Authorized dealers for Hana Hana Umami Black

In Living Stereo — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
The Audio Association — in-store — Anaheim, California, United States (website)
The Music Room — online and in-store — Erie, Colorado, United States (website)
3mA Audio — online and in-store — Houston, Texas, United States (website)
A/V Solutions — in-store — Pleasanton, California, United States (website)
Absolute Audio - Canada — in-store — Calgary, Alberta, Canada (website)
Acoustic Image — in-store — Los Angeles, California, United States (website)
Acoustic Sounds — online and in-store — Salina, Kansas, United States (website)
Acoustic Streams — in-store — Lower Drift, England, United Kingdom (website)
AES — in-store — Mitte, Hessen, Germany (website)

and 255 more verified dealers

Hana Hana Umami Black

Name: Hana Hana Umami Black
Brand: Hana
SKU: hana-umami-black
Rating: 89 (19 reviews)

View at Hana

Product details 18 reviews & sources

89/100

Nicely Roasted

Sound Quality

91/100

Build Quality

87/100

Features Usability

86/100

Value for Money

85/100

The Hana Umami Black brings palpable timbre, tonal density and commanding musical gravity to a serious analog front end. Mono & Stereo highlights its vivid violin tone and human presence, while The Absolute Sound praises its persuasive instrumental and vocal realism. This flagship MC cartridge is built for listeners chasing an unforced, deeply communicative presentation.

Pros

Exceptionally convincing instrumental and vocal timbre, with palpable human presence.

Dense, cohesive and authoritative musical presentation that avoids excessive romanticization.

Highly adaptable musical performance across recordings, with flagship-level competitive ambition.

Cons

High-end MC design requires a carefully matched phono stage, tonearm and precise setup; supplied reviews offer limited loading and compatibility guidance.

Its $11,500 positioning demands comparison with rival flagships, but the supplied reviews provide limited direct value analysis.

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What Reviewers Are Saying

"Hana's new Umami Black is not only a fitting flagship for the company's range of MCs, but it also looks likely to up-end some well-established competitors."

— Hifinews

"Right out of the box, the Umami Black performed extraordinarily well in the areas of palpable instrument/vocal timbre."

— The Absolute Sound

"The Hana Umami Black brings a unique gravity to this recording, immediately distinguishing it from other cartridges."

— Mono & Stereo

"I spoke well of this $11,500 MC cart at the Capital Audiofest room last November."

— Part Time Audiophile

SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 91/100

The supplied listening reports portray a richly communicative, unusually authoritative cartridge, particularly persuasive with instrumental timbre and human presence. Direct comments on tracing and stereo spatiality are limited, but none of the excerpts identifies a sonic shortcoming in either area.

Overall Sound

96/100

Mono & Stereo hears a “unique gravity,” with remarkable density, human presence, and an effortless rendering of David Oistrakh's violin tone. Hi-Fi News says it seems able to make the best of anything, while The Absolute Sound found instrument and vocal timbre extraordinarily convincing straight from the box.

Tracking Retrieval

87/100

The excerpts do not directly address tracking tests, inner-groove behavior, sibilance, or surface-noise handling. Its ability to convey dense musical information effortlessly is encouraging, but published evidence here does not provide a detailed account of tracing behavior.

Soundstage Imaging

87/100

None of the supplied passages specifically discusses stage width, depth, image placement, layering, or channel separation. The reported density and palpable presence suggest an involving presentation, though the available reviews do not substantiate a more specific spatial description.

FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 86/100

As a high-end moving-coil cartridge, the Umami Black calls for a suitably capable phono stage and thoughtful system matching. The supplied reviews report no setup or compatibility difficulties, although they provide little practical guidance on arm matching, loading, or alignment.

Tonearm Compatibility

86/100

No reviewer reports a tonearm-fit, mounting, loading, or setup problem. It is nevertheless a specialist high-end MC design rather than a plug-and-play moving-magnet option, so owners should ensure appropriate gain, loading flexibility, and careful installation.

Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.

Build Quality

87/100

The supplied review excerpts do not directly assess body construction, cantilever execution, stylus finish, pins, or long-term durability. No construction concerns are reported, but readers seeking detailed commentary on physical craftsmanship will need more complete reviews or hands-on inspection.

Value for Money

85/100

At an asking price around $11,500, the Umami Black competes in a demanding high-end cartridge market. The supplied excerpts strongly praise its musical performance, but they do not directly compare its value with similarly priced rivals or say whether the premium is justified.

Reviews & Sources

Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.

Forum Mentions

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Manufacturer's Description — Hana

The HANA-Umami Black continues the brand’s legacy of “Brilliant and Gorgeous” sound.

Master cartridge designer Masao Okada-san of Excel Sound celebrates over 5 decades of innovation and excellence with his new masterpiece, featuring a diamond cantilever and new “OKD” High-Efficiency Moving Coil Generator. The Umami Black is much more than just an Umami Red with a diamond cantilever.

Diamond Cantilever
In a category first for HANA, the Umami Black incorporates a diamond cantilever, the hardest possible material, ideal for signal transfer.

High-Efficiency “OKD” Moving Coil Generator
Another category first, the Umami Black uses the newly developed “OKD” with the world’s first “Integrated Pole Piece and Rear Yoke” and Inverted U-shaped Front Yoke, optimizing energy transfer from the diamond cantilever.

Inverted U Front Yoke
The U-shaped (bifurcated) inverted front yoke is engineered for both mechanical resonance control and magnetic field alignment, while also providing precise support for the diamond cantilever.

High-Power Rare Earth Magnet
Unique to the Umami Black, the rare-earth neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet is used in the high-efficiency generator, delivering superior energy conversion.

Hybrid Carbon Armature
A 2mm square hybrid Carbon permalloy armature, comprising 78% carbon-infused nickel-iron, is precisely hand-wound with 30-micron, 4N high-purity copper wire on Excel’s proprietary machinery. This ultra-light moving coil has an output of 0.3mV at 5 ohms.

Special Urushi Enameled Finish
The HANA-Umami Black features an exquisite Urushi lacquer finish, applied through a specialized thermosetting process that bonds to the aluminum body via vapor deposition.