[Audiowood]

Nothing to think about..just close your eyes and click buy.

 

[mgoodman]

Quote:

 
Yes.  Another way to think of the ribbon cable and those two boards is as an extension cable for the mil-spec connector.  The normal M8 that we'll all be getting is mil-spec-to-mil-spec connector with no ribbon cable or adapter boards in between.
 
I don't know how much Michael wants to tell us about that mil-spec connector, but it looks like one that's designed to carry pretty high-speed digital signals (like 10s or 100s of megahertz).  We use one that has a similar footprint (Samtec ERF8 and ERM8 series) to carry multi-gigahertz signals.
 
The ribbon cable is also probably not usable for M8s that have to work out in the real world.  Depending on what Michael's transferring over that connector, he picked that connector balancing a variety of design constraints:  
 
- packaging: the M8 has to be small, so the connector has to be dense and short.  The ribbon cable is entirely too big and clunky.
 
- emissions: fast digital signals can radiate a lot of noise, and connectors that have shields (this one doesn't appear to have one, but this is not necessarily important), enough pins to use every other line as ground (this connector can be used in this way), and defined electrical characteristics like having a characteristic impedance can all help reduce radiated noise.  When you reduce emissions you usually also help with susceptibility:  the situation where an external source of electrical noise (like cellphones) can screw up your device.  When you do the FCC and CE testing for electronic devices, you are expected to test both emissions and susceptibility.
 
- bandwidth: the ability to pass fast digital signals without distortion which could cause things like jitter if you're driving the clock through that connector, or unreliable communications between the boards.  Many of the things that help with emissions also help here.
 
- durability: you don't want anything breaking or coming loose when it's handled roughly (UPS and FedEx in my experience as most users are pretty careful).  Things that are plugged and unplugged also have a cycle rating that says how many times they can be plugged and unplugged before they become unreliable (not important here, but applicable to things like headphone jacks).
 
- cost: you don't want to use a more expensive part than is necessary to achieve your design and quality goals.  There are some very expensive connectors out there for no other reason than that they are produced in very small quantities.  Some connectors require handwork to assemble onto a board, and that can cost more money (for the extra human time for putting the board together) and decrease reliability.  As much as possible, you want the assembly of the board to be automated: with little exception, it will be cheaper and more reliable.
 
- availability: available from different vendors is good so you don't run out of parts, or in case one vendor goes out of business
 
So you can see that picking a connector is a mix of design and manufacturability, and it's not uncommon to have to compromise on one or more of these things because there isn't a connector that fits your needs perfectly.  
 
And that's just for one connector!  There are lots of other things that go into the board along with the board itself that can affect the quality, cost, and reliability of the device.

Hey, stop giving away our secrets!
 
Actually, a very detailed description and to the point. I'd love to continue the geekfest, but we might want to take it into the private message thread. Afraid that the rest of the folks here will yawn

 

[mgoodman]

Quote:

I'm not getting replies back from Centrance at the above email. Anyone getting responses? btw, when exactly the preorder window closes? If I order now, what is the tentative date of shipment?

Sorry about the lack of lightning-fast response.We are building prototypes 24 hours a day now.
Don't worry, if your email is in our mailbox, you are safe. We will respond to your email within a day if we haven't done it yet.

 

[Golden Ears]

Crap....I just plunked down for a second 1000 watt McIntosh car amp,without enough time for the wallet to recover. I bought the Masterclass speakers thinking they might run out, but should have got the M8. I now have 3080 watts of power for a car... I need to shed at least 400 watts. Anyone want a nice Mc440M 6 channel car amp?

Why would you want one?


Because my GF is using the remarkably versatile. CEntrance HI-FI M8 with dual XLR Cpmbo jacks to do triple duty.

She plans on using the CEntrance HI-FI M8 to run as a source for her car stereo being fed by an ipad mini to feed her two 4 channel 400 watt mcIntosh amps ,

1. she drives to Aspens free commuter parking lot, unplugs the (2 ) 1/4 TRS plugs feeding her (2) 400 watt 4 channel amps from her combo XLRs.
2. Then she takes the free shuttle with headphones and skis a few runs using her iPhone as source.
3. then she goes to work and plugs in there using her CEntrance HI-Fi M8 as pre-amp DAC for her workstation
4. When she gets home she uses the quick disconnect on her amps and a 12 volt power source to run her Magneplanar Tympani 1d current hungry speakers bi amplified with 400 watts per side... Or just 200 watts per side and connects the other 8 speakers throughout the house with the remaining (4) ) 100 watt channels - her Hi-fi M8 is fed via USB and her computer is controlled remotely by her iPad mini over her network.

This is the way she buys one system to do multiple things. By only spending for the electronics once, she can afford lots of speakers instead of just 1 room of sound and a separate headphone set up. Viva the hi-fi M8! It saved herabout $4000.

She better get that pre- order in soon.

Of anyone buys any of my McIntosh car amps, or anything off this list I'll plunk down too. PM me.
Well I owned that iPod 5.5 gen and put a 256gb SSD in it and got the iPod conversion.

This is the next best thing the CEntrance Hi-Fi M8. Built in DAC and can be fed with USB and you can pick either Coaxial SP/dif or an iOS compatible device like iPhone, iPad to extract its digital files.

I want to hear it before I buy one, but I could not resist his highly rewied desktop speakers normally $599 ...he has perfect show sample B-stock going for a paltry $299. I got them .... Talk about money well spent. I like them better than my older ProAc Response 1SC, and better than ANY other speaker of its size. He voiced them beautifully, he must have spent a ton of time picking the right trade offs. No gimmicky sound- they are FOR SURE HIGH END. They even get the difficult figure 8 rattle snake pan from the Doors The ghost song and the helicopter flight from The End correct and the tall diagonal thunderclap from Riders on the storm right....something that is very hard for speakers costing 10 times what I paid. These are so cool. And, I wasn't even using good wire or interconnect.

I need another pair of speakers in my house like I need a hole in my head . So I will sell some of this stuff before I end up on an episode of hoarders.


Magneplanar Tympani IVa....$3200

Chapman T-8* MSRP $8995 selling for $5200
Chapman T-8 MKII* MSRP $9995 selling for $600
Chapman T-9MKII* MRSP $20,000 selling for $12,500
Chapman T-7* not selling ..yet..
Genelec s30D ribbon studio monitors, MSRP $6000 selling $3200
several boxes of car audio speakers, woofers tweeters mid basses, (2) McIntosh Mc4000M 6 channel 1000 watt car amplifiers,
(2) McIntosh Mc443 300 watt mono block car amplifiers,
McIntosh Mc440M 6 channel 400 watt car amplifier* selling for $1200
Audio Research VS-110 tube amp with Great northern sound upgrade* wit upgrade went for $7800 selling for $4500
Wadia 860x with GNS statement level upgrade
Wadia 121 DIgital decoding computer / digital pre-amp* MSRP 1299 selling after 20 days for $1000.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

@mgoodman.

I am planning to attend the next show in Tokyo, Japan and look forward to trying the hifi-m8 again.

Do we have any updates on ipods/ touch/ iphone / ipads ( more recent models) and what sample bit rates they will be able to play?
I know my ipod touch can play 24/96 tracks with flacplayer app, but if course it gets downsampled.
What will be the final native bit rates for idevices?

I personally would be happy if i can get 24/48 natively with my iphone4.

Thanks again.
Regards.

 

[elnero]

Quote:

You guys beat me. November 4th for me. 6 months on Saturday. But as was said, who's counting.

 
October 19th for me.
 
If it weren't for the way Michael has handled this pre-order I would have been very frustrated long and ever ago but by being honest and open, keeping us consistently up to date with progress, I have felt fairly comfortable having my money tied up that long. Hopefully other companies take note, communication is key.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

October 21 for me.

I expected April-June 2013 from the companies initial completion forecasts.
And as written above by the previous poster the communication throughout has been stellar and part of the fun.
It doesnt seem like i have been waiting 6.5 months at all.

 

[eron]

Quote:

And as written above by the previous poster the communication throughout has been stellar and part of the fun.
It doesnt seem like i have been waiting 6.5 months at all.

+1
If only Kickstarter project creators can learn from CEntrance in their product updates, I'm sure many more KS backers will be happy.

 

[mgoodman]

Crap....I just plunked down for a second 1000 watt McIntosh car amp,without enough time for the wallet to recover..

PM me and we could try to figure out something.

 

[mgoodman]

+1
If only Kickstarter project creators can learn from CEntrance in their product updates, I'm sure many more KS backers will be happy.

Thanks, guys. You have really helped us with your support and enthusiasm. We took on a big job and knowing that people needed this thing allowed us to push through a lot of obstacles, which would normally be too much.

And for open communication, this is actually my third daily blog (DACport, DACmini, now HiFi-M8). The other two products developed this way ended up doing well and both got on the Stereophile recommended product list, so that is to say we have a fighting chance here

 

[Radiohead99]

Quote:

Sorry about the lack of lightning-fast response.We are building prototypes 24 hours a day now.
Don't worry, if your email is in our mailbox, you are safe. We will respond to your email within a day if we haven't done it yet.

 
I was only worrying a bit because of the 24 hour window.  But I called up Centrance, got my answers and within an hour received the email from Stacie. So, its all good.

 

[moodyrn]

Seeing all of these posts of October payment caught me off guard a bit as I was sure I paid around the same time the preorder was opened. I've been under the assumption I paid in November. I went back to pull up my invoice and it was oct 22, wow I was off by a month. So glad this journey will be coming to an end soon.

 

[Audiowood]

Order on Oct 19th for me. Fun journey so far..

 

[Armaegis]

I wonder who's got #1... 

 

[AndreYew]

Quote:

Hey, stop giving away our secrets!
 
Actually, a very detailed description and to the point. I'd love to continue the geekfest, but we might want to take it into the private message thread. Afraid that the rest of the folks here will yawn

 
Haha, no problem Michael.  Reading your blog always makes me feel better because I can relate to so many of the issues you've faced.  For example, I think we both had exploding capacitors within the same month.