HiFiMan 901 - an incredibly expensive music player from a famous manufacturer. It costs more than 1000 dollars, it is large in size, it works no more than 8 hours from a single battery charge, and in most cases it is noticeably less. What did sound lovers around the world find in it? Let's try to figure it out.
It is difficult to overestimate the role of HiFiMan in the development of personal audio. They were the pioneers who managed to build a portable player with a truly high-quality sound and achieve success in the market with it. The HiFiMan 801 and 601 models became in many respects the sound standards for players, complemented by really successful headphone models Re-Zero, Re-0, Re-262 and Re-272, they broadened the understanding of how a mobile source can sound. The new model 901 was waited for a very long time, pinning its hopes on it and shuddering at price forecasts. Finally, in the second half of last year, HiFiMan 901 began to appear on store shelves. Thanks to the traditional courtesy of the representatives I became the owner of one of them, and also temporarily received all 4 available amplifier modules. After spending a very long time with the player, I am ready to tell you about it.
The player is built on two Saber ESS9018 chips, this is the top model in the ESS company's portfolio, and one of the most high-class chips on the market. The use of two DACs can be considered redundant, since the chip itself is eight-channel, and for ordinary stereo it suffices “with a margin”, but HiFiMan decided to make its player to the maximum and used two separate chips, one for each channel, to exclude any possibility their influence on each other.
The power of the player is also implemented according to a rather complicated scheme. According to the manufacturer, the battery consists of 4 separate cells connected in two batteries, giving a voltage of ± 7.4 volts. This is done in order to remove the step-up voltage converter and possible interference from it. Since such a cheap battery, by definition, cannot be, HiFiMan made them replaceable and sell external chargers. Taking into account the fact that the lifetime of the player on one battery charge is from 6.5 to 8 hours (depending on the amplifier) - a spare battery looks like a good idea.
Supporting the tradition of HiFiMan 801, the 901st offers the user the possibility of replacing the amplifier card. At the moment there are already 4 options for amplification (about them below) and in the future they promise more. To change the gain card, you need to remove the battery, underneath and there is a groove with a connector for replaceable amplifiers. The step is also very reasonable, since buying a player more expensive than $ 1,000 I want to get the most versatile solution.
The desire to "make the maximum" can be traced in everything, it did not even go around the volume control. Most often, the volume control in the players or digital, working at the DAC level and degrading the output signal resolution, or analog with a variable resistor (in good ALPS devices), but this option is not without drawbacks, such as channel imbalance. Therefore, in HiFiMan 901 a volume control was applied in the form of a multi-position switch to which fixed resistors of a strictly selected nominal are connected. Let's see how these regulators will behave after a long time, but so far this decision of the manufacturer causes me purely positive emotions. Step-by-step rotation of the knob allows you to set exactly the volume you need.
Another feature of HiFiMan 901 is the support of “balanced” headphone connection (which is more correctly called a separate ground connection). Actually, HiFiMan themselves offered such a connection a few years ago in their Re-272 model and released a balanced amplifier card for HiFiMan 801. Since the standard 801 connector did not support 4-pin plugs, the balanced amplifier module had a separate socket protruding from the back cover . In 901, this problem is solved, and the standard connector of the player supports headphones with TRRS connectors. Of course, in order for a balanced connection to make sense, you need the appropriate (and most expensive) amplifier. If your headphones do not support such a connection, the switch on the side of the connector switches to the usual three-pin with common ground.
Another of the unusual features of the 901st is worth mentioning the switch filter mode: HD and Vintage. It controls the high-frequency filtering around 20 kHz. In Vintage mode, this range is slightly muffled to create the effect of the soft sound of classic players, in HD - HF are served as is.
Specifications
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
- Distortion (linear output): 0.008%
- Signal to noise ratio: 106 ± 4 dB
- Operating time on one charge: from 6 hours
- DAC: 2 x ESS9018
- Dimensions: 71 mm x 116 mm x 28 mm
- Weight: 250 gr
Package and Delivery
The packaging is made in the same style as the Re600 headphones - a leatherette box with a magnet cover. Inside, in addition to the player itself, you will find the following.
- The charger is very large, comparable in size to the power supply of modern laptops (the complex battery of the device explains the need for such a “charger”)
- Usb cable
- Line-out cable with 3.5mm TRS-plug
- Line output cable with RCA connectors
By the way, in the future HiFiMan promise to release a docking station for this player, judging by the web renderers, it should look very cool.
Design and management
The design of the player is made as simple as possible. No fancy materials, the main component of the case is black plastic (thanks for not glossy). The first thing you notice is the size of the player. It is perceptibly large, in the pocket of your pants or shirt it is definitely not vilified, but this is the price paid for the sound quality. Here you can't fool the physics, and the components necessary for the HiEnd sound cannot fit into a small volume. It is worth paying tribute, the developers have taken into account the problems of previous generations of players, and the 901 looks noticeably more presentable than the 801, primarily due to the smaller size.
On the front panel there is a screen (of average quality, but enough for the player), a wheel with a button in it that serves as the main control, a return button and four additional control buttons: home, play / pause, rewind and forward. In my hand, the player lies comfortably, and I have no problem in reaching the buttons with one hand, regardless of size.
On the left side there is a balance mode switch and an SD card slot, on the right there is a power switch, made in the form of a slider, a gain level switch and an HD / Vintage switch. On the top panel there is a headphone jack, and in the upper right corner of the player there is a volume control.
There are ventilation holes on both sides of the player. Since the entire filling of the player is very hot, try to prevent them from blocking during operation.
The bottom panel contains a lock that closes the battery compartment and a proprietary charging slot and accessories. The developers decided to recall the dashing years before the advent of standards and made one universal, incompatible connector with anything: the player is charged through it, various accessories are connected through it (docking station, line-out cable, etc.). The decision is controversial, but with this in general, you can put up with it.
The player interface is quite neat, the developers are so proud of it that they called it Tai Chi UI and patented it. In general, the menu is intuitively clear: by rotating the wheel on the player panel, the selection wheel moves on the player screen. Pressing the center button confirms the selection. Everything is quite animated, although at the entrance to the folder there is a slight delay, during which the player loads the cover of the tracks located in the folder to use it as a background.
The player interface is the most minimalistic. You can view music with different sorting (by artist, by album, etc.), view the contents of the map and change the basic settings: screen brightness, wait time, etc. On the one hand, it seems that this is not enough, on the other hand, everything that is needed to listen to music is here.
Sound
Of course, the most important thing in the player is sound. It seems to me that HiFiMan specifically made every effort to emphasize this by making the design extremely minimalistic (for comparison, you can recall iRiver A & K, in which the lion's share of the price is taken for appearance). Since the manufacturer made support for interchangeable amplifiers in the player, I listened to it with all 4 existing cards, and I will present my conclusions below.
To listen to the player used headphones HiFiMan Re-600, Ambient Acoustics AM6 with a balanced cable, Philips Fidelio X1, T-PEOS H-200 and several others.
Standard card
Initially, this amplifier was not in the plans of the company. Later, realizing that with other cards HiFiMan 901 "passes" the psychological threshold of $ 1,000, the developers decided to create a very simple and inexpensive amplifier to form the very minimum package. With this amplifier, the player will cost $ 999, but perhaps in this case it is better to overpay.
The amplifier is built on transistors and opamps OP275. He has a good volume margin, but the resolution suffers. This is especially noticeable at high volume: instruments are piled up in a heap, and an imaginary scene causes claustrophobia. On multi-driver reinforcement headphones another caustic RF will be another unpleasant surprise.
This amplifier plays well with superimposed headphones of the middle class and with some one-driver fittings. In general, this is a choice for inexpensive headphones, but the expediency of using such headphones with a HiEnd player raises great doubts.
With this amplifier, the player worked a little more than 8 hours.
Minibox
This amplifier is proposed to be used with overhead headphones. It is built on two OPA627AP and four BUF634P from BurrBrown. The amplifier really has a good volume margin and differs from IEM / Balance with slightly less bass and a “lighter” sound. Less detail is compensated by continuous and musical presentation. In addition to overhead headphones, I liked this amplifier with hybrid T-PEOS headphones.
Minibox - has a large "pressure" on the HF, which, given the energy of the 901 itself, on some headphones can lead to excessive brightness and aggressiveness of sound, especially if the headphones are prone to sibilance.
With this amplifier, the player worked a little less than 7 hours.
Iem card
The amplifier is made on two OPA627 and two BUF634U from BurrBrown and is probably the best solution for most cases. As the name implies, it is optimized for headphones-inserts, and it reveals to them just great. Detailed, with very high resolution, excellent speed and attacks - this amplifier will please fans of all genres. Of all the four cards, this amplifier has the smallest volume margin, but with most plug-in headphones it will be enough with a margin.
Good amplifier copes with capricious multi-driver fittings and dynamic headphones.
The player worked with this card for almost 8 hours.
Balance card
The “doubled” version of the IEM amplifier is designed for use with headphones with a balanced cable. The volume margin of this card in the unbalanced mode is higher than that of the IEM, but less than that of the Minibox, in the balance mode - the largest of all amplifiers. The nature of the sound of this amplifier is similar to the IEM: the same resolution and dynamics. In the fully balanced mode with the appropriate headphones, it is distinguished by better channel separation and clearer bass (I described the impressions of its use with the AM6 “custom” here).
The operating time with this amplifier is 6.5 hours.
findings
The player was very interesting. Regardless of the price, it offers an incredible sound quality: detail, resolution, energy and attacks HiFiMan 901 few people indifferent. Of course, units of music lovers are ready to give more than $ 1,000 for a portable player, but those who buy HiFiMan 901 will definitely not be disappointed.
The article is based on materials .
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