Technology upgrades, volume"**Expand ROON+ webcast gameplay......With the success of the Hifiman EF series all-in-one machine to win the support of many people, the majority of players have chosen it. At the same time, Hifiman has never forgotten the huge group of beginner players, and it happens that in the TWS field, Hifiman has chosen to use unique colors and different hardware configurations to provide corresponding options for beginner and advanced headset players. The EF499 decoder amplifier I started playing this time is a special machine created by Hifiman for beginner players.
At first glance, it doesn't seem to have changed much, but when I started playing EF500 before, I felt that EF499 was more attractive to me, and the reason for this was that the black + three-dimensional body design was more to my taste. It's just that this time I started playing EF499, and I also discovered its other highlights - not only does it continue to support ROON+ webcast gameplay in the EF series, but it is equipped with R2R architecture and NOS OS four-speed gain specifications. It maintains most of the functions of the advanced EF500, and the tone is more omnivorous, and it can be used with Hifiman's own entry-level or mid-range tablet headphones, and the EF499 of other manufacturers' large dynamic headphones can cope with the driver and be competent for daily listening.
Black and gold color scheme + vertical structure.
Support ROON+ webcasting.
Classic Philips R-2R, 435 watts fully balanced.
Mesmerizing black gold style
Hifiman likes to use black and gold colors, which has been known in the earlier launch of headphones and ** devices, this time it is to continue this preference, for EF499 to prepare a black panel and champagne gold twist, the rest of the design and configuration are similar to the old machine. So when I posted the unboxing diagram earlier, I complained that it was "EF500 - 1".
With its vertical design, compact body, removable bottom mount, and ability to act as a headphone stand, the EF499 continues to come standard with these popular design elements. The compact body is similar to the MUJI mini water cup, which proves that for students, workers and beginner gamers who are short of desktop space, they can free up more space to arrange the desktop, such as using the EF499 as a support for bookshelves and CD racks. In short, it's up to you to adjust flexibly.
In the past, when I started playing the entry-level all-in-one of my friends, I noticed that they made good use of the "knife method" and castrated some interfaces or functions, but Hifiman's EF499 did not carry out a "big reduction" - it is still RCA, XLR, USB A+C and NET interface full set of solutions, and the front panel maintains the classic 63+XLR XLR connectors, which are enough to cope with the headphones created by mainstream brands in the market, and the needs of a few interfaces can be solved by adapting.
0.5 design +05 hardware".
As mentioned above, my complaint about EF499 is "EF500 - 1", which can actually be divided into 0 in styling design5 points, and 05 points adjustment. First of all, the decoding part, EF499 is no longer matched with Hifiman's self-developed Himalayan DAC, but instead uses Philips Philips' classic R-2R chip, the specifications are similar to the sound effect, and it meets Hifiman's "loose and sweet" timbre style.
In terms of output performance, the EF499 has been fine-tuned to 4 per channel35W, the line maintains a fully balanced route and rejects the behavior of "false balance". But to be honest, in addition to HD600 660 and other classic high-impedance big ears, the direct push headphones and monitor headphones that you can choose are all low-impedance and easy-to-push attributes that do not have high output efficiency. Moreover, EF499 also provides NOS OS, high and low gain 4 adjustable levels for selection, and all headphones are equal in the face of high gain, even Hifiman's own tablet headphones. If your budget allows, I would like to recommend direct push headphones like ANANDA for headphones with EF499, which will make it easier to explore the potential of headphones and show better sound quality.
Do you really need Roon+ Webcast?
As the subtitle says, is EF499's ROON+ webcast really needed for beginner players? I think it's a must. On the one hand, some friends already know how to transfer**, and have purchased TIDAL and other streaming platform members in Tu District, Ah District and other regions, and gradually abandon the domestic platform that has to pay extra to buy a new **, so that Roon, which integrates song information, resource libraries and other purposes, can help everyone and enjoy truly lossless ** resources.
On the other hand, for beginner players who don't know how to buy and wiring, they only need a Category 5 network cable to connect EF499 and the router together, so that Roon can recognize and start listening, and if the network is unstable, you can also choose local resources to listen first, and in the future, you can also buy Category 6 and better shielded network cables to adjust the timbre. When you need to advance, you can try different ways to play by choosing a USB cable, or connect to an active speaker to expand more possibilities, there is no doubt that EF499 is a solid platform for beginner players, and it is no problem to upgrade and develop at any time.
Sound Quality & Experience.
The "song" in the animation "Lonely Rock" is a very interesting audition track, the opening part has a very fast, not very strong drum beating, the second half of the bass has a strong sense of presence, as long as the equipment is qualified, these two details will test the low-frequency performance and overall thickness of the equipment. If you push ananda directly with a small tail or ** device, these two details will become very weak at low frequency, and the thickness will become very thin, so it can be said that the whole song has a bit of a "soul" feeling. However, with the reinforcement of EF499, the low-frequency volume feeling returns to a more normal range (enough for open-back headphones), and the overall thickness will also be restored, showing a good sense of energy, and the two soundtrack details mentioned above will also become very good. As for the vocal part, with the help of EF499, Ananda's image will become clearer and more three-dimensional, and the high-frequency extension will also be improved to a certain extent, which will naturally sound more pleasant.
is also a pop vocal, Yoasobi's "ultramarine" I used to test the details of the system are also two, whether the voice of the lead singer Kita will be "pressed" and the timbre is not bright enough; Whether the harmonic part is not protruding enough, resulting in a lack of a certain sense of layering. I have to say that when I used the TAGO T3-01 to listen to other equipment, I did not have enough convex harmony. But with the help of EF499, this is not much of a problem, and it passed smoothly.
If you're a little more feverish, then you must try Janis Lan's "Breaking Silence": a Studer 820 analog recording, no synthesis, no compression, even the electric guitar and bass are all recorded dry sounds, which may sound a little weird, but with her somewhat ethereal female voice, a sense of realism close to the stage comes to the face, and it immediately makes people awe-inspiring and concentrate on listening to the whole album. But in fact, just listen to one of the songs, "guess you had to be there", and see if the instrument is real, whether the vocal image is clear, and the distance is not very close to the ear, so that you can complete the test. And EF499 with the above headphones, naturally all of these are in place, and the more people listen to it, the more they are intoxicated.
Generally. 1499 + 12 interest-free periods, EF499 is not only a member of Hifiman's layout in the entry market, but also an important cornerstone for beginner players to expand their gameplay and meet the dream of big headphones. Continuing all the classic and excellent elements of the best-selling model: R-2R, Roon+ webcast gameplay, rich interfaces and expandable functions, and the most important function of the amplifier, it eliminates the driving problems for tablet headphones and high-impedance headphones, so that beginner gamers can enjoy a burden-free and easy listening experience.
At the same time, EF499 is to abandon the "bad habit" of headphone amplifier and all-in-one equipment occupying the desktop for many years, return the limited space to you, and have multi-purpose responsibilities such as headphone stand and desktop stand, and truly follow the design policy of "integrating multi-function in one" to make products. That's all you can say, EF499 is worth it or not, it's up to you to decide.