[MikePio]

I have had the HM-601 for a couple of days now and must say that I am highly impressed. I am in love with bright headphones, like the K701 or W5000, the only thing missing was that bit of warmth and weight in the music. This is now totally fixed... 

 I have used the HM-601(line out)>EF-5>K701 + HM-601(line out)>HA5000>W5000 and the result is truly amazing. The songs are no longer harsh and thin sounding, they have that bit of smoothness and warmth added which to be honest sounds truly analog. Basically eliminates the modern "digital" syndrome and provides effortlessly rich listening without the fatigue of bright headphones. The best part is, the detail is not lost, and the highs are still soaring... Fantastic purchase thus far, it really is my purchase of the year, and completes my quest for a warm source. A+, will post more impressions later with time... Cheers, 

 

[rawrster]

So I think I've had the 601 enough to be past the "new toy" period. I think the 601 sounds excellent and quite the dap however there are some issues that makes me consider selling them. Those are mostly the battery and the fact that I can only play 1 album or folder at a time and I organize by album so it's 1 album at a time for me. I could also use the money
 
I'd really like to be able to charge my dap less often instead of once every other day. If only there was something in the package of a J3 but the sound of the 601 Maybe if my purchase which includes a dap ever arrives I can compare the three and see which one is the best sound wise as well as how practical it is for me.

 

[jfindon]

Are there at least the simple shuffle and play all features?

 

[rawrster]

There's a shuffle and play all within a folder..hence I can only play 1 folder at a time. You can't play all your songs unless they are in the same folder.

 

[alyanm]

I have Mediamonkey organize my playlists into folders so I can listen to any of my regular playlists.  The only thing is I can't play them in the normal order, just alphabetical or shuffle -- but that's a pretty minor issue for me.

 

[matbhuvi]

Quote:

I have had the HM-601 for a couple of days now and must say that I am highly impressed. I am in love with bright headphones, like the K701 or W5000, the only thing missing was that bit of warmth and weight in the music. This is now totally fixed... 

 I have used the HM-601(line out)>EF-5>K701 + HM-601(line out)>HA5000>W5000 and the result is truly amazing. The songs are no longer harsh and thin sounding, they have that bit of smoothness and warmth added which to be honest sounds truly analog. Basically eliminates the modern "digital" syndrome and provides effortlessly rich listening without the fatigue of bright headphones. The best part is, the detail is not lost, and the highs are still soaring... Fantastic purchase thus far, it really is my purchase of the year, and completes my quest for a warm source. A+, will post more impressions later with time... Cheers, 

You mean using the line out + amp is better than using the headphone out?

 

[edmondhsm]

I'm guessing the synergy with his headphones weren't good with the internal amplifier, but since he used line-out and his own amp, then everything is grand

 

[MikePio]

Quote:

Quote:

I have had the HM-601 for a couple of days now and must say that I am highly impressed. I am in love with bright headphones, like the K701 or W5000, the only thing missing was that bit of warmth and weight in the music. This is now totally fixed... 

 I have used the HM-601(line out)>EF-5>K701 + HM-601(line out)>HA5000>W5000 and the result is truly amazing. The songs are no longer harsh and thin sounding, they have that bit of smoothness and warmth added which to be honest sounds truly analog. Basically eliminates the modern "digital" syndrome and provides effortlessly rich listening without the fatigue of bright headphones. The best part is, the detail is not lost, and the highs are still soaring... Fantastic purchase thus far, it really is my purchase of the year, and completes my quest for a warm source. A+, will post more impressions later with time... Cheers, 

You mean using the line out + amp is better than using the headphone out?

 
In short yes, but this applies to full sized headphones the most. If you would use headphone out>amp>headphone then you would be amping the signal twice, which is never a good thing. In my case, the HA5000 is specially designed for my W5000's, so using the integrated amplifier on the HM-601 would be a major downgrade. Though keep in mind this player was designed with portability and IEM's in mind, not being intended to substitute a "dedicated" source in a home set-up. This rule though, changes with my main setup, hence my purchase of the HM-601, the HA5000 + W5000 sound best with a overly warm source with softer transients, which makes this unit the perfect match. Though with the HD650's, the parasound would be the far superior choice. It is all relative in the end, whatever mates with the whole setup is the most important, even going beyond the importance of technicalities and common sense... Cheers, 

 

[The Actual]

great review, thanks for putting the time into this LFF
 
 
the HM601 doesn't have a queue or on-the-go playlist feature does it?  that is my favorite thing about the Creative Zen V plus I've been using the past few years, I can queue a couple albums then put it in my pocket for a train ride.
might have to get the 601 anyway, everything else seems perfect

 

[rawrster]

Quote:

great review, thanks for putting the time into this LFF
 
 
the HM601 doesn't have a queue or on-the-go playlist feature does it?  that is my favorite thing about the Creative Zen V plus I've been using the past few years, I can queue a couple albums then put it in my pocket for a train ride.
might have to get the 601 anyway, everything else seems perfect

No it does not. Even when playing by one folder you can't see a list of what songs will be played. It simply goes in the order of the files.

 

[SSJChar]

i think it MIGHT have a queue function, i played with mine last night (just got it yesterday) but was mostly playing different songs to see what its like.  It does seem to be missing a lot of software features like fast forward, rewind, shuffle everything, remembering album/song from when you last had it on, and so on, but again those are software things not hardware so hopefully future firmware updates will add such functions, or wouldn't it be neat if it was rockboxed?
One thing that kinda irks me though is the screen orientation. moving your head left and right greatly changes the dynamics of the screen, while moving your head up and down has much less effect.  I would have liked it the other way around because the angle from both eyes often don't match up, though if you hold it sideways it matches up much better.
I am still happy with the player though, especially since it came with the re-zeros, though i seem to be missing the pouch for the player, though it'll still work without it.
Also, my spare 8 gig class 10 sdhc card works perfectly with it, so i won't be needing to buy a new card, which is a great plus.

 

[rawrster]

It does has fast forward, rewind and it does remember where you were last. There is no option to shuffle all your songs. I don't quite understand what you mean by screen orientation however.
 
In the now playing screen hold down to fast forward and hold up to rewind. When you turn the dap on and it is at the main menu press left to go to where you left off.

 

[SSJChar]

Quote:

It does has fast forward, rewind and it does remember where you were last. There is no option to shuffle all your songs. I don't quite understand what you mean by screen orientation however.
 
In the now playing screen hold down to fast forward and hold up to rewind. When you turn the dap on and it is at the main menu press left to go to where you left off.

say whaaaaaaaaat!?!  haha i tried holding it down last night, but i guess i didn't hold it down long enough. Had no idea about going left either on the main screen, though i do know that if you go left on the main screen while the song is playing, it'll take you back to the displayed song.  Are there any other functions that you know about that might seem useful?
The screen thing, like look at the screen and move your head left and right. the background will go from normal to really dark pretty quickly, but if you hold it sideways and move your head left and right, you will be able to move your head a lot further until it starts going dark.
 

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

It does has fast forward, rewind and it does remember where you were last. There is no option to shuffle all your songs. I don't quite understand what you mean by screen orientation however.
 
In the now playing screen hold down to fast forward and hold up to rewind. When you turn the dap on and it is at the main menu press left to go to where you left off.

 

[alyanm]

Hey rawrster, I didn't know about the left on power up to resume where you left off, or the hold up/down thanks for the tips!