[reinhard]

I just received my new Hifiman HM-801, and I can't get it going.  I can't get any sound out of it.  First of all, where is the play button?  Is it the pause button on top, next to the headphone jack?  In any case, when I try to play a track, pushing that button and any of the others on it, all that happens is that it cycles through the tracks on the SD card, without playing any of them.  Is my unit defective, or am I missing something?  I tried to update to the latest firmware, but no luck. 
 
Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Mython]

 

[mrarroyo]

The link below should help get you started.
 
http://down.head-direct.com/manual.pdf

 

[reinhard]

Ok, I've figured out the problem: I guess the Hifiman can't play 24/88 files, but it can play 24/96?  Is that correct?  Is 24/96 the only above-cd format it can play?
One other question: a circuit board came with the Hifiman -- I assume this is another amplifier module?  If so, what are its characteristics?  Seems weird that there's no description of it!
 
Thanks for your help!

 

[petercak]

Hi,
 
generally it's agreed that HM-801 can play 24/96 without any problems, but when it comes to 24/88, results are mixed. Most of the time this doesn't work. I tried some 24/88 files and HM-801 coudn't play any of them.

 

[Nishy]

HM-801 plays 44/16 and 96/24 formats just fine - download 96/24  bit tracks from say www.hdtracks.com and be startled! It doesn't do the in between formats like 24/88 according to the company.
 
The problem - for Mac users - is finding good software that rips to 96/24 bit flac without doing endless conversions - a CD generally takes me about 15 mins to rip on my imac at 44/16 and consumes typically 250MB.

 

[musicbased]

Does anybody know why it won't play 24/96 wav files, when bounced from Logic pro?-I always have to bounce to 16/44 bit to get it to play them..

 

[Nishy]

Just to update that HM801 will not play 88/24 format ( I tried from sites like hdtracks.com etc. ). Neither hifiman nor hdtracks would really confirm or offer a trial track so I bought one and tried). Pity as some labels like Velut Luna (jazz, Italian) had some good albums....

 

[reinhard]

It's very easy to upsample files to 24-96; that way you don't lose anything, and the Hifiman has no problems with the files.

 

[Skooter]

I don't think you should be upsampling redbook (44k CD) files to "24-96." The sound gets screwed up. One problem is related to "leftover conversion decimals" and how the upsampling algorithm deals with this statistical issue.

If you feel the need to upsample, whole number multiples will certainly cause less damage (e.g. 48k to 96k) and some argue improvement.

To be clear, (1) the potential benefits and issues related to upsampling are different than (2) the obvious problem of upsampling outside the whole numbers realm. This site and the Internet in general have plenty of interesting info for you to research.