[dnun8086]

SE has the leisure of not scratching your mind to find cables and retailers to re-cables your gears. Balanced has separate signal paths and hence minimize crosstalk, also provide more power, efficiency. Balanced also provide better separation, sound stages and nuances details as well....but it is a huge debate between SE-Balanced....and as you already see, I am the person who loves balanced

Ha too true. Oh well it is refreshing to hear another persons take on it. When I have tried a balanced set up on my previous CLAS Solo db setup I felt like it shrank the soundstage, although it added some realism to the sound but did offer more power efficiency as you said. 
 
Trying the SounDroid Vantam running SE out of my M2 to fully balanced headphones did do exactly what you said though! Better stereo separation, detailing and even tighter bass. A lot of other factors could have come into this but I understand why people would choose the balanced option, Hey I hope the M3 will include all of this and more, a flagship killer would be a nice surprise to look forward to. 

 

[Loquah]

  Ha too true. Oh well it is refreshing to hear another persons take on it. When I have tried a balanced set up on my previous CLAS Solo db setup I felt like it shrank the soundstage, although it added some realism to the sound but did offer more power efficiency as you said. 
 
Trying the SounDroid Vantam running SE out of my M2 to fully balanced headphones did do exactly what you said though! Better stereo separation, detailing and even tighter bass. A lot of other factors could have come into this but I understand why people would choose the balanced option, Hey I hope the M3 will include all of this and more, a flagship killer would be a nice surprise to look forward to. 

 
I've found very varied results with balanced - never bad, but sometimes more significant than others.
 
The shrinking soundstage you described may have actually been a result of balanced setups having a more sharply focussed image (due to less crosstalk) and that might sound like you're getting less width in the stage. You can replicate this effect by using a crossfeed system (some Android apps like PlayerPro can do this) that creates controlled crosstalk. With the crossfeed activated, the soundstage will seem larger, but may seem less focussed. It's all personal preference as to which is "better"
 
I've found with headphones and earphones that the quality of the amp and the demands of the headphones have a big impact. The Matrix Quattro amp took a huge leap between SE and balanced regardless of the headphones. This was probably due to the base quality of the amp which is good, but not exceptional. The Bottlehead Mainline, on the other hand, offers only slight improvements when going from SE to balanced because the base quality of the amp is already so good in SE mode. Where it tends to make more difference though is with more challenging loads. For example, HD800s show minimal effect from SE vs balanced with the Mainline, but LCD-2s and beyer T1s showed a more obvious difference due to slightly more challenging loads (LCDs are less sensitive while T1s are high impedance with large variations in impedance)
 
I'm still not convinced that balanced is necessary for portable applications like the M2, but I'm about to try a balanced setup with a Pono so maybe that will change my mind

 

[dnun8086]

The M20 is landing. Please post comments on the player in the new thread, will updated the thread as soon as more information is available. Anyone excited?!... Review tour would be nice don't you think?.... 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/797221/acoustic-research-m20-coming-soon

 

[Whitigir]

The M20 is landing. Please post comments on the player in the new thread, will updated the thread as soon as more information is available. Anyone excited?!... Review tour would be nice don't you think?.... 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/797221/acoustic-research-m20-coming-soon

Thank you! Just joined

 

[dnun8086]

Anyone ready for a firmware update?... 

 

[curtain]

Any release notes on the new M2 firmware?
Will it have 200GB card compatibility?
Can you go back to the previous firmware after updating?
Will it introduce a high gain / low gain setting and if so will the sound change for big cans whilst catering for IEM's?
Are there plans for further firmware updates for the M2 now that the M20 is here?

 

[Steven R. Rochli]

That just seems plain nuts to me. To design a portable DAP that is not compatible with IEM's is an epic fail. Hopefully this will be addressed in a future iteration.

 
A sample unit just arrived here and agree it is sad to hear you need an impedance adapter instead of a simple GUI Hi/Lo output setting. Fortunately I have some 'phones of various types, yet love the CIEMs Noble K10 and 64 Audio A12. Aw well, the M2 is burning in right now before I give it any major listening sesh and decide to keep or punt for the newer M20 coming out in a few months.
 
PS: And yes I have the new firmware and looks to be bug squashing and adding gapless support.

 

[krismusic]

A sample unit just arrived here and agree it is sad to hear you need an impedance adapter instead of a simple GUI Hi/Lo output setting. Fortunately I have some 'phones of various types, yet love the CIEMs Noble K10 and 64 Audio A12. Aw well, the M2 is burning in right now before I give it any major listening sesh and decide to keep or punt for the newer M20 coming out in a few months.

PS: And yes I have the new firmware and looks to be bug squashing and adding gapless support.

Dismal.

 

[irablumberg]

   
A sample unit just arrived here and agree it is sad to hear you need an impedance adapter instead of a simple GUI Hi/Lo output setting. Fortunately I have some 'phones of various types, yet love the CIEMs Noble K10 and 64 Audio A12. Aw well, the M2 is burning in right now before I give it any major listening sesh and decide to keep or punt for the newer M20 coming out in a few months.
 
PS: And yes I have the new firmware and looks to be bug squashing and adding gapless support.

How do we mere mortals get this new firmware?

 

[dnun8086]

 
How do we mere mortals get this new firmware?

Just waiting on an official release but am seeing if I can get a beta version for us all at Head-Fi feel free to PM with any questions and I can pass them on or answer them directly. 
 
Steven R, What issues are you having with the gapless playback? Just interested as I haven't experienced any major flaws yet no skipping, smooth transitions etc.

 

[dnun8086]

 
How do we mere mortals get this new firmware?

Right now see prayers do get answered.
 
Acoustic Research V2.5.1 Firmware Update for M2 - "The High-Res Gapless Edition"
 
To reward enthusiastic owners and get broader feedback, we are releasing the latest 2.5.1 firmware early to Head-Fi members.
 
2.5.1 contains all the improvements from previous releases, a slew of bug fixes and tiny updates and brings Full-High-Resolution Gapless Playback to all file formats. (a lot players fudge gapless by downsampling the look-ahead reducing playback quality) 
 
We value and will be listing to your feedback
 
Anyway, please download and test the firmware:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9C1IbE5nijiR2ZlcWxha3dZVTA
 
Procedures to update the firmware:
1.          Make sure M2 is fully charged
2.          Connect M2 to PC (or Mac)
3.          Copy the whole ZIP file into M2 through Windows Explorer (Windows) or Android File Transfer (Mac).  Do not uncompress the ZIP file.
4.          On M2, open Settings.  Select About devices
5.          Select System update
6.          Select Local updates
7.          Select FOLDER and locate the ZIP file
8.          Choose OK when you see “Are you sure to reboot?”
9.          M2 will reboot automatically after the update process finishes.
 
Rescanning the music media:
1.          On M2, open Settings.  Select Apps
2.          Change to ALL view
3.          Select Media Storage
4.          Select Clear data
5.          Select OK when you are asked “Delete app data?”

 

[Fr_eak]

  Right now see prayers do get answered.
 
Acoustic Research V2.5.1 Firmware Update for M2 - "The High-Res Gapless Edition"
 
To reward enthusiastic owners and get broader feedback, we are releasing the latest 2.5.1 firmware early to Head-Fi members.
 
2.5.1 contains all the improvements from previous releases, a slew of bug fixes and tiny updates and brings Full-High-Resolution Gapless Playback to all file formats. (a lot players fudge gapless by downsampling the look-ahead reducing playback quality) 
 
We value and will be listing to your feedback
 
Anyway, please download and test the firmware:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9C1IbE5nijiR2ZlcWxha3dZVTA
 
Procedures to update the firmware:
1.          Make sure M2 is fully charged
2.          Connect M2 to PC (or Mac)
3.          Copy the whole ZIP file into M2 through Windows Explorer (Windows) or Android File Transfer (Mac).  Do not uncompress the ZIP file.
4.          On M2, open Settings.  Select About devices
5.          Select System update
6.          Select Local updates
7.          Select FOLDER and locate the ZIP file
8.          Choose OK when you see “Are you sure to reboot?”
9.          M2 will reboot automatically after the update process finishes.
 
Rescanning the music media:
1.          On M2, open Settings.  Select Apps
2.          Change to ALL view
3.          Select Media Storage
4.          Select Clear data
5.          Select OK when you are asked “Delete app data?”

First thank you so much for the news! Downloaded and installed the update. I'm trying to find if there's any option to turn the gapless playback on and off, but can't see it yet?
 
Update 1: Have just tried to listen to live albums (e.g. The Eagles Hell Freezes Over), the gaps between tracks are now significantly smaller. However it is not truly gapless, there is still maybe half a second gap in between.

 

[dnun8086]

  First thank you so much for the news! Downloaded and installed the update. I'm trying to find if there's any option to turn the gapless playback on and off, but can't see it yet?
 
Update 1: Have just tried to listen to live albums (e.g. The Eagles Hell Freezes Over), the gaps between tracks are now significantly smaller. However it is not truly gapless, there is still maybe half a second gap in between.

Very much welcome. Yeah totally understand what you mean and thank you for the feedback bare in mind this is the beta tester just for us Head Fi users it's a work in progress but thankfully they have addressed a few of the other issues in this update. I will keep the thread updated as and when I can. 
 
Side question would there be anyone interested in a review tour for the new M20 when it is released? Just trying to count heads and no promises are being made but.... thoughts would be great. Thanks everyone looking forward to the feedback! 

 

[irablumberg]

  Very much welcome. Yeah totally understand what you mean and thank you for the feedback bare in mind this is the beta tester just for us Head Fi users it's a work in progress but thankfully they have addressed a few of the other issues in this update. I will keep the thread updated as and when I can. 
 
Side question would there be anyone interested in a review tour for the new M20 when it is released? Just trying to count heads and no promises are being made but.... thoughts would be great. Thanks everyone looking forward to the feedback! 

If you / AR are looking for a reviewer in the US, I'm happy to participate. I believe I am one of the few M2 owners in the US. I picked up my M2 on a trip to Tokyo last year. Love it so far except for the UI inconvenience and the hopefully fixed (or almost fixed) gapless playback.

 

[dnun8086]

 
If you / AR are looking for a reviewer in the US, I'm happy to participate. I believe I am one of the few M2 owners in the US. I picked up my M2 on a trip to Tokyo last year. Love it so far except for the UI inconvenience and the hopefully fixed (or almost fixed) gapless playback.

I'll put your name down unfortunately the tour will be restricted to Europe to start with but it doesn't mean an exception can't be made 

. I haven't had any major issues with this new firmware and gapless is a bonus. Have to agree with you the first moment I heard this thing I fell in love and it's been a pleasure listening to her. I still love the detail, power and authority she throws out.