[Slim1970]

Any new updates that can be shared with everyone?

 

[elira]

Does anyone has an update?

 

[Slim1970]

Does anyone has an update?

I'm waiting to hear something too.

 

[haoyuan]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._v2_battery_powered_portable_usb_dac.html/amp

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._v2_battery_powered_portable_usb_dac.html/amp

Hmmmm

 

[Slim1970]

Hmmmm

Right, we should’ve been the first to be notified. We’ve been on the waiting list since the V2 first announced. On a side note, maybe we’ll start receiving our shipment notifications

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Depends

some stores list things up before they are available.

i would wait for @mgoodman to comment.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

A little birdie told me that there will be an update tomorrow.

 

[Slim1970]

A little birdie told me that there will be an update tomorrow.

Sounds good! I hope it's the ready to ship update

 

[ExpatinJapan]

A little birdie told me that there will be an update tomorrow.

tweet tweet

i remember you helping me many years ago. You were very patient with my questions and detailed in your replies.

thanks again!

 

[Currawong]

A little birdie told me that there will be an update tomorrow.

The Pentagon already announced that those UFO videos were real. Oh, wait, wrong topic.

Good to see you still around Larry!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I chatted with Michael around lunchtime, and he was working on his update. Sorry it didn't get posted yet.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Here is the most recent email update from CEntrance today:

HiFi-M8 V2 DAC/AMP PROJECT UPDATE Hello from CEntrance! We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Here is a project status update. TLDR: Quarantine is slowing everything down, but it won’t stop us. We are working through the obstacles. The parts which we thought we had purchased, went out of stock. We spent a month chasing them down and finally, we have them. Now, on to the details... Parts are Finally at the Factory Looks like everything slows down during an epidemic. It feels like we are moving through thick syrup, running at about 50% normal efficiency. Is this what you experience as well? It took us a month just to collect the parts we had already purchased! First we couldn’t get the XMOS USB interface chips. So we went to our friends at XMOS and finally got the parts. Then, a shipment of AK4493 DACs, which had already been set aside for us, has somehow disappeared. We had to reach out to our contacts at AKM to find another lot. It helps to have friends, but it shouldn’t be this difficult... As the industry is dealing with unprecedented uncertainty, many other components were also unavailable, so we spent weeks selecting quality alternatives and figuring out how to ship them across the pond. Shipping is a challenge these days, but fortunately, all components except the 1/4” jack have finally arrived at the factory and are waiting for our signal to build. We did find the jacks and they are coming shortly. Fingers crossed... Improved Performance Work is the best alternative to frustration. While waiting for the parts, we went ahead and prototyped another round of boards. The benefits will reveal themselves when you finally have the product in hand. We improved Bluetooth wireless range and audio performance. We fully isolated the Bluetooth radio module for absolute quiet noise floor and pristine, balanced audio quality. It sounds nice and it's wireless. We upgraded the amps on the hot side. There is even more power now. It will be hard to find the cans that this product won’t drive. We improved meter precision and ballistics. We calibrated the meters to FS digital. We tweaked the ballistics for a pleasing visual presentation. We re-ranged the scale to show you a wider dynamic range of 40dB. Japanese tape decks and studio consoles show about 30dB, but we are adding another 10dB so you can “see” your music better. We improved the internal code to measure battery charge levels precisely. The three battery level LEDs will continuously track the charge and always give you correct reading of its status. There should be no need for firmware upgrades because the final product which ships to you should be feature-complete. Some Pictures from the bench The Latest Boards Latest version is 9.9. We don't mind making lots of prototypes to polish the sound and performance. The bottom level PCB (left) contains the USB interface, Digital volume control, Battery charging circuits, digital power supplies and LED meters. Most chips are on the opposite side. Its packed! The top level PCB (right) contains the Bluetooth radio, Mixer, EQ, Analog power supplies and 8 amps. That is 4 amps for the cool side and 4 more for the hot side. Balanced stereo requires 4 individual amplifiers. Loading the Code Programming the boards is a multi-step process. There are 4 CPUs in the product: XMOS USB processor, TI MSP430 CPU that controls switches and buttons, Battery Gauge chip and Bluetooth radio. All have custom code that is loaded via special harnesses during the programming/testing step, right after the board sandwich is assembled together. This is what the factory will do. We are documenting the steps for them now. Review Samples Going Out Our confidence in the product is high and we are ready to collect professional opinions. We have selected 5 esteemed Audiophile Reviewers around the globe to give us their feedback about the product. Review samples are going out to King Rudi in Singapore, Head Pie in Japan, Porta.Fi/Portativ in Europe, Headphone Addict in Colorado and Occupy HiFi in New York. Consider them lucky. We are planning to send samples out next week and in parallel, will be starting production. Product Page Coronavirus threw us all a curve, just as we were nearing the finish line. But have faith, we won’t let you down. CEntrance is alive and well. Our recording products MicPort and MixerFace are very popular for live streaming, so we are busy shipping to musicians, broadcasters and podcasters. Some of these guys are really famous and we cannot wait to share about it. More on that soon. Meanwhile, with all that commotion, we confess we have not yet finished the user manual for HiFi-M8 V2. However we have made good progress on the website and hope you enjoy the updates: https://centrance.com/hifi-m8/ The Specs are coming soon -- we are performing final measurements and validation. HiFi-M8-V2 with new CEntrance headphones, Cerene dB. DACport Pro A quick update on the new product that happened in the meantime. As we mentioned previously, a series of conversations with Hollywood producers revealed a need for a DAC with XLR outputs. We are calling it DACport Pro. It's a DAC and Monitor Controller based on the same platform as HiFi-M8, but it's geared towards desktop and other installed applications. DACport Pro does not have a battery -- it's powered by USB from a laptop. DACport Pro is a great USB DAC with 3-pin XLR outputs. It could be connected to a mixing console, powered monitors, or a home stereo system. It has a large volume knob and an awesome headphone amp. But only one headphone jack. Not four jacks, like in HiFi-M8. It's a different application. Here are the two products, side by side. DACport Pro will be going into production as soon as HiFi-M8 V2 is built and sent out to backers. Please be careful during this "interesting time" and most importantly stay healthy! We are working hard to start shipping soon! Back Panel View HiFi-M8-V2 on the left, DACport Pro on the right. Front Panel View DACport Pro on the left, HiFi-M8-V2 on the right. If you have not yet preordered the CEntrance HiFi-M8-V2, time is running out. The price has gone up to $629.99. Once the product is available for general sale, the price will go up to $749, so act now. Get a great DAC/Amp at a great price, while you can! Preorder HiFi-M8 V2 now!​ ​ Share​ ​ Tweet​ ​ Forward​ © 2020 CEntrance. All rights reserved. www.centrance.com info@centrance.com Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

 

[Slim1970]

Here is the most recent email update from CEntrance today:

​

​ ​ ​ ​ HiFi-M8 V2 DAC/AMP ​ PROJECT UPDATE ​ ​ Hello from CEntrance! We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Here is a project status update. TLDR: Quarantine is slowing everything down, but it won’t stop us. We are working through the obstacles. The parts which we thought we had purchased, went out of stock. We spent a month chasing them down and finally, we have them. Now, on to the details... ​ Parts are Finally at the Factory Looks like everything slows down during an epidemic. It feels like we are moving through thick syrup, running at about 50% normal efficiency. Is this what you experience as well? It took us a month just to collect the parts we had already purchased! First we couldn’t get the XMOS USB interface chips. So we went to our friends at XMOS and finally got the parts. Then, a shipment of AK4493 DACs, which had already been set aside for us, has somehow disappeared. We had to reach out to our contacts at AKM to find another lot. It helps to have friends, but it shouldn’t be this difficult... As the industry is dealing with unprecedented uncertainty, many other components were also unavailable, so we spent weeks selecting quality alternatives and figuring out how to ship them across the pond. Shipping is a challenge these days, but fortunately, all components except the 1/4” jack have finally arrived at the factory and are waiting for our signal to build. We did find the jacks and they are coming shortly. Fingers crossed... ​ Improved Performance Work is the best alternative to frustration. While waiting for the parts, we went ahead and prototyped another round of boards. The benefits will reveal themselves when you finally have the product in hand. We improved Bluetooth wireless range and audio performance. We fully isolated the Bluetooth radio module for absolute quiet noise floor and pristine, balanced audio quality. It sounds nice and it's wireless. We upgraded the amps on the hot side. There is even more power now. It will be hard to find the cans that this product won’t drive. We improved meter precision and ballistics. We calibrated the meters to FS digital. We tweaked the ballistics for a pleasing visual presentation. We re-ranged the scale to show you a wider dynamic range of 40dB. Japanese tape decks and studio consoles show about 30dB, but we are adding another 10dB so you can “see” your music better. We improved the internal code to measure battery charge levels precisely. The three battery level LEDs will continuously track the charge and always give you correct reading of its status. There should be no need for firmware upgrades because the final product which ships to you should be feature-complete. ​ Some Pictures from the bench ​ ​ ​ The Latest Boards Latest version is 9.9. We don't mind making lots of prototypes to polish the sound and performance. The bottom level PCB (left) contains the USB interface, Digital volume control, Battery charging circuits, digital power supplies and LED meters. Most chips are on the opposite side. Its packed! The top level PCB (right) contains the Bluetooth radio, Mixer, EQ, Analog power supplies and 8 amps. That is 4 amps for the cool side and 4 more for the hot side. Balanced stereo requires 4 individual amplifiers. ​ ​ Loading the Code Programming the boards is a multi-step process. There are 4 CPUs in the product: XMOS USB processor, TI MSP430 CPU that controls switches and buttons, Battery Gauge chip and Bluetooth radio. All have custom code that is loaded via special harnesses during the programming/testing step, right after the board sandwich is assembled together. This is what the factory will do. We are documenting the steps for them now. ​ Review Samples Going Out Our confidence in the product is high and we are ready to collect professional opinions. We have selected 5 esteemed Audiophile Reviewers around the globe to give us their feedback about the product. Review samples are going out to King Rudi in Singapore, Head Pie in Japan, Porta.Fi/Portativ in Europe, Headphone Addict in Colorado and Occupy HiFi in New York. Consider them lucky. We are planning to send samples out next week and in parallel, will be starting production. ​ Product Page Coronavirus threw us all a curve, just as we were nearing the finish line. But have faith, we won’t let you down. CEntrance is alive and well. Our recording products MicPort and MixerFace are very popular for live streaming, so we are busy shipping to musicians, broadcasters and podcasters. Some of these guys are really famous and we cannot wait to share about it. More on that soon. Meanwhile, with all that commotion, we confess we have not yet finished the user manual for HiFi-M8 V2. However we have made good progress on the website and hope you enjoy the updates: https://centrance.com/hifi-m8/ The Specs are coming soon -- we are performing final measurements and validation. ​ ​ HiFi-M8-V2 with new CEntrance headphones, Cerene dB. ​ DACport Pro A quick update on the new product that happened in the meantime. As we mentioned previously, a series of conversations with Hollywood producers revealed a need for a DAC with XLR outputs. We are calling it DACport Pro. It's a DAC and Monitor Controller based on the same platform as HiFi-M8, but it's geared towards desktop and other installed applications. DACport Pro does not have a battery -- it's powered by USB from a laptop. DACport Pro is a great USB DAC with 3-pin XLR outputs. It could be connected to a mixing console, powered monitors, or a home stereo system. It has a large volume knob and an awesome headphone amp. But only one headphone jack. Not four jacks, like in HiFi-M8. It's a different application. Here are the two products, side by side. DACport Pro will be going into production as soon as HiFi-M8 V2 is built and sent out to backers. ​ Please be careful during this "interesting time" and most importantly stay healthy! We are working hard to start shipping soon! ​ ​ Back Panel View HiFi-M8-V2 on the left, DACport Pro on the right. ​ ​ Front Panel View DACport Pro on the left, HiFi-M8-V2 on the right. ​ If you have not yet preordered the CEntrance HiFi-M8-V2, time is running out. The price has gone up to $629.99. Once the product is available for general sale, the price will go up to $749, so act now. Get a great DAC/Amp at a great price, while you can! ​ Preorder HiFi-M8 V2 now!​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Share​ ​ ​ Tweet​ ​ ​ Forward​ ​ ​ © 2020 CEntrance. All rights reserved. www.centrance.com info@centrance.com Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Got it this email this morning. It sounds like we're getting closer to a release. I like the additional upgrades/changes they made. The additional power and bluetooth upgrades are nice!

 

[newworld666]

Is there still no one news or even expectation about the power available in balanced mode ?

I am looking for more or less 1.5W to 2W @ 32ohms (at least more than 1W @ 40 Ohms) to drive a Heddphone.
There are not so many possibilities to be free at home with such headphone.
Actually I am using Xduuo XD-05Plus in unbalanced mode.
I am hoping a step in sound quality with this CEntrance M8 V2 in balanced mode and the price seems to stay quite affordable for my usage.