I have recently got an used Soundaware Esther M1 Analog off ebay and want to leave my impression here. Hope someone will find it helpful. Usually I like DAPs with bright signatures and my favorites being HisoundAudio Studio, Aune M2s and budget Kogan MP3 player and stay away from warm sounding DAPs especially if it doesn't come with an Eq. After listening to Xuelin ihifi780 couple of months ago, I started liking it's warm sound signature, even though it sounded muddy occasionally .
I have watched Currawong's DAP comparison video in YouTube in which he describes the sound signature of Sundaware M1 Analog. I really wanted to try M1 Analog before, but some of the issues which were mentioned in this thread hold me back like the boot and UI bugs. Anyway after listening to M1 for a month, I could firmly say M1 has become one of my favorite DAPs along with HSA and Aune. I really love the sound signature of M1
First of all, the device I received has no boot issues like mentioned in the first few pages in this thread which really surprised me. Soundaware has confirmed that newer M1 doesn’t suffer from the above. The device I got came with fw1.0.0.46 and initially I was bit disappointed with the User Interface. Thanks heaps to
@soundaware, who pointed me to FW1.0.0.85 and all of the gripes I have with the UI are fixed in this fw version. I feel engineers@soundaware have done a marvelous job in improving the firmware and the platform now seems to be very stable.
Sonically, M1 Analog is very different from the DAPs I have listened to. I am not good at describing the sound, but I guess it is the warmth that the M1 adds, along with the gobs of details gives the listener a different experience. It's kind of special and sweet that I keep going back to it.
Issues which are resolved in fw1.0.0.85 (compared to fw1.0.0.46)
- Skipping the tracks or adjusting the volume can be done without waking up the screen. So no wasted button presses.
- The default power-off option has been changed 'Shut down' rather than 'deep sleep'. So no battery drain when powered off.
- Rearranged menu structure which I found more user friendly.
Other things I really like about M1 are
- Build quality which is top notch and is built like a tank
- Dual Micro SD slots
- Volume gain settings
- Super easy to navigate around the menus and I find the button functions to be well implemented especially in fw1.0.0.85.
Cons
- The player can get quite warm after few hours of playing music.