In early summer, HiFiMan made an excellent gift for all lovers of good sound by releasing a promotion package from HiFiMan HE-300 headphones and an EF-3 amplifier for the price of headphones alone (our price was about $ 300). Now on the manufacturer's website, this action has ended, but in some stores ( ) you can still find this kit at a tasty price. Below I will explain why this set is worth attention.
The release of this set HiFiMan killed two birds with one stone, more precisely one, but two times. The fact is that HE-300 and EF-3 are discontinued by them in connection with the update of the line of isodynamic headphones in the face of HE-400i and HE-560. Thus, the old HE-400 now takes the place of the youngest model in the line (especially for its price and reduced), but for the HE-300 there is no room, although the headphones are very good. As for the EF-3 amplifier, then, in fact, it is their own EF-2A “combine”, from which they threw out its simple DAC, leaving just a normal hybrid amplifier.
Specifications
Amplifier
- Input Impedance: 47 KΩ
- Recommended load impedance: 32Ω - 300Ω
- Output power: 320 mW @ 32Ω, 256 mW @ 150Ω
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz ± 0.2 dB
- Signal to noise ratio: 95 dB
- Lamps: 2 x 6J1
- Power supply: 16 V - 18 V, 500 mA
- Dimensions: 14 cm x 8.5 cm x 4.5 cm
Headphones
- Emitters: 50 mm, dynamic
- Frequency range: 15 - 22000 Hz
- Impedance: 50Ω
- Sensitivity: 93 dB / mW
- Maximum power: 30 mW
- Weight: 270 g
- Cable: interchangeable, 1.8 m
Appearance and design
Headphones as a whole are standard for HiFiMan: a good metal case, round silver-colored open cups with black nets on the outside, a headband fitted with imitation leather, comfortable soft ear cushions. It can be said that the combination of reliability, simplicity and convenience HiFiMan is chosen very well. They sit on the head very comfortably, even prolonged wearing does not cause discomfort.
The cable at the HE-300 is interchangeable, it is attached using the SMC threaded connector, it is one of the most reliable ways to connect the cable to the headphones. The standard cable looks good, but it is thin and quite noticeably rustling at friction. In addition, 1.8 meters is more than is usually required. The good news is that the HiFiMan headphones have enough cables for every taste, and you can easily choose a replacement if you wish.
The amplifier looks quite modest. I do not know why, but HiFiMan made it almost from all sides very, very glossy, so it collects fingerprints very much. For those interested: the top cover is made of transparent plexiglass, in its right side there are holes in which lamps are inserted. The controls include RCA inputs and a power input on the rear panel, a headphone output, a switch, a volume control and a front gain switch.
In general, the set looks quite harmonious, for its price - even more than not bad.
Sound
For listening I used the following equipment:
- MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013 as a source;
- Yulong DA8 via USB as a DAC, connected to Audio-Gd EF-3 RCA cables;
- Fidelia as a player;
- Philips Fidelio X1, AKG K702, ZMF Fostex, Fischer Audio FA-003 Bog Oak Limited Edition Headphones, Fischer Audio FA-011 Limited Edition Japan Headphones for comparison;
- Records in lossless format.
I suspect that HiFiMan deliberately conceived this bundle in such a way as to maximally emphasize the advantages of the dynamic HE-300 emitters and level the weak points. The overall sound is warm, with a slope in the low frequencies and a dark sound. The upper frequencies are slightly muffled, maximum effort is applied to make the sound non-straining and to distract the listeners from reduced (relatively more expensive isodynamic models) resolution with musicality.
Bass is sufficiently collected and fast for a dynamic solution, it is well controlled by headphones and is not inclined to climb into “foreign territory” in most cases. An exception can be made only for low-frequency tracks of electronic genres, in other cases the low frequencies of the HE-300 are good for their price.
Middle frequencies are pleased with a good (though not perfect) resolution and transfer of emotionality. The tools are well divided, and the virtual scene is wide, although it sometimes lacks depth.
HF is deliberately slightly weakened, in order to make the sound softer and more relaxed, it allows you to get rid of the sharpness and tediousness, but in general, the upper frequencies are enough to give the desired volume and lightness of the composition.
I can say that in this set it is EF-3 that plays the role of a “weak link”. On the one hand, it’s silly to criticize an amplifier that comes with headphones for free, on the other hand, the HE-300 can play better with a more expensive amplifier. The main task of the EF-3 in this set is to smooth the shortcomings of bad sources, and it copes with it.
findings
In general, the set is interesting. Despite the fact that the EF-3 does not fully reveal the potential of the headphones, the user actually gets it for free, and due to this it reaches incredible heights in terms of price / quality ratio. In turn, the HE-300 is a very good headset that will delight the customer for a long time, especially if you then spend money to replace the amplifier (although this is not necessary).
The article is based on materials .
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