[Hero Kid]

Quote:

http://www.accuraterip.com/

 
Umm relevance?
 
Sorry forgot about Dave's post.

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

Umm relevance?

i'm not sure what you're referring to here. if you mean my post i asked him to talk more about his experiences with the player - seems relevant to this thread, no?
i'm also curious about the iems he mentions and asked to post his observations in the appropriate threads so as not to derail this one.

 

[Hero Kid]

Hmm the quote didn't show up...
Edited the post to be up to date

 

[sarabjitlehal]

@daveDerek
Amarbir from Lynx in Chandigarh called me up to say that he had recieved the hm-602 so I could come over to audition it. So I picked up my clip+ and re-252 plus some of my fav tracks on a 2 GB sd card and rushed over to Lynx.
I will not say anything about the build or the UI because my primary concern is sound quality. I must say that I absolutely love my re-252s and also have the re2 and the re-Zero(both of which, IMO, are great earphones)
So I had very high expectations from the hm-602.
 
Listening to it, however did not give me that 'wow' feeling. I found the sound to be a touch warmer and some added bass. To my ears, the hiss was also quite pronounced and each time I switched a track, I could hear a noise/disturbance. I had the equalizer set to normal and the gain switch to low.
I compared it with the clip+ by listening to the same tracks on both of them with the re252, the re262 and fischer audio dba-02. Spent a good hour and a half there.
I had gone to the place with my mind set on buying the 602 but in the end, my ears could not convince me to make the purchase.
That is about it.

 

[Anaxilus]

Sounds like you listened to a new 602 out of the box.  Try to give it another listen in a week or two.  Especially w/ high gain HO or via LO and lossless.  Fang also says it needs to warm up for about 20min.  You may still not like it but at least you'll actually get to hear it properly.

 

[sarabjitlehal]

@ Anaxilus, warm up for 20 mins, as in by hanging it upside down over a fire? I did spend more than an hour with it. No? it should have warmed up by then. and I sure did not listen to it straight out of the box. the people at Lynx had put some hours on it. I personally don't think it would make a HUGE difference, atleast to my novice and not so discerning ears, this burn-in thing. But if it is not sold off by monday, I am willing to go back and give it another shot.
I did switch the gain button to high for a while. it increased the volume a bit.
As to listening through the LO, I am in the market for a portable player to which I could plug-in my re252. If you mean I should plug in my earphones straight into the LO instead of the HO...well, I am willing to do that.

 

[sarabjitlehal]

The thing is, when I switch my earphones from a $39 player to a $439 one I expect to go 'WOW'. In this case it did not happen. The wow factor is always there when I compare the clip plus to the ipods and the sony walkman or even the creative mozaic.
 
But then maybe I do not have the 'golden ears".
 
To each their own. The 602 did nothing for me so it is a no go for me. But I will surely give it another go.
 
Maybe I will like the 801. lets see when Amarbir brings it to chandigarh.

 

[Hero Kid]

There was certainly a massive massive difference for me swapping between my Clip+ and the HM-602.
You got bass impact, less shrill highs and loads more body. It was certainly more enjoyable to listen to - that's for sure!

 

[Anaxilus]

Looks like you got the whole burn-in myth figured out.  Sorry to waste your time.  Enjoy your Clip. 

 

[ClieOS]

Even Fang said very early on that HM602 is not designed to 'wow' people. It is a smooth, vocal oriented player that aims to reproduce a classic analog sound. If you don't find that appealing, I think it is a wise to move on (or move back in your case).

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Even Fang said very early on that HM602 is not designed to 'wow' people. It is a smooth, vocal oriented player that aims to reproduce a classic analog sound. If you don't find that appealing, I think it is a wise to move on (or move back in your case).

Agree w/ that.  Now along those lines of thought.  Would you say the 801 follows in the same way as the 602 but a bit better?  Or is there an $800 wow?  I also think most people nowadays are just used to that digital sound.  Anything else sounds alien at first when you compare.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Quote:

Even Fang said very early on that HM602 is not designed to 'wow' people. It is a smooth, vocal oriented player that aims to reproduce a classic analog sound. If you don't find that appealing, I think it is a wise to move on (or move back in your case).

Agree w/ that.  Now along those lines of thought.  Would you say the 801 follows in the same way as the 602 but a bit better?  Or is there an $800 wow?  I also think most people nowadays are just used to that digital sound.  Anything else sounds alien at first when you compare.

No, personally I feel that HM801 is on a different path. It is not particularly analog or digital sounding. Most of all, it doesn't feel like I am listening to a portable source. It is on a level of its own, but I do want to say it is also not a big wow type of player if you have listened to other decent DAP before. The really impressive part for me is that I can't really say if it has any imperfection at all. It is like '...hmm, why can't other DAP sounds this good?'  So instead of being wow at how good 801 is, I am more wow at the lacking on other players, if you know what I mean.

 

[Anaxilus]

I do.  I actually get that from the 602 relative to my other players as well despite being of a different flavor.  It's just another level of refinement in sound by comparison regardless of the DACs coloration.  This is via LO to my Arrow so YMMV.  My DBAs and D7000 really show off the differences.

 

[cooperpwc]

This line of discussion is very heartening to me. I have long thought that USB Monica is something special. (It is using a cousin of the 602`s DAC, the Philips TDA1545, which is similar to the the 602`s TDA1543 but EIAJ instead of I2S USB output). When paired with the Earmax Pro, It makes my home rig sing in a way that even the excellent Headroom MicroDac doesn`t.
 
With the right equipment (i.e. synergy), NOS DACs rock.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Quote:

Even Fang said very early on that HM602 is not designed to 'wow' people. It is a smooth, vocal oriented player that aims to reproduce a classic analog sound. If you don't find that appealing, I think it is a wise to move on (or move back in your case).

Agree w/ that.  Now along those lines of thought.  Would you say the 801 follows in the same way as the 602 but a bit better?  Or is there an $800 wow?  I also think most people nowadays are just used to that digital sound.  Anything else sounds alien at first when you compare.

 
Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Even Fang said very early on that HM602 is not designed to 'wow' people. It is a smooth, vocal oriented player that aims to reproduce a classic analog sound. If you don't find that appealing, I think it is a wise to move on (or move back in your case).

Agree w/ that.  Now along those lines of thought.  Would you say the 801 follows in the same way as the 602 but a bit better?  Or is there an $800 wow?  I also think most people nowadays are just used to that digital sound.  Anything else sounds alien at first when you compare.

No, personally I feel that HM801 is on a different path. It is not particularly analog or digital sounding. Most of all, it doesn't feel like I am listening to a portable source. It is on a level of its own, but I do want to say it is also not a big wow type of player if you have listened to other decent DAP before. The really impressive part for me is that I can't really say if it has any imperfection at all. It is like '...hmm, why can't other DAP sounds this good?'  So instead of being wow at how good 801 is, I am more wow at the lacking on other players, if you know what I mean.

Right, they're not meant to wow people, but simply sound right.  I did a review of the 801 and later the 602 vs 801, and find the 602 is like the 801 little brother with some similarities.  But the 801 takes things farther in soundstage, micro-detail, air and ambience, and extension; and I noted that the 801 was like taking a desktop DAC/amp and sticking a battery in it.  DVD Audio via the 801's coax input sounds wonderful with my HD800, and the 24/96 music on SD card sounds just as good with my JH13Pro and ES5 when I'm portable.
 
It's nice to have both because the 602 with its charger is more portable in size, but the 801's extra performance is a good match for my bedside rig where I can leave it safe and sound without worry about breaking it or charging it when I'm away.  Since I received the 801 I've sold my iMod/Vcaps, and don't use my iRiver > Headroom Micro DAC as source anymore either (I rotate between Micro Amp, Headfive and modded SR-001 on my bedside table).  
 
I don't know what I would do if I was told I only could pick one.  If audio is the only consideration it would have to be the 801, but if price or portability are the key factors then the 602 is a very good alternative to an iPod + high end amp (better with 24/48-96 music).  My Nano + Pico Slim + TWag LOD would cost $700 new and it's close to the same size as the 602, but it's not getting much use lately when it comes to tossing something in a pocket when I head out the door.