Cmon, Mike -- we need reviews. man !
 
http://www.audiophilia.com/wp/?p=11573
 
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/centrance-hifi-m8-refines-the-portable-dac/
 
The other thing Jude needed to mention about this community is that it is insatiable - bwahahahahahaha  
 
Gonna be hard tor HRT to top the 'Awsomifier', if only in terms of coming up with a better name. Clearly, the big boys no longer view the humble laptop as a second-rate source. 

estreeter said:

Cmon, Mike -- we need reviews. man !

http://www.audiophilia.com/wp/?p=11573

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/centrance-hifi-m8-refines-the-portable-dac/

The other thing Jude needed to mention about this community is that it is insatiable - bwahahahahahaha  

Gonna be hard tor HRT to top the 'Awsomifier', if only in terms of coming up with a better name. Clearly, the big boys no longer view the humble laptop as a second-rate source. 

Click to expand...

I put some $$$ down, I guess I'm a geek!

the light harmonic dac/amp is interesting
they also said they'll be releasing other affordable dacs in 2014...
looking forward to seeing what comes out of the portable amp project
 
(also resonessence herus coming out soon)

I'm guessing that there is a point where selling a relatively small number of ~$30K DACs just doesnt amount to a sustainable business model over time, but its a very crowded marketplace at the budget end.

Quote:

estreeter said:

Cmon, Mike -- we need reviews. man !
 
http://www.audiophilia.com/wp/?p=11573
 
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/centrance-hifi-m8-refines-the-portable-dac/
 
The other thing Jude needed to mention about this community is that it is insatiable - bwahahahahahaha  
 
Gonna be hard tor HRT to top the 'Awsomifier', if only in terms of coming up with a better name. Clearly, the big boys no longer view the humble laptop as a second-rate source. 

Click to expand...

 
I got one comin SOON.
It was the last project I worked on w/ CEntrance actually.
Can't believe it's been 2 years.
 
I'm eagerly waiting.  Having been on the team, well, I though I'd have one by now,
because the project meant so much to me (it wouldv'e been the first dual-purpose:
PC/iDevice DAC/Amp combo AND have loads of power).  
 
I wholeheartedly hope it's everything I know Michael can do, because my Sony PHA-1
is certainly alot sexier.  
Quote:

jaywillin said:

I put some $$$ down, I guess I'm a geek!

Click to expand...

I just wrote an article for The Daily Swarm on the Light Harmonic's Kickstarter campaign which should shed some LIGHT on the subject.
I've known Gavin Fish for a long time.  He's been planning this project for two years.  They're doing really well w/ their 30k DACs, 
believe me: The DaVinci DAC is actually back-ordered.  Nope, this was social engineering and it was well-designed I have to say.
 
You know what happened when Carl Marchisoto made a $500.00 two-way monitor when he owned Alon Loudspeakers
(who's lowest cost speaker at the time was 5K)?  Nobody would buy it, because it was too cheap!  I know, it sounds mad, but it's true.
 
This was the only way Light Harmonic could come down from the crazy world of high end audio (something else I just submitted an essay
about for The High Fidelity Report) and reach the audience for a $300 product!  And, we can say whatever they want, as of last night they 
raised 115K w/ a 28K goal!  Love it or hate it: They done good.

But to reel it back...
 
Lets see how GEEK performs against the microStreamer though!

Quote:

mikemercer said:

 
I got one comin SOON.
It was the last project I worked on w/ CEntrance actually.
Can't believe it's been 2 years.
 
I'm eagerly waiting.  Having been on the team, well, I though I'd have one by now,
because the project meant so much to me (it wouldv'e been the first dual-purpose:
PC/iDevice DAC/Amp combo AND have loads of power).  
 
I wholeheartedly hope it's everything I know Michael can do, because my Sony PHA-1
is certainly alot sexier.  
I just wrote an article for The Daily Swarm on the Light Harmonic's Kickstarter campaign which should shed some LIGHT on the subject.
I've known Gavin Fish for a long time.  He's been planning this project for two years.  They're doing really well w/ their 30k DACs, 
believe me: The DaVinci DAC is actually back-ordered.  Nope, this was social engineering and it was well-designed I have to say.
 
You know what happened when Carl Marchisoto made a $500.00 two-way monitor when he owned Alon Loudspeakers
(who's lowest cost speaker at the time was 5K)?  Nobody would buy it, because it was too cheap!  I know, it sounds mad, but it's true.
 
This was the only way Light Harmonic could come down from the crazy world of high end audio (something else I just submitted an essay
about for The High Fidelity Report) and reach the audience for a $300 product!  And, we can say whatever they want, as of last night they 
raised 115K w/ a 28K goal!  Love it or hate it: They done good.

Click to expand...

as for the kickstarter, i thought it would be fun, and it has been, a lot of folks are talking about it
and i could see the merit for light harmonic to fund the project this way
established HIGHEND company, with a recognized name , introducing a new product while
limiting their capital - genius ! lol (where's your piece at the swarm ??
 
as for the a'lon, i owned the the I for years, and listened to that speaker you speak of many times
i have another , additional reason it didn't sell, THE NAME , lol it was a very good speaker
i haven't heard them all but carl makes damn good speaker

just got the microstreamer- loving it!

Been using the mS with my HD650s...still loving it...bought an Asgard and I will be comparing the DAC section of the mS to the Music Streamer HD as soon as I have the Asgard in hand

Quote:

jaywillin said:

as for the kickstarter, i thought it would be fun, and it has been, a lot of folks are talking about it
and i could see the merit for light harmonic to fund the project this way
established HIGHEND company, with a recognized name , introducing a new product while
limiting their capital - genius ! lol (where's your piece at the swarm ??
 
as for the a'lon, i owned the the I for years, and listened to that speaker you speak of many times
i have another , additional reason it didn't sell, THE NAME , lol it was a very good speaker
i haven't heard them all but carl makes damn good speaker

Click to expand...

Yeah Carl makes a DAMN good speaker!

Quote:

fuzzyash said:

just got the microstreamer- loving it!

Click to expand...

AWESOME!!!!
 
Welcome to the MS family!

Unfortunately the microStreamer is not a good match for my Beyerdynamic T90 compared to my Pan Am.
 
I find myself listening to it less and less. Its currently used as a DAC only to feed my active loudspeakers.
 
Mike, have you tried using the uS as a DAC to feed your Pan Am?
 
I wonder how it sounds compared the built-in Wolfson chip.

Quote:

nitrile said:

Unfortunately the microStreamer is not a good match for my Beyerdynamic T90 compared to my Pan Am.
 
I find myself listening to it less and less. Its currently used as a DAC only to feed my active loudspeakers.
 
Mike, have you tried using the uS as a DAC to feed your Pan Am?
 
I wonder how it sounds compared the built-in Wolfson chip.

Click to expand...

@Nitrile
 
YES! I have in face used the microStreamer ahead of the Pan Am!
I ended up doing that up here before we got all moved in - I felt like I
could squeeze a little more performance out of the Pan Am that way.
 
I loved the combo.  I can't say with certainty whether or not it was the Wolfson chip
that did it though.  I think the biggest factor there is system synergy - and in this case
between the microStreamer and Pan Am - which I really dug.
 
I thought the microStreamer achieved far greater separation and low-end extension
when playing back Radiohead's Kid A, amongst other tricky sonic adventures like
Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol.2.  I also thought it had more air and
faster transient attacks on albums like Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and had
dynamics galore during Alix Perez's new Chroma Chords record.
 

 
I could've easily lived with this combo over the long-term.  

another instance that proves that initial impressions be misleading
at first listen i was thinking that i liked the explorer more than the
msii+
now after more than a week,  the hrt wins , its got more "it"
it just sounds right, it doesn't call attention to itself, does its job
to me, it just doesn't really seem to have any major weakness
the meridian is very good, and i good see where a lot of folks may say its better
but to me, in my system(ii+-->lyr--->ps500),  the ii+ wins
you know how they say pot is a gateway drug ?
the micro was my gateway drug !

Quote:

mikemercer said:

@Nitrile
 
YES! I have in face used the microStreamer ahead of the Pan Am!
I ended up doing that up here before we got all moved in - I felt like I
could squeeze a little more performance out of the Pan Am that way.
 
I loved the combo.  I can't say with certainty whether or not it was the Wolfson chip
that did it though.  I think the biggest factor there is system synergy - and in this case
between the microStreamer and Pan Am - which I really dug.
 
I thought the microStreamer achieved far greater separation and low-end extension
when playing back Radiohead's Kid A, amongst other tricky sonic adventures like
Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol.2.  I also thought it had more air and
faster transient attacks on albums like Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and had
dynamics galore during Alix Perez's new Chroma Chords record.
 

 
I could've easily lived with this combo over the long-term.  

Click to expand...

 
 
You're absolutely RIGHT..
Just whipped out my interconnects and tried it and they sound brilliant together.
 
The uS really sounds BRILLIANT as a DAC.
 
There's some sorcery going on in this little aluminium matchbox.