Review: Hum Dolores – Studio

Sources:

As mentioned before, HUM recommends using sources with more power to give the Dolores the right amount of drive for their drivers. I have mostly used Digital Audio Players with the Dolores, but its tonal signature has asked for something warmer, like a tube amplifier. I bet the Cayin N8 with its Nutube output would be something stellar for the HUM.

Dolores is not very picky when it comes to hissing. Most of my sources were silent, though there were some exceptions.

Lotoo – PAW Gold Touch

The PAW Gold Touch has just been brought to the international market, and I’ve been having my unit for almost two months now. It’s a very neutral and balanced sounding DAP and together with the Dolores it ticks every box when you’re looking for technical performance.

You get a very well layered sound, with superb extension and imaging. Details are brought out very finely rendered and the resolution is remarkable. The Lotoo has a relatively bright and neutral sounding treble, together with the more forward tuning of the Dolores, it results in a brighter signature overall. Of course you can use the mighty PEQ of the Lotoo to bring down that 8 and 10 kHz spikes to get rid of that bite.
The original PAW Gold was known for its rather high hissing, and thankfully Lotoo has worked on that, as the Touch has a far lower noise floor than its predecessor. Dolores is dead quiet and that results in a very nice black background for the musicians to stand in front of. It’s a very clean and precise sound that sure many can enjoy.

HUM Dolores

Astell&Kern – SP1000M

The SP1000M is AK’s miniature version of their flagship player. It basically has the same internals as its big brother, but comes with less internal memory and no optical output. They however aren’t sounding the same in my opinion, but that’s something Lieven will cover in his upcoming SP1000M review.

The M is a DAP that has a slightly warmer sound signature on its own, however it also produces a rather direct and dry treble, with a good bit of energy. The Dolores and SP1000M in my opinion are not the best for each other, as to me this is the most sibilant sounding pairing I have tried. Cymbals, snares, higher pitched instruments and S-sounds of singers are not the most comfortable here, it also depends a lot on the recording of course, but some of my usual go-to tracks and albums are more enjoyable with other gear.

If you can look past the treble, you will be rewarded with good body, extension and very good staging, imaging and resolution.

Cowon – Plenue L

This is my favorite single unit pairing right there. The Plenue L is one of the nicest surprises in my review queue. It has a bodied and emotional sound, that to some degree can be described as romantic. It’s definitely one of the DAPs many people will love for the easy to like sound, though it doesn’t overlook any detail.

Especially from the balanced output, the Plenue L performs head-to-head with the big names in the game. Whereas the treble was an issue with the above mentioned units, it was much easier to listen to with the Plenue L, which breathes a richer tonality into the Dolores.

The HUM sounds more organic and has a bigger body with higher weight in this pairing than with any other DAP. Dolores has excellent transparency, layering and stage dimensions with the Plenue. Imaging and resolution are also top quality.

HUM Dolores

Oriolus – NT-1

The NT-1 is an amplifier designed by Oriolus that uses Korg’s Nutubes. It has been around for two years or so already and every now and then I bring it out to play around. For this test I used the PAW Gold, non Touch, as a source. Dolores does pick up mild hissing from the NT-1.

The NT-1 puts some meat on the bones of the Dolores. The signature becomes fuller and richer, with a more weightier bass and less forward treble. Bass is fast and dynamic, with very good body and texture. Mids are lush and exciting with good transparency and layering. Whereas midrange was quite airy and light before, it now took a step back and enjoys a more rounded sound. Lower midrange did get some warmth breathen in, and that’s a very welcome change to my ears.

The sound stage stretches in good dimensions out of your head, but still keeps the musicians performing close to you. It’s easy to pin point the instruments on the stage and tell the location of everyone in the group.

I’m not a big fan of stacking, but this would be one of the cases where I’d make an exception.

HUM Dolores

Comparisons:

Dolores is right there in a very competitive segment. In today’s market there are a lot of different choices when we look at the price Dolores is going for. For the consumer, that means they are offered a great selection of IEMs, but it also often can become quite confusing as to what to pick. Below is a list of comparisons between the Dolores and some of its competing models.

All prices are the ones for their custom built version, some manufacturers offer the universal fit at a cheaper price.

64 Audio – N8 (1DD/8BA – 1699$)

The N8 is 64 Audio’s only hybrid CIEM, in comparison to the Dolores it is warmer and fuller, it presents music with more body and emotion. While the Dolores aims for hyper precision and balance, the N8 is going for an enjoyable tuning to kick back to.

HUM’s Dolores is the more balanced of the two, who might take the cake when it comes to technical performance, especially resolution is something the Dolores is hard to beat at that price. The N8 also has an energetic treble, but it is not as forward as the Dolores’. The 64 Audio does go further into highs though.

It continues with Comparisons on page four.