[DJGeorgeT]

it is nice not to have to fast forward to the end of a 50 min cd just to listen to that song you like...or you'll never know the title of that track.

 
Quote:

I understand some albums need gapless playback. I don't understand, why not rip them again. When some album had already been ripped with gap, I merged a few songs to make them gapless. It did not take much time and efforts.

 

[Pisn4e]

Has the HM-602 with better price, battery life and size made the SQ to cost ratio unjustified when considering the 801?
Will you reach for the 602 over the 801 because of the above or will 801 still reign supreme?

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Thanks, Rawrster, good point.  The disadvantage of that approach is that it makes skipping forward and backward via tracks impossible since you have only one giant "track."  Can still use fast forward but it's rather cumbersome.

Would creating a cue sheet for the single track work? I haven't tried the HM-801 with cue sheets, but they should allow the player to skip to various points of the album track without having to use RW or FF.

 

[Chef]

For $800 I'll put a cassette player in a fancy box too

 

 

[cooperpwc]

Warp, nice review.
 
I also appreciate gapless playback. The future, I hope, will be for these Chinese players to support a simple version of the Android OS. Then Rockbox will run and interface issues, including gapless, will be solved. With the quality and breadth of open source community involvement in Rockbox, it is crazy for a small company like Head-Direct to self-develop the software.
 
When the interface issues are solved and such players also support SDXC memory, I may well make the switch. Right now, Rockbox on an iMod (Whipmod/DIYmod) does have some practical advantages.

 

[dallan]

subscribe

 

[Hero Kid]

     Quote:

File formats supported (subject to validation with Head-Direct):

1. FLAC -- lossless VBR-44.1kHz and 24bit-96KHz (downsampled to 24/48)

Can you confirm that the above text isn't a typo?
 
Either way nice write up (same as always), thanks for spending the time on it!
Also I'm interested in how the HM-801 compares to the HM-602 as an external DAC. Sure the two individual chips can not really compete, but depending on how they were implemented things could get interesting.

 

[warp08]

Please note that 3 updates have been posted to the bottom of the OP as of this morning.

 

[warp08]

Quote:

For $800 I'll put a cassette player in a fancy box too

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The Batch 2 pricing for the HM-602 (including the RE-262 IEMs) is $439, not $800.  

 

[warp08]

Quote:

     Quote:

Can you confirm that the above text isn't a typo?
 
Either way nice write up (same as always), thanks for spending the time on it!
Also I'm interested in how the HM-801 compares to the HM-602 as an external DAC. Sure the two individual chips can not really compete, but depending on how they were implemented things could get interesting.

Not yet but I have sent an email to Fang.  And sorry about the weird typeface, I don't know why it came  out like that.
 
My lessons learned about DACs in general that you just can't go by specs alone.  You have to LISTEN and pick the best sounding one for your ears.  Forget a bit about clocks, jitter, bits and bytes.  Just LISTEN!

 

[warp08]

Quote:

Warp, nice review.
 
I also appreciate gapless playback. The future, I hope, will be for these Chinese players to support a simple version of the Android OS. Then Rockbox will run and interface issues, including gapless, will be solved. With the quality and breadth of open source community involvement in Rockbox, it is crazy for a small company like Head-Direct to self-develop the software.
 
When the interface issues are solved and such players also support SDXC memory, I may well make the switch. Right now, Rockbox on an iMod (Whipmod/DIYmod) does have some practical advantages.

Interesting idea, I hope Fang is already planning the next-gen HM platform with a new controller chip that supports these features.  I love my WhipMOD as well because of its sound and that it's so easy to sync with my iTunes library.
 
Still, even with its limitations, the HM-602 is one sweet deal from where I sit.  That's with or without the RE-262s thrown in.  And this is just one man's opinion.
 

 

[LevA]

just caught up on the updates...
8 hours is a bit disappointing..I was hoping on average over 10 hrs, somewhere between 12~14hrs...

 

[warp08]

Quote:

just caught up on the updates...
8 hours is a bit disappointing..I was hoping on average over 10 hrs, somewhere between 12~14hrs...

You're mileage may vary and so is mine.  Fang's original post indicated about 10 hours if I recall correctly.  Low vs. High Gain, flash vs. SDHC, and listening volume will also make some difference as is the type of headphones being used.

 

[anadin]

Quote:

The Batch 2 pricing for the HM-602 (including the RE-262 IEMs) is $439, not $800.  

Looks like i'll have to settle on just the cassette player.

 

[warp08]

Quote:

Looks like i'll have to settle on just the cassette player.

 
Still have one of these NIB in silver metal.  I bought one of these in 1982 for $400, top-of-the-line back then.  Dolby...hmmmm, Auto-Reverse...hmmmm