I have the same set, only different speakers.
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H390 in the main system and in the bedroom there is a H120 with a guitar playing. I’ll wait for the roon. H120 plays fun with roon. I wish you the same.
Hegel should borrow h120. in the waiting room until the h390 roon comes out.
SO i can’t say much for the 390… but I recently got a good deal on a used H200, which is of similar spec as an “amplifier” but misses the DAC stuff.
All I can say is that out of my previous Luxman, Gato, Electrocompaniet and now this Hegel. The Hegel is the one that just sounded so “right”. It managed to create music with an incredible sense of smoothness and control, and yet without any perceptible loss of detail, air and precision. It was like a magic bullet for me and made my system sound exactly the way I wanted.
If this is the Hegel house sound, then I’m a huge fan and it may represent one of the most musical, organic and genuinely perfectly controlled sounding amplifier ive ever had in my system.
It also has an incredibly sensible volume control range. You don’t get to 15% and its too loud. I’m often up at 50-60 (out of 100) to listen at moderately loud levels. So the gain structure is well thought out.
It also refuses to harden up or change character as volume increases. It just gets louder and more epic with every notch on the volume knob. Sounds gutsy, powerful and hugely classy.
Build also feels top notch. I always hated the hegel looks, but using one in the flesh, it feels superbly well made, the controls are well weighted and nicely actioned.
while, i’m not sure i’d waste my money on one with digital included. I’d certainly think about more Hegel analogue gear in the future.
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That’s the stuff.
i’ve said before, if HEGEL currently made an integrated that was all analog (no DAC/Streamer), I would have considered it over my Luxman L509X.
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Yeah I guess they want you going down the pre / power route. Which isn’t Actually a terrible idea
Hi there! Could you elaborate a bit on the digital processing on the DAC of the H390? Does the DAC upsample to a certain frequency? What is this frequency?
I currently upsample all my music to 192k. I like the result. Is there a more optimal way to do this or am I good? Also, upsampling to 192k seems to be the maximum. Why is this? I believe over USB the maximum is 384k. I’m using Roon Ready over wifi.
I don’t use the DAC in my H390, but I don’t believe the H390 DAC internally upsamples so it will play what you feed it, up to the maximum (32bit 384kHz via USB). Also, surely you mean you’re using Roon Ready via ethernet since there is no wifi connection in the H390?
The H390 does not upsample. Like @Rockhound says it will play what you feed it. What you choose to feed it is of course personal taste. I prefer not upsampling when you have an amp that actually is “bit perfect” like the H390. But your ears should make the decision.
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That’s very interesting. Is there any technical reasoning why you prefer non upsampled for bit perfect DACs? Or is it something you have found after personal testing?
Yes my apologies you are correct. My Roon Core connects to the router over wifi, but the Hegel H390 is connected over Ethernet. I guess that also answers my questions: I guess 192 is the max for a Ethernet. I’m sure it’s plenty, but the geek in me wants to understand the limits ;). Thanks for the reply!
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