Choose CAREFULLY! HiFiMan Goldenwave Serenade Review

A review of the HiFiMan Goldenwave Serenade R2R DAC, headphone amp and preamp including comparisons with the HiFiMan EF600, HiFiMan Goldenwave Prelude, Geshelli Labs A3 Pro, Burson Soloist 3XP and Schiit Bifrost 2.

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00:00 Introduction
00:29 Price & specs
03:17 Device tour
06:51 Sound quality
07:08 Digital inputs
07:59 Serenade vs HiFiMan EF600
10:15 Serenade vs Schiit Bifrost 2/64
14:48 Serenade vs Chord TT2
16:08 TT2 HPO vs Serenade HPO
17:03 Headphone stage performance
18:00 Serenade vs Prelude
19:43 Actual Serenade amp performance
21:38 Pre-amp performance
22:16 Wrap-up

#audiophile #audioreview #r2r

[PassionforSound]

Correction: Goldenwave is/was a Hong Kong based company

[ippothedestroyer]

Nice we finally got a real review on this dac/amp.

[SinisterDev]

I've been super curious about the Serenade. I've been using the Arya Stealth and EF400 for a good while now. Really love the pairing. I recently got the HE1000 Stealth and after lots of listening to various genres of music, and checking out opinions from people with way more experience with Dacs/amps, I've been feeling like it might be time to upgrade to something a little more robust to really bring out the full potential of the HE1K Stealth. Not sure what would pair "best" with this headphone, but the price of the Serenade is definitely at my upper limits.
On the other hand, I've heard so many stories of how many of these Hifiman headphones pair well with tube amps, and I own 0 tube amps lol. Basically, I have lots of curiosity, but a limited budget atm. Something keeps drawing me back to the Serenade. Still not entirely sure 😅. Lots of helpful info in this video though!

[Thiago_TS_BR]

I was very curious abour this review. Excelent as always.

[Hetsu..]

This is such a stupidly detailed and in depth review, amazing work. Pure passion for sound!
I really loved the input comparasions, because the source for your music matters alot.
Question, do you remember if the usb input on the ef600 was inferior to its own coaxial input etc btw?
Thanks for the great review again.

[Thiago_TS_BR]

Now in 2024 Hifimann bring another 3 in one device : EF 500 for a very nice price.
I hope to see an review in your channel .

[merovech]

I have this with my Hifiman Arya stealth - I always look forward to switching it on … and I’m always blown away as if listening for the first time ❤

[Wenslauw]

I just listened to the Serenade and a FiiO R9 using a Focal Clear MG and I preferred the Serenade. Warmer and cleaner. The R9 sounded harsh and sibilant to me. This is of course with my ears and my tastes, so YMMV.

[Mackey-nbrw]

Just watched the video - timely as I have been researching getting a new streamer to upgrade from a Bluesound NODE. As I never use the internal DAC on the NODE you hope the money goes into the best network streamer implementation I.e. the Lumin U2 Mini. I also want a ‘different flavour’ of sound as I have a Naim Atom Headphone Edition which has a very good streamer. Like you my main DAC is the TT2 & MScaler - but I am also saving to add a new Dac- again to try a different flavour … and am looking at Dayzee Geshilli or Audial S5 - which is interesting and has some positive comments ( and uses an old Philips chip) what matters to me is soundstaging and holographic presentation - so a transport only seems the best way to go for me and can ‘grow ’ as I want to experiment with different Dacs! Thanks

[batman.darthmaul]

I've not done any direct testing of this myself, but having a bit of knowledge about how digital signals are read and interpreted, I'm not sure I buy into the idea that there is a sound quality difference between optical spdif, coax spdif, usb, and cat cables in terms of being accurate to the original signal. Here is why I say this: Digital signals are not anything like analog. For analog, it's extremely important for the signal to be noise-free because the sine wave in this case IS the audio signal. With digital, you're only looking for signal high and signal low. The signal can be EXTREMELY noisy and it won't matter at all. Zip. Zero. Nada. Why?...because it only needs to be clean enough to determine signal high (which is read a '1') and signal low (which is read as a '0' - this convention not always true but it is the vast majority of the time). Those 0s and 1s are then used to reconstruct the sine wave. Given that, I don't understand how one properly functioning input type can have more clarity or fidelity than the other (for a digital signal). In fact, I would go so far as to say that hearing a difference between those types of digital data transmission is probably placebo effect.

[ericlafond]

Great review! thanks!
I have the Arya Stealth with the Schiit Modius DAC and Drop THX AAA 789 amp currently and i definitely find this setup way too bright on the highs... I was looking at replacing the Drop THX AAA 789 for the Xduoo TA-20 plus hybrid tube amp to warm things up but now after seeing this review, should i consider the serenade to give me similar results of taming the highs but keeping more resolution overall?
Thanks.

[dominicthong]

Wonder how does the Serenade compares to the SPL Phonitor XE just on amplification alone. Great video by the way, I’ve always enjoyed your videos.

[simonsayshomeassistant]

Hey mate, your sound is so awesome! Do you have any audio processing after that Podmic?

[priedits]

Would you say that Serenade is a big step up over the Mojo 2 in both DAC and DAC+headphone amp department for driving He1000 stealth?

[agustinpaz]

Hello! Great review as always
I’m currently using a Fiio K5 Pro as my DAC/amp and I’m considering an upgrade. I’ve been eyeing the Serenades to pair with my Meze 109 Pros. Since the Mezes have a more treble-focused sound, I feel like the Serenades, with their calmer and warmer emphasis, could complement the tonality of the headphones and further enhance the already excellent experience I’m getting. Would love to hear your thoughts on this pairing!

[urbenkam]

Interesting. Hifiman is really bringing value for money. does it has enough juice to play hifiman He6SE or susvara?

[radiofreealbemuth]

12:26 can i ask what device you're using in order to access the optical input, coax input, and network input on the Serenade and Bifrost? As a newbie, who got into this hobby via iems, I'm only familiar with usb C inputs on dongles (to connect to a phone) 🤔

[FonzVorselaars]

Do you think the Serenade is a great combo for the Empyrean 2? Or would you prefer the Aune S9c? Or maybe something else? Looking forward to your answer :)

[Nikita]

Thanks for the great video! Would Serenade be a huge step forward from THX 887 + topping d10balanced for HE1000SE?

[Enihel]

question to somone who knows: Serenade and LAN connection, so can i connect this to PC somehow and there is no issue with latency? or only usb?