Edwood

Luis, did you have this problem fixed? Can you take pics of where the wire is broken. It's the hair thin wire, right?

OK, copying files now. RAID5 + TrueCrypt = Slow as fuck. I'm getting 3-4MB/S write speeds. Read speed is reasonably fast, so since it's just a media drive for watching movies and listening to music off of, it's more than fast enough for that. But for copying files, it's hella slow. OK, now the real question is, How best to automate back ups of my files. I currently have two arrays I need to back up. Each has a separate drive for back up that are not shared for security reasons (files don't get accessed by other users directly on the network, including me) and for being able to back them up via BackBlaze. So, what's the best way to automate the back up process, time machine style? Is Robocopy still the way to go with Vista? -Ed

Build Quality nit pick time. Numerous scratches under the LCD screen cover, likely on the LCD surface itself, and blotchy as well. Not really visible when the screen is on, but I would expect more careful handling for a $600+ player. The rear metal plate sticks out more than the steel cover for the Gan-Qi amp board module. You can clearly feel and see the gap. -Ed

Yeah, I'm 0 - 2 on early adopting. I'm sick and tired of return shipping new stuff right after I get them. Going to wait on this one.

Overall, I really like the HM-801. It definitely sounds better than the Pico, even in USB mode, but not as dramatic as with SDHC card mode. If it had direct USB to I2S it would've been even more awesome. Oh well. I would've preferred USB DAC only and no Coax input if that meant I could have direct USB to I2S. The "mosquito" tone it keeps making when touching the button was subtle, but enough for it to be very annoying. I'd say it's in the 12-16kHz range. The Firmware is quite buggy, but mainly with switching back and forth from USB/Coax DAC mode and SHDC Player mode. You have to turn the unit off before unplugging the USB or COAX cable or it almost always locks up the player. There are a few niggling UI issues, mainly the retarded button interface, but it's not nearly as stupid as the iRiver's wired remote. Honestly, Fang needs to make ver 2 of this thing have a D-Pad or small toggle joystick The 5 button X Pattern needs to go. There's really no reason it couldn't have a small D-Pad with a center select button. I've seen smaller ones in many many many digicams and other DAP's. -Ed

I shipped my HM-801 back to Fang. He'll be replacing it, hopefully with one that is dead silent and without scratches under the LCD screen cover. I took some pics before I sent it off, including some close up ones I'll post later. I've never been a fan of the styling (or almost complete lack thereof). But it's what's on the inside that counts the most, right? If I wanted styling and little substance, I'd just get an iPod. Notice that the paint finish is completely different on the front and back. Much thicker orange peel finish on the back. Not perfect, but hopefully it really is more durable than hard anodized finish. The charger is fucking ginormous and weighs well over a pound. Scale comparisons with my iRiver iHP-132 Scale comparison of the just the HM-801's battery. LOL, it's huge. It needs lots of power.

I returned a pair of $1400 full sized cans that didn't Measure up to $1100 IEM's.

I think it's because the HM-801 does not take USB straight to I2S.

Just got it. Wow the packaging is complete overkill. Here's my initial impressions: The Good: High End Sound. Very Clear, HeadAmp Pico USB DAC sounds veiled in comparison. (will need to listen more for better impressions) Little to no hiss noise with even the most efficient IEM's like the Westone ES3X. Powerful built in headphone amp. Lightweight for it's size. Fast Boot Up and Pretty Fast User Interface The Bad: Confusing Front Panel Button layout, User Interface still needs work. Large Size for a DAP Huge and Heavy charger that gets quite warm. Lean Bass (but very tight, needs burn in?) No Charging indication when turned off. (How do I know it's done charging without having to turn it on?) Sometimes swapping SDHC Cards or switching back to Player mode causes "Updating hifiman HM-801 Media" which takes anywhere from 1 -15 seconds USB DAC mode and Internal SDHC mode playback does not sound the same. (Will have to listen more and double check my Foobar settings to make sure) The Ugly: [*]Slight very high frequency noise emitted when touching the buttons or the upper front metal panel surrounding the LCD. (Can be avoided by not touching the top panel when listening. It's not loud enough to hear when listening to music) [*]Ground loop Buzzing when touching the unit when charging [*]Headphone amp too powerful for IEM's, very little volume adjustment available [*]Switching to and from USB or Coax DAC mode back to Player Mode without turning off first causes Player Lock up and/or weird static noise, requires resetting to turn off. [*]Flawed Paint Job. Most of the issues I have are fine or can be addressed with a Firmware update. But the Very High Frequency Noise when touching it is probably a deal breaker to me. It's most noticeable with my JH13's, since they have such a huge frequency range. I contacted Fang and he is going to check it out and replace my HM-801. Apparently he has an address in the USA in NYC. That makes return shipping a lot more convenient. -Ed

If it helps, I'm just got a HifiMan HM-801 and it's bass is a bit on the lean side. But the bass is considerably tighter and extends just as deep. It takes just a bit of the edge off of that 4dB 60Hz bump that the JH13's have. Makes them perfect IMO.

He's working on something, but it's not the successor to the JH13. It's specifically aimed for stage performers. So for audiophile listening, the JH13 it the king for the time being.

I'm going to encrypt this array with TrueCrypt. Is it safe to do a encrpyt the volume with QuickFormat? I'd rather it not take 12 days to encrypt as it says for full format. *Edit - nevermind. The bulk of the format process is filling the drive with random data. I guess it's like DBAN'ing an older drive already with data. Since this drive array is brand new, blank, I guess there's no need for a full TrueCrypt format.

My HM-801 has cleared customs. I thought shipments from China went through Los Angeles port. This time it went through San Francisco. Always takes longer going through San Fran. Usually packages from Japan I've ordered go through San Fran. Other parts of Asia go through LA, where they just fly through customs, that is if they even check. LOL. Oh, well. Means I'll have the HM-801 in my hands early this week. Probably Tues or Wed.

Most likely a custom cable. Doesn't look feasible to reterminate the stock cable for several reasons. Mainly it has 3 wires instead of 4 leading up to the Y yoke split. Also, the stock cable is way too short.

Quick Format took only a few minutes. LOL. No, but I looked at Multi Lane SATA cards, but they are a lot more expensive, and more geared towards external connections. I'd probably end up getting one if I end up getting an NAS case from A-Tech Fabrication and use their External Mass Storage solution. Almost snagged one off of eBay before.

Yeah, I cancelled the Format. Nearly 4 days to format 26%? Fuck that. Taking forever to cancel the Format too. WTF.

I guess scanning for bad sectors is not really necessary for brand new drives, eh?

Ah, good. So quick format is just as reliable these days? Linux? I no speaka da Linux. I did Windows because it's easy for me. Perhaps the next revision I might try it. But mainly because I want to use things like Backblaze, TrueCrypt, etc.

Fucking shit, it's only at 22% now. Am I doing something wrong? I did regular format for NTFS, not "quick format". Yeah, it's quite noisy, mainly because of the whiny ass fan in the hot swap drive enclosure. I might end up swapping that sucker out.

The LCD-2's ear pads are very nicely made. They look on par with R10 and Omega 2 ear pads.

How big is RMAF? How many people are there would you guesstimate?

They actually upgraded the spec on the DAC chip from what was originally listed. But there were in limited supply, so they were giving them first to those that preordered earlier. So the cry babies were those that were the "wait and see" crowd. I think it's a nice gesture to the early adopters. Me too. I just bought two 32GB SDHC cards and am loading them up. They've dropped in price even more than when I last checked.

Format process is at 12% now. Fucking wow it's slow.

Wow, format process is at 3% now. Holy shit. I was thinking of TrueCrypting the entire array, that might take a month.

I beta tested the SRH840. I really liked them. For $116.85, it's a must buy. The heavy coiled cable is really obnoxious. That would be the first thing I'd swap out for an upgrade.