"The amp and streamer are outstanding with really good imaging and presence."
benb: that's my experience too with the M-100, and it just keeps getting
better the more material I listen to (varying genres, recordings,
volume levels etc). No MARS, no power conditioning and a Cullen Cable
Crossover Series as power cable. Other than Audioquest Sydney rca from CDP (which I don't use much), no other fancy-pants
interconnects to speak of. For my money those aren't a good &
credible investment.
Like you I'm getting super-good imaging & stage, presence and drive. Totally stoked.
I did have a weird encounter during .flac playback via http over ethernet through the M-100 LAN input. I use the BubbleUPnP for DLNA/Chromecast android app as control point, with the M-100 as UPnP renderer via its LAN input. Btw the BubbleUPnP app is excellent: well-designed,
feature-wealthy, responsibly and frequently maintained, rock-solid
stable. Superb value, from the Google Play Store.
I
use the Micromega android app to control the M-100 hardware: volume,
input sources, etc. Sadly, that app is of entirely different caliber
than BubbleUPnP (see my earlier posts about that). No response from Micromega to my questions about that.
I
had just played back a single track from .flac, and selected another
single track in BubbleUPnP. I hit Play - and nothing happened. Tried
again: nothing. Rebooted the BubbleUPnP app - and it no longer found
the M-100 as a UPnP renderer on the LAN. Rescanned for devices in the
Micromega app, and it too no longer found the M-100. Restarted both
Micromega app and M-100: still no UPnP renderer. M-100 still had a valid IP, an active network connection and responded
to ping. All other M-100 functions and source inputs still worked fine, as
did the remote.
The
tl;dr: after hours of troubleshooting including router and network
debugging, and hw/sw isolation, I finally pulled the nuclear option and
reapplied the firmware update to the M-100 network module. That fixed
it: M-100 reappeared as UPnP renderer and playback via its LAN input works again.
A
cautionary tale but hopefully useful outcome if other owners have the
same problem (I didn't find any out on the interwebz). I think it's
highly unlikely the BubbleUPnP control app 'exploded' the UPnP interface
on the M-100 network module - for now I'm treating it as an isolated
"lost-its-mind" failure on Micromega's part.
|
I would think it's a bug in the M100. If they get around to that as quick as the android app it might get fixed in a few more years. djones51: yes agree it's likely a Micromega network module firmware bug, rather than the UPnP clients. That and the crappy android app is laziness on Micromega's part, if not mild sw development negligence. I haven’t had any bugs on the Mac side... benb: glad to hear that. wrt the internet radio feature, on what device are you running the Micromega app? |
I assume there aren’t enough android users so they don’t bother with it. Maybe - but they did do an initial release on android, and it would reflect real well on company and developer/s skillset (and CV/s) if they’d stabilize the app and get it to parity with the iOS version. And I think you answered my earlier question to benb about the internet radio feature: it isn't in the (abjectly outdated) android version of their mobile app : / ... punch and clarity of this amp is amazing for only 100 watts. The background is always dead silent. I’m having a similar experience with my Nola Boxers - they’ve been transported to entirely different dimension by the M-100. |
"...any thoughts on best ways to feed the Micromega M100. I’m loving the Roon interface but from what I understand it feeds the M100 via Airplay which may not be giving the highest quality sound. I also have Audirvana+ latest version which seems to output UPnP to the M100 giving all the filtering options. Would adding a microRendu and feeding Ethernet into that and then USB into the M100 give even better sound? The microRendu is also Roon ready which I think would open up possibilities within Roon." No devices output UPnP per se. Like Apple’s proprietary AirPlay it’s a set of protocols for devices to interact with each other on a IP network. UPnP is open-source, _not_ proprietary (lots of advantages to that), and there’s an entire subset of the standard dedicated to A/V applications. And where there’s UPnP, DLNA is often there too - at least on AV hardware from such manufacturers. Indeed, DLNA is a superset of the UPnP spec. Of course, Apple’s OSX doesn’t support UPnP - that would be antithetical to their AirPlay machinations. Nor does Roon: like with Apple, I think that would erode or otherwise devalue their proprietary and competing spec, RAAT. Roon also wants to cater to (read: extract $$$ from) the semi-incumbent audiophile ’elite’ on Macs, so they support AirPlay too. Here and there you may find Roon reps doing some thinly-veiled sniping at UPnP. Those fancy-pants, multi-thousands-of-dollars ’audiophile’ streamers/servers/players (eg Auralic, Aurender, Cary, Moon, Music Fidelity, and the’elite’ lines from Denon/Marantz/Onkyo/Sony etc) are basically all computers, running dedicated (and proprietary) OS’s, most if not all of them Linux variants. They too support UPnP/DLNA as a means to deliver a lot of their value. It’s work to get learned-up on all this, but the computer audio future has been here since about 2000, and it’s only going to become more pervasive, disruptive and all-consuming. Among a handful of helpful resources for getting informed is Archimago’s blog - start with this article: http://archimago.blogspot.com/2017/03/musings-computer-audio-part-ii-basics.htmlAnd especially read this, top to bottom and everything in between: http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/
"... M100 sounds absolutely fabulous almost any way I feed it including straight Airplay from iTunes"
2nd that - like, I'm again at risk of gushing. My primary source is my LAN: .flac over UPnP/http from a Win7-64 Pro host (acting as the 'NAS' - Network Attached Storage), with the UPnP control point being the excellent BubbleUPnP android app on my phone, and the M-100 as the UPnP renderer. Transcendent sound quality out of the M-100 ... I could only be happier if Micromega fixed the android version of their mobile app ; ) |
"I could only be happier if Micromega fixed the android version of their mobile app ; )" I contacted main distributor Audio Plus Services about the crappy Android version of the Micromega app. They passed on my inquiry to Micromega en Boissy-saint-Leger, et voila, Micromega ils ont répondu: me: "...I’m using the Micromega for Android app with my M-100, and as you may know the app is outdated and not maintained (no updates since 2016). It is extremely unstable, crashes frequently and is missing features that are included in the iOS version (internet radio, maybe others are missing?). I inquired with Micromega weeks ago, but no reply from them. I’d like to hear whether they plan to address the problems with their Android app."
Micromega: "To answer your question, indeed we have decided to go straight [to] and finalize the iOS version before the Android version. But as the software is very demanding in terms of time, cost and development, [we] have decided to work with a new software company dedicated & specialized in Android development! On our agreement with them, it [is] shown that the entire development including Tidal, qobuz, deezer, web radio and the audio server has to be completed and done by December 31st 2018." That’s hopeful ... une bonne année ; ) |
They are also also adding Roon to firmware hopefully by the end of the year I don’t know Roon or Roon Labs much, but I do see they have Roon Remote app for Android. Not being a Roon Core owner, all I get is a "Looking for Roon Core" pulser in the UX. From what I could see it appears way, way more polished than the Micromega app for Android (no surprise). The little I’ve read/seen about Roon Core suggests it has a slick UX, lots of tagging/cataloging/library features including access to a jumbo-size metadata collection, some nice integration with music services (esp. Tidal) and endpoints (amps/dacs/playback devices), the usual commodity streaming/playback features you’ll find on lots of other apps like this, and some ’trophy’ features like MQA transcoding, DSD support and maybe some others. Best I can tell there’s no credible, empirical data or experiments in the literature that demonstrate Roon Core produces ’better’ output than any one of a number of other playback apps - including free ones. Whether it ’sounds’ better to someone, well, that by definition is subjective. $119/yr or $499/lifetime is a bit dear, given what one gets and what I value. Relative to the alternatives out there, both paid and free, I might consider it at half that price. I am grateful to the Roon Labs COO for obliquely dismissing some of the industry hype around ’audiophile cables’ (in this case ethernet cables), here: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/validity-of-audiophile-ethernet-cables/30251/25. A mildly bold move: biting a finger on the hand that feeds them, as it were. |
|
"I don't need jriver..."
" All the M100 needs is a NAS with DLNA or like I said an old windows computer with DLNA enabled and a shared drive or folder." djones51: right on ... am a big fan of simplifying and using what we already got and/or is freely available. The hype surrounding the playback performance of some of the pay-for apps is just that: hype. |
"...curious how many different music streaming programs or apps have you listened to on the Micromega or others? benb: are you curious about observations on music "streaming" performance/features? That is, the 'transport' feature set that gets source material from point A to point B? Or something else? |
benb: "...worth money to me" Totally agree with that. Let the spender of the money be the last word on what’s-worth-the-money. "...upsampled to DSD or tried various filter settings that are features in the pay-for apps that I believe has a lot of potential?" I haven’t tried any of that, but I’d like to. Have you tried such modded source material on the M-100? How would you describe the output from your speakers, compared to unmodified? "...interface and ability to dig into your music collection in Roon is worth money..." Yes that seems to be a Roon value-add that some people find worth the cost of the software. "...the time when it was expected to pay for things related to music" I think the institutionalized expectation of ’paying for things related to music’ has in large part created an industry where hype and ’manufacturing consent’ drive music-enjoyers to spend lots of money on products of dubious objective value. Whether there’s sufficient subjective value to the beholder, well, that returns us to let-the-money-spender be the last word. |
"...they said they were going to integrate Qobuz in their app hopefully by the end of the year" Yup, that’s what they replied to me when I asked about the outdated Android app. Looks like Micromega has outsourced that development to a 3rd-party, and from the reply there might even be contractual obligation to finish the work by end of year - which includes Qobuz integration on 9/6/2018 3:33 AM <Micromega> wrote :
...
Indeed we decided to go straight to and finalize the iOS version before Android. But as the software is very demanding in term of time, cost and development, [we] decided to work with a new software company dedicated & specialized in the Android development! [In] our agreement with them, [the] entire development including Tidal, Qobuz, deezer, web radio and audio server has to be completed by December 31st 2018.
...
Cordialement,
AUDIS / MICROMEGA
13-15 rue du 8 mai 1945
Parc d’activité de la Haie Griselle
94470 Boissy-saint-Leger |
At first attempt the M-100 headphone-out circuit seems wimpy driving Sennheiser HD650's. Must pump volume all the way up to level 60 before it reaches dB levels I consider 'loud', and even then the HD650 characteristic 'dark veil' is present in the sound (indicating an under-powered source). By contrast my Creek 5350se drives the HD650's effortlessly and with buckets of dB's, lucidity, articulation, deep- and hi, blah blah quack quack, etc.
Maybe this is just the way M-100 is config'd from factory (ie really have to jack it with hi-impedance 'phones like the 300ohm HD650's)?
Or, the M-100 headphone-out is really anemic. I didn't find any specs for it in the docs (output impedance, power, etc). |
djones51: I don't have the binaural add-on option. |
Can anyone report back on the fan noise? Is it bothersome and does it run a lot? How about the temperature of the unit. Is it very high and something you worry about for longevity? I have the M-100. I've heard no fan noise. External temp of the case is at best warm at end of the day (~6-8hrs powered on, with a couple 2hr listening sessions). I don't worry about longevity. ... Ethernet port will become an ROON end-point by the end of 2018. Does anyone have this feature implemented yet? I don't use Roon. For me open-source (free) alternatives + UPnP/DLNA are better value. DLNA already supported by the M-One's. How do you guys compare the sound of the unit ... Specifically with the layering of the sound and the air around instruments? If sounds-like-Rolling-Stones-playing-Hey Negrita-right-in-the-room-with-you is equivalent to "layering" and "air around instruments", then yes. |
Fun continues here too, M-100 such a champ and delight every time I listen. All genres, all recordings - including the bad ones, which M-100 is unabashedly, brutally revealing with.
Extending my speakers with dual Syzygy SLF870 sub's, eagerly waiting for them to arrive. Did lengthy research and shopping, skipped REL this time (current owner) and settled on Syzygy for all the reasons, esp. forward-thinking design & features. Will report with results in another appropriate thread. |
When the extended M-100 "system" works, it’s a delight.
But only when it works. Network module continues to be intermittently and infuriatingly unreliable, such that the M-100 gets "lost" on my LAN and needs a f’ing amp and network firmware reinstall to recover.
M-One android app continues to be the outdated POS from 2016 ... waiting again to hear from Micromega with an update on the app update they said would be released in December 2018 : | |
does anyone know (or has measured) the gain of the phono pre-amp? p'diego, Email Micromega and ask. They do respond. Recent reply on update to the Android app: -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: Micromega Android app avec M-100 Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2019 23:16:19 +0100 From: m-one@micromega.com The new Android app is getting ready for certification with TIDAL, QOBUZ and TIDAL inside. I hope to release it within the next weeks. It will not be long until i will be able to open the possibility to install the app as part of a BETA program in Google Play Store. Probably end of next week. -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: Micromega Android app avec M-100 Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2019 18:57:41 +0100 From: m-one@micromega.com Hope you doing fine. Actually we are finishing the new Android version which should be ready more than soon. CC'd the lead in charge of the development [who] would tell you more precisely when exactly we could expect the release! I would believe about the end of March… Have a great day, > Le 15 mars 2019 à 11:49, usery a écrit : > > Bonjour, > > Is the new version of the Micromega Android app available yet? I am not seeing it on the Google Play Store - only the older version is there. > > Merci |
"...which connection is best?" Do whatever's easiest? That any of those connection paths will make a audible difference for you & your hearing is the subject of lots of fighting and mumbo-jumbo. From my LAN (and a inexpensive hub) I use the RJ45 (ethernet) connection on the M-100. To satisfy superstition, place laptop some distance from amp. |
roni44 said: "...get another DDC" Yeah I’m wary of interfaces like that ... especially at that price, those reviews, and that it’s apparently a ’chi-fi’ product. I have nothing against ’chi-fi’ per se - IF the companies are well-established, with records of credibility and honest value (think iFi or iBasso). Is your laptop your only available NAS option? |
I have an M-100 but without the so-called M.A.R.S. room EQ kit (unlocked firmware + mic). You can read about M-One features from here: https://micromega.com/en/products/mone-range/. I’m not aware of any "user EQ". ps: expensive ’audiophile' routers, nas’s and cables are poor investments. |
s7horton said: "I’ve downloaded the app for iOS. I’ve never connected it successfully to my m100. The app always says “make sure your devices and smart phone are connected to the same network” Did you reflash the M100 network firmware after the repair? If not do that - see the user manual for instructions (easy). "do I need to connect the m100 to WiFi? I’ve not been able to figure out how I might do that. Seems others have connected no problem. Do I need a LAN connection to my home network for that to work?" Yes you need a LAN connection - the M100 only has a RJ45-type network interface (ie wired), no built-in wifi support. So you need either a ethernet cable run from your main router to the M100, or a wifi router/extender bridged from your main router then a short ethernet cable to the M100. The former is waay preferable if your house layout allows it. |
"...anybody using the M-One as UPnP device without problems?" After some early poor reliability, which a couple firmware reinstalls & reboots seemed to fix, my M-100 has been very reliable on the network as a UPnP renderer. I use the Micromega Android app to control volume and input sources only - other UPnP control point apps are much better, especially the BubbleUPnP android app (sadly not an option for iOS). On Mac OS I use upplay as control point app, also quite good if not rough in its ux implementation. Direct-message me for a contact at Micromega en Boissy-Saint-Léger (he’ll connect you with a tech support person who can help). |
