"It Pumped Up The Sound!"

Here's a ridiculously inexpensive upgrade that will make greatly improve the sound of headphones and desktop speakers. HiFiMan's Express HM-101 portable USB DAC is smaller than an old-school cigarette lighter. But it delivers big benefits to your digital music files.

"I wasn't expecting much from the Hifiman Express HM-101, it's just a $39 outboard USB digital-to-analog converter and headphone amplifier," reports Steve Guttenberg in his October 30, 2011 review for CNET.com. "Well, this tiny USB-powered (it doesn't need batteries or an AC power supply) device definitely pumped up the sound of my Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones! They sounded significantly better with the Express than they did plugged directly into my Mac Mini's headphone jack."

At the heart of its DAC, the HM-101 uses a Texas Instrument PCM2702 16-bit, 48 kHz chipset. It also has a line-out jack, allowing you to connect a pair of powered desktop speakers. That's a lot of capability for such a small and inexpensive product!

"Superb Soundstage Performance"

"I think the beauty of the HM-101 is in the simplicity of the set up, the volume control-less operation (done on the computer), and the superb soundstage performance," notes Mike in his October 20, 2010 post at Headfonia. "Not only does it pass the 'good quality' mark, but I happen to really enjoy its musical presentation."

• USB DAC
• Very small and highly portable
• Texas Instrument PCM2702 16-bit, 48 kHz chipset
• High-quality headphone stage
• Line-out jack for powered speakers
• USB-powered (no AC or batteries needed)

• Frequency Response: 20 to 20k Hz
• THD: 0.07%
• S/N: 96 dB
• Stereo Crosstalk: 78 dB
• Headphone Amplifier Output: 62 mw at 36 Ohm; 26 mw at 150 Ohm
• Dimension: 1.4" x 2.4" x 0.54"

"I wasn't expecting much from the Hifiman Express HM-101; it's just a $39 outboard USB digital-to-analog converter and headphone amplifier. Well, this tiny USB-powered (it doesn't need batteries or an AC power supply) device definitely pumped up the sound of my Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones! They sounded significantly better with the Express than they did plugged directly into my Mac Mini's headphone jack."

- Steve Guttenberg, CNET.com, October 30, 2011

"Basically, this tiny little USB sound card just does a better job of turning the ones and zeros on your hard drive into an analog signal to send to your headphones or speakers. The HM-101 is tiny and very simple: it's just a smidgen bigger than an iPod Nano, and has just a USB input and two outputs - one for headphones and one for speakers."

- Mario Aguilar, Gizmodo.com, October 31, 2011

"I think the beauty of the HM-101 is in the simplicity of the set up, the volume control-less operation (done on the computer), and the superb soundstage performance… Not only does it pass the 'good quality' mark, but I happen to really enjoy its musical presentation."

- Mike, Headfonia, October 20, 2010

"For that price, it met and exceeded our expectations, and offered a strong value proposition against other DACs… If you're in need of a simple, portable, no-frills audio solution to greatly improve the quality of your digital music, look no further."

- Greg May, Audio Week, November 3, 2011