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IÂd not hang my hat on one poor review . Or reviews in particular. But the Hiface gizmo has gotten loads of positive comments from a lot of folks in lots of places! Here as well, if you check the archives.
Given it's near nothing cost, I'd recommend you go get one and see for yourself.
Whichever interface you wind up with, be it Hiface, it's newer more expensive, and more fully featured sibling, The "EVO", or some other one altogether... you're not going to be out much if anything. Tweek Geek has a money back policy and they are the N American distrib's for M2Tech.
in the CA review Chris said he used an Esoteric something or other... CDP? and some more upscale DACs like the Berkely and Weiss. $5K & $6K respectively to elicit his results. personally, I feel either that particular Hiface unit was a bad piece, or there was some remarkably poor mismatch in synergy somewhere in amongst all of his systems pieces for the Hiface to reveal anything like what was described in that article. Cabling?
it was easy enough to see something was surely up with the way that account was written in general... as well as how the Hiface was subjectively said to have operated. Vieled? soft? Dark? The Hiface possesses none of those characteristics given my own uses and interpertations of it's performance... not even remotely!
Merely pay attention to which driver you download as they are OS dependant. Macs use this or that, XP & older uses this and Win 7 & Vista use some other and one older version is available for Vista & 7 if the current one doesnÂt work well with J River MC 14 or later. I needed to use the previous Hiface driver for Vista & 7, as the current release wasnÂt working well with River Media Center. But all other media players had no troubles at all . ONLY MC 14 on my various pcs and then only with vistaÂs WASAPI output.
The Hiface BNC is what I use and itÂs a real bargain unit and a real overachiever!
BTW2 the BNC or RCA cable you affix to it, does matter.
Do look into the EVO BTW but good luck regardless your pick.. or your path. |
I love my M2Tch Hiface. Is the Sonic weld 10 times better? I don't know but it cost almost 10 times as much. |
Check out the latest review in enjoythemusic for a comparison between Evo, Halide Bridge & Jkenny modified Hiface
http://enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1110/m2tech_hiface_evo_dac.htm |
I have owned the HiFace and the EVO and now have the Sonicweld Diverter HR on the way. I can say based on my own experience that the CA review was garbage. Without going into detail, note who advertises on that site, Wavelength and Ayre (which licenses Wavelengths USB microcode)... See a picture forming... The HiFace used with my Mac mini and super Bidat and MSB PowerDac was superb! When the EVO was substituted for the HiFace it got even better. I read that review (CA) and scoffed at the findings....pure hogwash! |
Use M2Tech EVO to isolate Switching Mode Power Supply noise
from PC to Analog Power Supply of Tube Rectified/ Tube
Analog output Stage DAC. Tubes are highly suseptible to
PC SMPS. EVO does this in spades, as well as convert USB to AES/EBU Digital. Difficult to install EVO Drivers.
Blindjim-been concidering using J River Media Center. I
currently use Windows 7 OS with EVO. You said you had problems using the new M2Tech Drivers, especially utilizing
J River with Wasapi? Anyone else have similar problems with
EVO as well as hiface under same conditions? |
audiofun you were suppose to have the sonicweld two weeks ago, what gives. |
Hi JWM, yes you are correct.., my unit was supposed to have been delivered. I received an email from Lee of Cryoparts last Saturday stating that he had been ill and that my shipment amongst others was delayed. It was supposed to go out by the end of last week. That did not happen. I received an email from Josh Heiner of Sonicweld (maker of the Diverter) asking me to give him a call yesterday. I am sorry to inform those reading this that Lee passed away this past Saturday due to complications with an illness. I'm sure that you all as I do wish his family the best during this very trying time. Josh is taking care of fulfilling all orders that were in the que to ship out. |
I have both of them in my system right now. I own the Diverter HR and I've owned the Evo before (the current Evo is a loaner). I'm thinking of buying another Evo for one of my other systems. I use a heavy duty linear 12 volt ps for the Evo and it makes for a nice improvement.
The Evo sound really good with my Mac mini and pure music going into my MSB PowerDac. The Diverter is another plane of existence. The two units are simply not on the same playing ground sound-wise. Now having said all that I still think the Evo sounds really good. But when you play the same song on the Diverter back to back with the Evo you hear the roundness of the Diverter, the sheer amount of information retrieval is unbelievable and yet it still sounds more musical. This is hard to put into words.
The Evo at $2400.00 less cost has absolutely NOTHING to be ashamed of, but that $2400.00 does buy you the best USB interface I've yet experienced and not by a little.
I may still pick up another Evo for one of my other systems as I mentioned earlier. Both units are highly recommended. Have not yet heard the Audiophileo.... Perhaps one day :) |
thanks for the comments, do you know if Diverter will be at the Rocky Mountain Show or CES this year. |
Your welcome. Not sure about the show. I doubt it as I know Josh is busy building them as fast as he can :) |
I tried the M2Tech HiFace (stock) and it didn't last long in my system. All reports suggest that M2Tech HiFace Evo is greatly improved.
Have you considered trying Halide Design Bridge USB to SPDIF Converter? I am using one currently with my MacBook Pro and Bryston BDA-1 DAC with really terrific results. Highly recommended. |
Hi Headshrinker2, I have not used any of the streamlength based gear. The Halide bridge does look nice but I own most of the Hrx collection thus I need 176.4khz capability. I have a EVO currently in for audition. It sounds very very nice. |
I've missed a few things here due to some outside issues... but even some current experiements with the Hiface unit + Oyaide silver coax cable prove substantial rivals for some really heady competition just last week at a friends house.
he has Bel Canto mono amps, Canton Ref speakers, an Anthem D2 sig proc, and an Oracle CDP.
playing the Hiface & oaydie got the sound so close to the oracle as that amount was simply inconsequential.
using the Hiface with either tubes or SS I've had no issues what so ever with ground energies being introduced into the audio by clicks or otherwise, once I'm using anything even close to a good computer.
I can get mouse moving noise thru my Lynx AES16 Xpress card at times using J River 15.
All my driver woes were with JR 14. Using JR 15 things have settled down. See? If you bitch enough things get fixed... usually.
So what is this "audio diverter" gizmo?
And you don't mean the EVO now costs $2400, do you?
input would be greatly appreciated. |
EVO is still $500, maybe a little less. Anyone ever tried a
reclocker on the clock input of EVO? The only noise that I
get is when going wireless Router instead of Ethernet cable Input to PC. The question is, Blindjim, which EVO
Drivers are you currently using with JR 15? Why doesn't
Media Monkey offer Wasapi, am I correct on that? Why is
HD Tracks stuck on Media Monkey? |
The Diverter is another USB to SPDIF converter. It is $2880.00; I was saying that the Diverter is $2400.00 MORE thank the EVO. The EVO is still $500.00 :) |
Thanks ..... $2800 for a converter?
Absolutely, something besides fish in Denmark were rotten with that review of the Hiface USB converter over at CA. There were litterally thousands of positive accounts, and several posted ah, hem, 'pro' online mag reviews saying quite positive things about the gizmo and the answers from the usually in depth and articulate techically slanted CA author merely let rudimentary questions go unaswered or remain ignored.... like did you try another unit given your findings were so adverse to so many other positive accounts, as that one might have been wrong or somehow poorly made or broken??
As inexpensive as these M2Tech converters are with respect to many others out there it would seem a no brainer to have requested a second unit.... or sought out the reason for such adverse findings elsewhere in the setup
neither of the above however were adequately accounted for.
personally, on the heels of the glowing rave about the Hallide Bridge affair, it seems a tuff enough act to follow and then say the < $200 Hiface was a world beater of a bargain.
But more than that episode doesn't make sense there quite often in those reviews. IMO.
had I not posted an account or review of the Lynx AES 16 PCI xpress card regularly used as 'the ref' converter of choice.... there wouldn't be one still.
Seems an odd thing to me to not properly qualify a refference piece, AND one listed on the 'recomended parts list'. Everything else there was reviewed.
if nothing else it makes one say, "Hmmmmmmmmmm..."
RE 'Weld'
congrats on whomever came up with that idea. Sell 10 a year and ya got a great part time income. 3 grand for a USB converter. LOL
I think I'd rather give that $3K or so to Mr. Rankin, Mr. Weiss, etc, for their stuff instead and get more value for the money.
Good. That's one less item to investigate.
Again, thanks much. |
No problem :) It is all in the sound quality of the unit. The Diverter is worth every peeny as a reference device... gotta pay to play... :)
I feel that it is not out of place with my other gear and certainly raises the quality of the sound I am hearing. |
Best one i have heard is the Weiss INT203 although that is a Firewire to spdif converter. |
