[RonaldDumsfeld]

It's a globalised economy. FiiO makes quality gear for a demanding worldwide mass market. M2tech makes niche audio products from a base in Italy.
 
Look at the Dragonfly story. They cost $250 a throw at first. Now they can knock them out for £100 and still make a profit since all the startup and risk costs have been repaid.  R&D, marketing, design etc etc.
 
That's my theory anyway.

 

[kelunkeles]

no life, no happy,I am very interested. Only problem is it is USB only, but other than that it sounds like a great dac. I kinda need a coax input, but I could live without one, for a while at least.

 

[AdamFrandsen]

So guys, can anyone tell me if this will drive a pair of MDR 1Rs directly? If so, I might get it, if not I will get the Dragonfly 1.2 or the Cambridge XS... I had the first Dragonfly, but returned it - did not really impress me that much.

 

[shyamelge]

  It's a globalised economy. FiiO makes quality gear for a demanding worldwide mass market. M2tech makes niche audio products from a base in Italy.
 
Look at the Dragonfly story. They cost $250 a throw at first. Now they can knock them out for £100 and still make a profit since all the startup and risk costs have been repaid.  R&D, marketing, design etc etc.
 
That's my theory anyway.

True.
 
BTW, Dragonfly is manufactured in China and they are still making a huge profit even at reduced price. My guess is that AQ may not be paying more than $15-20 per piece (on bulk orders) to the manufacturer of Dragonfly in China.    

 

[maricius]

Has anyone else bought or heard this DAC? Can anyone add further comparisons between this and the line outs of other portable DACs (AQ 1.2, Meridian Explorer, Geek Out, etc.)?
 
Thanks!!

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Have the Geek Out 1000. And it wins hands down against this. However, M2Tech Hiface DAC is more liquid, silky, analog like. GO1000 has more authority, slam, definition, PRAT (but need to break in more...its new). BUT, GO1000 has bit of minor issues (that can be addressed by firmware update). If you could live with that for a moment, I say go with Geek Out. Basing on your sig. get the GO450. Its more than adequte already.

 

[maricius]

  Have the Geek Out 1000. And it wins hands down against this. However, M2Tech Hiface DAC is more liquid, silky, analog like. GO1000 has more authority, slam, definition, PRAT (but need to break in more...its new). BUT, GO1000 has bit of minor issues (that can be addressed by firmware update). If you could live with that for a moment, I say go with Geek Out. Basing on your sig. get the GO450. Its more than adequte already.

 
That's great to hear and congratulations on your new Geek. My main concern is that my country has this rather… overtaxing customs for imported goods (especially electronics). While waiting for retailers to get a hold of the Geeks, I'm finding every possible competitor just to make sure.

 

[b0bb]

  Has anyone else bought or heard this DAC? Can anyone add further comparisons between this and the line outs of other portable DACs (AQ 1.2, Meridian Explorer, Geek Out, etc.)?
 
Thanks!!

I have had this for about a year, the output does double duty as line out and headphone output so it is a compromise.
 
Still it is fairly quiet, the sound quality is somewhat dependent on the laptop it is plugged into.
 
Given a clean power supply, the sound will improve. I use mine with the iFi iUSBPower

 

[b0bb]

One more thing, the 384k mode actually works quite well. I initially thought it was a gimmick on something so small.
 
I use mine on a Mac with Audirvana, its Izotope upsampler does quite a good job getting everything to 384k.
When I bought the unit,  this was the main feature distinguishing between it and the Meridian Explorer, it was also slightly cheaper.

 

[indieke]

I am thinking about buying it. How would it hold against the Dragonfly V 2?   I am also considering   the Firestone Audio custom cute,  , they all seem to have a good reputation for the quality they offer for the price. But here , impossible to hear them all , to make a valued opinion.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

 
I just got one. Review to follow.
 
 
http://headpie.blogspot.jp/2016/05/m2tech-hiface-dac-unboxing-expatinjapan.html

 

[Vunz]

I also have one, which I use with my iPhone and iPad (using the CCK). Sounds more open and dynamic than the headphone outputs of these devices, and although I need to set the volume at 90%, the dac is able to drive my Westone W40 and Audeze LCD-X.

Cheers,
Vincent

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Oops forgot to post my review

http://headpie.blogspot.jp/2016/06/m2tech-hiface-24384-usb-dac-review.html?m=1