]

EF400 was measured by someone:
3.5: 18ohm
6.35: 5ohm
4.4: 10.3ohm
XLR: 9.85ohm

no worry with high impedance headphones such as HD6xx but could be an issue (in a way that it will change the sound) with low impedance headphones/IEMs.
It is a pitty as I really wanted to try R2R tech from Hifiman so hopefully the new EF499/500 will do better