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- Apr 28, 2007
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Quote:
I've been using the PCM-M10 daily for 18 months now, as a player, not as a recorder, and I'm still very happy with it. It's amazingly durable, by the way.
I've made a few recordings with it - the ubiquitous thunder storms and surf at the beach, for example, but I've never used it to record live music. It's 96/24-capable sigma-delta DAC is not discrete - its integrated into the jack-of-all-trades circuit board. Some people argue (without listening to it) that it can't possibly be any good, given that a DAC and headphone amp are surely just afterthoughts for a recorder, but it sounds great to my ears, using the Line Out to bypass it's internal amp - and I've done some serious comparisons.
I've heard better sources than the PCM-M10, or course, so I know it's not ideal, but in my experience, it's the best portable DAP I've heard. dj Nellie implied that it can compete with the HM-801, despite the impression that it's a bit grainy and bright. For the money, it's a complete no-brainer. A sleeper. A best-kept secret.
Be warned, however, its menus are designed for making recordings, not for playback - they offer no ability to sort by album, by artist, by song, etc. You can only navigate folders of your own design/naming convention and the folders can only gone on-layer deep. It accepts Micro SD cards up to 32GB, and that too becomes a hassle, as you find yourself swapping cards to get the music you're in the mood to hear.
For the worst I can say about the PCM-M10s sound quality, read this post and the one that immediately follows it (where I compare it to the amazing Centrance DACport LX). Let me add that my friend offered to sell me his DACport LX a few weeks later - I turned him down, because I want a much more portable source than a laptop + USB DAC.
Mike
I've been using the PCM-M10 daily for 18 months now, as a player, not as a recorder, and I'm still very happy with it. It's amazingly durable, by the way.
I've made a few recordings with it - the ubiquitous thunder storms and surf at the beach, for example, but I've never used it to record live music. It's 96/24-capable sigma-delta DAC is not discrete - its integrated into the jack-of-all-trades circuit board. Some people argue (without listening to it) that it can't possibly be any good, given that a DAC and headphone amp are surely just afterthoughts for a recorder, but it sounds great to my ears, using the Line Out to bypass it's internal amp - and I've done some serious comparisons.
I've heard better sources than the PCM-M10, or course, so I know it's not ideal, but in my experience, it's the best portable DAP I've heard. dj Nellie implied that it can compete with the HM-801, despite the impression that it's a bit grainy and bright. For the money, it's a complete no-brainer. A sleeper. A best-kept secret.
Be warned, however, its menus are designed for making recordings, not for playback - they offer no ability to sort by album, by artist, by song, etc. You can only navigate folders of your own design/naming convention and the folders can only gone on-layer deep. It accepts Micro SD cards up to 32GB, and that too becomes a hassle, as you find yourself swapping cards to get the music you're in the mood to hear.
For the worst I can say about the PCM-M10s sound quality, read this post and the one that immediately follows it (where I compare it to the amazing Centrance DACport LX). Let me add that my friend offered to sell me his DACport LX a few weeks later - I turned him down, because I want a much more portable source than a laptop + USB DAC.
Mike
Last week I came so close to buying a PB2 + DB2 combo but I wasn't sure if the balanced stuff is really worth for custom iems as I don't intend to use them with my Hifimans 
