Introducing the HIFIMAN Fully Balanced HM800 Mini-DAC/Amplifier

[ClieOS]

 

[jaydoc1]

Looking forward to your comparison !

 

[syazwaned]

Whoa, smaller than ru6

 

[jaydoc1]

Any impressions on this yet ?
Very quiet about this - maybe the unusual iem connection design is a deal breaker for most ?

 

[jmwant]

Looking forward your review.

 

[jmwant]

Any impressions on this yet ?
Very quiet about this - maybe the unusual iem connection design is a deal breaker for most ?

Might be, if the cable breaks, there's no aftermarket alternatives

 

[ClieOS]

Might be, if the cable breaks, there's no aftermarket alternatives

Perhaps no ready-made alternative, but the connection on the DAC itself are just MMCX, so you can easily find any cable maker to make replacement cable if you want to.

 

[jaydoc1]

True, at least they didnt use a proprietry connection. Will be interesting to see comparisons to the Cayin RU6 - am I right in assuming the HiFiman HM800 is a true balanced unit vs the Cayin RU6 which mimics balanced via a bit of extra watts on the 4.4 mm connection ?

 

[ClieOS]

True, at least they didnt use a proprietry connection. Will be interesting to see comparisons to the Cayin RU6 - am I right in assuming the HiFiman HM800 is a true balanced unit vs the Cayin RU6 which mimics balanced via a bit of extra watts on the 4.4 mm connection ?

R-2R DAC doesn't output differential (= balanced) signal in nature and thus it really can't be implement as 'true balanced' (*assuming you mean an implementation that is balanced from the DAC to the amp stage, as opposed to a 'pseudo-balanced' that is only balanced on the amp stage forward). On that note, neither HM800 or RU6 is 'true balanced'.

However, as long as the output from the DAC is clean / high quality enough, whether it is 'true' or 'pseudo' balanced or not as a whole will not impact the end result that much as it really is the whole implementation of the DAC/amp that determine its quality, not just how its balanced is implemented.

 

[syazwaned]

R-2R DAC doesn't output differential (= balanced) signal in nature and thus it really can't be implement as 'true balanced' (*assuming you mean an implementation that is balanced from the DAC to the amp stage, as opposed to a 'pseudo-balanced' that is only balanced on the amp stage forward). On that note, neither HM800 or RU6 is 'true balanced'.

However, as long as the output from the DAC is clean / high quality enough, whether it is 'true' or 'pseudo' balanced or not as a whole will not impact the end result that much as it really is the whole implementation of the DAC/amp that determine its quality, not just how its balanced is implemented.

Which one do you like better my Friend? HM800 or Ru6?

 

[jaydoc1]

R-2R DAC doesn't output differential (= balanced) signal in nature and thus it really can't be implement as 'true balanced' (*assuming you mean an implementation that is balanced from the DAC to the amp stage, as opposed to a 'pseudo-balanced' that is only balanced on the amp stage forward). On that note, neither HM800 or RU6 is 'true balanced'.

However, as long as the output from the DAC is clean / high quality enough, whether it is 'true' or 'pseudo' balanced or not as a whole will not impact the end result that much as it really is the whole implementation of the DAC/amp that determine its quality, not just how its balanced is implemented.

Thanks for the explanation, might have to do a bit of reading on the mechanisms at work here - and Chord devices eschew the whole balanced idea, I’ve read Rob Watts state it’s not needed / irrelevant with his designs and having owned a few Chords they are not lacking in output.
So having tried both HM & RU6 do you have a preference ?

 

[ClieOS]

Thanks for the explanation, might have to do a bit of reading on the mechanisms at work here - and Chord devices eschew the whole balanced idea, I’ve read Rob Watts state it’s not needed / irrelevant with his designs and having owned a few Chords they are not lacking in output.
So having tried both HM & RU6 do you have a preference ?

I haven't spent much time on HM800 to really draw any conclusion yet. The reason being I am still gathering parts to build a MMCX to 2.5mm adapter so I can use HM800 with my other balanced IEM. This will turn HM800 to work more like a conventional USB dongle.

Chord uses programmable chip as it's DAC and as far as I know, also don't output differential. He is not wrong that his way of implementation probably won't benefit much from balanced, as the chip's output is already very high in quality - still, there are some advantage on balanced setup has over single-ended, especially on crosstalk when dealing with super low impedance headphones. It is also not particularly difficult to implement balanced if he wanted to. It is more of a design choice IMO, as Chord is not your typical audio company that prioritizes market's need over it's own design philosophy.

 

[Hanesu]

I haven't spent much time on HM800 to really draw any conclusion yet. The reason being I am still gathering parts to build a MMCX to 2.5mm adapter so I can use HM800 with my other balanced IEM. This will turn HM800 to work more like a conventional USB dongle.

Chord uses programmable chip as it's DAC and as far as I know, also don't output differential. He is not wrong that his way of implementation probably won't benefit much from balanced, as the chip's output is already very high in quality - still, there are some advantage on balanced setup has over single-ended, especially on crosstalk when dealing with super low impedance headphones. It is also not particularly difficult to implement balanced if he wanted to. It is more of a design choice IMO, as Chord is not your typical audio company that prioritizes market's need over it's own design philosophy.

Some first impression based on the IEMs that you can already use with the unit?

 

[Hanesu]

I haven't spent much time on HM800 to really draw any conclusion yet. The reason being I am still gathering parts to build a MMCX to 2.5mm adapter so I can use HM800 with my other balanced IEM. This will turn HM800 to work more like a conventional USB dongle.

Chord uses programmable chip as it's DAC and as far as I know, also don't output differential. He is not wrong that his way of implementation probably won't benefit much from balanced, as the chip's output is already very high in quality - still, there are some advantage on balanced setup has over single-ended, especially on crosstalk when dealing with super low impedance headphones. It is also not particularly difficult to implement balanced if he wanted to. It is more of a design choice IMO, as Chord is not your typical audio company that prioritizes market's need over it's own design philosophy.

Any update on this?

 

[Lacas]

I haven't spent much time on HM800 to really draw any conclusion yet. The reason being I am still gathering parts to build a MMCX to 2.5mm adapter so I can use HM800 with my other balanced IEM. This will turn HM800 to work more like a conventional USB dongle.

Chord uses programmable chip as it's DAC and as far as I know, also don't output differential. He is not wrong that his way of implementation probably won't benefit much from balanced, as the chip's output is already very high in quality - still, there are some advantage on balanced setup has over single-ended, especially on crosstalk when dealing with super low impedance headphones. It is also not particularly difficult to implement balanced if he wanted to. It is more of a design choice IMO, as Chord is not your typical audio company that prioritizes market's need over it's own design philosophy.

hi, i have seen that you also have Etymotic ER4SR do you suggest the RU6 or HM800 to be paired with Etymotic Evo? thx