The Centrance HiFi M8 thread - Page 83

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleman 

Yes Android USB Audio Recorder PRO, apparently DacPort with powered USB hub or my own test with DacMini works fine but at 24/96, if I try to play 24/192 content it sounds garbled, likely because the App has no built in sample rate converter it is simply relaying bit-perfect output to the USB port.

 

Another thing to note is, you may find that audio quality improves if you use a task manager to free up memory and close unneeded apps. Otherwise occasionally you will have audio dropouts.

thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMY168 

Thanks Michael & CEntrance for coming up with a very useful product. The iDevices & 24/192 USB connections are what I really like. The only problem is what to do with my DAC mini CX?

I'm looking forward to try the M8 soon.

Hang onto that DACmini CX so that you can give us all a detailed comparison after breaking in your M8.  

Any idea how far out we are from release for those who invested in this process. I am leaving on a 4 month work rotation May 6th and would really like the M8 by then. Still trying to decide between the t1,lcd3 or lcd2. any opinions on what would work best, in theory.

they said Q1 release i believe

Some insight from Tyll about the M8

"It appears that when Michael Goodman decided to build a new portable headphone amp he pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and rethought the whole concept. He wasn't afraid of getting input from others either, and much of the dialog in this Head-Fi thread informed his creativity. I spent a good bit of time listening to this amp at The Home Entertainment Show while at CES and I found myself quite impressed.

Though I only got the chance to listen to the amp using unfamiliar music from a laptop in the booth, I found the HiFi-M8 clean, articulate, and full-bodied. But the thing that really caught my attention were the very well thought out rear panel switches. I worry that some novice users will wonder what they're for, but they were a sight to behold for this old headphone geek's eyes.

Using my 22 Ohm impedance Sennheiser Momentum headphones I could readily hear the change in driver control and damping between the 1 and 11 Ohm output impedance settings. I suspect I'd use the amp primarily in the lowest output impedance setting, but some headphone enthusiasts swear by higher output impedances for some cans.

A three position gain switch is provided offering up to 30dB gain in the highest setting, and is noise-free enough in the low-gain setting for efficient custom IEMs.

The amp also has both bass and treble boost settings. I'm looking forward to measuring the amp to identify exactly what frequencies these filter are set for, but I can tell you that I found the bass boost switch to provide a very tasty bump, low enough in frequency not to get in the way of a balanced transition between the bass and mids. In other words, it didn't make things sound murky.

The treble boost is a surprisingly welcome addition. As you may know I'm not a fan of too much treble response on headphones, but I have noticed that very often headphones lack response in the highest octave between 10kHz and 20kHz. Evidently Michael has also noticed this problem, and has included a two position treble boost switch for these frequencies to improve the sense of "air" on headphones lacking in this area. In the case of both the treble and bass boost switches, I found the settings nicely judicious and not overdone.

Though I really can't comment on the quality of the DAC section on quick listen, it is asynchronous USB and capable of up to 24/192 bit rates, and can accept inputs from both computer USB and iDevices. The amp has both balanced and unbalanced headphone outputs.

I want."

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/ces-2013-showstopper-centrance-hifi-m8

Considering the recent introduction of the iriver AK100 high definition (FLAC, WAV, ALAC) audio file player, I find myself rethinking the M8 configuration that I've preordered.  The AK100 as I understand has only an optical digital output in the form of a combo 1/8" headphone output and optical digital output, much like the M8 offers as one of its configurations.  So now I'm thinking that the only way I can incorporate this new HD source player is to specify the SPDIF input instead of the idevice input connection.  This decision would also be partially alleviated by the fact that I already own a CLAS DAC and Continental amp to go with my ipod classic.  Of course the ipod is limited to max 48 kHz files (?)

Does anyone have experience with the AK100 that they'd like to share?  Is there a portable convertor available that could get me from Toslink to USB digital input so that I might retain my iDevice input M8 configuration?  Even a portable Toslink to SPDIF convertor appears iffy (e.g. 6Vdc external battery pack). 

Are there any other HD audio file players available with USB digital output?  Would anyone care to enlighten any misconceptions?   

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgleadle 

Any idea how far out we are from release for those who invested in this process. I am leaving on a 4 month work rotation May 6th and would really like the M8 by then. Still trying to decide between the t1,lcd3 or lcd2. any opinions on what would work best, in theory.

Yes, that's the question on everyone's mind.

- We just got in the analog boards (third revision) and will be building up this week. I hope this is the last revision -- it was a "clean up" round.

- Meantime, we are working on firmware optimizations for the digital board. Firmware is the code that's running inside the dual-core processor that powers the HiFi-M8. The firmware is responsible not only for streaming audio, but also for housekeeping tasks, such as power consumption optimizations, sleep modes, battery charging logic, etc.

- Aluminum is finished and should be heading our way soon.

- We are also experimenting with a larger battery to give you longer playing time.

- The sound quality is pretty much where we want it, and as Tyll said, we are in good shape on that.

All in all, we are in optimization land. I'm really hoping that Q1 commitment will be held up. This is our highest priority right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aero Dynamik 

Sorry if this question has been asked before as I haven't read all posts...

 

Another feature that would make the M8 really unique would be some way to physically integrate its source. As far as I know, no other DAC/AMP has this feature. On the go I expect that many of us will use an iPod (Classic/Touch) or iPhone. Attaching it with rubber bands perhaps looks cool, but isn't optimal. Now, my question is if this perhaps is in the pipe? If not, what is this on top of the M8?:

Thanks for asking. We are focusing on sound quality at the moment -- the most important feature of the product.

In the future we may in fact make the phone clip, but in the initial release we will supply CEntrance branded rubber bands instead - they will be the right size for most smart phones. The plastic clip is a separate exercise and I simply don't want to be distracted with that at the moment. It's a very complex animal as far as plastic molds are concerned. So, later on that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgoodman 

Thanks for asking. We are focusing on sound quality at the moment -- the most important feature of the product.

 

In the future we may in fact make the phone clip, but in the initial release we will supply CEntrance branded rubber bands instead - they will be the right size for most smart phones. The plastic clip is a separate exercise and I simply don't want to be distracted with that at the moment. It's a very complex animal as far as plastic molds are concerned. So, later on that.

Really excited for this :) Also CEntrance rubber bands sound awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raygun82 


Howdy Michael!

First of all, I am very pleased to hear Tyll's initional impressions of the M8 on inner fidelity. If it's good enough for him, then it will probably blow my mind.

Second, I was wondering if you ever came across any reason why the M8 wouldn't pair properly with the iPhone 5? Because if it won't, ill just upgrade to an iPhone 4S. That is how important the M8 is to me, haha. M8 > iPhone 5.

As always thank you!

IMO you should just grab the 4S regardless, they'll be an iPhone 6 before we know it

Just ordered the Audeze LCD-3 for use with the HIFI-M8, what would be the best output option to choose for SQ single 4pin or dual 3?