Excellent Sound, Exceptional Value Each channel is equipped with one WM8740 DAC chip for its unique qualities. Using Line Out Output as the source for flexible multi-purpose use Interchangeable amp cards, cables and compatibility with the HM901s dock provides for maximum convenience. Two pairs of dual-voltage solution reduce negative effect from coupling capacitors or step-up DC converter. Potentiometer for Volume Control Modular Amplifier Cards The HM802s features a user-replaceable slot for amplifier cards. As a result, it is now possible to use different cards to best fit the specific requirements of each headphone/earphone. The HM802s offers true balanced output capability, increasing resistance to interference, widening the soundstage, and improving detail and separation. HM802s+Power II Amp Card The Powerful Drive The Power II Amp Card is upgraded from the one formerly used with the HM801. It features a simple yet elegant and pure circuit design to reduce noise, improve sound quality and increase usability with any headphone or earphone. Once again, it defines the keynote of HIFIMAN products: relaxing, mellow and smooth. HIFIMAN takes this a step further by reducing the heat emission and gain higher indication. It is particularly adaptable for even the most difficult-to-drive headphones.
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
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Customers like the sound quality of the mp3 player. They say the music sounds rich and natural, with solid bottom end without sacrificing any mids or highs. They also appreciate the punchy and fast mid bass, and fluid and sparkle highs, making the voice sounds lush and natural. However, some customers find the weight a bit heavy.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
3 customers mention3 positive0 negative
Customers are satisfied with the sound quality of the mp3 player. They mention that the music sounds rich and natural, with solid bottom end without sacrificing any mids or highs. They also appreciate the punchy and fast mid bass, and the fluid and sparkle highs, which make the voices more lush and natural.
"...Much more than the Saber chips in many flagship models. To me voices are more lush and natural, and mid bass is punchy and fast, highs are fluid and..." Read more
"...all the detail that my old flac players had but with much more solid smooth sound and dynamic range...." Read more
"...The music card is better than the throw away card it comes with but if your listening to jazz or rap or rock the standard card may be ok, but from..." Read more
3 customers mention0 positive3 negative
Customers are dissatisfied with the weight of the mp3 player. They mention that it's a bit heavy.
"This unit sounds AMAZING! Yes its heavy, yes the interface is clunky. yes it gets warm. But well worth it for the sound...." Read more
"...Now the good. A bit heavy but excellent build quality. User replaceable batteries and changeable amplifier cards.Now the GREAT...." Read more
"They missed the boat on this one. This thing is super heavy due to the tank like metal case which I am sure was designed this way to dissipate the..." Read more
This unit sounds AMAZING! Yes its heavy, yes the interface is clunky. yes it gets warm. But well worth it for the sound. I love the dual Wolfson chips in this model. Much more than the Saber chips in many flagship models. To me voices are more lush and natural, and mid bass is punchy and fast, highs are fluid and sparkle without being shrill.. Some would argue that chip implementation is more important than brand and I agree to a certain extent. So in the end just let your ears decide. I love that you can swap different amp modules. So far I like the Amp2 the best. The only malfunctions I've had were due to a crappy memory card. I simply replaced it.
First the bad. The only thing I don't care for in the user interface is the old style rotary switch. A touch screen like on the FiiO X7 is more efficient to use with large music libraries. Small screen is hard to read in bright light.
Now the good. A bit heavy but excellent build quality. User replaceable batteries and changeable amplifier cards.
Now the GREAT. Sound quality is outstanding with the standard amplifier card (Power II). It is a great match with Hifiman 400i planar magnetic headphones and drives them well. This combo has all the detail that my old flac players had but with much more solid smooth sound and dynamic range. Music sounds rich and natural with solid bottom end without sacrificing any mids or highs. I have used ibasso and FiiO players and this is a noticable step up, at least for planar magnetic headphones.
They missed the boat on this one. This thing is super heavy due to the tank like metal case which I am sure was designed this way to dissipate the heat, no other reason for this type of design which makes this unsuitable for portable traveling. The device weighs 10.2 oz and my Sony weighs 2.7 oz and Fiio weighs 4.4 oz, go figure. Battery life is about 5 hours from listening non stop. The short battery life is no problem if the device worked correctly. There is major problem with the software or device as the screen blanks out white like the blue screen of death on Windows. The only way to fix it is to remove the battery. I had to remove the battery about 5 times in about 4 hours of playing. Seems as soon as the file starts the screen crashes and you have to remove the battery. The controls work still though. Also had SD card errors but leaving the unit off and battery out seemed to fix the problem. When a file starts playing there is a loud crackle before the song starts which can ruin your hearing if you have the volume up. This has happened to almost every file. My Sony never does any of this of course. I did buy the $200 music card which is the one that should have come with the device as the standard card is basically a throw away card. But not sure how other high end players sound. So my player basically cost me $1000. This plays ALAC and DSD no problem but only supports DSD64. If you go on a long trip you need an extra battery for sure because of the 5 hour playing time you only get. With my $75 ipod nano I had it on playing all the way from San Francisco to Beijing with still lots of battery life left, 14 hours! My Sony which is about 5 times lighter than this lasted me 10 hours of flight time from Hawaii to East coast no problem. For this amount of money nobody deserves this kind of problem with the screen blanking out all the time. Of course you can't bother to screw the cover on as they come in a separate bag with screws for a reason, you got to remove the cover and take out the battery to reset all the time. At least that worked all the time and I didn't have to get a super small pin to reset it. Problems of plugging the device into the PC. At first the PC saw it then as I was transferring the files to the device it disappeared and was gone from PC. So the interface doesn't work but not that big deal as I just remove the card and put in SD card reader and transfer files directly from PC to card with no problem. The battery cost $100 and is proprietary so can't buy after market and the device can't be recharged through the usb port and need to lug around a computer sized ac adaptor with big square box. Traveling with this obviously is a joke but home may be ok if you have the time to interrupt your music and reset and remove the battery all the time. Also, if you don't mind the loud crackle at the beginning of the song this may be the device for you as the sound seems good when it is working but certainly not tube like they claim and not close to vinyl but maybe the $300 card may be better. The music card is better than the throw away card it comes with but if your listening to jazz or rap or rock the standard card may be ok, but from classical music look elsewhere. I have Sony,Fiio, and never had any of these problems not once and the devices are substantially cheaper and much lighter and sound almost as good as this, certainly good enough. For this amount of money you don't even get blue tooth, NFC, video, or FM radio like you get with Sony. You should ask the owner of the company if this device will play from SF to Tianjin where it is made. By the way my wife graduated from Tianjin Polytechnic University.
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2016
I have owned this player for approximately 1 year before giving this review, have owned various Head-Fi devices, as well as a $5000 headphone rig so have a fairly wide range of experience.
Firstly the downsides..... 1. It's got a clunky interface and does occasionally crash (has happened perhaps 5 times in 1 year) - every time it's been down to the SD card and this player is not unique in that aspect - my Fiio X5 2nd gen was actually worse. 2. Battery life is okay, I find myself charging it a few times a week and having the 'brick' rather than usb is a pain but with the size of battery/voltage (remember it's 2x voltage battery) USB charging would take an age. 3. The paint on the SD card cover comes off - what do you expect if you paint a rubber item? 4. The supplied powersupply has a thin cable and like their headphones (RE600?) needs care taking otherwise I can see it breaking 5. No usb Dac function 6. No Digital out in stock form 7. Gapless? occasionally but that's the same as my AK Jr.....
But, from my experience the plusses more than make up for these weaknesses. I have used it with HD600, T90's, HE500, EX1, SE535, PM3 to name a few and without exception it sounds excellent. So good in fact that without the battery life/charging weakness there is an extremely narrow differential between this and a very good home head-fi set up (read many 000's), it will drive any of the above headphones with more than enough headroom and you can tell the benefits of the higher voltage battery. I have used the attached audio out cable into a $7k home hi-fi and its a highly capable line level device - wide, natural sound stage, deep and extremely dynamic.
It's not a perfect device, but I love it because unlike some other Daps it has a great long term capability - interchangeable battery, interchangeable amp boards (I have the stock and IEM), Dual Dac, Very good line level out. Unlike most (apart from the AK JR which is nothing like the audio out quality of this but is more portable) DAPs before this one is staying, because at the end of the day the sound it produces (which surely is the real point) is impeccable.
Why anyone would listen to or even give this product a 1 star review on this product is beyond me - it's a 5 star product with 4 stars due to it's drawbacks.
