[Kiats]

For those interested, check out My review of the HM-802

http://headphone.guru/hifiman-audio-hm-802-the-retro-dap/

Thanks for taking the trouble to do the review. Very balanced and insightful. And I do very much agree with you!

 

[DigitalFreak]

Thanks for taking the trouble to do the review. Very balanced and insightful. And I do very much agree with you!

thanks my friend

 

[Kiats]

thanks my friend

You are most welcome! Credit where credit is due.

 

[ThaPapper]

Evening all,
 
Is somebody able to compare the sound sig. of the Hifiman HM-802 with standard classic card vs the Ibasso DX90?
I'm awfully tempted to purchase the HM-802 and suspect a bit more warm, lush sound sig. but am not sure
Unfortunately not been able to find this comparison so far....

 

[MikePortnoy]

Hm802 is a bit warm but sounds with thicker notes compared to dx90. Dx90 has a more airy presentation, but with a brighter treble. Both have a bit narrow stage, depth is better on 802. Bass quantity is more and its quality is better with 802, treble clarity is better with dx90. If you have a bright sounding phone, go with 802. If you have a dark sounding phone, then go with dx90. In total, 802 is better regarding the SQ. The battery life is approx. the same on both.

 

[ThaPapper]

Hm802 is a bit warm but sounds with thicker notes compared to dx90. Dx90 has a more airy presentation, but with a brighter treble. Both have a bit narrow stage, depth is better on 802. Bass quantity is more and its quality is better with 802, treble clarity is better with dx90. If you have a bright sounding phone, go with 802. If you have a dark sounding phone, then go with dx90. In total, 802 is better regarding the SQ. The battery life is approx. the same on both.

Well, I'm kind of done with bright analytical sound sig's and more after hours and hours of relaxed listening without changing songs all the time.
Looks like the HM-802 might just be just right one for me in this case.

Thank you very much MikePortnoy!

 

[MikePortnoy]

Well, I'm kind of done with bright analytical sound sig's and more after hours and hours of relaxed listening without changing songs all the time.
Looks like the HM-802 might just be just right one for me in this case.

Thank you very much MikePortnoy!

No problem Just take 802's UI into consideration. It is not super fast. Dx90 has better UI as you can guess.

 

[all999]

Gapless does not work for me. Is Hifiman supports it yet? The gap is less than half of second...

 

[DjBobby]

  Evening all,
 
Is somebody able to compare the sound sig. of the Hifiman HM-802 with standard classic card vs the Ibasso DX90?
I'm awfully tempted to purchase the HM-802 and suspect a bit more warm, lush sound sig. but am not sure
Unfortunately not been able to find this comparison so far....

I got HM-802u with Power II card. Reading all around about warm and lush sig., was a bit surprised that it didn't sound so warm to me. Softer attacks, less digital sound, no sibilance - yes; but overall sound was still more aggressive and less airy than I get from my desktop setup.
 

Hm802 is a bit warm but sounds with thicker notes compared to dx90. Dx90 has a more airy presentation, but with a brighter treble. Both have a bit narrow stage, depth is better on 802. Bass quantity is more and its quality is better with 802, treble clarity is better with dx90. If you have a bright sounding phone, go with 802. If you have a dark sounding phone, then go with dx90. In total, 802 is better regarding the SQ. The battery life is approx. the same on both.

Could you compare by any chance the sound of 802 and 901? I got 802u, and I might had a chance to get 901 for a good price as well.
802u with power II amp card sounds to me exactly as you have described 802 

. Listening mainly to classical music, I am missing the wider soundstage and air. Would 901 be a significant upgrade in terms of soundstage, without getting too much into treble shine and sibilance?

 

[ishmael]

Nevermind, dumb mistake on my part. 

 

[Shure or bust]

HM 802 vs HM 802U ?

 

[ishmael]

  HM 802 vs HM 802U ?

 
HM802. 

 

[muscleking]

hi guys, I just acquired one of these unit 802 with a minibox card for 200 bucks Canadian. great value. much better than fiio x5 III which I got rid of a few weeks ago.

I had to take this hifiman apart to fix some of the pins on the 3.5mm jack. it's a bit loose and not making proper contact. got that fixed.

just some questions, the balanced switch does it only have effect when using "balanced card"? before I fix the pins when I slide this switch to balanced the sound become reduced volume. but now it doesn't do anything after I fixed the port. maybe this is the way? not sure. I might get some adapters for this later. 3.5mm balanced is extremely rare usage.

anybody still have this? I have the original 802 with the leather top and metal logo not sure what the difference with the u and s models are maybe someone can shine a light.

damn thing has so much power and even powers hd800 at position 7/8 to a good volume.

it's pretty easy to take apart. but have to be careful on the clips and stuff. maybe mine is old the plastic is quite brittle on these. looking at the circuit board mostly Japanese parts. good quality.

mine also the scroll wheel has a bit problem now after some cleaning and brushing and it's reasonable. sometimes going counter clock wise it goes clock wise one slot then go back. I see why people don't use the scroll wheel these all have problem eventually.

sound quality is wonderful. I have a fiio x3 iii as well and no comparision to the enjoyment on sound quality. later try hook this thing up to an amp like my deckard and see if the dac is better than the built in one.