Hifiman releases EF400 AiO DAC-Amp

[Snoopy]

Seems to accept 192khz and 32bit.
I enabled max upsampling in roon.

44.1khz tracks get upsampled to 192khz

Volume knob in low gain is at 10-11am for "comfortable" volume.




Both OS and NOS mode accept 192khz/32bit.


This amp drives my aeon Noire in low gain more comfortably than my Singxer SA1 in high gain.


Damn the OS mode in low gain is fun with my vocal elegia. Adds a hefty low bass.

Can't feed it more than 192khz 32 bit with either roon(MacBook) or USB HQA Player (android)

 

[staticV3]

To what extent can we calculate how much power I'm asking the EF400 to deliver with the volume knob turned all the way up?
Headphone is the HE6SE V2.

Extrapolated from:

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

I love the ef400,
but unfortunately it has to go.
In need more power.
But a Flux FA-10 is already on the way.
That should solve the problem

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

@Snoopy

What do you say to nos vs. os?

 

[Snoopy]

@Snoopy

What do you say to nos vs. os?

OS (oversampling)
I notice crackling and popping noises in low & high gain. With or without upsampling in roon.



In NOS (non oversampling) I didn't notice crackling noises at all.


The crackling noises are very noticeable when tracks change (same sample rate).

I tried this with my android phone as well. Same results.

Plugged the EF400 directly into the wall and tried a Powerfilter. Didn't change a thing.



The amp drives both my headphones very easy in low gain mode. All while using -7db headroom in roon + equilizer.


Edit:

So going down from high gain NOS to low gain OS sounds fine at the moment.

But going the other way around caused the crackling.
(After pausing the track and playing it again)

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Now the crackling has also occurred with me.
Immediately after switching on.
After I turned the device off and on again, it disappeared.

 

[Snoopy]

Will be returning mine. (Purchased in Germany)
A 599.- € device shouldn't have such problems to begin with.

Looks like I will end up with a second stack instead of a combo unit.

 

[meowchin]

The EF400 is here.
I'm curious.
View attachment 211975View attachment 211976

They spent money on bullshit like OFC wires in a transformer, but they used chinese electrolytic caps?

 

[zc19920502]

Anyone tried both Hifiman EF 400 vs Sabaj A20D (2022 version)? Deciding which one to go for.. if anyone listened to both can share the listening experience..

 

[Garrincha]

This thread reads in good parts as if it were on head-fi.org. Yeah it´s full of distortion, but it sounds so nice!

 

[Hayden.H]

Wanted to try out R2R so took the plunge and thus just received my EF400. I seriously don't know if this is a placebo of having new equipment but it seems to better my RME ADI 2 DAC FS. Notes seems to hit harder and thus attaining a more "musical" enjoyment (OS with Low gain at 10 o'clock volume hooked to a Sundara). Not that the ADI 2 is lacking but notes / frequency seems to "bleed" across more often. (I chose brickwall for the filter with no EQ adjustment).

Can't imagine the imaging of high end DACs like Holomay KTE or Denafrips; Terminator plus

 

[Garrincha]

Wanted to try out R2R so took the plunge and thus just received my EF400. I seriously don't know if this is a placebo of having new equipment but it seems to better my RME ADI 2 DAC FS. Notes seems to hit harder and thus attaining a more "musical" enjoyment (OS with Low gain at 10 o'clock volume hooked to a Sundara). Not that the ADI 2 is lacking but notes / frequency seems to "bleed" across more often. (I chose brickwall for the filter with no EQ adjustment).

You are right, it must be the placebo effect, as the distortion is on the one hand quite high to be close to SOTA, but low enough to be audible.

Can't imagine the imaging of high end DACs like Holomay KTE or Denafrips; Terminator plus

Why should it be different than any of the tons of competent DACs already measured here?

 

[Barry_G]

You are right, it must be the placebo effect, as the distortion is on the one hand quite high to be close to SOTA, but low enough to be audible.

The distortion of what is "quite high?

What does "low enough to be audible" mean?

 

[timiambeing]

Wanted to try out R2R so took the plunge and thus just received my EF400. I seriously don't know if this is a placebo of having new equipment but it seems to better my RME ADI 2 DAC FS. Notes seems to hit harder and thus attaining a more "musical" enjoyment (OS with Low gain at 10 o'clock volume hooked to a Sundara). Not that the ADI 2 is lacking but notes / frequency seems to "bleed" across more often. (I chose brickwall for the filter with no EQ adjustment).

Can't imagine the imaging of high end DACs like Holomay KTE or Denafrips; Terminator plus

I have a Pontus II and it is sublime, so was the Ares II before it. Please don't forget you are posting in ASR, some of these guys (especially those with badges on their signature to show how long they have been a measurement bias guru here) will dis everything you say that has any reference to how a unit sounds, especially if the measurements don't say it 'should' sound like nothing...

The EF400 looks an interesting combo, I shall now go look elsewhere for those awful subjective reviews to get an idea of what folk think in general. One thing that might concern me is the length of time those little resisters take to warm up as my headfi is on a trolley I trundle to where I want to listen - so not left on all the time. Fun checking these things out, anything that distracts from yet another DAC or amp from fantastically well measuring Topping, SMSL camp et al is a welcome relief!

 

[chrisr34000]

What is is your opinion: EF400 or Sabaj A20D?

 

[slsmaster]

What is is your opinion: EF400 or Sabaj A20D?

I was wondering about the exact same question, as the EF400 is priced very similar in Germany to the Sabaj A20D. I currently own an Arya SE and an iFi Micro iDSD Signature. Would there be any audible benefit upgrading to either of those units?
I use the Arya with a Bass Boost:
Preamp: -8.0 dB
Filter 1: ON LS Fc 105 Hz Gain 3.5 dB Q 0.71

I know that the Preamp value is quite high, but I have read somewhere that the iFi performs better in Turbo Mode and I need so much negative Preamp to have a usable volume range.

 

[timiambeing]

Just as an update to my post above, I’ve sent the EF400 back. If anyone is interested, compared to my little Soncoz DAC and SPL Phonitor One amp the EF400 was lagging quite some way behind in terms of resolution and texture, it was dynamic and punchy though, just not enough detail getting through. This was after 50 hours burn in and using Edition XS planar phones - just for anyone thinking of going sideways from a separate DAC and amp setup.

 

[chrisr34000]

Just as an update to my post above, I’ve sent the EF400 back. If anyone is interested, compared to my little Soncoz DAC and SPL Phonitor One amp the EF400 was lagging quite some way behind in terms of resolution and texture, it was dynamic and punchy though, just not enough detail getting through. This was after 50 hours burn in and using Edition XS planar phones - just for anyone thinking of going sideways from a separate DAC and amp setup.

Thanks for the feedback. Is there a reason why you did not opt for the Phonitor One Amp D (with the DAC included) and went for two devices?

 

[timiambeing]

Thanks for the feedback. Is there a reason why you did not opt for the Phonitor One Amp D (with the DAC included) and went for two devices?

Purely based on the one review I managed to find (headphones.com I think) and subsequent comments in their forum. It seemed to me that the DAC wasn‘t up to par and the amp was rated very good, which it seems (by reading comments and reviews again) is often the case with add on boards. With the EF400 others have found the DAC is the best bit and the amp is the weak link however…

The problem was there aren’t many reviews of the SPL stuff about, so I was lucky in finding an open box unit at Thomann at a very good price so took a punt. Now I’m finding at upgrade time I don’t really know where the Phonitor One fits in the scheme of things with other better known amps, so the only way is to buy them and compare! I’ve just secured a RebelAmp from a someone local so comparing that should be fun… anything upwards of £500 is a lottery, much if it getting amazing subjective reviews and awful ASR reviews (like the Burson 3XP I was hankering after, till I saw the ASR comments and DC offset worries)… the higher end seems to be a minefield really, whereas the £100-500 area seems full of great bargains!

 

[GadgetryTech]

Long time lurker here but this is my first post!

I am releasing a video review of the EF400 soon. I'm fortunate enough to compare it against the Denafrips Ares II + Monoprice THX887, as well as against a Topping A30/D30 Pro stack.

The EF400 sounds best on my Arya Stealth and HE1000SE headphones. It adds a subtle warmth to the low end while also smoothing over the treble region ever so slightly. This helped a lot with reducing some of the treble "grain" sound I noticed with the Arya Stealth on certain tracks. As a result, the EF400 paired with my Arya Stealth and the HE1000se are the best I've ever heard those headphones sound. Very agreeable sound that seems more versatile and better mimicking of a higher quality dynamic driver.

I noticed slightly better sound stage and imaging performance on the Topping stack though when paired with open back headphones from Sennheiser. I also felt the topping stack sounded better on the Meze cans, as those are already warm/smooth out of the box. The ARES II R2R DAC with the THX 887 pairing is perhaps the best setup of the three, but that's to be expected considering it's about double the price.

It really comes down to what kind of sound you like. Just as I often enjoy listening to records, I really love the way the EF400 sounds on my Hifiman planars. It's a great pairing!