Musical Fidelity M6 DAC - Review

Just received this from the local dealer LTB Enterprise....First demo impression in the shop...the sound was smoooottthhh...

Watch this space for the review...

Its a been a week now...and I was facing the challenge to start the write up....because I was enjoying this DAC a little bit too much. I must say sorry to my Clearaudio TT for neglecting her for awhile...

I am ready to start the write up now while I wait for my own black unit to arrive as I have just confirmed to purchase this DAC yesterday :). And you want to know why I decided to upgrade from my M1 DAC which was already sounded good to me. Read on my good readers....

BUILT

The unboxing reveals the usual classy and elegant packaging of an M6 series kit, comes complete with a black velvet bag, a pair of white gloves and cleaning cloth. It is advisable to use the gloves to set up the unit. Look at the fingerprint smudge if you dont.

The sample unit I received had a serial number of 4.... ie this is the 4th unit produced by MF. The dealer has the 3rd unit. I wonder who has number 1 and 2?

The width of the unit compliments my M6i amp but the DAC is actually slimmer in height.

The unit is relatively heavy for a DAC, weighing at 10.8 kg. The overall built is of high quality and aesthatically looks good too. The remote control is of the similar remote of the M6i and can control my M1 CDT. Sadly, the DAC remote cannot control the M6i amp and vice versa.

The fascia is well designed with a very clear blue LCD display and digital input, de-emphaziser, filter, power, standby soft buttons.

Power cord is a bog standard UK 3 pin, so good news to all those who likes power cord tweaks.

Now, the digital inputs and outputs connections are gold plated and firmly fitted to ensure good connection with your chosen interconnects.

It also comes with an antenna plus extension cable for its bluetooth capability and also USB192 driver CDROM.

SPECS AND FEATURES

This is one well equipped DAC that covers different type of input. Anthony Michaelson went with a topography of recent years which is to limit up to 192kHz rather than the push for higher upsampling resolution. It consists of two 24 bit DACs arranged in a fully differential balanced dual mono topography.

This DAC also allows a complete bypass of digital signal if one wish to connect to a digital recorder.

This unit comes with the following inputs and outputs:

INPUTS

1. 2 x coaxial

2. 1 x USB B asynchronous compatible with Windows, Apple and Linux OS

3. 1 x optical

4. 1 x AES Balanced

5. 1 x Bluetooth with AptX and can store up 16 pairings.

6. 1 x 3.5 mm mono jack trigger in

NOTE: All inputs accepts native 24 bit 192kHz signal except for optical (96 kHz) and Bluetooth (48 kHz)

OUTPUTS

1. 1 x coaxial

2. 1 x AES Balanced

3. 1 x optical

4. 1 pair of RCA

5. 1 pair of XLR balanced

6. 1 x 3.5 mm mono jack trigger out

NOTE: All outputs allows native 24 bit 192kHz signal except for optical (96 kHz). Bluetooth signal is upsampled to 96kHz.

There is a FIXED/VOLUME MATCH switch at the rear part. If volume match is chosen, user can adjust the output signal of each digital input in the range of 0 to +10 dB.

The LED display can also be dimmed and shut off completely.

The FILTER function allows gradual or sharp roll off digital filter characteristics.

Ther DE-EMPHASIS function allows control of the source that contains pre-emphasized digital audio. ??????.... Yes....have no clue what this means. Quoted from the manual.

THE SET UP

1. MF M1 CDT connected with Siltech AES balanced Interconnect and QED Coaxial Interconnect

2. Sony MDJA20ES connected with QED optical cable

3. ASUS Window Vista laptop, using WMP and iTunes connected with Noops USB A-B cable

4. iPhone 5 and Blackberry Z10

5. The M6 DAC connected to M6i amp using Siltech XLR balanced interconnect and Siltech RCA interconnect

6. ProAc D18 speakers biamped by M6i and M1 PWR amp with Siltech 330L Anniversary speaker cable

THE MUSIC

1. Janet Seidl - Till There Was You (CD)

2. Andrea Bocelli - Time To Say Goodbye, Dare To Live, Vivo Per Lei, Because We Believe (CD, 192 kHz FLAC)

3. Foo Fighters - My Hero (CD, MP3 320 kbps/48 kHz)

4. The Eagles - Hotel California (CD, 192 kHz FLAC)

5. Bad Religion - American Jesus, Kerosene (CD)

6. Etta James - At Last (MP3 320 kbps/48 kHz on iPhone5 and BBZ10)

7. Kevin Kline - La Mer (MP3 320 kbps/48 kHz on iPhone5 and BBZ10)

8. Earth, Wind and Fire - In The Stone, September (MD)

THE SESSION

I didn't start the review with the traditional notepad opened and start to jotdown every single experience I have demo-ing this DAC. I was quite mesmerized by the first 15 minutes of listening to it in the dealer's shop. Heck, and that was mainly via bluetooth from my iPhone5. We were going from one track to another. But playing Etta James and Kevin Kline reveals that this DAC is not just another DAC that MF decided to come with.

CD REPLAY

When I brought it home, the first track to go in was Janet Seidl - Till There Was You played via AES connection. The immediate change from my M1 DAC was the elevation of the overall musical ambience from her vocals and ukelele. Its like the spectrum has elevated; the mids and highs were giving a different level of clarity. Further listening reveals a more involving experience. The low end was not to impressive at this moment. Switch to Coaxial connection, the overall ambience was taken down a notch. That didnt help to bring up the low end spectrum.

Not wanting to say the DAC was now overly smooth, I switched to Foo Fighters - My Hero via AES. YES, YES AND YES. This is when I start to realise that the bass was actually extended as well. It was further dispersed but still well controlled. Again, it was like the DAC amplifying things to a hier volume but instead of distortation, it injects a certain enhancement which I believe is the upsampling quality done by the unit. Switching to Coaxial, again the experience was taken down a notch but that didnt take away the involving experience. This was again one of those moments that made me want to jump onto my drums and start drum-aoke along with the Foos.

Playing an old not so good recording of Bad Religion famous album Recipe for Hate from 1993, the DAC actually makes it enjoyable to listen to older recordings. The punk rock music sounds more alive and 'recent'. Again, I think the DAC has elevated the overal presentation of music.

Mellowing down the rock side, I switched to The Eagles with their live version of Hotel California. The string workson this track was so defined that even my 6 year old son who sings along Gangnam style, went 'Wow, dad....I like this guitar sound!' And when the drums kicked in, my my my it further confirms that I may have been missing a fuller bass compared to M1 DAC. It may not be to everyone's liking on the bass side but I like the way the DAC extends the low end further but still maintaining the overall smooth sounding character.

COMPUTER AUDIO SYSTEM - USB INPUT

While listening to this track, I started to boot up my ASUS laptop to compare the CD to the 192 kHz FLAC version. Connected to the DAC via a 5m Noops USB A-B cable, the laptop immediately detected the DAC and prompted for the driver to be installed. Loaded the CD-ROM, and followed the step by step installation instruction. 2 minutes and done. Unfortunately, after that, it can no longer detect the DAC. :(. Reading up the manual, it says to use a cable less than 5 m long. Hhhhmmm...so went through my cable bag and found a 1.5 m USB cable...voila...now it can detect. Not really sure why as the 5 m cable worked OK with the M1 DAC and when connected directly to M6i USB input.

Putting on the FLAC version of Hotel California reveals a relatively similar experience but with a little bit more emphasize on the mids and highs. This has made the song sound more tonally balanced as the low end is now not as overwhelming as the CD version. Still have the extension that I want though. The DAC also displays the incoming signal from laptop.

Just to ensure it was not a mind trick (or is it ear trick?), I stopped listening to this DAC for a few days. And resumed the session with more of my favourite tracks.

Now, I never miss playing Andrea Bocelli in all my reviews. So, up next was a string of his FLAC tracks. It reveals how good his recordings are. Not only the music, but the mixing of the tracks itself. Time To Say Goodbye sounded even more airy and powerful with the vocals sounded so refined. The soundstaging was elevated to a level where it made the sound as if I am in a concert hall but without the echoes. It was really refreshing and alive.

Ok, at this stage I am convinced that the M6 DAC when it comes to CD and CAS replay, its above the entry level M1 DAC. Dont get me wrong, I think M1 DAC is still the best DAC around its price range. But this M6 DAC even sounds more refined than the M6 CD player which I tested a few months back. Now, I was told that the M6 DAC uses a different DAC topography than the M6 CD player.

And in general, AES and Coaxial gives the similar characteristics but the AES has this extra kick as it injects a little bit more refinement, smoothness and extension across the musical spectrum.

BLUETOOTH APT-X

This is what really impresses me; the Bluetooth module. Connecting my iPhone 5 and the new BBZ10 takes about 5 seconds. I am a little bit puzzled now on this. My music files are MP3 320 kbps/48 kHz on both phones but from the iPhone 5, the DAC shows that the signal feeding into the DAC is 44.1 kHz. But from the Z10, it shows as 48 kHz. Not that it made a different in the sound but just curious why.

The way of the volume is controlled is also different. With iPhone 5, the volume on the phone is still active and I had to balance between that and the volume on the amp. On BBZ10, the digital volume on the phone is deactivated, so I only had to adjust the volume on the amp. Weird to me. But I prefer the setup of the latter.

The sound of Etta James and Kevin Kline was really mesmerizing. And the phones are not even Apt-X enabled. If the DAC is connected to an Apt-X enabled device, it will display an Apt-X icon on the LED display. Connectivity was also stable with no dropouts throughout the 1 hour session with various other music. It was difficult to distinguished between Bluetooth quality and the CAS version of the same song. However, the clarity and liveliness is not as per CD replay. But comparing to my BRIK BT Stage and also QED uPlay, they are miles away from this gem.

MINIDISK REPLAY - OPTICAL

I do have quite a healthy collection of MD albums and also recorded ones. And as this format has been forgotten, it starts to become quite difficult to keep up with CAS and DAC technology. My SONY ES player was the king in her MD reigning days and even with its built in DAC, it was sufficient to deliver good quality music alongside portability of the format. But now, only an external DAC will do more justice to do this format.

Playing Earth, Wind and Fire through the optical input did inject more life and made them sounded less digital. However, the flatness is still there due to the compressed data on the MD. However, the presentation and soundstaging did improve and made me feel like dancing (and that is something no sane people would want to see :)). The sound although flat, did have that sense of authority in delivering the low end of the music.

OTHER FEATURES

I did play around with the filter settings and de-emphasize function. Eeeerrr.... didnt hear any changes when switching between fast and slow roll off. So, I didnt bother to really test it.

CONCLUSION

The good: This unit reenforces MF leadership as one of the earlier companies to adopt stand alone DAC units. It is a very refined unit and matches well with theerest of my MF set up. It compliments well with a basic CAS and also other digital sources. It did make me wanting to get serious into CAS again.

Would be even better: If MF starts to keep up with the fast paced DAC development in the industry...there are more and more companies going into 32 bit and 384 kHz and also DSD decoding. Especially at this price range.

Am I buying it? Eeeerrr YES. Waiting for the black unit to arrive.

The M6 DAC can be purchased from LTB Enterprise, Subang Jaya. Call Tony for further enquiries: 0193388577.

The RRP in Malaysia is RM 11,000....and in the UK is GBP 2,000

And here are samples of how it sounds:

Analogue and Digital Fellowship Gathering - Post Event Write Up

Wednesday, 6th March: I arrived at about 645 pm....only because I went to the WRONG hotel hahahaha. I dont know why but I thought it was in Saujana Subang. Only to realise when I walked into the lobby and the reception went blur when I asked about the event. Then rushed into the Subang traffic to get to the Holiday Villa.

Walked into the venue, there was already so many people. The only familiar face to me was Jo Ki. Then Kuan Yew Nam the organiser greeted me and showed me the registration table. Got meself registered and received the Kef 50th Anniversary pen and the Audiphile CD (forgot the title). From the name list, there was about 65 attendees.Then more familiar faces came in James Tan of AV Designs and Felix. After the usual meet and greet, at 7 pm, announcement was made to kick off the event.

Mr. Kuan gave the opening speech thanking everyone for their attendance and support also all the hifi companies which provided the gifts for the lucky draws. Followed by the event facilitator Jo Ki presenting the profile of the 6 speakers for the event and also the guideline for the night. Each speaker is given 15 mins.

Jo Ki also slotted in a surprise talk by Mr. Kuan himself.

Kuan briefly explained the importance of 3 basic elements in getting good sound quality from CAS.

1. Good quality cable is mandatory. Even better to take SATA cable between the hard disk and motherboard out of the equation and replace it with a microSSD. It will allow wider bandwith and faster data transfer.
2. Store songs on the RAM and not the Hard Disk and avoid using virtual memory.
3. OS setting to fine tune the system controlling the main items; DEMON, Processes and Services to only handle music and avoid multitasking.

1. Dr. Paris Ng (The Digital Playback)

The Dr. emphasized on why he went into CAS. Mainly for convenience and portability. Setting up playlist is one of the main feature of CAS that he likes so that he can do without switching between CDs. One important statement from the Doc was that with digital playback, for the first time we can hear the same resolution with the recording resolution.....no more degrading ....on a newer recording and the analogue transfer through DSD or HR PCM! 128 times from cds - no more of downsampling through CAS.

2. Mr. Danon Han (An Audio Analogue Perspective)

He basically brought us back in time where how a simple RM1000 Rega TT of his friend, plugged into his flagship Mark Levinson set up, and soon after that he was converted into the black disc curse. Eversince then, he never turn back (of course at that time, he did not admit to his friend that the Rega TT basically gave a better sonic performance compared to his CD Transport and DAC).

3. Mr. Vattana Prasertnasung (A Hobbyist Turn Owner of An Audio Company)

This to me was the highlight of the night. His wittiness and chirpy character made me feel how passionate he was about music and hifi. His famous line is 'I Like To Play With My Hands' referring to his continous DIY experience in producing speakers and cables. When he was a student, he was saving money for 3 years to buy his dream Canton speakers in which he went to the hifi shop almost every other day. The speaker cost 32M baht...in which after 3 years he only gad 28M. But the hifi shop owner sold him the speakers for 28 M baht but told him never to come to his shop again hahahaha. He had 2 failed companies (Audio Project and Acoustic System Design) before launching his 3rd and current successful company Tombo Audio which is famous for his Kevlar design power cable.

4. Mr. Wijit Boonchoo (The Way Thai Audiophiles Listen to Music)

Mr. Wijit is no stranger in Thailand AV industry and journalism world. He currently writes for several Thai magazine and also a TV channel (Mango TV I think). This is the best part where in the true Fellowship spirit, language was not a barrier at all. Mr. Wijit did his talk in Thai and had a translator but that did not hinder the attendees interest in listening to him. His most valuable advice was: Regardless the price of your system, if cannot deliver realistic sound, then it is a failed system.

5. Mr. Gan Hock Ho (How a Veteran Audiophile keeps the hobby going)

Mr. Gan here...was definitely the funniest hifi connesiuer I have ever met. His 'sexual innuendos' hifi terms made attendees laughed their butts off. Some of the terms were in Chinese but I had James Tan beside me translating them hehehehe. Gan remembered his teaching days with a salary of RM585/month...How to play hifi? He also thanked various people like Jo Ki, Kuan, Peter Leong, Ben Tan, Frankie Voon (for his famous Frank Power Bank) and Dr. Who from hifi4sale forum.

6. Mr. TK Han (Development and Trend of Hifi Industry)

Last but not least, Mr. TK Han shared his views on the nearby future of hifi.

- Price will continue to increase
- Knowledge of audiophile will be further elevated
- CAS...the heart of hifi shows
- higher spec DACS even up 768 kHz...decoding DSD, DXD
- Vinyls will with stand the test of time
- Digital amplifier will continue be developed and loved

There were several lucky draws were done inbetween the speakers and Mr. Song Soon Onn was another jovial character that made the night more fun.

Yours truly was also among the lucky ones to have won something. A Boston Acoustics iDS2 iPod dock speaker system from CMY.....wooohooo thanks.

The last part was a Q&A session ....where the 6 speakers gave their last words and wisdom to about 5 questions from the floor. Sorry all....was already nearly 11 pm...and my tummy was full with the nasi minyak, ayam masak merah, sambal udang, roasted duck, pengat pisang, fruit, rojak and coffee. So stopped jotting down stuff heheheh.

Overall.....SUPERB, EXCELLENT, PLEASE DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR!

Congrats to Mr. Kuan and his team for pulling a very successful event.

Supra 2.0 USB Cable Review

A painless to the pocket USB cable.

Mirrored from my review on Audiofi.net

EVER wondered how manufacturers name their products? Do they have a team just to think up names? However, Sweden’s Jenvig Technology AB, which makes Supra cables, keeps it simple – this particular product is simply called the Supra USB 2.0 Cable. Nothing fancy here.

What does it do? The name says it all. It’s used to connect a USB-enabled desktop or laptop to a DAC. As a matter of fact, it can also be used to connect a printer with a USB B input.

The Supra USB 2.0 is a flexible cable with a dual screen to provide protection from unwanted RF interference. The design includes two twisted pair of screens, one for signal and one for power. It is also claimed that this design is suitable for long runs as it has low capacitance and efficient noise rejection. It is available in 0.7m, 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m, 5m, 8m, 10m, 12m, 15m lengths.

Both the A and B USB connectors are 24K gold-plated and fully shielded. The design also employs PE-insulated wires with correct 90-ohm impedance.

The Supra is compatible with USB 2.0 and 3.0 sources but, of course, the latter is not usually used for audio. This cable can handle high-speed 1200 Mbps data transfer up to 15m.

When I plugged the cable into my Window-based PC and Musical Fidelity M1 DAC, the first thing I noticed was the extra punch of the kick drum and tomtoms on the track Jeritan Batinku by Azlan & The Typewriters (originally by P. Ramlee). The drummer in this band is known to be adventurous even on simple songs. The Supra cable delivered the punch and speed when reproducing each beat of the drums.

After using it for more than a month, it was very clear to me why this cable is being raved about as a “bang for buck” upgrade for computer-based audio systems.

I play a lot of heavy metal music, from the torpedo speed of Machine Head’s double pedal drums to Kirk Hammet’s swirling lead solos with Metallica. Compared with my RM25 (US$8) USB cable bought from a local IT store, the Supra had more detail and clarity, while maintaining the punch I mentioned earlier.

Vocals, however, were not the cable’s strength, sometimes overshadowed by the heavy drums and guitar riffs. Just for comparison, I played a rendition of Kiss from A Rose by Aiza Sequera – again, the vocals were a little overwhelmed by the heavy bass. So, not the most neutral cable, I must say.

Overall, this is a cable with a great sense of rhythm – it provided a detailed and punchy ambience but still injected a relaxed air to the proceedings. This cable will also enhance bottom-end extension on set-ups that suffer from flat bass.

However, the emphasis on bass can be a bit overwhelming. If used in a bass-heavy system, it can make the music sound muffled.

Given the price, the Supra USB 2.0 cable is a no-brainer if you’re looking for a bargain upgrade for your computer-based audio system – this is a quick and painless upgrade from stock USB cable.

Those looking for an elevated experience from their fast-paced music should try out this cable. It could enhance your understanding of how your favorite musicians physically play these songs on their instrument.

Gear:
Source – Windows Vista ASUS laptop running Windows Media player for FLAC, iTunes for 320kbps/48kHz MP3s and WAV files / Amplification – Musical Fidelity M6i + M1 PWR power amp / Speakers: ProAc Response D18 / Wires: Siltech Classic Anniversary 330L

Price: £29 per metre
Malaysian price: RM269 per metre
Malaysian distributor: A&L Audio Station (+603-2282 9884)

Come backs....Desperation or Love for Music?

In the past few years, there are international bands that have announced their kin interest in reuniting with their old band mates to come up with new albums. Some even go to the extend of having a reunior concert tours. While some are genuinely in love with writing up music and performing, some however IMHO are just an act of desperation for maybe money...and maybe fame...

As a music listener and fan of these bands, I was curious to hear how these bands would sound after coming out of so called retirement. And the following is how I rate their come backs...

1. Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy (2/10)...the worst come back...it may even killed Axl Rose career permanently...
2. The Cranberries - Roses (8/10)... Great come back but nothing to be overly excited about as the music genre still the same and no new injection of fresher songs..
3. No Doubt - Push and Shove (9/10).... Excellent come back album.... Gwen is the only female rock singer that can still pull a teenage act and get away with it...
4. Soundgarden - King Animal (5/10) ....Neither here nor there...quite a mellow come back...no really strong tracks worth mentioning...
5. Aerosmith - Music From Another Dimension (7/10).... Carrie Underwood???? Really? Maaaannn American Idol has really messed up Steve's direction...but still a rocking album...


Whatever it is...they still make at least a few million bucks...so ...come back? Why not...

Prior to The Light

I became very intrigued by the melodious and soothing sound of Yusuf Islam for the past few days. So, I decided to go on a personal quest of acquiring his album on LP prior to his faith conversion.

I was lucky to have found this LP yesterday in RC KLCC. Modestly priced at RM104 and with my 'frequent buyer' miles, I got it for RM94.

And I must say Cat Stevens was already mellow and calm even prior to Islam.

Go Spanish Guitar

Forget Kirk Hammet or Santana. When it comes to relaxing and soothing guitar, Gypsy Kings is for me.

Found this gem yesterday.

Andrea Bocelli: Another Great Album

Just downloaded this from iTunes. Another truly outstanding album from vocal maestro.

Launch Event: JVC Reference Series 3D Projectors

JVC Kenwood Malaysia Sdn. Bhd has recently launched their latest state of the art 3D home cinema projector line. The event was held at AV Designs in Rohas Perkasa on 22^nd January 2013. The members of local press and hifi blog scene fill up the venue, anticipating for something captivating from this new JVC line up.

The event was graced by their Managing Director, Mr. Takahide Sakamoto who gave a keynote address at the beginning of the event. He claims that this new lineup is a big step up from their existing e-shift technology (now known as e-shift2). Combined with the improved Multiple Pixel Control, JVC Upscaling and Enhancement technology, consumers will experience full HD images reproduction with maximum definition and also convert them to even higher quality 4K-resolution images. The upscaling will work with any sources like BluRay, DVD and even Astro B.yond.

 Together with the Sales and Marketing Manager, Mr. Steven Woo, 4 new 3D projectors were launched in Malaysia under the Reference Series. The models are DLA-RS66, DLA-RS56, DLA-RS48 and DLA-RS46. With the exception of DLA-RS46, all of the projectors offer High Definition 4K-resolution (3840 x 2160). The DLA-RS66 and RS56 also carries the THX 3D Display and Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) certification badges.

One of the big challenge of the 3D market for projectors and TVs is fatigue experienced by consumers for prolong viewing. With a new 3D circuit in the projector topography and newly designed RF glasses, JVC hopes consumers will have more stress free viewing experience.  Attendees get to experience with two different home theater set ups in the venue. The DLA-RS48 was set up in a smaller-home-like room, projecting onto a circa 105” screen. Using a Disney PIXAR 3D animation movie clips, attendees get to differentiate between ‘standard full HD’ and the 4K upscale.

There are five different 4K profiles to choose from depending on the source being played.

·         Film                        : Suitable for BD, taken and recorded by film originally

·         High Resolution     : Suitable for BD content, taken in 4K

·         HD                          : Suitable for BD content from a few years ago and Astro B.yond (1080i or 720p)

·         SD                           : Suitable for DVD (480p)

·         Dynamic                  : Any content

·         Consumers will also have the option of turning off the 4K upscaling mode.  

The group then moved to AV Design state of the art home theatre set up in a bigger demo room where it features the JVC flagship projector DLA-RS66 with the highest contrast ratio available in the market (130,000:1).  With a much bigger screen, this new projector is able to impress the audience further with captivating and seamless 3D projection of Avatar movie. The 4K upscaling enhancement is even more revealing from this flagship unit.

 This new line up of JVC Reference Series is definitely a must have for home theatre enthusiasts. Well, at least a demo session. You owe it to yourself!

The Reference Series is now available for purchase from AV Design.

Musical Fidelity First IEM - The EB50

This is MF first attempt in IEM devices and so far, a month usage of it shows how Anthony Michaelson hifi philosophy have been applied in the design.
I got to know about MF plans of producing earphones and headphones sometime in July 2012 in which I saw a few pictures of the prototypes of the designs. There were 3 headphones and 1 IEM.  The highest grade headphones was in nice brown leather.

Anyway,  MF then decided to delay the headphones production till end of Q1 this year (thats what I have been told) but they released their EB50 IEM in Oct 2012. I got a pair sometime in mid Nov.

So after about 1.5 months of usage, I must say that MF have hit the certain right notes on the design.

Specifications

• Sensitivity: 100dB SPL/mW (1kHz)
• Impedance: 26 Ohms ±15%
• Max input power: 11mW (rated power 5mW)
• Frequency range: 10Hz-20kHz
• Distortion: <1%
• Noise Isolation: better than 96%
• Driver: 6mm balanced armature
• Weight: 28g
• Cable length: 1.2M
• 3.5mm Gold plated Stereo jack plug
• Microphone and answer button included

Built

MF claims that the design on this IEM was based their own internal deisgn and not a copy from other IEM manufacturer. To achieve this, they went back to the drawing board and create a product from the ground up, utilising new technology along the way.

I particularly like the thin and lightweight cables that they use, eliminating the 'fatigue' of having heavy cables hanging from your ears. The earpiece itself is designed such that its interchangeable between left and right ears usage. There is no specific designation on which side is left and which side is right apart the different colour of 'screws' on them. One side comes with red colours ''screws' and the other side is in blue.

They also use military-grade aluminium for the outer casing, which offers a strong yet anti-resonance body that is the ideal mounting for the capsule. (Wow.... a bit far fetch I suppose but I guess it will help to prolong the life of this IEM)

The cable also comes with iPhone friendly mic which delievers crispy clear phone conversation. I tried it with iPhone 5 and 4S and it work perfectly on both.

It also comes with a cable strap to manage the cable during storage in its pouch or in your pocket.

Flexibility

For perfect sealing within the ear canal, seven pairs of ear tips are included for personal preference. Also included are fittings for a tighter fit to the ear as well as a carry pouch for safe transportation.

I find the following tip best suits me. 

Sound

It can easily be driven directly from any portable players or laptops. As IEM is more for portability, I mainly tested it with my iPhone 5 and 4S. I repeatedly listen to Hotel California by The Eagle (Live version) and also recently I was hit by a preference towards Hindi songs (weird? Not quite due to the percussion behind hindi songs and also the shrieking high frequency of some of their female singers)... So I also played Chori Chori Hum Gori Se and  Bole Chudiyan.

Hotel California presentation overall presentation was bit flat to my liking, especially for a live version of this song. The vocal was a bit on the harsh side but not painful to hear as the bass from this IEM balances the high freq shortcomings.  Separation of musical instrument however is what I like best about this IEM. There some 'hidden' percussion beats that I did not hear on my previous Shure IEM.

Bole Chudiyan on the other hand did not come out to be as 'shrieking' as I thought it would. For those who are not familiar with this song, the female singer high pitch voice can be a bit deafening if played on the wrong hifi system or IEM. but with this IEM, (I guess due to the design emphasizing on bass), it overshadows the shrieking effect of this female voice. It was well balanced which made me really enjoy this song on this IEM.

Chori Chori then gave me a good exposure to what thie IEM can do when it comes to bass. It provides good solid and controlled bass. Even at higher volumes, no sign of stress on the IEM and also no sign excessive vibration or in laymen Malaysian terms - 'no pecah sound' :)

Vocal however does not sound lively. It does not give me the melodious feeling that I usually get from The Eagles and Hindi singers.

Conclusions

Its not an all rounder or balanced IEM. It does very good in the bass department with good control and detail and not overwhelming. Vocal is definitely not its strongest element where it can sound a bit flat. It does provide a more detailed sound wit regards to musical instrument compared to my Shure IEM.

IEM market is a tough one to breakthrough but I feel MF started off on the right track. For this particular EB50 model, it faces a tough challenge from other IEM brands especially in the likes of Sennheiser, Klipsch etc.

So, to me, it suits best for someone who is looking for warm bass sound and not particular with vocals.

It is priced at RM765 and the authorised dealer is LTB Enterprise.

Who Says Mini Disk (MD) is Dead?

I started off this new year by going through my MD collection and this particular album really strikes to me to be one of the best recording I have on MD. What a memory carrying the MD Net player with a few of my home made MDs on the way to university.

Playing through my Sony ES series MD player, and feed it through the MF M1 DAC, it can easily challenge CD reproduction.

El Hefe's 2013 Hi Fi Set Up

This is what I have started off for 2013:

Home:
1. CD Player (Transport): Musical Fidelity CDT
2. Main DAC: Musical Fidelity M1 DAC
3. Streamer/2nd DAC: Musical Fidelity CLiC
4. Phono stage: Musical Fidelity M1 ViNL
5. MD Player: Sony MD JA20ES
6. Integrated amp: Musical Fidelity M6i
7. Power amp: Musical Fidelity M1 PWR
8. Headphone amp: Bryston BHA-1
9. Headphone: Alessandro Grado MS Pro
10. Tape deck: Onkyo TA2600
11. Turntable: Clearaudio Concept
12. Speakers: ProAc Response D18
13. Power Management: Belkin PF50

Notes:

Siltech cabling for items 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12
QED cabling for items 4, 5, 8, 10

2013 targets:
1. New Main DAC: either Musical Fidelity M6 or Bryston BDA-2
2. Record Cleaning Machine

Office:
1. Source: iTunes and WMP
2. DAC: UD100 ESS Sabre USB DAC
3. Speakers: BOSE Companion IIs
4. Headphone amp: Musical Fidelity M1 HPA
5. Headphone: BOSE Over the Ear

Note:
QED Cabling for items 2, 3, 4

2013 targets:
1. Musical Fidelity first headphones....

Kingrex UNANIMOUS U-Art (Y) USB cable

UNANIMOUS U-Art (Y) USB Cable: The Art of Separation

First impressions: Impressive! When I received the sample, it was immaculately packaged in high quality box, complete with foam to house this cryogenically treated USB cable. The red woven USB cable does look the business and Kingrex spared no expense in its built too. With 24K gold plated USB A and B connections and cryogenic treatment on its silver-plated oxygen-free copper conductors, this cable made me intrigued to really test whether it will deliver more over my current el cheapo USB cable. Each and every piece of this cable is also 100% handmade.

The first unique feature I noticed is that this USB cable came in with 2 of USB A connector; Y-split from one USB B connector. This is where Kingrex is proud of its design of separating power signal from digital signal. These USB A connectors are labelled with ‘Battery’ and ‘Wave’ signal diagrams. With the USB B connector plugged into Kingrex UD384 USB DAC or any other USB enabled DAC, there are 2 ways to connect the A connectors:

1.      Connect both Battery and Wave connectors into 2 separate USB inputs on your laptop

2.      Connect the Wave connector to your laptop and Battery connector to Kingrex U Power battery supply (featured in previous review of UD384 USB DAC)

I opted for option 2 above for this review. It gets a little bit untidy when you need to connect one USB A connection to a power supply e.g.: the U Power then the other to the laptop. It’s like a 3 way junction on my hifi rack. Even though, you can actually connect both USB A connections to the laptop, but with U power is when the cable perform best.

Straight out of the box, the sound produced through this USB cable is as ‘cold’ as the cryogenic treatment itself. A bit on the flat side. Although, spaciousness is something that’s immediately noticeable.

Specs:

·         USB 2.0 high speed certified

·         Transmits data up to 480 MBPS

·         Separate power and signal cable

·         Length: 2 metres

·         Flat structure

·         4 signal Conductor SymmetricTM

Performance:

To me, testing cables is trickier compared to hifi equipment. Most times, the different in SQ can be so subtle that our ears just cannot hear what different cable can do to the music we listen to. And for this, I only used 1 particular track: Black Magic Women by Santana (MP3 320 kbps/48 kHz). I chose a hi spec MP3 as oppose to a FLAC to really test what this cable can do to a less superior audio format.

The percussion on this track is one of my favorite. Its not a typical heart-pounding drum beats but more musical and ‘traditional’ so to say. Just to refresh my memory on how the sound is, I played this track using my el cheapo USB cable. Immediately after that, I swap it to this U-Art cable and boy how the sound changed. Notice here I mentioned the word changed rather than improved. The sense of space suddenly filled my room. The liveliness (or is it hippiness?) of Santana music coloured with spaciousness where the extension of the low ends was beyond the normal experience I have with this track. It was still controlled but it somehow sounded like each notes were extended. However, even though spaciousness is there, it still sounded a bit flat.

I was then advised by Kingrex to run in the cable for 300 hours and that’s what exactly what I did.  Throughout the run in period, I listened to various songs just to be more critical on this product. I didn’t actually time myself to reach 300 hours but after about 3 weeks of listening, I played the Black Magic Women track again. Now, this is something completely different compared to the first time around. The spaciousness is even more evident plus the flatness was gone. Santana’s guitar sounded so melodic and the stereo imaging and staging was perfect. It made me visualized where each musician were standing or sitting during recording. The percussion in this song was awe inspiring enough that made me jump out of my chair and started playing along to the song on my drums.

Final verdict: The Unanimous U-Art Y USB cable is definitely one cable that serious CAS enthusiasts should audition even though if it is to connect to their own DAC. At a retail price of USD599, this cable compliments nicely into a basic to even high end CAS set up. It’s a no frill and no nonsense upgrade with little risk of you not be able to hear the difference it can make to your system. If your CAS system sounds flat and in need of some breath, this is one cable you should try to audition.

Signal and power separation really made the different. And of course the cryogenic treatment definitely played its part too. Its well built and deliver or now I can say improved my CAS set up over the el cheapo USB cable. If spaciousness and liveliness of music is what you are looking for, this cable excels in that.

Gear:

a.       Hardware: Macbook Pro

b.      Software: iTunes for 320 kbps/48 kHz MP3s

c.       Amplifier: Musical Fidelity M6i + M1 PWR power amp

d.      Speakers: ProAc Response D18

e.       Speaker cable: Siltech Classic Anniversary 330L

f.       Interconnect (UD 384 RCA to M6i amp): Cambridge Audio 700 Series

Price: UNANIMOUS U-Art (Y) USB cable is retailed at USD 599

To contact Kingrex directly, they can be contacted at:

Carol Tseng                     

Tel: +886-2-8226-9561

Email: carol@jt-comatz.com or service@kingrex.com

TEMPORARY WEBSITE: http://www.taiwantrade.com.tw/Kingrex/home/en_US