[xuan87]

Anyone tried the HM-700 with the RE-600? I saw on the HiFiMan website that there is a bundle option of the HM-700 with the RE-600 but on the store front, the option is not available. Assuming the the HN-700 costs $150, then the RE-600 bundle should cost $549. I'm interested in trying out the HM-700 but I already have a RE-400. Thinking of getting the bundle with the RE-600 when it becomes available but I preferred the more neutral sound of RE-400 to the warmer sound of RE-600... Don't want to end up with 2 RE-400 though...
 
I will continue to follow this thread with great interest!

 

[Ishcabible]

  Anyone tried the HM-700 with the RE-600? I saw on the HiFiMan website that there is a bundle option of the HM-700 with the RE-600 but on the store front, the option is not available. Assuming the the HN-700 costs $150, then the RE-600 bundle should cost $549. I'm interested in trying out the HM-700 but I already have a RE-400. Thinking of getting the bundle with the RE-600 when it becomes available but I preferred the more neutral sound of RE-400 to the warmer sound of RE-600... Don't want to end up with 2 RE-400 though...
 
I will continue to follow this thread with great interest!

 
Yup; I'm going to try to have my review done tomorrow so it'll be up by the weekend. It's a fantastic combo, much better than the HM700+RE400. It's $500 on eBay. I can't really go too much into detail because I only used the balanced RE-400 with the HM700 once, but the RE-600 made the RE-400 sound way too bright, to the point where I was glad to send back the RE-400.

 

[ClieOS]

  Thanks for the perspective.
 
Charles own tests show that the Tera rolls off quite a bit in the treble, but not in the bass: http://www.tera-player.com/Tera-Player_RMAA.html  I would say that fits with what I hear: the bass is definitely all there, but there is a lack of the highest treble starting at about 6khz and dropping rapidly over 10kHz, so not a lot of high end sizzle. But that might be part of the Tera's charm in that it smooths out the sound and has such a natural organic feeling. I am sure the frequency drop off is not the only source of its unique sound, and of course it depends on the rest of your system how that all works out. Also, the Tera is notoriously hard to pair with the right headphones, and with a lot of headphones it does have a huge drop in the bass, so that may be what you heard. I use it to feed an iCAN amp which prevents the problems with matching the headphone to the Tera.
 
I used to have the 801 and enjoyed it a lot, so an upgrade on the 801 is a good recommendation. I may have to give the 802 a try given their 30 day return policy. Which amp card did you hear with the 802?

 
I am not saying he did it on purpose, but I can make a bass roll-off player showing a flat FR curve or even a sub-par powered headphone-out looks really nice on RMAA, if wanted. To me, his RMAA result is, well, inconclusive at best. That's not the right way to use RMAA.
 
Saying a DAP is notoriously hard to pair with headphones only serves as a warning sign to me. It means something is way off on the hardware. I will expect a DAP with a good design to be "good on most headphone and great on a few", not "great on a few and poor on many". I'll expect at least on the hardware level, a pricy DAP should be competent. It might be good if you already have the right headphone to pair it with, but I have too many headphone to consider a DAP that is so limited.
 
I listened to HM802 with the AD8397 card and balanced card.

 

[xuan87]

   
Yup; I'm going to try to have my review done tomorrow so it'll be up by the weekend. It's a fantastic combo, much better than the HM700+RE400. It's $500 on eBay. I can't really go too much into detail because I only used the balanced RE-400 with the HM700 once, but the RE-600 made the RE-400 sound way too bright, to the point where I was glad to send back the RE-400.

 
Hey you're right, $500 is a really good deal! It's $50 off what I thought it would be.
 
Can I ask you whether you prefer the RE400 or the RE600 paired with another source? I ask because I tried both with a ipod+O2 amp and prefer the more neutral sound of RE400 vs the warmer sound of the RE600.

 

[Willieboy]

FWIW, I decided on the HM802.  I've had it about one month and it has been a joy. Beautiful sound quality through HD600s, Bose (Non-noise cancelling) around the ear, and Etymotics ER-4s..  I've not used any other amp.  The UI has been fine and is easy to navigate.

 

[Nirmalanow]

  FWIW, I decided on the HM802.  I've had it about one month and it has been a joy. Beautiful sound quality through HD600s, Bose (Non-noise cancelling) around the ear, and Etymotics ER-4s..  I've not used any other amp.  The UI has been fine and is easy to navigate.

Which amp card are you using?

 

[Ishcabible]

   
Hey you're right, $500 is a really good deal! It's $50 off what I thought it would be.
 
Can I ask you whether you prefer the RE400 or the RE600 paired with another source? I ask because I tried both with a ipod+O2 amp and prefer the more neutral sound of RE400 vs the warmer sound of the RE600.

 
I wasn't the biggest fan of the RE400 (I wanted a bit more fleshed-out midrange and the treble was a bit much for me; I didn't find it neutral at all) and think the RE600 is better no matter what the source is.

 

[Willieboy]

 
Which amp card are you using?

I am using the standard amp. card.  The HM802 also comes with the standard HM901 amp. card but I have not used it.  I'm quite pleased with the standard 802 card.

 

[rkyoto]

Isn't HM700 using sigmatel solution? Is there any possibility that rockbox will be ported to this player?

 

[unkle]

  Isn't HM700 using sigmatel solution? Is there any possibility that rockbox will be ported to this player?

 
I very much hope so.

 

[Nirmalanow]

  I am using the standard amp. card.  The HM802 also comes with the standard HM901 amp. card but I have not used it.  I'm quite pleased with the standard 802 card.

I ended up ordering the 802 with the Mini Box card. I was told it also still comes with the standard 802 card, so I will get to try out both. I had an 801 years ago and loved it, so I am looking forward to hearing what the newer version is like.

 

[reginalb]

Anyone else find it odd that the 802 with standard card cost less than a refurb 801 from Head-Direct?

 

[Willieboy]

 
I ended up ordering the 802 with the Mini Box card. I was told it also still comes with the standard 802 card, so I will get to try out both. I had an 801 years ago and loved it, so I am looking forward to hearing what the newer version is like.

What is the mini-box card?  I don't know what a mini-box is.
 
I had an HM801 some years ago.  The sound was nice but the UI was brutal.  After too short a time, it quit working altogether and, in disgust and anger, I threw it in the garbage.
 
Good luck with your HM802.  Please let is us know how it sounds.

 

[Nirmalanow]

Here is the listing: http://www.head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=190
 
There is not a lot of info, but supposedly it is an amp card designed by the same guy as this: http://www.head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=15
 
 Just something else to try and if I do not find it a big improvement, I can probably resell it on here. By itself the card is $249, and the added cost if you buy it with the HM-802 is just $200.
 
I also found the 801 to have a not so great UI. I am hoping the 802 is an improvement and figure it probably has to be.
 
Does anyone with an 802 know how the random/shuffle play works? The 801 was not entirely random in random play and so certain songs would repeat a lot. Has this been fixed with the 802?

 

[Willieboy]

I have my 802 on shuffle and have an HD card plugged in containing some of my favorite jazz.  When I select the 'All Songs" option, it plays the first song in the list, but then really seems to  choose songs randomly.  Each time I play the list, I get a the list in a different sequence, except for the fist song.  I can start the playback on the second or other song by selecting it.