[Hiker816]

?????

Oh, good, I'm not the only one. I feel like I must be missing something.

 

[Aetherhole]

?????

I have no idea…

 

[Fafner]

At the end Michael and me agreed that it's safer for me to send the unit to have them check it. I'm currently waiting for the arrival of the original package to ship it to Zähl.

 

[Fafner]

Btw for those interested, the german distributor has HM1 in stock (no idea on how many, maybe just one), which is rare to see!

 

[GoldenSound]

It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

Sorry chap. You're not qualified to make an armchair diagnosis on this.

Maybe this is similar to an issue you've heard about? Could be. But your achilles heel is clearly your inexperience and lack of internal self control.

???

 

[George Hincapie]

I'm not coming from an ASR perspective here, I've tested things myself for 8+ years and went from evereything to a Fiio E10k, Chord Mojo, Dave, M-scalers, Optical isolation, streamers ,etc before throwing money at dCS.

I also use a power conditioner and a power regenerator, both of which make a difference (because i have bad power). As for the external clock, besides being very easily double blind-able (as was SOME of the power stuff, ) , dCS has explanations for everything they do. They also pioneered clocks in a studio environment ages ago.

Gold is shiny/valuable so it sounds better/musical, when it is in fact a worse conductor than silver...not really in the same ballpark. I've had every flavor of snake oil when I had the Chord Dave . While most of this stuff changed things subtly, improvement requires thoughtful engineering and measurable results. . While people subjectively claim it was better, I myself found most stuff to be worse, and a clear degradation.
End of the day, i sold all that crap (fancy cables and all) and threw the money at dCS + cheap, studio interconnects. And I regret the many years I spent testing all these claims.

Placebo effect is strong and I've fallen for it myself more than once. You can't really improve things you don't understand. You can only make it worse or, at best, different.
People on the dCS forum swear their Nordost (Or insert BS brand here) sound so much better than regular cables the peasants use, but if you check the very scarce measurements of some of those clock cables, they're not even square waves anymore, they're sine waves. Which might look prettier and more " musical" , but that's not how clocking works. And paying 20k for an overengineered Vivaldi clock and degrading it's performance with an improper cable just because it costs 5k is ...unfortunate. To each their own.

Just some anecdotal input - dCS really do know how to make a clock. Bartok Apex with the Lina clock was the best sound at CanJam London last year for me. Incredible. I tried it with and without and the difference was very real. Which is crazy, because Bartok Apex is already an incredible bit of kit on it's own.

 

[chesebert]

Just some anecdotal input - dCS really do know how to make a clock. Bartok Apex with the Lina clock was the best sound at CanJam London last year for me. Incredible. I tried it with and without and the difference was very real. Which is crazy, because Bartok Apex is already an incredible bit of kit on it's own.

Could also mean they are not skilled at managing noise in their circuit (not using thick enough bus, too few layer board, putting noise generating next to clock, not doing local shielding, etc).

IIRC the Lina clock is essentially the same clock as Lina dac but without the other bits on the circuit board. You can open one up or ask dCS to confirm.

IMHO dCS’s external clock is a totally stupid design decision. Does it work in a dCS system, absolutely. Is it necessary in a competently designed dac, no.

 

[George Hincapie]

Could also mean they are not skilled at managing noise in their circuit (not using thick enough bus, too few layer board, putting noise generating next to clock, not doing local shielding, etc).

IIRC the Lina clock is essentially the same clock as Lina dac but without the other bits on the circuit board. You can open one up or ask dCS to confirm.

IMHO dCS’s external clock is a totally stupid design decision. Does it work in a dCS system, absolutely. Is it necessary in a competently designed dac, no.

Or it could mean you have an issue with dCS?! Take it up with them because I don't care for your nonsense.

 

[chesebert]

No need to get emotional over electronic toy.

 

[Frankie D]

This external clock thing comes up every now and again. Clearly DCS is in favor of it, but is it really necessary? Other top Dacs do not use one: Berkeley Reference Dac, MSB, Mola Mola, Rockna, etc.

Over the years, the more I think about it, this is a DCS design choice to charge more money. MSB and Berkeley would be doing it if it could improve the sound of their Dacs.

 

[Hiker816]

hey guys
just realized my HM1 power supply/mains adaptor box emits a really faint but audible hum/buzz when the HM1 is powered on. it comes from the mains adaptor box and not the HM1 unit. it doesn't transmit thru to headphones. it goes away when the HM1 is turned off.

does yours do that too? I never heard it until now; it's 4.30am in a super quiet room. my HM1 had been in the lounge previously where there was a bit more background noise.

not sure if u guys can view the vid but here is the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WmmNLqv4XFtOcPzA2igUF4NCtIyvQZ5R/view?usp=drivesdk

Responding to a post from a couple weeks ago, but I can't detect any hum from my HM1 power supply. Hope you got yours worked out!

 

[TheAttorney]

Having contacted the Zaal Sales person (in the UK), it looks like there will be no opportunity to demo the HM1 at any UK dealer or show this year.
So, does anyone know of any upcoming meet or mini-meet in the UK that would enable me to try the HM1?
Ideally within 100 miles of Worcestershire.
I'm primarily interested in the affect of the sound stage knob and, secondly, the tone controls. I'll probably know within minutes whether these are right for me.
I'm sure the fundamental SQ of the HM1 will be just fine, but the sound stage aspect is a very personal thing.

 

[plumpudding2]

Having contacted the Zaal Sales person (in the UK), it looks like there will be no opportunity to demo the HM1 at any UK dealer or show this year.
So, does anyone know of any upcoming meet or mini-meet in the UK that would enable me to try the HM1?
Ideally within 100 miles of Worcestershire.
I'm primarily interested in the affect of the sound stage knob and, secondly, the tone controls. I'll probably know within minutes whether these are right for me.
I'm sure the fundamental SQ of the HM1 will be just fine, but the sound stage aspect is a very personal thing.

When's the next CanJam London? usually there's an HM1 at every CanJam

 

[TheAttorney]

When's the next CanJam London? usually there's an HM1 at every CanJam

That's what I was hoping for, but the Zahl guy said no.

 

[plumpudding2]

That's what I was hoping for, but the Zahl guy said no.

I know both RME and HEDD audio both bring Germany's finest amplifier with them to shows if they have a presence, maybe you could contact them?