Description: Portable music player with headphone and line outputs, USB audio and data inputs, and 16GB of memory. Compatible file formats: MP3, WAV, OGG, and 24-bit/96kHz FLAC.
Dimensions: 4" L by 2.5" W by 1" D. Weight: 7oz.
Price: $439.
Manufacturer: Head-Direct. Tel: (347) 475-7673. Fax: (718) 766-0560. Web: www.head-direct.com.
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Measurements
To check out the performance of this $439 player on the test bench, I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). For some tests, I also used my Audio Precision System One Dual Domain and the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer. To test the HiFiMan's performance as a USB DAC, I used my MacBook running OS10.6 and Bias Peak Pro 6 to play WAV files, switching the HM-602 from "DAP" to "USB" mode with its top-panel switch. To test it in DAP mode, I loaded WAV and FLAC files…
Sidebar 3: Manufacturers' Comments
Editor: Thanks a lot for Stephen Mejias's excellent writing. We released new firmware at the end of February to solve the noise problem when the power runs out. I am very sorry to have this bug in the early-version firmware. The reason for the noise is that when the player is almost out of power, the battery voltage becomes very low. In the new firmware, we improved the voltage a little bit so that the player will be automatically shut down before the noise begins.
About the measurements in general: Before we designed the HM-602, we tried many…
As B&W's 800 Series has evolved, Stereophile has reported on its progress. Lewis Lipnick reviewed the Matrix 801 Series 2 in 1987, and Wes Phillips wrote about the Nautilus 801 in 1999. I reviewed the B&W 800 Signature in 2002 and the 802D in 2005. This is getting to be a habit.
In the years I've lived with the 802Ds, they've continued to provide wonderful musical experiences, and, like an old married couple, we've adapted to each other. I've adapted to their slight emphasis of the high frequencies and their upper-bass ripeness; they, in turn, have blended comfortably into my…
There's another way to look at this phenomenon. Both the 802D and 800 Diamond could play at very high levels without distress, but I found I could play the 800 at much higher levels without evoking any listener stress. The 802D seemed to have a slight built-in "loudness compensation" that tipped up both the upper-bass and mid-treble; while that was warmly pleasant at normal listening levels, at much higher levels it sounded somewhat overwhelming. Strangely, the larger 800 Diamond had less artificial "authority" at all levels, while lacking nothing in terms of power, impact, bass extension,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, vented-box, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) diamond-dome tweeter, 6" (160mm) woven-Kevlar FST-cone midrange unit, two 10" (250mm) Rohacell-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 350Hz, 4kHz. Manufacturer's specifications: Frequency range: –6dB at 25Hz and 33kHz. Frequency response: 32Hz–28kHz, ±3dB on reference axis. Dispersion: within 2dB of on-axis response over 60° (horizontal) and 10° (vertical) arcs. Sensitivity: 90dB SPL (2.83V/m). Harmonic distortion (second and third harmonics, 90dB, 1m): <1.0%, 45Hz–100kHz;…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Sony XA-5400ES SACD/CD player, Oppo BDP-83SE universal Blu-ray player.
Preamplification: Parasound JC2 BP, Classé CT-SSP surround-sound processor, Meridian HD621 HDMI audio processor & 861 Reference v4/V6 digital surround controllers.
Power Amplifiers: McIntosh MC303 (three-channel), Bel Canto Design REF1000mkII (monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: B&W 802D, Canton Reference 3.2 DC, Revel Ultima/2 Studio.
Cables: Digital: Black Cat Veloce. Interconnect: van den Hul Flat 180, AudioQuest Vodka HDMI, AudioQuest Cheetah balanced…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the B&W 800 Diamond's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. For logistical reasons, the loudspeaker I measured was not one of the samples auditioned by Kal Rubinson. My estimate of the B&W's sensitivity was 90.2dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is within experimental error of the specified 90dB. This is higher than average, but is offset by the fact that the speaker's impedance drops below 4 ohms for most of the midrange and some of the bass…
Dear weblog,
On Friday, we managed to successfully release to pre-press the final pieces of our July 2011 issue; and it was only three weeks ago that we finished shipping our June issue. On top of the pressure of such a short production cycle, we also felt the effects of attending, over the course of just two weeks, both the Salon Son et Image in Montreal and Axpona in Atlanta. It’s been a busy and exhausting month. On the positive side, it seems that the economy is taking a turn for the better. We see this in the sudden spring of hi-fi shows, but also in the increasing size of our…
On Friday, we managed to successfully release to pre-press the final pieces of our July 2011 issue; and it was only three weeks ago that we finished shipping our June issue. On top of the pressure of such a short production cycle, we also felt the effects of attending, over the course of just two weeks, both the Salon Son et Image in Montreal and Axpona in Atlanta. It’s been a busy and exhausting month. On the positive side, it seems that the economy is taking a turn for the better. We see this in the sudden spring of hi-fi shows, but also in the increasing size of our…
On Friday night, we raced over to the bamboo-walled, lava-lit, animal-printed freak show that is Otto’s Shrunken Head on East 14th Street, between Avenues A and B, where John Atkinson would join pianist Bob Reina, drummer Mark Flynn, bassist Chris Jones, and trumpeter Liam Sillery for two sets of fully improvised, often beautiful soundscapes.
I’ve never seen John Atkinson move the way he moved on Friday night. The man was deep in the zone, possessed by the grooves, his fingers blazing trails in space, racing back twenty and thirty years and more to a time when, as a member of a touring…