[Hyde00]

I owned the ifi zen can once and i could plug my hiby r6 pro direct through 4.4mm into the amp and then Sundara with custom 4.4mm cable. Was kinda a great thing everything balanced without bulky XLR.

lol yeah I think portable gear is iFi's strength. So if you have mostly portable gear then it all work quite well together.

Anyway back than I wished the zen can had a dac included (and Bluetooth).

lol sounds like you need either Zen One Signature or Diablo 2.

But EF499 is cheaper I guess.

 

[tinkererGCH]

hmm those two units seems to be real competition for the EF600, which I got last year and now I would prefer the EF500 (which is also half the price of the EF600)

 

[samsauma]

Black and gold look nice, so many options at this price and use point

 

[DavidSerig]

These look really cool. Also for a desktop solution to be able to stand your headphone is a great idea. I will check one out at a canjam for sure!

 

[psy472]

The question is: does it drive the Susvara?

 

[delfin150]

Can anyone briefly compare ef400/ef500 himalaya r2r dac to ef499 philips r2r dac? Are there any significant differences?

 

[Hyde00]

Can anyone briefly compare ef400/ef500 himalaya r2r dac to ef499 philips r2r dac? Are there any significant differences?

I don't know if anyone got all 3 units yet, but hopefully Hifiman sent out some review units to reviewers.

 

[el3ndil]

Imo, based on specs, only ef500 is worth to consider. Ef499 has dac performance of poor Realtek motherboard alc887, if you have it just test. Instead i ve ordered topping dx3 pro plus and smsl dl200 for the price of ef499

 

[Hyde00]

based on specs

R2R dacs generally don't measure that well, but that's not the point of why people get R2R dacs anyway......

People get R2R dacs more natural organic, less digital sound......

Instead i ve ordered topping dx3 pro plus and smsl dl200 for the price of ef499

For example this would probably sound more digital and less natural/organic than most R2R dacs.

Though Delta Sigma dacs do generally measure better.

 

[delfin150]

I don't know if anyone got all 3 units yet, but hopefully Hifiman sent out some review units to reviewers.

That’s not what I meant, probably wrote it imprecisely . To clarify, I wanted to ask about the general differences between philips r2r DACs, that had been implemented in older stuff, now probably in ef499 and himalaya r2r which is already known from ef400 and will be in ef500.

 

[el3ndil]

R2R dacs generally don't measure that well, but that's not the point of why people get R2R dacs anyway......

People get R2R dacs more natural organic, less digital sound......

For example this would probably sound more digital and less natural/organic than most R2R dacs.

Though Delta Sigma dacs do generally measure better.

probably because of ES signature. But sharpening is not only auditable factor of SNR, imaging/sound stage also i think. How does R2R compare to tube amplifier from your experience ?
from this comparison i prefer R2R. hmm

 

[Hyde00]

probably because of ES signature. But sharpening is not only auditable factor of SNR, imaging/sound stage also i think. How does R2R compare to tube amplifier from your experience ?
from this comparison i prefer R2R. hmm

lol actually this sound demo is a pretty good representation of Delta Sigma vs R2R dac.

Like you can notice R2R is a bit more 3D and more smaller nuances, but also slightly fuzzier.

Delta Sigma is a bit cleaner and sharper also a bit more 2D sounding.

I feel like tube do similar thing to R2R but more so in the space / imaging / 3D presentation. R2R bring out a bit more depth and smaller texture I think.....????????

Maybe do both?

 

[bracque]

Hi all, how would the er500 rate against the smsl m500?

 

[Hyde00]

Anyone that tried the EF499, could you describe sound signature?

Hifiman word if like "warm R2R sound" to me sounds like treble roll off. I hope that's not the case though.

Also curious how the Philips chip sound like vs the Himalaya R2R.

 

[Loftprojection]

probably because of ES signature. But sharpening is not only auditable factor of SNR, imaging/sound stage also i think. How does R2R compare to tube amplifier from your experience ?
from this comparison i prefer R2R. hmm

Nice video, love those JBL speakers, the Denafrips clearly sounds nicer, particularly the voices at the end