[Audiowood]

Can I reserve serial # 8?

 

[mgoodman]

Thanks for keeping the fire going!
 
> The key to this issue of jacks is understanding the behaviour of the user 
The real question is "Which user?" The funny thing is that we already have orders on the books for a large number of units with 2 XLRs. So, believe it or not, there is a market for those Combo jacks out there. However, we won't stop at that. We are working hard to accommodate the 4-pin camp as well, so my thanks to you for your timely input. Stay tuned.
 
> the size of an O2 (Objective amp) is the biggest you want to go with portability.
HiFi-M8 will feature a very powerful headphone amp. Our customers expect that, since our other products offer that level of performance. In order to feed that monster and a bunch of digital circuitry to do USB and iPhone connectivity, you need a really beefy battery. So we had a to take a compromise between "very small" and "very good." HiFi-M8's dimensions are roughly 125x80x30. Compare that to O2's 110x80x30 and you will see that we are not too far off.
 
> If the modified combo jack can accept 4 pin balanced XLR, and 1/4"...
Sorry -- unfortunately no such thing as a 4-pin Combo jack. The pins would be too close -- they would bump into each other and short out, so it's not possible. You can either get a 3-pin XLR Combined with a 1/4" jack in the same space or have to use separate jacks. We will need to use separate jacks to accommodate balanced HP on 4-pin XLR and unbalanced HP on another jack.
 
> Is there any data out there that says a 3.5mm jack is not as durable as a 1/4"? How many portable amps have you heard of with jack durability issues?
We have 3.5mm headphone jacks in our recording products and every once in a while a unit would come back from the field with the jack ripped right off the PCB.  Not sure what they do with them. Either the conditions are rougher on the recording side or the 3.5mm jack is not as durable as the 1/4" kind. We don't enjoy re-soldering the jacks to the PCB and prefer ultimate battlefield reliability, so may need to compromise and go with the 1/4" jack and a relatively small, unobtrusive adapter. This is what we are bundling with DACport currently:
 
http://www.centrance.com/products/adapter/adapter.jpg
 
> Will USB-->'iOS devices' cables be provided? Especially shorter ones for the iPhone.
Yes, a really cute 3" CEntrance-branded "30-pin to USB A" cable will be provided with HiFi-M8. Will be posting pictures shortly.
 
Regarding iPhone 5 and the new lightning connector: It should, in fact be compatible and we will be testing that soon. Won't guarantee anything unless i see it myself. Don't have iPhone 5 yet, no time to stand in line Most likely, we will offer a short version of the lightning connector as well and eventually start placing both types in the box.
 
Keep 'em coming!

 

[eron]

Quote:

 We are working hard to accommodate the 4-pin camp as well, so my thanks to you for your timely input. Stay tuned.
 
We don't enjoy re-soldering the jacks to the PCB and prefer ultimate battlefield reliability, so may need to compromise and go with the 1/4" jack and a relatively small, unobtrusive adapter. This is what we are bundling with DACport currently:
 
http://www.centrance.com/products/adapter/adapter.jpg
 
Regarding iPhone 5 and the new lightning connector: It should, in fact be compatible and we will be testing that soon. Won't guarantee anything unless i see it myself. Don't have iPhone 5 yet, no time to stand in line Most likely, we will offer a short version of the lightning connector as well and eventually start placing both types in the box.
 

Thank you for accommodating us!
 
I actually have the DACport with the adapter. It's only protruding about 1cm out of the jack, so I think that's compact enough to be acceptable for 3.5mm portable use.
 
Will be great if M8 can come with both 30pin and lightning connectors!
 
Since you have released the dimensions (tiny for its qualities), maybe you can share the weight with us as well.
 
I'm patiently waiting for the pre-order code!

 

[Fifen]

so far, my understanding is M8 is compatible with Idevice and M8 LX is not compatible with Idevice. is it correct?
So, M8 is for those people who want to use with idevice on the go and M8 LX is for those who want to save a bit money and using other device that support usb dac on the go?

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Thanks for keeping the fire going!
 
> The key to this issue of jacks is understanding the behaviour of the user 
The real question is "Which user?" The funny thing is that we already have orders on the books for a large number of units with 2 XLRs. So, believe it or not, there is a market for those Combo jacks out there. However, we won't stop at that. We are working hard to accommodate the 4-pin camp as well, so my thanks to you for your timely input. Stay tuned.
 
> the size of an O2 (Objective amp) is the biggest you want to go with portability.
HiFi-M8 will feature a very powerful headphone amp. Our customers expect that, since our other products offer that level of performance. In order to feed that monster and a bunch of digital circuitry to do USB and iPhone connectivity, you need a really beefy battery. So we had a to take a compromise between "very small" and "very good." HiFi-M8's dimensions are roughly 125x80x30. Compare that to O2's 110x80x30 and you will see that we are not too far off.
 
> If the modified combo jack can accept 4 pin balanced XLR, and 1/4"...
Sorry -- unfortunately no such thing as a 4-pin Combo jack. The pins would be too close -- they would bump into each other and short out, so it's not possible. You can either get a 3-pin XLR Combined with a 1/4" jack in the same space or have to use separate jacks. We will need to use separate jacks to accommodate balanced HP on 4-pin XLR and unbalanced HP on another jack.
 
> Is there any data out there that says a 3.5mm jack is not as durable as a 1/4"? How many portable amps have you heard of with jack durability issues?
We have 3.5mm headphone jacks in our recording products and every once in a while a unit would come back from the field with the jack ripped right off the PCB.  Not sure what they do with them. Either the conditions are rougher on the recording side or the 3.5mm jack is not as durable as the 1/4" kind. We don't enjoy re-soldering the jacks to the PCB and prefer ultimate battlefield reliability, so may need to compromise and go with the 1/4" jack and a relatively small, unobtrusive adapter. This is what we are bundling with DACport currently:
 
http://www.centrance.com/products/adapter/adapter.jpg
 
> Will USB-->'iOS devices' cables be provided? Especially shorter ones for the iPhone.
Yes, a really cute 3" CEntrance-branded "30-pin to USB A" cable will be provided with HiFi-M8. Will be posting pictures shortly.
 
Regarding iPhone 5 and the new lightning connector: It should, in fact be compatible and we will be testing that soon. Won't guarantee anything unless i see it myself. Don't have iPhone 5 yet, no time to stand in line Most likely, we will offer a short version of the lightning connector as well and eventually start placing both types in the box.
 
Keep 'em coming!

 
Thanks for all the info Michael, I can understand the choice for 1/4" if you've had problems with 3.5mm in the past. The adapters I've used have all been much larger than the one you're planning on bundling, the adapter you bundle seems like it would be a good compromise.
 
I don't have any balanced phones but if I were to go down that road it would likely be via the single 4 pin XLR so that would be my preference, my questions regarding this are, would this version potentially be available at the same time as the dual pin XLR version? If not will there be the same pre-order pricing offer for the 4 pin version when it's available?
 
And another couple of questions relating to the latest blog post, in that you state
 
Quote:

You will notice that the device has two digital inputs:
 
1) USB B jack for connecting laptops, featuring asynchronous 24-bit/192kHz digital audio.
 
2) USB A jack, for connecting iDevices.

 
In past products you've used your own Adaptiwave technology, why the switch to asynchronous? Is the iDevice connection asynchronous as well?

 

[mgoodman]

Q: Can I reserve serial # 8?
I really wish it was that simple... The serial numbers we use are 32-bit long
 
Q: Since you have released the dimensions (tiny for its qualities), maybe you can share the weight with us as well.
Hoping to have that this week - have the scale, just looking for the last couple of "real" parts to arrive.
 
Q1: So far, my understanding is M8 is compatible with Idevice and M8 LX is not compatible with Idevice. is it correct? 
Yes, correct.
 
Q2: So, M8 is for those people who want to use with idevice on the go and M8 LX is for those who want to save a bit money and using other device that support usb dac on the go?
Yes, for example, a laptop. iPhones are popular, but some people don't use one. They prefer to keep their music on a laptop instead.
Consider M8 LX to be a souped-up DACport with a battery and balanced output, as well as impedance, gain and tone shaping options. 
 
Q: If not will there be the same pre-order pricing offer for the 4 pin version when it's available?
But of course! Thank you for reminding. My mind is currently preoccupied with dimensions, component drawings and PCBs. What? Someone wants to order this thing?  

 

[eron]

Quote:

so far, my understanding is M8 is compatible with Idevice and M8 LX is not compatible with Idevice. is it correct?
So, M8 is for those people who want to use with idevice on the go and M8 LX is for those who want to save a bit money and using other device that support usb dac on the go?

From my understanding: Yes. For the LX, there won't be parts for iOS devices. So the LX is a compact, portable DAC/AMP that connects through USB B.
 
Something of interest is the possibility of the HiFI M8 LX using the USB B port that is supposedly for laptops, for connection to the current iPad or future iOS adaptors, like the current method people use to connect to iPads with the Camera connector.
List of DACs that work with the iPad. Apple will most likely release a new Camera connector for the yet-to-be-released iPads with lightning connector. DACport doesn't work on the iPad. It says it's drawing too much power. HiFi M8 LX with its own battery should provide sufficient power.

 

[firev1]

Great news when I was out, this will take a while to digest. I really don't thing there is any device out there that provides the amount of control the M8 will provide to a user. Just to ask Mr Goodman, how is the dual charge power supply provided for such a low distortion product like the M8? Looks like CLAS and Fostex have to step up their game!

 

[mgoodman]

> Just to ask Mr Goodman, how is the dual charge power supply provided for such a low distortion product like the M8?
A little magic + a lot of trial and error until we get it right

 

[bayac]

Great to hear there'll be a short lightning cable. My 5 is waiting for its M8

 

[audionewbi]

If it is meant to be portable than 1/4 should be out of the question. 

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Hey, thanks a bunch, guys. The 4-pin XLR will fit into the hole for one of the combo jacks. Will prototype this week and let you know how it goes.

We can replace the other XLR combo jack with a 1/4" HP jack and throw in a golden adapter from 1/4" to 3.5mm. Would that work? The concern is that while IEMs come with 3.5mm jacks, many large cans still ship with a 1/4" plug and on some you can't twist the larger part off to reveal a smaller 3.5mm plug inside.

It seems that by offering a 1/4" jack and a small 1/4"->3.5mm adapter that's not taking up much space we could accommodate those folks with large and small headphones. However if there is just a 3.5mm jack (in addition to balanced 4-pin XLR) the owners of larger headphones will be upset.

Thoughts?

 
This is exactly what I'm thinking. There are plenty of 3.5mm adaptors that sit don't protrude much. Regarding the customers who have ordered it with the combo jacks, are they really going to use the XLR portion or are they mostly treating it as having two TRS sockets? 
 
Though what I'm suggesting is obviously going to add a bit of complexity, you might rig the holes in the board for the jacks so you can install either kind of socket as required and offer both possibilities as options or taylor them according to the market in each country.

 

[elnero]

Any news?
 

 

[Ksef10]

Hey Everyone,
 
With all the indecision about which balanced connectors to use, we would like to receive individual input from balanced headphone users.
 
Which type of balanced connectors does everyone use personally? Dual 3-pin or 4-pin?
 
We are going to attempt to please as many people as possible by doing both designs, if needed, and would like to know the ratio of people that use each. This way we will be able to estimate the worth of each design.
 
Thanks!
 
-Kenny

 

[eron]

4pin.

I can help create a google form to survey the population here if you want.