[Kevinb0127]

@mgoodman any notion of MQA support? Would be nice to access Tidal Masters via a mobile device.

Already have an order in and looking forward to it!

 

[schalliol]

I wasn't familiar with MQA. That's a good question! CEntrance has an opportunity to differentiate by being new with a product to the market, so perhaps that could help them with sales if they can offer it.

 

[astr0n0m1nus]

Now that it has been decided to go ahead with AKM 4493 chip, will a dual dac setup be implemented or will the M8 V2 have only a single dac chip?

 

[doctorjazz]

I was under the impression it would be fully balanced, which I'd think includes the DAC. But, I could be wrong, if course.

 

[Max Choiral]

Now that it has been decided to go ahead with AKM 4493 chip, will a dual dac setup be implemented or will the M8 V2 have only a single dac chip?

May I ask where did you get info on what d/a converter will be used in M8 v.2?

 

[astr0n0m1nus]

May I ask where did you get info on what d/a converter will be used in M8 v.2?

This was shared in the second project update e-mail received from CEntrance earlier today.

 

[Max Choiral]

This was shared in the second project update e-mail received from CEntrance earlier today.

Ok, thanks.

 

[schalliol]

I was under the impression it would be fully balanced, which I'd think includes the DAC. But, I could be wrong, if course.

Let's be sure on this. The old Hi-Fi M8 I thought was fully balanced when I bought it and later learned it wasn't. This one I understand is fully balanced, meaning the DAC would be too. Is that correct?

 

[ai_enabled]

Let's be sure on this. The old Hi-Fi M8 I thought was fully balanced when I bought it and later learned it wasn't. This one I understand is fully balanced, meaning the DAC would be too. Is that correct?

Original HiFi-M8 has a fully balanced DAC and filter stage, but only a single amplifier (to reduce the power drain). The reasoning was explained by Michael Goodman in this post from 2014.

New HiFi-M8 V2 will have balanced amplifiers as you can read in his recent comment here:

For this product we are giving preference to loud output and ability to drive all cans comfortably (without losing the ability to drive sensitive IEMs quietly). So that means putting in two amps, really. An ultra powerful one for the large cans and a medium power one for IEMs. Both balanced, so multiply by two.

I think there is no need to explain that usage of balanced amplifier will make no sense if the DAC is not balanced .

Furthermore, from the HiFi-M8 V2 announcement video:

CEntrance updates it's award-winning HiFi-M8 Portable DAC/Amp for Version 2, adding Calibrated Meters, Fully Balanced outputs, DSD, and much much more!

It's definitely a fully balanced DAC/Amp combo.

Regards!

 

[newtophones07]

What is the estimated release date?

Seems odd to NOT include ldac (website comments says aptx only), yet charge $50 for "balanced" Bluetooth.

Why would a digital signal be routed differently through a single ended lane, on a device with balanced architecture anyway?

 

[mgoodman]

Ok, thanks.

Sign up for email updates here:

https://centrance.com/portable-reference-dac-special-offer/

 

[mgoodman]

Watch for another exciting update next week. More about balanced connections there.

 

[mgoodman]

I was under the impression it would be fully balanced, which I'd think includes the DAC. But, I could be wrong, if course.

The DAC output is balanced already. So that's taken care of.

Multiple DACs is a path of diminishing returns. Looks good on paper, but in reality ends up being expensive, battery inefficient and not much better quality-wise. Not worth it, if everything else is done correctly, meaning grounding, power supplies, amps, firmware, etc.

 

[mgoodman]

What is the estimated release date?

Seems odd to NOT include ldac (website comments says aptx only), yet charge $50 for "balanced" Bluetooth.

Why would a digital signal be routed differently through a single ended lane, on a device with balanced architecture anyway?

We have found (and the experts agree) that a good analog implementation goes a long way towards ensuring quality playback. We take the digital output from the Bluetooth radio, convert it to analog and then run balanced analog lines to the amps. That works wonders and gives you amazing Bluetooth quality, incomparable to anything else on the market.

 

[mgoodman]

What are the likelihood of bypassing the amp stage and output signal directly from the balanced DAC into an external balanced amp for future proofing?

Future proofing the amp is less of an issue as amps are awesome already. Even portable ones. The DACs keep getting upgraded, but the state of the art in DACs today is mind blowing as well. You will probably be upgrading to a smaller device if anything. That is when battery technology matures further. I'd expect that direction to yield the biggest breakthroughs in the future. The sound quality is already there, so if the size is acceptable, there may not be a need to upgrade for a very long time!