HIFIMAN EF400 Desktop R2R DAC and Headphone Amplifier

[VSG]

HIFIMAN returns to the desktop DAC/amplifier market with its EF400 source that uses the company's self-developed R2R HIMALAYA DAC paired with a truly balanced topology and a Class AB amplification circuit. It offers extensive headphones and line outputs off just USB input and puts out a unique sound signature which plays very well with HIFIMAN's own planar magnetic headphones.

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[SOAREVERSOR]

Nice to see an R2R rather than the usual Delta Sigmas. The price is amazing for an R2R as well which leads me to wonder if it's a "true" NOS R2R cause things get odd here and it's an area I don't know that much about!

 

[VSG]

Nice to see an R2R rather than the usual Delta Sigmas. The price is amazing for an R2R as well which leads me to wonder if it's a "true" NOS R2R cause things get odd here and it's an area I don't know that much about!

Yeah R2R tends to be 4-figure amounts easily so it's not easily accessible for most.

 

[mechtech]

Is there a HiFiWoman?

I have a cheapo dac and it sounded awful so I stayed with analog direct from PC. Not sure if it was just a dud one, or a dud cable or user error?

 

[Ricey20]

Have you tried using the EF400 as just a DAC into another amp? I wonder how good the R2R is for the DAC and into an amp that pairs better.

 

[VSG]

Have you tried using the EF400 as just a DAC into another amp? I wonder how good the R2R is for the DAC and into an amp that pairs better.

I did briefly, it works fine with linear amplifiers.

Is there a HiFiWoman?

I have a cheapo dac and it sounded awful so I stayed with analog direct from PC. Not sure if it was just a dud one, or a dud cable or user error?

Hard to say unless you want to spend some time testing the variables.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Yeah R2R tends to be 4-figure amounts easily so it's not easily accessible for most.

4-5 figure easy. Most people in that game are just going to go for a true NOS and if it has OS they aren't going to touch it. I get the logic why but I'm not nearly enough up to speed on how it works to really fully understand it. Tried a few, they are nice. It looks good, but (strictly IMHO) if you are going to dive into R2R I'd want optical and spidif as well. The insides look sparse but no more than the last one I got to use (Ares which is only a slightly more expensive one). I like Hifiman so it's probably a good unit but at times I question their consistency.

Oddly there is an R2R USB dongle, Cayin RU6 that has NOS but as it also has OS I'm not sure it's true NOS and again, not an area I know enough about. Retails at 249 which also raises questions about how good it really is.

 

[VSG]

4-5 figure easy. Most people in that game are just going to go for a true NOS and if it has OS they aren't going to touch it. I get the logic why but I'm not nearly enough up to speed on how it works to really fully understand it. Tried a few, they are nice. It looks good, but (strictly IMHO) if you are going to dive into R2R I'd want optical and spidif as well. The insides look sparse but no more than the last one I got to use (Ares which is only a slightly more expensive one). I like Hifiman so it's probably a good unit but at times I question their consistency.

Oddly there is an R2R USB dongle, Cayin RU6 that has NOS but as it also has OS I'm not sure it's true NOS and again, not an area I know enough about. Retails at 249 which also raises questions about how good it really is.

I don't have personal experience with the RU6 but know others who quite like it. For now the Questyle M15 and MoonRiver 2 are my go-to portable DAC/amps. I have a review coming up soon covering the new Truthear SHIO which is basically the MoonRiver 2 for a third of the cost too, nice use of the dual CS 43198 DACs.