M2Tech Evo interface

HAL · « **Reply #80 on:** 10 Dec 2010, 02:44 am »

A Deans male power connector is needed to connect to the battery.

Center conductor of the coaxial DC plug is positive.

A switch in the power wiring harness from the battery makes it easy to control power to the Evo.

Lizard_King · « **Reply #81 on:** 10 Dec 2010, 02:51 am »

Great. Can you please describe how this is utilized?

Quote from: HAL on 10 Dec 2010, 02:44 am

A Deans male power connector is needed to connect to the battery.

Center conductor of the coaxial DC plug is positive.

A switch in the power wiring harness from the battery makes it easy to control power to the Evo.

HAL · « **Reply #82 on:** 10 Dec 2010, 03:52 am »

Here is a basic schematic of the DC power connection from the battery to the Evo.

Hope this helps.

kyrill · « **Reply #83 on:** 12 Dec 2010, 08:56 pm »

Hi Hall

you are very very helpful to ppl,
like giving them fish every time they are hungry
For some reason they dont want to learn how to fish?

How is the SQ in 64 bit windows and how sounds KS to you compared to Wasapi?

To my sorrow i found a post in a Dutch forum that the Wavelenght usb/spdif converter sounds noticeable beter than the HiFace MK1 ( Jenny's)

The owner bought the wavelink, the HiFace MK1 and the Halide just to find out which sounds better than his or equal to his high end CD transport

HAL · « **Reply #84 on:** 13 Dec 2010, 12:45 am »

kyrill,
I just hope that this gives people the idea of what DIY is all about! Does not have to be expensive or complicated to work very well. Maybe the bait will get them learning how to fish!

I built some power cable/switch boxes for the A123 batteries for friends to try with the Evo. Will be interesting to get their feedback on the sound quality. They will be using the Evo with the I2S Bus driving the Wolfson DAC also running on batteries.

For the price, I would hope the Wavelength is a great sounding unit. The Evo via the I2S Bus sounds excellent to me. The S/PDIF bus is very good as well.

HAL · « **Reply #85 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 02:33 am »

Kyrill,
I tried comparing Kernel Streaming to WASAPI on Win7 x64, and I think I still prefer WASAPI. Sounds a bit cleaner to me for some reason.

Happy Holiday's!

HAL · « **Reply #86 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 03:07 pm »

Two groups of friends have listened to the battery powered Evo setup with the battery powered Wolfson DAC. They all liked the sound alot as compared to other DAC's in their setups. All I can say is that I still really enjoy the sound of the setup! The Evo via I2S Bus driving the Wolfson DAC is really amazing!

Hope others get to try this out and report their findings as well!

opusone66 · « **Reply #87 on:** 9 Feb 2011, 05:38 am »

This is my first post, just bought the EVO, as an upgrade from the HiFace. Thanks for the info on the battery and charger. I found this battery on ebay with more juices, still the same voltage. Is there any advantage over the 3 cells battery pack?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190465883351&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Thanks

HAL · « **Reply #88 on:** 11 Feb 2011, 02:57 am »

The A123 pack will have longer play time between charges. It looks like the balance charge connector is for a 6 cell capable charger. The A-6D charger I listed is compatible with that style pack, so you should be good to go.

opusone66 · « **Reply #89 on:** 11 Feb 2011, 04:58 am »

Thanks, HAL.
I now have to choose between buying one six cell pack (longer play time between charges) or 2 3 cell packs (flexibility of charging one while using the other albeit with shorter play time). Choices, choices...
I have been comparing the Hiface and the EVO (still using a cheap USB cable and the supplied wall power adapter), both being fed by my Macbook Pro (jRiver Mediacenter/WASAPI on the Windows 7 bootcamp side) and Audirvana on the Mac OS side. The EVO definitely is more analytical and has a bigger and deeper sound stage. The spaces between vocal and instruments are just darker. I am hearing real subtle details that I have not heard before. But that also translates to just a tad less warm than the Hiface. I have the Wireworld Starlight USB cable on order now. And then I will start to experiment with the battery supply. On the whole, the EVO is not disappointing, so far so good.

kyrill · « **Reply #90 on:** 11 Feb 2011, 06:49 am »

Ebay seller Member id sz_ohmygod is one of the sellers who sell the genuine
low noise A123 bateries.
There are fake ones as well.

I have Kenny's MK2 HiFace as I don't need the I2S bus and SQ is equal or a smitchen better than the EVO*
The EVO still uses internal Voltage regulators*, which are not bypassed with an external pws* which are noisier than the batteries themselves

Will the HiFAce or EVO benefit form replacing the crystals with for instance Guido Tent crystals? these clocks according to website have a Measured jitter <1ps rms
http://www.tentlabs.com/Components/XO/index.html

HAL · « **Reply #91 on:** 19 Feb 2011, 02:48 am »

Quote from: opusone66 on 11 Feb 2011, 04:58 am

Thanks, HAL.
I now have to choose between buying one six cell pack (longer play time between charges) or 2 3 cell packs (flexibility of charging one while using the other albeit with shorter play time). Choices, choices...
I have been comparing the Hiface and the EVO (still using a cheap USB cable and the supplied wall power adapter), both being fed by my Macbook Pro (jRiver Mediacenter/WASAPI on the Windows 7 bootcamp side) and Audirvana on the Mac OS side. The EVO definitely is more analytical and has a bigger and deeper sound stage. The spaces between vocal and instruments are just darker. I am hearing real subtle details that I have not heard before. But that also translates to just a tad less warm than the Hiface. I have the Wireworld Starlight USB cable on order now. And then I will start to experiment with the battery supply. On the whole, the EVO is not disappointing, so far so good.

With the A123 3S2P packs you get increased playing time and lower output impedance for the batteries. This is good for both length of listening and should improve the sound quality. Have one of the packs on order from Ebay. Will give it a try. My charger will work with a 6 cell pack, so should be charge and listen once it arrives.

opusone66 · « **Reply #92 on:** 19 Feb 2011, 04:30 am »

HAL,
I was thinking along the same line. If it has an impact on the sound quality, I am quite sold. I shall look forward to your further findings with the 6-cell battery pack once you have a chance to play with it.
Another path that I am pursuing is a better power supply unit. My friend who uses the squeezebox swears by the regulated power supply made by Channel Island AUdio. According to their website, they don't necessary have one for HiFace Evo, but I think teh one made for Squeezebox Touch (9VDC output) should work just fine. The spec looks good, and it is relatively cheaper than the Bolders one. I am wondering if anyone has tried the CIA on the Hiface Evo?

HAL · « **Reply #93 on:** 20 Feb 2011, 07:56 pm »

Dusty builds very good equipment at CI Audio. Do not have one to try, so will have to see if anyone else has given it a try.

Waiting on battery arrival at this point. Will let everyone know what happens.

HAL · « **Reply #94 on:** 27 Feb 2011, 04:15 am »

The new A123 3S2P battery pack arrived and the first listening sounds wonderful. Everything is a bit more stable and quiet. I really like these batteries!

This is the best price for the 6 cell pack I have seen.

All I can say is A123 batteries and the Evo I2S Bus are the best thing I have heard for music server based use!

coops · « **Reply #95 on:** 27 Feb 2011, 03:41 pm »

I would be interested to hear what you think of the new M2Tech Young DAC Async USB 24/384,
Keith.

HAL · « **Reply #96 on:** 27 Feb 2011, 04:27 pm »

The description of the M2Tech Young DAC looks very good. Uses my favorite type of filtering! The 32bit/384KHz rating is the latest standard, but I have not looked to see if any music is available for download in that format.

I hope the Young DAC is very good for $1999!

The Evo works very well via I2S Bus with my Wolfson DAC board! It does everyting up to and including 24bit/192KHz. It should work equally well with the TPA Opus DAC kit via the I2S Bus connection. A 1' CAT5e Ethernet cable with one end cut off and wired to the Opus DAC should work well for I2S Bus.

ted_b · « **Reply #97 on:** 27 Feb 2011, 04:33 pm »

The Young DAC is very very good, and I have some DSD-converted stuff at 24/384 that sounds sublime on it. I am getting the V2 (redone with new board, original board and firmware not ready for prime time) back asap. Keith and his UK customers are just warming their new V2's up as we speak, and all seems fixed. Stay tuned.

HAL · « **Reply #98 on:** 4 Mar 2011, 05:03 pm »

Bought a used TPA Opus DAC DIY kit from another AC member and it arrived this week. Found a loose connection in the DAC chip AC power supply and that got everything working correctly. Will eventually reconfigure it for battery power.

I modified the DAC board to DC couple the outputs to the replacement Ballsie Lite output board. Have the Evo driving the Opus S/PDIF input until I can get the I2S Bus cable completed. Even in this configuration, the Evo driving the Opus sounds really good! The Evo is running off the new A123 3S2P battery pack.

Should be interesting to hear about the Young DAC when it hits prime time.

firedog · « **Reply #99 on:** 5 Mar 2011, 09:06 am »

Quote from: ted_b on 27 Feb 2011, 04:33 pm

The Young DAC is very very good, and I have some DSD-converted stuff at 24/384 that sounds sublime on it. I am getting the V2 (redone with new board, original board and firmware not ready for prime time) back asap. Keith and his UK customers are just warming their new V2's up as we speak, and all seems fixed. Stay tuned.

Ted, since I know you have experience with a lot of very good DACs, I 'd like to hear how you think the Young sounds to some of them, especially more expensive ones. We often get reviews of DACs telling us how they sound, but I'm always interested in knowing how good of a value they are - in other words how good (or not so good) they sound for their price - are they as good or very close to much more expensive DACs, or not that much better than less expensive ones?