[Shawn71]

The 601 has good lower bass and is more even in frequency and is really nice with my Brainwavz B2.

The 601le has more mid which is noticeable around the 2khz point which I found a bit much with my favorite Comply t-400 tips on my RE-400 which is now fantastic. This was cured with the Comply ts-400 Comfort tips which seem to cut that peak for me. It is also great with the Koss KSC-35.

The 603 is like the 601le but with much more power so it drives the RE0 beautifully and I am willing to bet they will be even better than the 601le with the KSC-35 but I have lost these temporarily. The ATH-AD900 also great with the 603.

The line out on all of the 60x range is fabulous amped. The ATH-AD900 is great with my O2 amp with the 2227 op amp and my Alessandro MS-1 is amazing through a Fiio E12 to give them plenty of current.

I have plenty of options now but you know how this hobby works i am looking for my next set of headphones as there is always the set at the end of the rainbow. It just worries me how many pairs are on the road and is there ever the perfect setup?

Ok so the good lower bass presence of 601s contributes the bass to analytical B2.....good that LE is par with 603s but just power, which can be derived using external amps.....I mostly planning to shuffle between my E11 & E12 (no E06 with LE) using LO and still prefers HO as well, and depends how Im being settled with the combinations and synergy to my IEMs and HPs......

Thx for the response.....

 

[gimbertt]

Ok so the good lower bass presence of 601s contributes the bass to analytical B2.....good that LE is par with 603s but just power, which can be derived using external amps.....I mostly planning to shuffle between my E11 & E12 (no E06 with LE) using LO and still prefers HO as well, and depends how Im being settled with the combinations and synergy to my IEMs and HPs......

Thx for the response.....

The line out is the same on the 601 and 601le. The 601le has the same headphone out as the 602.

 

[Shawn71]

The line out is the same on the 601 and 601le. The 601le has the same headphone out as the 602.

Yeah coz both share the same DAC.....and LE share the same amp as 602, but has no usb dac function...

 

[Shawn71]

And received mine before xmas last week and both are really nice sounding.....one question on RE400s tho, there were no comply foamies (2 pairs) and the winder.....so is it the updated stock accessories thats coming out now? Havent gone thru the booklet yet......

 

[burnway]

hm-601 (slim or LE) was removed from production?

 

[CJG888]

For anyone interested, there is now a case available for the 60X range:

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=17554139986&ns=1&abbucket=17#detail

Made to order, in a variety of colours and grain patterns. I've ordered a black one, and will post pictures when it arrives.

 

[Headphone4Life]

I got one of the 601LE's when they had the xmas sale and this is the best portable player I've had in terms of SQ. None of the players I have give me that smooth analog sound that the 601LE has, along with a nice spacious soundstage. Headphones that might be to bright sound perfect through the 601LE, like the HE-400 or DT990. I've had Colorfly, FiiO, Sony, Cowon along with a few others and these are the best sounding imo but build and the over all function of the OS leave a bit to be desired.     

 

[gimbertt]

All I can say is Rockbox!

 

[Headphone4Life]

I love my 601le's sound signature with the warm spacious analog sound but man does it have its technical problems.

First off it will freeze sometimes when you turn it on but if I take the SD card out when I start it it comes on no problem then just put the card in and update and its ready to go.

Second when I go to up load files now it will just freeze and kick me off so I have to restart it and start over and I'm lucky if I can get 2 or 3 albums on before the freeze and kick.

Lastly on high gain the left channel is at a lower level than the right but on low gain it sounds great. If I push the switch in a little it sounds good on high gain but I'm not going to sit and hold the switch.

I know I need to send it back for repair or to be replaced (I don't know if the even have any 601le's left) but I use it everyday and don't want to be without it for a few weeks. I guess I have to bite the bullet and get it fixed because it is the best sounding player I've had and sounds amazing with my headphones.

 

[reginalb]

I
Headphones that might be to bright sound perfect through the 601LE, like the HE-400 or DT990. I've had Colorfly, FiiO, Sony, Cowon along with a few others and these are the best sounding imo but build and the over all function of the OS leave a bit to be desired.     

Install Rockbox, it's a much better UI. Regarding its pairing with bright headphones, it would counter them, as all Hifiman DAP's from the 60X/801 era have some crazy treble rolloff.

 

[Headphone4Life]

Yeah the dt-990 pro sounds great out of the 601le with the treble not being to harsh like from the Colorfly C3.
 
I don't want to rockbox it because of it being an unstable port even though the main functions are all working fine. I don't mind the UI but are u saying that if I do rockbox it will help with all the freezing? If that's the case then I'd go ahead and do it.

 

[CJG888]

Will Rockboxing allow the HM-601 to read SD cards written on a Mac?

At the moment, my 601LE will only accept cards from a PC (which is a nuisance, as we have migrated 100% to Mac at home...).

Also, what is the largest and fastest card which can reliably be used? At the moment, I am sticking to the manufacturer's recommendation of 32GB C4, but more capacity would be nice.

Am I correct in assuming that Rockbox will also allow gapless playback, but will only play at Redbook resolution (this is no problem, I have the HD-650 for my HD files, most of which are 24/192 anyway).

If I don't like Rockbox, can I reinstall the original stock firmware, or is this a one-way street?

 

[ade_hall]

Will Rockboxing allow the HM-601 to read SD cards written on a Mac?

At the moment, my 601LE will only accept cards from a PC (which is a nuisance, as we have migrated 100% to Mac at home...).

Also, what is the largest and fastest card which can reliably be used? At the moment, I am sticking to the manufacturer's recommendation of 32GB C4, but more capacity would be nice.

Am I correct in assuming that Rockbox will also allow gapless playback, but will only play at Redbook resolution (this is no problem, I have the HD-650 for my HD files, most of which are 24/192 anyway).

If I don't like Rockbox, can I reinstall the original stock firmware, or is this a one-way street?

I have rockbox on a 801 (presume 601 is similar) and also on a Mac. Rockbox should allow cards formatted on a mac, I have a 128 gb class 10, formatted on  my mac (FAT32) and have no problems.
 
Rockbox does gapless.
 
Rockbox on the 801 (is the 601 the same?) is dual boot, power on - rockbox, power on holding another button - stock firmware.
 
Although it's not documented you can also install it from a mac, I put some notes up in the 801 thread a few years back 

 

[CJG888]

Thank you!

Will Rockbox accept ALAC files?

 

[pekingduck]

Thank you!

Will Rockbox accept ALAC files?

Yes, ALAC in addition to FLAC, AAC, WAV, MP3 etc..