• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

HiFiMan Sets HM-801 PMP on Charitable Pre-order

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,277 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
HiFiMan has come up with a new high-fidelity portable media player, the HM-801. Unlike consumer-ended product appearance and feature-sets of PMPs such as Apple iPod, Microsoft Zune or Creative Zen, this one sits in its niche of audiophile products, emphasizing on audio output quality and support for high-bitrate lossless audio formats.

To begin with, the HM-801 uses a unit design that is uncompromising from a sound perspective, featuring a modular amplifier section and the highly regarded Burr-Brown PCM1704 DAC capable of 24-bit/96 KHz. That, coupled with the OPA627 Op-Amps, which have quite the reputation among audiophiles, is bound to give you world class sound quality on the move. Supported audio formats include WMA (including Pro and Lossless), MP3, FLAC, AAC, Ogg-Vorbis, and WAV (PCM,MS-ADPCM,IMA-ADPCM). Its storage is care of an SDHC slot, that will support SDHC cards with capacities as high as the standard supports.

The HiFiMAN PMP also features an analogue and digital line out (via coaxial SPDIF) so that you can feed your portable DAC or amplifier with a good signal. Uncompromising sound quality on the move is bound to cost big bucks and the HiFiMAN is also quite costly at $700, which is $600 at launch due to discounts that include donating $10 per purchase to audiophile website Head-Fi.org. The bigger charity of course would be that you are getting this with $100 off. And this is even without a memory solution you have to buy the SDHC card yourself.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DaC
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Messages
3,459 (0.61/day)
Location
95350
Processor ???
Motherboard 760
Cooling HK
Memory 3x1gb
Video Card(s) 285 Classified / EVGA 480
Display(s) 22" Acer /42" Toshiba
Case Stacker
Power Supply Toughpower 1000w / Coolmaster 650w
Software All of them
looks like a modified gameboy color :roll:
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
552 (0.10/day)
Location
Romania
System Name OptimusFine
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800x
Motherboard MSI B550 Tomahawk
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 / 2x NF-S12A-PWM Chromax
Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX CL15 3000mhz 32gb
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RTX 3080 12GB Gaming OC
Storage Samsung M.2 SSD 960 Evo 250GB / 2 Crucial SSD MX500 2TB & 1 1TB / Seagate 2TB Hdd / Toshiba 2Tb Hdd
Display(s) Alienware AW3423DW, ASUS ROG PG279Q
Case Cooler Master H500M
Audio Device(s) Steelseries Arctis 7+ / Logitech Z533
Power Supply Corsair RM850X
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair Strafe RGB
VR HMD Oculus Rift
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
it doesn't look like it's from this era :D
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
Many of Cowons offerings already play the lossless codecs, so this is indeed a niche product. It would take $800 headphones to hear the benefits of their op-amp and DAC choices.
 

DaC

Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
609 (0.10/day)
Location
São Paulo - SP - Brasil
Processor Q6600 @3.6
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P
Cooling Xigmatek S1283
Memory 8gb Crucial Red Tracer
Video Card(s) ASUS TOP HD 4850 512
Storage Seagate 160GB 7200.11 / 320GB 7200.10 / 500GB 7200.11 / 1TB 7200.12
Display(s) 17" AOC
Audio Device(s) ESI Julia -> Zero DaC -> Senn HD650
Power Supply 550W Seven team
Many of Cowons offerings already play the lossless codecs, so this is indeed a niche product. It would take $800 headphones to hear the benefits of their op-amp and DAC choices.

Not really.... Senn HD-650 for $450.... or even others like HD-555 for $100 are already good enough to take advantage of this....
It isn't really something top notch hi-fi, but indeed, I'd love to have one like this, but not paying $700 bucks.... more like the price of an ipod would be already enough....
$700 = Nice External DAC (much better than this mobile thing has) + Nice Headphone + Nice Sound card + Nice AMP..... so even it being a mobile device, I just can't see the reason for this crazy price....
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
875 (0.15/day)
These devices are nice for the OCD crowd, but has ANYONE ever even bothered to test the ACTUAL frequency output range of their stupid little "earbuds".

(And PLEASE - No Pork-Chops reading the "Frequency Response Graph" CLAIMED on their packaging - that only tells how/what frequency's are RESPONDED to - It has NOTHING AT ALL to do with what sounds their speakers can reproduce. - that's why its always clearly labeled a RESPONSE graph)

I don't see the point in a portable True "High-Fi" player when you'd need a studio headset almost double the size of your own head, to actually be able to reproduce the signal range that is being output by the device.

But - I'm sure SOMEBODY has one of those headsets, and this must be the player for them.
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,277 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
I don't see the point in a portable True "High-Fi" player when you'd need a studio headset almost double the size of your own head, to actually be able to reproduce the signal range that is being output by the device.

A good pair of in-ears do the trick too. No hard-and-fast rule that you'd need on/around-ears to get the most out of this.
 

Weer

New Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2007
Messages
1,417 (0.23/day)
Location
New York / Israel
System Name //////////////////////////////////////Crunching/Folding Builds\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Processor Q8400@ 4.0Ghz | Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz | E7300 @ 3.8Ghz | E5300 @ 4.3Ghz | E5300 @ 3.9Ghz | E2180 @ 2.0Ghz |
Motherboard ASUS P5Q-E | Asus P5Q Pro | Gigabyte EG45-DS2H | Gigabyte EP35-DS3H | Gigabyte NV73 | E-Sonic P35-G
Cooling TRUE [Lapped] | TRUE | Thermalright SI-128 | Stock | Stock | Stock
Memory G.Skill 8192MB @ 1066Mhz | G.Skill 4096MB | OCZ 2048MB | G.Skill 2048MB | PNY 2048MB | OCZ 1024MB
Video Card(s) GTX 280 + 8800 GTS 512 | 9800 GX2 + 8800 GTS 512 | 6600 GT | 8800 GS | 9600 GSO 512
Storage G.Skill 64GB SSD (OS) | Segate 750GB [Downloads] | 5TB JBOD [Movies] | 3TB JBOD [Else] | 1.5TB [Ex]
Display(s) QUAD Monitors: Dell 2007FP [20"] + Dell 3007WFP-HC [30"] + Dell 2007FP [20"] | Dell 2407WFP-HC [24"]
Case Antec P190 | Antec Three-Hundred | Antec NSK2400 | Thermaltake Strike MX | HEC 6T10 | HEC 8K01
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI + [Audiophile HD600] + [Creative G500 + Logitech X-530 = 10 speakers]
Power Supply OCZ 750w [62A] | OCZ 750w [62A] | Antec 380w [31A] | Antec 650w [54A] | OCZ 400w [33A] | GeN [20A]
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit + Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista SP2 64-bit | Windows 7 RTM 64-bit
Benchmark Scores ////////////////////////////////66,666 [Crunching] + 45,455 [Folding]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
A good pair of in-ears do the trick too. No hard-and-fast rule that you'd need on/around-ears to get the most out of this.

Of course you do. A 'good' pair of earphones won't be able to do this contraption justice. It doesn't get anymore "hard-and-fast" for the customer base for this device which is undoubtably audiophiles. And get the most out of this? To get the most out of this you would need at least the HD650, so be careful around the use of the word "most" amidst us audiophiles.
Which is why this is indeed ridiculous, from a marketing point of view.
Although, you could make the case, like me, that the difference between the HD555 and the HD650 isn't that noticeable. But then, you'd also have to make the case that there is thus no reason to buy anything better than an iPod.
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,277 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Of course you do. A 'good' pair of earphones won't be able to do this contraption justice. It doesn't get anymore "hard-and-fast" for the customer base for this device which is undoubtably audiophiles. And get the most out of this? To get the most out of this you would need at least the HD650, so be careful around the use of the word "most" amidst us audiophiles.
Which is why this is indeed ridiculous, from a marketing point of view.
Although, you could make the case, like me, that the difference between the HD555 and the HD650 isn't that noticeable. But then, you'd also have to make the case that there is thus no reason to buy anything better than an iPod.

I'm looking at it from the point of view of on/around-ears being bulky and less portable compared to in-ears, and I'm not deviating from them being high-end. Think Sennheiser IE8, et al, that can compliment this player's SNR, and frequency response. So I don't have a case you can use for "if..then...else" arguments.
 

Weer

New Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2007
Messages
1,417 (0.23/day)
Location
New York / Israel
System Name //////////////////////////////////////Crunching/Folding Builds\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Processor Q8400@ 4.0Ghz | Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz | E7300 @ 3.8Ghz | E5300 @ 4.3Ghz | E5300 @ 3.9Ghz | E2180 @ 2.0Ghz |
Motherboard ASUS P5Q-E | Asus P5Q Pro | Gigabyte EG45-DS2H | Gigabyte EP35-DS3H | Gigabyte NV73 | E-Sonic P35-G
Cooling TRUE [Lapped] | TRUE | Thermalright SI-128 | Stock | Stock | Stock
Memory G.Skill 8192MB @ 1066Mhz | G.Skill 4096MB | OCZ 2048MB | G.Skill 2048MB | PNY 2048MB | OCZ 1024MB
Video Card(s) GTX 280 + 8800 GTS 512 | 9800 GX2 + 8800 GTS 512 | 6600 GT | 8800 GS | 9600 GSO 512
Storage G.Skill 64GB SSD (OS) | Segate 750GB [Downloads] | 5TB JBOD [Movies] | 3TB JBOD [Else] | 1.5TB [Ex]
Display(s) QUAD Monitors: Dell 2007FP [20"] + Dell 3007WFP-HC [30"] + Dell 2007FP [20"] | Dell 2407WFP-HC [24"]
Case Antec P190 | Antec Three-Hundred | Antec NSK2400 | Thermaltake Strike MX | HEC 6T10 | HEC 8K01
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI + [Audiophile HD600] + [Creative G500 + Logitech X-530 = 10 speakers]
Power Supply OCZ 750w [62A] | OCZ 750w [62A] | Antec 380w [31A] | Antec 650w [54A] | OCZ 400w [33A] | GeN [20A]
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit + Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista SP2 64-bit | Windows 7 RTM 64-bit
Benchmark Scores ////////////////////////////////66,666 [Crunching] + 45,455 [Folding]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
I'm looking at it from the point of view of on/around-ears being bulky and less portable compared to in-ears, and I'm not deviating from them being high-end. Think Sennheiser IE8, et al, that can compliment this player's SNR, and frequency response. So I don't have a case you can use for "if..then...else" arguments.

I'm not trying to argue. Either you understand all the factors that are mandatory to sound reception devices, and we can converse over their basic importance, or I make a factual statement regarding what is widely accepted to be true, and you agree.
Now, the IE8's are excellent. I own them myself. But, they're not capable of using the hardware specified to its maximum output capacity. There are things like bass, treble, open-interface designs, that cannot possibly be utilized to the extent with earphones. That's beside the fact, that while the frequency response is high, it's simply not possible to compare them to top-end headphones. And so, while I don't think it's possible, even if they come up with earphones with the same factual quality, on paper, as headphones, it would still not have everything needed to provide an audiophile with the experience he/she looks for, and that's what I think this product is aiming to do.. which is my entire argument.
 

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,731 (3.43/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
Heh, I dunno who would pay $600 for this upper-class society level of audio quality when the average Joe Dirt MP3 player produces just about the same quality sound coming from the same file. There is nothing wrong with MP3, hell I personally hear no difference from MP3 and FLAC coming from my 5.1 speaker setup on my Audigy 2 ZS.
 
Joined
Sep 26, 2006
Messages
6,959 (1.09/day)
Location
Australia, Sydney
Heh, I dunno who would pay $600 for this upper-class society level of audio quality when the average Joe Dirt MP3 player produces just about the same quality sound coming from the same file. There is nothing wrong with MP3, hell I personally hear no difference from MP3 and FLAC coming from my 5.1 speaker setup on my Audigy 2 ZS.

MP3 only supports up to 16bit 320kbps 44000hz, and your FLAC probably is only encoded at 44000hz, 16 bit too, thus you wouldnt be able to hear much difference. Moreover, you're using XP. Afaik there is no place where you can change these settings.

I'm not trying to argue. Either you understand all the factors that are mandatory to sound reception devices, and we can converse over their basic importance, or I make a factual statement regarding what is widely accepted to be true, and you agree.
Now, the IE8's are excellent. I own them myself. But, they're not capable of using the hardware specified to its maximum output capacity. There are things like bass, treble, open-interface designs, that cannot possibly be utilized to the extent with earphones. That's beside the fact, that while the frequency response is high, it's simply not possible to compare them to top-end headphones. And so, while I don't think it's possible, even if they come up with earphones with the same factual quality, on paper, as headphones, it would still not have everything needed to provide an audiophile with the experience he/she looks for, and that's what I think this product is aiming to do.. which is my entire argument.

Weer, why do you ALWAYS try to argue/prove the TPU staff wrong? I see this happening in every news thread.
 
Last edited:

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,277 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Now, the IE8's are excellent. I own them myself. But, they're not capable of using the hardware specified to its maximum output capacity. There are things like bass, treble, open-interface designs, that cannot possibly be utilized to the extent with earphones.

Having owned the IE8, by now you should have realised that it is the pair to have for a PMP such as this for the specs it has. Also that your IE8 does feature adjustable bass. There is a reason why in-ear monitors are replacing large around-ear monitors in the production industry, because they're spec'd to offer the same output quality as larger cans. In-ears caught up with their larger cousins. I'm surprised this assessment is coming from a person who owns a pair of IE8, let alone the fact that IE8 costs $400.
 
Last edited:

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,731 (3.43/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
I can change from 48KHZ to 96KHZ in my sound card driver options, but I've only ever been able to change from 16 bit and 24 bit in Vista. I always thought that once you installed a sound card it automatically produced 24 bit sound anyway so choosing 16 bit in Vista was like lowering the default quality level?
 
Joined
Sep 26, 2006
Messages
6,959 (1.09/day)
Location
Australia, Sydney
I can change from 48KHZ to 96KHZ in my sound card driver options, but I've only ever been able to change from 16 bit and 24 bit in Vista. I always thought that once you installed a sound card it automatically produced 24 bit sound anyway so choosing 16 bit in Vista was like lowering the default quality level?

Yup :). Thats why vista owns lol. Well for audiophiles that is.

Anyway to get 48khz audio you need stuff from DVDs. 96khz, as i said, where the hell do you get that stuff from? Blu Ray?
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
6,560 (1.08/day)
System Name Vintage
Processor i7 - 3770K @ Stock
Cooling Scythe Zipang II
Memory 2x4GB Crucial DDR3
Video Card(s) MSI GTX970
Storage M4 124GB SSD// WD Black 640GB// WD Black 1TB//Samsung F3 1.5TB
Display(s) Samsung SM223BW 21.6"
Case Generic
Power Supply Corsair HX 520W
Software Windows 7
That look hideous. Someone needs to work on the comsmetics of that device quick snap
 

Gian-Pa

New Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2007
Messages
27 (0.00/day)
Location
Dublin
System Name Macbook Pro 15"
Processor Dual-Core 2.4Ghz
Memory 4Gb
Storage Western Digital 320GB internal + WD External 500GB + 1TB
Display(s) Samsung 19'' LCD 971p
Software Snow Leopard + Win 7
What is the Creative XEN?? i think you btarunr meant Creative ZEN...
 
T

twilyth

Guest
I can change from 48KHZ to 96KHZ in my sound card driver options, but I've only ever been able to change from 16 bit and 24 bit in Vista. I always thought that once you installed a sound card it automatically produced 24 bit sound anyway so choosing 16 bit in Vista was like lowering the default quality level?

Yup :). Thats why vista owns lol. Well for audiophiles that is.

Anyway to get 48khz audio you need stuff from DVDs. 96khz, as i said, where the hell do you get that stuff from? Blu Ray?

I'm not an audiophile but I've been using Audacity software lately (GNU freeware) and I can set the sample rate as high as 100k. I'm running Windows XP. I assume I could also play 100k through the software. When I go into the device manager and look at the codec properties, some of these are limited to 44k, but wouldn't that be a different issue?

This is a little off topic, but at what sample rate is a digital recording indistinguishable from analog? I eventually got used to the fact that cd's didn't sound as full as my beloved Telefunken recordings but I never like the idea.

Also, how important is frequency response when above maybe 10khz, you're not really listening to music anymore. If your a Phillip Glass fan maybe . . . but oh, that's right, we're talking about MUSIC. Hehehe. :D
 

DaC

Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
609 (0.10/day)
Location
São Paulo - SP - Brasil
Processor Q6600 @3.6
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P
Cooling Xigmatek S1283
Memory 8gb Crucial Red Tracer
Video Card(s) ASUS TOP HD 4850 512
Storage Seagate 160GB 7200.11 / 320GB 7200.10 / 500GB 7200.11 / 1TB 7200.12
Display(s) 17" AOC
Audio Device(s) ESI Julia -> Zero DaC -> Senn HD650
Power Supply 550W Seven team
Of course you do. A 'good' pair of earphones won't be able to do this contraption justice. It doesn't get anymore "hard-and-fast" for the customer base for this device which is undoubtably audiophiles. And get the most out of this? To get the most out of this you would need at least the HD650, so be careful around the use of the word "most" amidst us audiophiles.
Which is why this is indeed ridiculous, from a marketing point of view.
Although, you could make the case, like me, that the difference between the HD555 and the HD650 isn't that noticeable. But then, you'd also have to make the case that there is thus no reason to buy anything better than an iPod.

555 is a great headphone for the price, it will be eneough to take advantage of it.
I've owned 555 and own 650, yes there's difference, the problem isn't you, it's the equipment, using an ipod to compare it won't do the work for sure. :roll:
Another thing, you must have it for quite some time to "discover" the full benefit brought along.
Happened to me going from a dirty phillips sbc 250 to senn 555.... I heard little difference at the beginning, 3 or 5 weeks later.... wow... I just don't know how I could ever have lived without something like 555 is.... :toast:

I'm not trying to argue. Either you understand all the factors that are mandatory to sound reception devices, and we can converse over their basic importance, or I make a factual statement regarding what is widely accepted to be true, and you agree.
Now, the IE8's are excellent. I own them myself. But, they're not capable of using the hardware specified to its maximum output capacity. There are things like bass, treble, open-interface designs, that cannot possibly be utilized to the extent with earphones. That's beside the fact, that while the frequency response is high, it's simply not possible to compare them to top-end headphones. And so, while I don't think it's possible, even if they come up with earphones with the same factual quality, on paper, as headphones, it would still not have everything needed to provide an audiophile with the experience he/she looks for, and that's what I think this product is aiming to do.. which is my entire argument.

Look for Triple.Fi 10... seems like it's much much much better (and expensive) than most full sized headphone out there. But it won't compete for sure with the top dogs.... but it isn't a fair competition without setting a price range.

Heh, I dunno who would pay $600 for this upper-class society level of audio quality when the average Joe Dirt MP3 player produces just about the same quality sound coming from the same file. There is nothing wrong with MP3, hell I personally hear no difference from MP3 and FLAC coming from my 5.1 speaker setup on my Audigy 2 ZS.

You're right, you won't listen to any difference from MP3 to Flac on your 5.1 and Audigy 2 setup, but this thing is aimed for a level of quality that your setup won't give you, so FLAC starts to make sense at that point.


MP3 only supports up to 16bit 320kbps 44000hz, and your FLAC probably is only encoded at 44000hz, 16 bit too, thus you wouldnt be able to hear much difference. Moreover, you're using XP. Afaik there is no place where you can change these settings.

I agree w/you.... but there's always a chance to use ASIO, although you need a sound card that can support it, so you can get bit perfect 24/96 or /192 under windows XP


I can change from 48KHZ to 96KHZ in my sound card driver options, but I've only ever been able to change from 16 bit and 24 bit in Vista. I always thought that once you installed a sound card it automatically produced 24 bit sound anyway so choosing 16 bit in Vista was like lowering the default quality level?

It's all relative to your digital out encoding.... going from 16 to 24bit when your archive is 16 bit won't do much.

Yup :). Thats why vista owns lol. Well for audiophiles that is.

Anyway to get 48khz audio you need stuff from DVDs. 96khz, as i said, where the hell do you get that stuff from? Blu Ray?

Some guys rip their vinyl and a lot of material is being made in 24/96 already.

I'm not an audiophile but I've been using Audacity software lately (GNU freeware) and I can set the sample rate as high as 100k. I'm running Windows XP. I assume I could also play 100k through the software. When I go into the device manager and look at the codec properties, some of these are limited to 44k, but wouldn't that be a different issue?

This is a little off topic, but at what sample rate is a digital recording indistinguishable from analog? I eventually got used to the fact that cd's didn't sound as full as my beloved Telefunken recordings but I never like the idea.

Also, how important is frequency response when above maybe 10khz, you're not really listening to music anymore. If your a Phillip Glass fan maybe . . . but oh, that's right, we're talking about MUSIC. Hehehe. :D

don't confuse sampling rate (44/48/96/192 khz) with frequency response. 20hz-20khz they have nothing to do in a raw way.
10khz isn't the upper limit for most people, but 20khz, try yourself to download a frequency response wave (lossy formats are useless for this), and check for yourself with some sort of plug in, which frequency was the last you heard something while the wave was playing, remember that speakers and source frequency response will also play a roll on it.....

BTW although above 20khz most people just can't hear a thing, Harmonics are build up to 100khz and this is what makes every single voice and instrument unique also lower frequency 10hz interact with your body making it vibrate, you can "touch" the music.... so yes, getting flat frequency response from 1hz to 100khz is important although you can't hear must of this range. :toast:
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
Heh, I dunno who would pay $600 for this upper-class society level of audio quality when the average Joe Dirt MP3 player produces just about the same quality sound coming from the same file. There is nothing wrong with MP3, hell I personally hear no difference from MP3 and FLAC coming from my 5.1 speaker setup on my Audigy 2 ZS.

Then you aren't an audiophile, and this PMP or the headphones/IEMs being mentioned are not for you. Be glad, it's much cheaper that way. lol.

MP3 only supports up to 16bit 320kbps 44000hz, and your FLAC probably is only encoded at 44000hz, 16 bit too, thus you wouldnt be able to hear much difference. Moreover, you're using XP. Afaik there is no place where you can change these settings.
There is a huge difference in sound quality between FLAC and ANY mp3, regardless of the mp3's bitrate, even if both are 16bit @ 44khz.

Yup :). Thats why vista owns lol. Well for audiophiles that is.

Anyway to get 48khz audio you need stuff from DVDs. 96khz, as i said, where the hell do you get that stuff from? Blu Ray?

96khz is multi-channel DVD, 192khz is 2 channel DVD, and some CDs are 48khz.

BTW although above 20khz most people just can't hear a thing, Harmonics are build up to 100khz and this is what makes every single voice and instrument unique also lower frequency 10hz interact with your body making it vibrate, you can "touch" the music.... so yes, getting flat frequency response from 1hz to 100khz is important although you can't hear must of this range. :toast:
I always got a kick out of people arguing that any frequency response above 20k is useless "because nothing plays there, and you can't hear it anyway."

Well, first off, I can. I hear to around 25k, and second, have you never heard of harmonics? lol
 
Last edited:

DaC

Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
609 (0.10/day)
Location
São Paulo - SP - Brasil
Processor Q6600 @3.6
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P
Cooling Xigmatek S1283
Memory 8gb Crucial Red Tracer
Video Card(s) ASUS TOP HD 4850 512
Storage Seagate 160GB 7200.11 / 320GB 7200.10 / 500GB 7200.11 / 1TB 7200.12
Display(s) 17" AOC
Audio Device(s) ESI Julia -> Zero DaC -> Senn HD650
Power Supply 550W Seven team
Then you aren't an audiophile, and this PMP or the headphones/IEMs being mentioned are not for you. Be glad, it's much cheaper that way. lol.

There is a huge difference in sound quality between FLAC and ANY mp3, regardless of the mp3's bitrate, even if both are 16bit @ 44khz.



96khz is multi-channel DVD, 192khz is 2 channel DVD, and some CDs are 48khz.

I always got a kick out of people arguing that any frequency response above 20k is useless "because nothing plays there, and you can't here it anyway."

Well, first off, I can. I hear to around 25k, and second, have you never heard of harmonics? lol

Never mind bro... this thread belongs to head-fi.org, not tpu :laugh:
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,277 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
I always got a kick out of people arguing that any frequency response above 20k is useless "because nothing plays there, and you can't hear it anyway."

Well, first off, I can. I hear to around 25k, and second, have you never heard of harmonics? lol

You do understand that sample rate has nothing to do with harmonics? When a PCM stream has a sample rate of say 44.1 kHz, the DAC is producing 44,100 "sounds" per second. Yes, the human ear cannot perceive frequencies above 20 kHz, but there's no telling how many unique pieces of sound can your brain piece together per second, so you get the perception of something that makes sense.
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
You do understand that sample rate has nothing to do with harmonics? When a PCM stream has a sample rate of say 44.1 kHz, the DAC is producing 44,100 "vibrations" per second. Yes, the human ear cannot perceive frequencies above 20 kHz, but there's no telling how many unique pieces of sound can your brain piece together per second, so you get the perception of sound.

I wasn't referring to sample rate. I was referring to frequency. I don't recall even making a reference to sample rate in reference to harmonics? :confused:
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,277 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
I wasn't referring to sample rate. I was referring to frequency. I don't recall even making a reference to sample rate in reference to harmonics? :confused:

Ofcourse. My bad. :eek:
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
Top