[thread]

I'm looking for personal experiences from people using M2Tech devices like the HiFace or Evo on Mac OS X. I've read of flakiness like kernel panics and needing to have the device plugged in when the Mac is booted up. Is any of this still true?
 
I'm thinking of getting one, but I really don't want to deal with these types of things. Do I have anything to worry about on the Mac?
 
Btw, I would LOVE to see the promised linux driver come to fruition... but that seems like really wishful thinking at this point. (I wonder if we'll ever see it ...)
 
Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

 

[Trogdor]

Its all true....the driver is a piece of crap in every way...
 
If you plug in the M2Tech HiFace after the box completely boots up, it panics as soon as an application opens the device.  I have sent a kernel stack trace several times to M2Tech Hiface to have them debug and fix the issue - nothing.
 
If you use Skype or any kind of streaming audio input, the audio will get out of sync and eventualy your system will crash (EVEN AFTER YOU REMOVE the device).
 
The hardware itself is fine but the software really makes this a lackluster performer.  I am very disappointed.

 

[thread]

Very sad.

 

[paaj]

No problems here, though I keep it plugged in. Switching between optical and hiface is no problem, it has worked fine for half a year now and sounds good.

 

[Trogdor]

Version of Mac OS and driver please.

 

[thread]

I really wish/hope there is light at the end of the tunnel for M2Tech's devices, but I'm just not willing to bet on them with no linux support and crappy mac support.

 

[paaj]

I'm running Snow Leopard on a Mac Mini (first C2D version). My latest download was 1045106, I see there is a new download now but haven't tried it yet.

 

[johangrb]

I've been using a Hiface on my MB Pro for over a year now - zero problems. I've had more 'fun' with betas of Pure Music.
 
Latest iterations of HiFace driver, Snow Leopard, Pure Music works fine.

 

[Trogdor]

Quote:

I've been using a Hiface on my MB Pro for over a year now - zero problems. I've had more 'fun' with betas of Pure Music.
 
Latest iterations of HiFace driver, Snow Leopard, Pure Music works fine.

I wonder if Pure Music does anything different than say Songbird or iTunes.  On my machine it panics consistently if you hot-plug the device or play streaming audio for a while (please play YouTube music for a little while (like play 4-5 tracks in a row) and see what happens).
 
Are you clocking to 96kHz and higher via the MIDI setup?

 

[johangrb]

I'm not sure if PM does anything different (Maybe an Apodizing filter?) - it does make a big difference to the SQ on my Mac.
 
I mostly play Alac//m4a (and now Flac) from PM. I have no problem w streaming audio (Itunes Radio for example). I can see that it might throw a panic if you unplug the Hiface in midplay (haven't tried that).
 
My MO: I plug in the HiFace, fire up PM/Itunes and listen. Stop playing, unplug. Rinse, repeat...

 

[hddoc]

Is there a link to the Mac driver?
Any chance that driver would work with an E-MU DAC and thus allow 24/192 output from the USB port using the MIDI?

 

[Trogdor]

Quote:

Is there a link to the Mac driver?
Any chance that driver would work with an E-MU DAC and thus allow 24/192 output from the USB port using the MIDI?

I don't understand the question, areyou asking for the HiFace driver to work with an E-MU DAC?  That doesn't make sense.

 

[Trogdor]

Quote:

I'm not sure if PM does anything different (Maybe an Apodizing filter?) - it does make a big difference to the SQ on my Mac.
 
I mostly play Alac//m4a (and now Flac) from PM. I have no problem w streaming audio (Itunes Radio for example). I can see that it might throw a panic if you unplug the Hiface in midplay (haven't tried that).
 
My MO: I plug in the HiFace, fire up PM/Itunes and listen. Stop playing, unplug. Rinse, repeat...

Sorry to be off topic but I tried PM and it seems to convert my FLAC to m4a on the fly, load it into memory, and then play it back.  I don't get how it supports *native* FLAC playback (I am probably doing something wrong).
 
As for the HiFace, on 10.6.5 and 10.6.6 it panics constantly connected to my HM-801 via analog in.  No matter what, this driver SHOULD NEVER CRASH the system (its ridiculous).

 

[johangrb]

Re PM: You're right - it does some fancy footwork in order to play FLAC in Itunes. Early days for dev - give it a few months.
 
Not sure on you're HiFace problem though - have you emailed Marco @ M2Tech? They're usually very helpful. (I tested mine again - dead stable going Spdif into a PSA DL3 and also via optical into a iBasso D12).

 

[Trogdor]

Quote:

Re PM: You're right - it does some fancy footwork in order to play FLAC in Itunes. Early days for dev - give it a few months.
 
Not sure on you're HiFace problem though - have you emailed Marco @ M2Tech? They're usually very helpful. (I tested mine again - dead stable going Spdif into a PSA DL3 and also via optical into a iBasso D12).

I emailed Marco several times with stack traces.  I was told frankly a BS answer on why it panics.  It should never panic.  Its driver bugs.
 
They know about the driver panics with streamed audio.  Again no fix for MONTHS.