HM-901

[ClieOS]

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The same aesthetic (or lack of) as their older models. Though as long as it sounds good, I couldn't care what it looks like.
 

 
I think it looks much better than HM801. At least the buttons / scroll wheel are much more intuitive than the old X arrangement.
 

 

[BoxBoxBox]

"They share similar sound signature, true hifi sound.  But for people who are spoiled by 801's very musical sound signature, they may not appreciate 901 immediately."
 
So 901 is not musical?

 

[Saraugie]

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I think it looks much better than HM801. At least the buttons / scroll wheel are much more intuitive than the old X arrangement.
 

CLieOS have you heard it? 

 

[ClieOS]

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So 901 is not musical?

If you flip the DAC's LPF to vintage mode, it will sound more musical - however, there is just some fundamental difference between the presentation of PCM1704 (HM801) and ES9018 (HM901). While the former has a kind of euphonic warmth, the later is much cleaner and well layered in the mid. On first ear, I will say the most noticeable difference will be how HM901's soundstage is wider and extremely well defined while HM801 soundstage on the other hand is more relaxed and submerging. I have said the HM801 is a very effortless sounding DAP in the past - in contrast, HM901 is more engaging and sharp. However, it is not to say it is a very "digital sounding" kind of DAP. But it is certainly not as musical as HM801.
 
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CLieOS have you heard it? 

Yes, I have been listening to it for the last couple of days. However, I won't be reviewing it until a more stable firmware is released (*said to be end of the month or March). The current stock firmware is usable but still buggy.

 

[burtomr]

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The current stock (901) firmware is usable but still buggy.

 
Oh great...here we go again:
 
Wish Fang would quit flucking around and just use Rockbox from day one....it's already the best UI/GUI in the world and already available....so we all get to go through the learning curve/ update cycle for ...hmm....let me guess (lol)...months and months...oh boy.

 

[Saraugie]

 Quote:

CLieOS have you heard it? 

Quote:

If you flip the DAC's LPF to vintage mode, it will sound more musical - however, there is just some fundamental difference between the presentation of PCM1704 (HM801) and ES9018 (HM901). While the former has a kind of euphonic warmth, the later is much cleaner and well layered in the mid. On first ear, I will say the most noticeable difference will be how HM901's soundstage is wider and extremely well defined while HM801 soundstage on the other hand is more relaxed and submerging. I have said the HM801 is a very effortless sounding DAP in the past - in contrast, HM901 is more engaging and sharp. However, it is not to say it is a very "digital sounding" kind of DAP. But it is certainly not as musical as HM801.
 
Yes, I have been listening to it for the last couple of days. However, I won't be reviewing it until a more stable firmware is released (*said to be end of the month or March). The current stock firmware is usable but still buggy.

I know you will wait to do an in-depth review. Are you able to say now if it is higher on the scale of S.Q. compared to the DX100 and AK100?

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

 
Oh great...here we go again:
 
Wish Fang would quit flucking around and just use Rockbox from day one....it's already the best UI/GUI in the world and already available....so we all get to go through the learning curve/ update cycle for ...hmm....let me guess (lol)...months and months...oh boy.

 
HM901 uses a totally different SoC than HM801 (RockChip) so it is not as easy as just installing it. The only reason why they can do it on HM801 / HM60x is because someone else has already developed a RB port to RockChip SoC. It will take a few RB dev to look into the new SoC datasheet for sometime to even have an idea on how to port RB over - that's assuming they can find the full datasheet in the first place.
 
You really can't ask HifiMan to ask the SoC supplier to 'open' its firmware library so others can RB it. This kind of information is considered company trade secret / copyright and you have to sign agreement not to leak it out when you buy the SoC from them. It is not as easy as you think.
 
On a personal note - I tried RB on Fuze and Clip+, never really care much about it. 'Best' is a very subjective thing. I'll call it 'functional but overly complicated' for my own usage..
 
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I know you will wait to do an in-depth review. Are you able to say now if it is higher on the scale of S.Q. compared to the DX100 and AK100?

 
I have not heard DX100 or AK100, though the lack of an actual amp section on AK100 leaves me wonder whether it is actually that good sounding.
 
p/s: just saw the announcement that first bugfix will be released soon. Also a free upgrade of the stock amp card for those who already received their HM901.

 

[ClieOS]

Got the latest firmware and pretty much all of the minor bugs are fixed. It is quite functional now, though ID3tag interpretation still isn't perfect as it does get 'album' category wrong from time to time. However, using the file browser and listening to one album at a time (under one folder) will avoid most of the ID3tag issue. While album art is supported, not all of them show up. As said, It isn't perfect but most of the more annoying bugs have been fixed and all the basic functions are working.
 
Might as well mention this: from the firmware update file, I can tell it is an extremely slimmed down Android. This should give hope to those of you who want RB as putting RB on top of a Linux / Android kernel is much easier than building everything form the ground up. As per Hifiman, the firmware is not Android based.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Got the latest firmware and pretty much all of the minor bugs are fixed. It is quite functional now, though ID3tag interpretation still isn't perfect as it does get 'album' category wrong from time to time. However, using the file browser and listening to one album at a time (under one folder) will avoid most of the ID3tag issue. While album art is supported, not all of them show up. As said, It isn't perfect but most of the more annoying bugs have been fixed and all the basic functions are working.
 
Might as well mention this: from the firmware update file, I can tell it is an extremely slimmed down Android. This should give hope to those of you who want RB as putting RB on top of a Linux / Android kernel is much easier than building everything form the ground up.

Do you know specifically what ID3 tags it has issues with unless it is all of the formats? I notice both the ibasso and Studio V had issues with certain files types. The DX100 wouldn't show album art unless the mp3 file was ID3.2 while the Studio V would run very slow with a bunch of ID3.2 files opposed to ID3.1.

 

[ClieOS]

I am not sure. But I don't think the player is incapable of reading ID3tag, just not good at organizing them.

 

[ChrisSC]

Now that this is being released in China for trade-in for hm-801, is there any info about the price?

 

[Retrias]

I thought its confirmed that they will cost 1k usd? 

 

[kenz]

So far all price mentions for HM-901 indicates as USD$999 and the dock USD$399.
 
Am quite interested in when these will be available to the international market in March (or later?) and which distributors.
So far been very pleased with the iBasso DX100. Looking to having an alternative equivalent player to toggle during my daily commutes.

 

[ClieOS]

After playing around with my mp3's ID3 tag, I think I have it mostly figured out. WMA, FLAC, APE and WAV's don't really support album art, but as long as mp3's album art is stored in ID3v2.3 instead of ID3v2.4 (which was what I used before), album art will display correctly.

 

[Retrias]

So let me confirm this, since its not actually the norml for chinesse players,  can the player tag browse its external memory?