HifiMAN HM-601 Slim Music Players (4G)

I am reviewing the HiFi Man MN-601 4G Slim Music Player.As a designer of the first iPhone and having been in the Mobile business deploying new cutting edge devices my entire career this device is not worth $199.00. It is worth about $99.00 retail based on the cheap plastics, poor tactile button feel and comprised electronics. My guess is that the device costs about $16.50 (Bill of Materials) and around $1.25 (China) to assemble with loaded overhead totaling $25.75.When I received the device it was disappointing with my kids "leapster" having better quality plastics, better haptic qualities and very poor tactile feeling interfacing with the joystick and buttons. The interface is passable, however, the lag or latency in switching through the menu is soo slow and puzzling considering the elementary nature of ht interface.Sound quality is ok for the promise of playing high quality FLAC. I would personally pass but I also have high expectations. For me, it is more hassle to return the product and track the credit from Amazon.

Okay so you have a collection of Flac or Wave files - so this must mean you care about how your music sounds. This player won't get you any stares from the opposite sex. And it weighs about equal to a 1/2 dozen Ipod Nanos or Sansa Clips. But the sound quality will blow you out of the water. Songs that you would never bother listening to suddenly intrigue.The interface is something Elvis would think is low tech but simply create a folder and name it say ...Playlist1 and throw 25 songs or so in there. And then a second folder and so on etc. It all works. And the sound quality on my $15 Koss KSC75 Portable Stereophone Headphones sounds amazing. Buy a quality brand SD card because the player won't recognize your bargain ebay 32GB card even if your computer will. My Sony SD card works great. I'm able to hear the difference with my 320KPS MP3s but your quality Flacs really are bright and will make you cry. I lug it into the gym now because "I can't go back" and yes.... the girls move over to the furthest Eliipitical when they see me coming but I don't care .... I'm too busy being motivated by the sound!

I used it for less than a year. The firmware was down after a month. It was replaced for a new one. Now the earphone outport was broken, mainly because of poor craftmanship. This little flaw made it completely unusable. I am so regret I did not choose ipod which would last much longer.

very happy with it,still after so long never had problems with it,the only MP3that I carried around,holds the power a great time,and the fact that plays also Flacis a giving.Well done MP3.

As others have stated, the sound was great, when it is working. The majority of my ownership was spent re-booting, and re-setting, with some listening sprinkled in. Just out of warranty mine bricked, did nothing but turn it on! Took it outside and played hockey with it. I am tired of poorly designed, cheaply made, so-called high end audio products from China.

This arrived quickly, was packaged well, and performs exactly as one would expect! If you're an audiophile, I would suggest getting one of these, and getting it from these folks!

The sound from this device is so much then any apple product and also better then the colorfly c3. I had a colorfly and a ipod. The depth of sound is amazing and the stereo seperation. With a great pair of headphones such as sure e530 you will have no compromise sound anywhere. Compared to the hifiman hm-801 ($800) I rate the to be only slightly weaker. The seperarion and depth is there but I find the a bit harsher on the 601. I use my 801 at home but use the smaller hm 601 for travel.My dog is getting so many more walks because I just love listening to my 601 whilst walking.