M2Tech HiFace 24/192 USB->S/PDIF penstyle interface

TomS · « **on:** 11 Oct 2009, 11:48 am »

This is a penstyle USB device from Italy, does 24/192 USB to S/PDIF but with some interesting twists and hi-rez support on USB. http://www.m2tech.biz/products.html. There is a white paper on the site that explains more detail.

It is supported on Windows now, Mac and Linux coming "soon". The key thing is it bypasses Kernel Mixer and uses a proprietary USB chip design and Windows driver for Kernel Streaming at lower latency. This also means Foobar only, but it supports all the usual formats Wav, FLAC, etc. For clocks, it does not use PLL, rather two 2.5ppm local crystal oscillators, so should be pretty low jitter. Since there is less CPU overhead, presumably it should work well on quiet Netbooks and various low cost Atom type motherboards too. Could be a very low cost total hi-rez solution.

Looks pretty nice for 100 Euros, or about 150 clams US. Anyone tried one or heard anything about it?

Tom

konut · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Oct 2009, 08:41 pm »

Looks interesting! It would have been better if they had used a BNC instead of the RCA though.

TomS · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Oct 2009, 09:38 pm »

Quote from: konut on 14 Oct 2009, 08:41 pm

Looks interesting! It would have been better if they had used a BNC instead of the RCA though.

15 Euros and they'll put a BNC on for you. Someone has already hacked the I2S output direct to a Buffalo DAC which would be even more interesting.

HAL · « **Reply #3 on:** 16 Oct 2009, 04:32 pm »

Just sent them an email to see if they will sell the hiFace directly.

TomS · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 Oct 2009, 06:01 pm »

Quote from: HAL on 16 Oct 2009, 04:32 pm

Just sent them an email to see if they will sell the hiFace directly.

Tried to PM you on this but you box is full. I have info from them.

Tom

HAL · « **Reply #5 on:** 16 Oct 2009, 06:52 pm »

Tom,
Oops! Ok there is pleanty of space form PM's now!

srb · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 Oct 2009, 07:00 pm »

I emailed them around the same time HAL did, but haven't heard back yet. TomS, I am interested in any information you may have.

Steve

BPT · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 Oct 2009, 01:17 pm »

Here is the reply from M2Tech:

You can order by us directly: we have no distributor for USA, yet. A single piece of hiFace costs 99 euros (retail), plus 12 Euros for shipping with registered e-mail to USA.15 more Euros must be added to have a 75 Ohms BNC connector instead of the standard RCA. You can pay by Paypal (manunta@hotmail.com) or by wire transfer (we prefere the latter). Please be adviced that shipping could take a while (roughly one month), as we are presently out of stock due to the large request by customers. Needn't to say, the shipping policy is: first paid, first shipped.

Chris H.

TomS · « **Reply #8 on:** 17 Oct 2009, 01:41 pm »

Yes, that's the same response I received from them. I am most curious about their Mac approach to deal with sample rate switching, so posed that question to him. If Amarra supported this it might be a really nice option.

Historicus · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 Oct 2009, 11:41 am »

Here you can find a comparative test on these USB to SPDIF converters:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/usb-spdif-converters-shoot-out-emu-0404-usb-vs-musiland-monitor-01-usd-vs-teralink-x-vs-m2tech-hiface-449885/

I have ordered mine but it will be shipped at the end of november.

I have read that the first windows drivers gave some noise problems but now these problems are solved.

TomS · « **Reply #10 on:** 26 Oct 2009, 07:18 pm »

It looks like Mike at TweekGeek is going to resell these

http://www.tweekgeek.com/_e/Portable_Computer_Audio/product/HiFace/HiFace.htm

HAL · « **Reply #11 on:** 1 Nov 2009, 02:36 pm »

Just ordered a hiFace from Mike.

This should be interesting to compare to the Stello U2 24bit/96KHz USB to S/PDIF interface.

Put Foobar on my Netbook to use as a music server. I do have to keep the Netbook plugged in as it always tries to park the drive while playing music on batteries.

UPDATE:
Mike sent out an email that if the present schedule holds, the hiFace should be shipping in a few weeks to customers!

mgalusha · « **Reply #12 on:** 27 Nov 2009, 11:04 pm »

Just an FYI, the first batch of the HiFace gadgets has arrived and Mike started shipping them. Mine came today and so far seems very nice. Painless install and I am seeing 1%-2% CPU utilization while playing 24/176 HRX files. Using foobar with kernel streaming on Win 7 on a Nettop with only a little Intel Atom 230 cpu, which allows it to be fanless.

HAL · « **Reply #13 on:** 27 Nov 2009, 11:11 pm »

Got my mailing announcement from Mike. Looks like it goes out Monday.

HAL · « **Reply #14 on:** 28 Nov 2009, 07:19 pm »

The hiFace is here! Time to see if I can get it working with Foobar 2000.

ted_b · « **Reply #15 on:** 28 Nov 2009, 07:32 pm »

Very cool. Since you guys are early adopters keep us informed (including any and all bumps in the road).

HAL · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 Nov 2009, 08:44 pm »

No bumps so far. Installed easily from the included driver disc.

It is playing back 24bit/96KHz FLAC files from Foobar 2000 at this point! Will get to try the RR HRx files later.

coops · « **Reply #17 on:** 28 Nov 2009, 09:32 pm »

Installed mine about an hour ago, sounds good, my machine is pretty old so I wasn't expecting too much but it really is excellent, I set the buffer to max and 32 bit, I was getting a tiny bit of stuttering with the buffer set to minimum.

mgalusha · « **Reply #18 on:** 29 Nov 2009, 01:16 am »

A friend and I spent the afternoon playing music via the HiFace into a DAC I built for him that uses the ESS9018 32bit Sabre chip and a tube output stage. It had zero issues with locking on at any bit depth and rate from 16/44.1 to 24/192. The RR HRx recordings at 24/176.4 where stunning. I have some serious incentive to get my Sabre DAC up and running now.

PC is a little Powerspec V50 Nettop, Intel Atom 230, 2G of ram with Windows 7. I picked up a small wireless keyboard that has a track pad, looks like a laptop keyboard but without a display. Seems to work great. I did try using remote desktop to control the music PC from a laptop but it would cut out every now and than. Likely the overhead of the remote access caused it to interrupt the stream. No glitches at all using the wireless KB/mouse. Foobar in kernel streaming mode, 32 bit.

I ordered the HiFace with a 75ohm BNC connector and the DAC has the same thing. We tried a few cables I had on hand and the one made from Belden 1505 seemed the best of the three, more analog like. Even with the supposed low jitter of the HiFace and the low jitter sensitivity of the Sabre chip the cable still made a difference. In this case the more expensive cable using Belden 1695A with foamed Teflon was not as pleasing as the lower priced part. Not sure why but we both came to the same conclusion. I have a Sterovox but it's on the way back to the factory to be re-terminated, somehow it became damaged. It will be interesting to see how it compares.

So far the HiFace USB -> S/PDIF gadget seems to be the real deal. In combination with the DAC it was pretty amazing.

Thumbs up to Mike for bringing these in, I didn't want the hassle of ordering from Italy.

kaisernaut · « **Reply #19 on:** 29 Nov 2009, 05:49 am »

Does the BNC connector have a better sound quality than SPDIF connector?