My Hifiman HE400i came in as a bit of a surprise since I got a message that the delivery would be delayed until tomorrow.
I’ve only listened to one song as of yet, but damn Leonard Cohen sounded good just now.
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Grabbed a JDS Labs Atom amp to replace the Topping L30 that I got refunded. Now to play the waiting game…
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Looks like they got incorrect information
Good catch, didn’t know that. However you could still use it while charging right? So then you would need to basically hook the hip dac up to the PC with two cables, one for the signal and one for charging? I was thinking about getting one when I get back to the office as an on-the-go amp, but if you can’t use it while charging that would be a real bummer.
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Yeah I’m pretty sure you can use it while charging it’s just that’s something that peeves me off personally
I almost bought a dragonfly red because of that but I know though the portability is better and they sound similar (and I don’t have files over 96K beyond streaming mqa), having bass boost and a volume wheel is probably worth it in the end and it’s 50 bucks cheaper
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Yeah it can be used while charging with the two cables plugged in.
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Enjoy! I am currently enjoying mine right now!
Out of curiosity, what is plugged into that amp right now? Or, do you have a dac with a volume control that is turned down? I ask because the pot setting in this pick is in 
territory on just about every headphone I’ve had plugged into my MLP.
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an he 4xx plugged into it with a spark dac. when I took this picture I had my windows audio turned down its actually at 9 oclock now. and I dont thinkl the amp had time to properly warm up at that point as I find if I turn the pot down to zero after having it on for a while and turning it up again it gets much more powerful
I got my adapter in today. That is lightening fast considering it came from Asia.
It is a 4.4mm to 4-pin XLR adapter. Bought it for my Cascades, but will also work with my HD660’s.
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Have fun with it.
It hart see is not possible to buy in Europe apart Audiophonics for 1200€.
And a Import with fees can be it a bit exspensiv.
I bought that same one. I used it when I had a set of phones that had no 4pin xlr cable and I only had Hart cables (no xlr interconnect) but had a Hart 4.4mm interconnect. Used it until I got a couple Hart 4pin xlr interconnects. It did a great job and allowed me to use those cans on the MLP while waiting for the proper interconnects.
Yeah, I picked it up for $40.00Cdn. I contacted Hart since I already have a set of cables and interconnects on the way. They wanted about $100.00US for the cable, with shipping. I decided to go with the adapter and hope it works well.
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Picked up some stock Fostex T60RP on eBay last night. Should be here next week. Oh man…that wood though…
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Harmony Design Ear903 Amplifier
Harmony Design D90 DAC
Actually ordered back in early-mid December shortly after my upgrade conundrum thread. Finalized over a couple of emails with the maker, finished build around the 23rd of December. Then shipped on the 11th and arrived today in a wooden box.
I don’t think I’ve made a purchase in my life that has felt as premium as this. Maybe my custom Nakaya fountain pen comes close. The finish is just sublime on this stack.
Yes, it sounds as good as it looks.
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Not a mainstream stack, would love to hear what you think of it when you have time to fully soak it in.
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I’ve loved Harmony Design’s philosophy and quality ever since I first came in contact with them in early 2001 or 2002. I read about them in Hifi & Musik and they were very well received there, as well as by some magazines in Germany. A close friend of mine had the Ear90 amplifier in its base version and I just loved how it sounded with Sennheiser HD600.
In the end I ended up getting myself an Ear90 of my own, had it for half a year or so. Sent it on an upgrade for a new top-of-the-line ELMA volume potentiometer, something my friend likes to joke about as I paid 180€ for it or thereabouts haha. A year later I got myself the DA9 DAC which settled me with what was among the absolute top-end of headphone rigs at the time. It was Harmony Design and Benchmark pretty much fighting for the top reviews here. Sure there were other brands in way higher price categories, but it was just something different, not necessarily better.
But that’s the thing with HiFi in general, there’s always something out there that is more expensive or extreme.
As for the Ear903 and D90. Holy shit. I thought the dynamics and soundstage was amazing on the previous stack. But this definitely takes it up a notch. There is such control over every finite detail, and this is what I love about Harmony Design. There’s a sense of air between everything, like every intstrument or chord has been given its own space in the mix. There’s just enough space so that you can individually place all of it in a room, listen about and pick up on that one thing. This is not to say that it’s overly analytical and sharp like I feel with the THX gear.
No, this amp just and DAC just takes perfect control over everything. It has tremendous amounts of power and I would not recommend anyone use IEM’s on this setup at all. There’s just too much amplification. But it makes any and all of the headphones I’ve put on it shine like never before. I don’t think HD600 has ever sounded this good. This was like revisiting them for the very first time when my brother bought them and let me listen to them.
The sound is ridiculously clean, there’s not an ounce of distortion or interference from anything. It’s dead silent even at max volume, something that wasn’t the case on the Ear90. But then again you can’t physically listen at max volume, it’s just interesting to hear nothing. It truly speaks of the designer Mattias Stridbeck’s skills and how much has changed with the power delivery of the units and the filters.
What really sells it to me though is the soundstage. It’s not the widest, or most narrow for that matter, that I’ve ever heard on something. But it’s just such a unique sound that separates it from the rest and makes it perfect to me.
This really is just a honeymoon description, but I have no doubt that I will continue to have this feeling for as long as I own these. If the time ever comes to change anything, I will just send it in for an overhaul, which he recommends every 10-20 years. So yeah, I think that speaks for the quality.
Now I’m going to enjoy some more music and shed happy tears.
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