[Francisk]

I think maxing out the impedance and gain will sound more natural than maxing out the bass and treble.

 

[sluker]

I forgot to mention that with the HE-6 I use the highest gain setting and boost the bass up one level.
I think it is accurate to say that the M8 does not drive the HE-6 to it's best level. And I also like the "relaxed" description, but sometimes that is also enough with certain types of music.

 

[dill3000]

Yes I max the gain also, I wouldn't hear anything if I didn't

 

[Francisk]

Did you max out the impedance? It's supposed to help with high impedance headphones.

 

[dill3000]

Yeah tried all the possibilities. Doesn't make much difference. The HE-6 just needs more current to allow the sonic differences to be heard easily when changing the impedance etc. Example when I hook my M8 to a amp - so I'm using it as a preamp / dac - driving the HE-6 through the amp. I can hear all the sonic differences when flicking the switches.

 

[Francisk]

Looks like the HE-6 is a real beast to drive and so does all the top tier headphones. My M8 drives my HD600 wonderfully.

 

[NZtechfreak]

I know what you mean.

The Hifi-M8 can be used to listen the the HE-6 but I wouldn't say that it drives them properly. I've got both by the way. It gets the HE-6 sounding good - as in detailed (the HE-6 [COLOR=222222]characteristics) but without the [/COLOR]dynamics and energy which gets the HE-6 driven great! Its like the HE-6 is in relaxed mode without the bass definition or slam. All that said - I still use them both together - its great taking the HE-6 to the garden and relaxing listening to music. I have a little tactic to get the M8 - HE-6 a bit louder - I just max out the bass and treble, this gets them singing a little bit more

[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR] 

That sounds right. Lack of dynamics and bass extension/slam/weight are some of the cardinal signs of the HE-6 being inadequately driven. Imaging also suffers badly in my experience (soundstage to a lesser degree also). That isn't to say that it'll necessarily be something you can't enjoy though, context has a role - your example of taking them into the garden is a good illustration of that.

 

[daanh]

Hi, does anyone use the HIFI-M8 with a Fostex TH600? If so, how is the pairing?
 
Thanks, Daan

 

[daanh]

  ^ Hmmnn, I use M8 at home and UHA-6SMKII on the go.

Hi Headwacker, could you say something about the difference between these two?
 
Thanks, Daan

 

[headwhacker]

  Hi Headwacker, could you say something about the difference between these two?
 
Thanks, Daan

 
It's a bit difficult to compare M8 with 6SMKII. Although they are both intended for portable use, they are on different category.
 
For one, you can't separate the DAC and Amp section of M8. The DAC in the leckerton is just say meh.
 
Based on my experience, M8 is more like a a jack of all trades but a master of none. As a portable, M8 is huge and in the case of the i-device model, it best fit the iDevice players. There are plenty of good DAPs out there, just I wish M8 has an analog line input.  It sure sounds nice driving IEMs, good detail retrieval and powerful bass but with sensitive iems you will notice a bit of a presence in the background. It's a very faint bit of hiss and/or hum. It' not really annoying but it's noticeable. I think this what makes the M8 sound more analog without the noticeable noise.
 
For me it's the size and limited option pairing with other DAPs is what I don't like about M8 as a portable device. However, I love it as a desktop amp with my Beyer T1.
 
The UHA-6SMKII to me is the best portable amp. Very transparent and clean background. Dead silent with sensitive iems. Very tight, deep and powerful bass. If you like transparency and with a transparent source,  this is as good as it gets (you have to choose the right opamp though).
 
In short, for iems go for leckerton. For cans, go for M8.

 

[NZheadcase]

   
It's a bit difficult to compare M8 with 6SMKII. Although they are both intended for portable use, they are on different category.
 
For one, you can't separate the DAC and Amp section of M8. The DAC in the leckerton is just say meh.
 
Based on my experience, M8 is more like a a jack of all trades but a master of none. As a portable, M8 is huge and in the case of the i-device model, it best fit the iDevice players. There are plenty of good DAPs out there, just I wish M8 has an analog line input.  It sure sounds nice driving IEMs, good detail retrieval and powerful bass but with sensitive iems you will notice a bit of a presence in the background. It's a very faint bit of hiss and/or hum. It' not really annoying but it's noticeable. I think this what makes the M8 sound more analog without the noticeable noise.
 
For me it's the size and limited option pairing with other DAPs is what I don't like about M8 as a portable device. However, I love it as a desktop amp with my Beyer T1.
 
The UHA-6SMKII to me is the best portable amp. Very transparent and clean background. Dead silent with sensitive iems. Very tight, deep and powerful bass. If you like transparency and with a transparent source,  this is as good as it gets (you have to choose the right opamp though).
 
In short, for iems go for leckerton. For cans, go for M8.

 
+1
 
Great comparison there. 

 

[NZheadcase]

Sigh....
 
I have just found out that my M8 4XL is again delayed due to parts issues. Kenny offered me a CMB version that can ship now, but sadly I have prepped all my gear for the 4XL now. Hunkering down for another month.
 
Soooo want to get it now...must resist temptation to take CMB version....

 

[thegrobe]

Sigh....

I have just found out that my M8 4XL is again delayed due to parts issues. Kenny offered me a CMB version that can ship now, but sadly I have prepped all my gear for the 4XL now. Hunkering down for another month.

Soooo want to get it now...must resist temptation to take CMB version....

CMB ...resist! You can resist! You give up the 1/8 output (and optical) with that configuration. Not to mention unwieldy dual XLR's for balanced out.

I'm waiting on an RSA version, last I heard from Stacie it would be end of April. I'm wishing I just kept my 4XL at this point. I miss it every day! Unbearable!

 

[NZheadcase]

CMB ...resist! You can resist! You give up the 1/8 output (and optical) with that configuration. Not to mention unwieldy dual XLR's for balanced out.

I'm waiting on an RSA version, last I heard from Stacie it would be end of April. I'm wishing I just kept my 4XL at this point. I miss it every day! Unbearable!

 
I was also going to ask if RSA was available, but from what you just said, it's safe to assume they only have the CMB right now. Yeah, you're right, I will have to wait. I already have the cables and stuff for my Planars. 
 

 

[LyonTee]

I was at reseller today trying to sort out the same problem. Thought it could be a cable fault. Turns out that once you switch off the Centrance, you need to shut down and restart the Ipod (hold down menu and centre button same time until Apple logo appears) for it to work with Centrance if its switched on again. Bit of a bummer. Ipod can't work if its just in sleep mode. 
I also found out that Ipod can handle 24 bit.48khz ALAC files.