As promised, today I will focus my attention on HiFiMan’s most affordable all-in-one unit – the EF499, which goes for a pocket-friendly $299 price point. In the later stages of this review, I’m going to compare it side by side with the EF500 which is a bit pricier at $160 more. Even though the EF499 is affordable, this is not your regular op-amp based headphone amplifier and chip-based DAC, it’s one of the most interesting DAC/AMP combos at the moment, and it might even be your first all-in-one unit. To make things easier to follow, I’ll skip audiophile jargon so you can understand everything without a hitch. So, let’s jump right in and check it out!
