Hana Umami Black Moving Coil Cartridge

Hana Umami Black Moving Coil Cartridge

The Hana Umami Black is the flagship low-output moving coil phono cartridge from Excel Sound Corporation in Japan, and represents the most ambitious design in the company's history. Created by master cartridge designer Masao Okada to mark over five decades of Excel Sound's cartridge manufacturing expertise, the Umami Black introduces three firsts for the Hana line: a diamond cantilever, the newly developed OKD high-efficiency moving coil generator, and a neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) rare-earth magnet. It is a ground-up engineering effort rather than an incremental upgrade from the Umami Red, sharing the Auricle body platform and Urushi lacquer finish of its siblings while departing almost entirely from them in generator architecture, cantilever material, and magnet technology.

The Umami Black in the Hana Lineup

The Hana lineup spans the E, S, and M Series entry and mid-tier models through the Umami series at the top. The Umami Red introduced the Auricle body, boron cantilever, and Samarium Cobalt generator to the range, and was followed by the Umami Blue as a more accessible alternative. The Umami Black sits above both as the current top of the Hana line, sharing the Auricle body design and hand-assembly process of its siblings while deploying entirely new generator architecture, a different magnet type, a hybrid carbon armature, and the line's first diamond cantilever. All major components are manufactured in-house by Excel Sound and assembled by hand in Japan.

Diamond Cantilever and Microline Stylus

The Umami Black is the first Hana cartridge to use a diamond cantilever. Where the Umami Red and Blue use solid boron, which is valued for its stiffness and low mass, diamond takes both properties further: it is the hardest naturally occurring material and offers an exceptionally high stiffness-to-mass ratio that minimizes energy loss and mechanical deflection between the stylus tip and the generator. The result is a more direct and accurate transmission of groove modulations into electrical signal, with improved transient response and reduced cantilever-borne coloration. The Microline nude diamond stylus is the same fine-line profile used throughout the Umami series, precision-cut to closely replicate the geometry of the cutting lathe stylus for optimal groove contact and high-frequency retrieval.

OKD High-Efficiency Generator

The centerpiece of the Umami Black is the OKD generator, developed specifically for this cartridge and described by Hana as a category first. OKD stands for Optimized Kinetic Design. Its defining structural features are an integrated pole piece and rear yoke, combined into a single component rather than the separate parts used in conventional MC generators, and an inverted U-shaped bifurcated front yoke that serves multiple functions simultaneously: it supports the diamond cantilever with precision, controls mechanical resonance within the generator assembly, and aligns the magnetic field around the coils more uniformly to reduce magnetic circuit saturation. The overall structure is designed to be compact and rigid, with the stated objectives of minimizing magnetic power loss, optimizing energy transfer from the diamond cantilever, and suppressing unwanted mechanical vibrations. The armature is a 2mm square hybrid component of 78% carbon-infused nickel-iron Permalloy, a material chosen for its combination of low mass and efficient magnetic properties. The coils are hand-wound with 30-micron 4N-purity copper wire on Excel's proprietary winding machinery, producing an output of 0.3mV at 6 ohms.

Neodymium-Iron-Boron Magnet

The Umami Black uses a neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) rare-earth magnet, unique within the Hana lineup. NdFeB is among the most powerful permanent magnet materials available, offering significantly higher magnetic energy density than the Samarium Cobalt used in the Umami Red or the Alnico used in the Umami Blue and M Series. In the context of the OKD generator, the NdFeB magnet works in combination with the integrated pole piece and yoke assembly to achieve what Hana describes as superior energy conversion efficiency within the generator circuit. This is the first time Hana has deployed this magnet type in any of its cartridges.

Cryogenic Treatment

All metal parts within the OKD generator's magnetic and signal path receive deep cryogenic treatment. This includes the integrated pole piece and rear yoke, the inverted U front yoke, and the 24-karat gold-plated brass output pins. Cryogenic processing at temperatures near absolute zero is applied with the stated goal of refining the microstructure of the treated metals to enhance conductivity, reduce distortion, and improve tonal purity throughout the signal path.

Auricle Body, Urushi Lacquer, and Zirconia Inlay

The Umami Black uses the same CNC-machined A7075 Duralumin Auricle body shared across the Umami series, a shape modeled after the human outer ear designed to rigidly support the open-frame generator while controlling resonance. The Urushi lacquer finish is applied through a thermosetting process at 120 degrees Celsius, bonded to the aluminum body via vapor deposition in multiple stages including a black undercoat, layers incorporating silver and gold powders, and a final protective polish. Like the Umami Red's finish, this process serves both an aesthetic and a functional purpose in damping body resonances. In place of the Red's ebony wood inlay or the Blue's POM inlay, the Umami Black features a black zirconia insert on the front fascia. Zirconia is a ceramic material used here as both a visual accent and an additional vibration-damping element. Threaded mounting inserts are machined into the body, and four mounting screw lengths are included to accommodate headshells of varying thicknesses.

Critical Reception

The Hana Umami Black was introduced in September 2025 and has since received its first formal published reviews. Hi-Fi News, in a full review published in March 2026, concluded that "Hana's new flagship draws you into the heart of the music by uncovering every nuance in a recording, yet makes sure all aspects knit together as a captivating whole." The same review noted that the cartridge's presentation was detailed, open, and dynamic, with the Hi-Fi News reviewer observing he needed to repeat tracks during listening sessions because he had been too absorbed in the music to take notes. Michael Fremer reviewed the Umami Black on Tracking Angle in January 2026, titling his piece "Seamless Elegance" and describing the OKD generator system as optimizing energy transfer while suppressing unwanted vibrations to vanishingly low levels.

System Matching

At 11.3 grams, the Umami Black is the heaviest cartridge in the Hana lineup and is suited to tonearms with low to medium effective mass. Its 6-ohm internal impedance and recommended load of greater than 60 ohms are compatible with most dedicated MC phono stages. Hi-Fi News found optimal performance at a 100-ohm load in their review system. As with all cartridges at this level, precise setup of overhang, azimuth, vertical tracking angle, and anti-skating is essential to realizing the full capability of the diamond cantilever and OKD generator. The Hana Umami Black stands as the definitive expression of what Excel Sound and Masao Okada have built across more than five decades of cartridge design.