Three man, two years and a visit from outer space - Hifi E.T MA9, yet another audiophile DAP from China.

[Swimsonny]

It was a review sample and it is in the house It is at the mains on charge now and then i will stick some music in it!

 

[Swimsonny]

Unboxing  
 

 

[doublea71]

The AK100 looks pretty sweet - dual microSD slots plus 32gb internal memory, low distortion, 24/192 support (if you think it's necessary), album art supported, small touch screen with an eq....lots to like, really.
 

 

[project86]

Just got one of these thing in, and I'm completely surprised by the quality. Absolutely silent background - no pops or fuzz on boot, nothing while music plays, nothing while skipping tracks.... this might be one of the most silent DAPs I've ever heard. I was not expecting that. Even my most sensitive CIEMs like the Sensaphonics 3MAX are inky black. Wow. 
 
It seems to use the same UI as my iHiFi812V2 with a minor "skin" for slightly different appearance. It looks more polished in most ways. 
 
Sound is very promising - super dynamic and punchy, great separation, top notch imaging. I still can't believe this thing performs as well as it does. I'll have to spend more time comparing it to the iHiFi812 and the iHiFi960 which also just came in.... but so far color me impressed. The elephant in the room is the price though, which is on the high side for sure. I guess the ability to use this as a USB DAC, and the line-out capability, and the modular design should somewhat negate the price issue. They talked about an ES9018 DAC module on their blog. 

 

[Koopa989]

Quote:

Its listed on ebay....LOL...the description....
 
 
E.T

 
lol @ 'nondestructive'
 
such a random detail to mention for a DAP.

 

[Swimsonny]

Nice impressions project. Quite in line with what i am hearing. I am also very impressed. I wish i still had the tera player on hand to compare but i think that it is not quite as transparent or silent as the TP but it has driving capabilities way out of the league of the tera player and although the UI is basic, it is a lot better than TP.
 
It is really solid as well koopa, so yes nondestructive quite probably heheh
 
The modular thing is very cool but it has to be easy to purchase new boards and i have not seen any so far!

 

[project86]

I suspect "nondestructive" in this context is a translation of "lossless" or something like that. But it applies to the device as a whole because it really is a solidly made thing. Very tough - not that I want to drop it, but it seems like it could survive.

 

[retrophonic]

I would love to know as well.

 

[Currawong]

Merged both the threads on this. It does look like an interesting DAP indeed. Maybe 2013 will be the year of the DAP?

 

[doublea71]

I hope so - daps need to catch up to the levels of quality we see in headphones and iems, but it is a daunting task since there is so much more to consider and a lot more can go wrong, as well. The RWAK100 seems to be just that in early impressions I've read, but it's quite pricy. I'm very hopeful that the Fiio X3 will light a fire underneath other companies and help push the envelope further in the mid-tier segment. My big picture view/projection is that we're going to see several jaw-droppingly good daps that are also affordable in the next 5 years. 

 

[Alex_Nsk]

Hi. I'm an exclusive sales agent of Monster Audio Co. ltd. in Russia and CIS (excluding the Ukraine)
I'm proud to say that Russian enthusiasts (with respect to me of cause

) have integrated famous rockbox firmware into this beautiful DAP.
Here is a link to MA Port of rockbox firmware and instructions for flashing: http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/HifietMAPort
Feel free to ask me the questions about it.

 

[Theta Alpha 1]

Quote:

Here are some spec:
Screen size: 320*240 QVGA 2.36inches
DAC: PCM1704 (swappable / upgradeable by manufacturer)
AMP: OPA627+ dual BUF634 each channel (single end or balanced output, also swappable / upgradeable by user)
I/V: OPA627
LPF: LME49722
USB-DAC supported (PCM2707)
Voltage swing (max): 2.9V @ 16ohm, 5V @ 300ohm

If you read Chinese, here is the blog of the developer.

 
 
Do you think the user can request a board without BUF634 or with something different than OPA627, such as LME49990?
 
 
I saw this picture on their blog...
 

 
 
Looks like Tantalum capacitors, not sure.

 

[Alex_Nsk]

If you want you can take a deal with me and buy the item with my little respect. Feel free to ask me how to perform it in a private mesage.
Thanks.
 
Possibly my work on a project MA9 can be interesting  for somebody...
Quote:

Right now I with my programmer work on MA8 platform integration (with a help from Monster Audio Co ltd too of cause) .
When it will be completed somebody can download it via link placed above.
 
I think it will be a wonderful news that we integrate software based HOLD function to the MA9 player. It can be performed via pressing the MENU + ESC buttons simultaneously.
Now the MA9 is the BEST HI-FI DAP around the world for sure. But it can be made even more in a  HI-END manner.
 
So far I  perform some tweaks for many famous HI FI DAPs (for example QLS QA-350, Colorfly CK4, Hifiman HM601, HM801, iBasso DX100)  and for MA9 too as well.
Just for information about some differences between stock MA9 and MA9 Alex Edition   :
 
1. Different i/u op amps. I use best high slew rate current feedback ones.  Most accurate and neutral ones.
2. I/u resistors of a very best quality around the world ever (of 0.1% accuracy btw)
3.  Al tantalum caps around the DAC will be changed to Rubicon Black Gate NX-HQ (most important points) and Black Gate PK in other.  It is best caps here but now almost unavailable (Absolete) and very expensive.
4. I use absolutely isolated clocking for feeding the DAC circuit. Little board has an ASRC working in a synchro mode 512Fs (22.5792MHz) and use very high quality TCXO generator with negligible jitter and minimal phase noise from best supplier. This is the Master-clock option.
5. I use different Op Amp (more neutral than stock OPA637) in a combined headphone amplifier circuit.
6. All bypass caps on a AMP board placed as close to the each power pins of each chips as possible. Here are Black Gate PK again used.
7.  I raise the bias current for all output buffers. It increase the dynamic and improve stability of schematic btw.
8. I totally omit the output resistance of headphone amplifier.
 
Have a fun!
As for another  DAPs: the portation of rockbox to them is absolutely unavailable. Until somebody work hard to do it same way as we do with the MA9.