Hana Umami Black Moving Coil Cartridge

Hana Umami Black Moving Coil Cartridge

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 five decades of innovation with this new masterpiece, featuring a diamond cantilever and a new OKD high-efficiency moving coil generator. The Umami Black is far more than an Umami Red with a diamond cantilever, it is a ground-up reference design. Available now at Vinyl Sound.

Diamond cantilever

In a category first for Hana, the Umami Black incorporates a diamond cantilever, the hardest possible material and ideal for signal transfer, moving the stylus motion to the generator with minimal loss for exceptional speed and detail.

High-efficiency OKD moving coil generator

Another category first, the Umami Black uses the newly developed OKD generator with the world's first integrated pole piece and rear yoke, together with an inverted U-shaped front yoke, optimising energy transfer from the diamond cantilever. The 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 magnet and hybrid carbon armature

A high-power rare-earth neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet, unique to the Umami Black, drives the high-efficiency generator for superior energy conversion. A 2mm square hybrid carbon permalloy armature, made of 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 produces an output of 0.3mV at 5 ohms.

Special Urushi enamelled finish

The Umami Black features an exquisite Urushi lacquer finish applied through a specialised thermosetting process that bonds to the aluminium body via vapour deposition, a beautiful and highly durable finish befitting a reference-class cartridge.

Specifications

Frequently asked questions

What is the Hana Umami Black?
The Hana Umami Black is the flagship moving coil phono cartridge from Hana, designed by Masao Okada of Excel Sound. It introduces a diamond cantilever and the new OKD high-efficiency moving coil generator, along with a rare-earth NdFeB magnet and a hand-wound hybrid carbon armature, for reference-level detail, speed, and musicality.

What makes the diamond cantilever special?
Diamond is the hardest material available, so it is ideal for transferring stylus motion to the generator with minimal energy loss or unwanted flex. This gives the Umami Black exceptional speed, resolution, and accuracy, and it is a category first for Hana.

What is the output of the Umami Black?
The Umami Black is a low-output moving coil cartridge with an output of 0.3 mV at 5 ohms. It requires a phono stage with a moving coil (MC) input and sufficient gain, and benefits from a high-quality MC phono preamplifier.

How is the Umami Black different from the Umami Red?
The Umami Black is much more than an Umami Red with a diamond cantilever. It uses the new OKD high-efficiency generator with a world-first integrated pole piece and rear yoke, an inverted U front yoke, a unique high-power NdFeB magnet, and an Urushi lacquer finish, making it a distinct, higher-performing reference design.

Where can I buy the Hana Umami Black in the USA?
The Hana Umami Black is available at Vinyl Sound with shipping across the USA. Order online or contact us for fitment, tonearm matching, and phono stage recommendations for this reference cartridge.

Order the Hana Umami Black online at Vinyl Sound with shipping across the USA, or explore more Hana, phono cartridges, and turntables.