Musical Fidelity M1 DAC

halo

Hey all,

I just wanted to provide a brief review of my impressions with the MF M1DAC in my setup.

The difference was noticeable immediately. The best way for me to describe the effect is to liken this device to a pair of glasses. The Rx strength isn't strong and it doesn't need to be. What it did was take a decent sound and bring everything into focus. The instrument separation and the clarity with which those instruments are now reproduced is razor sharp. That is not to say that this M1DAC has an edge to it but, I believe, if your setup is just a tad laid back, this is the DAC you should audition. Nothing in the setup is overemphasized; it just seems to be in its proper place (if that makes any sense).

I was hesitant to add a DAC to my setup and I know, for a fact, that the essence HDACC, had a similar effect on my setup but I had a Jolida Fusion preamp in that setup paired with the Energy RC-70 speakers. The difference wasn't as apparent in that setup as it is in my current setup with the Parasound Halo P5 preamp and the Dynaudio Focus 260 speakers. I guess that my current setup is a little more revealing/accurate for lack of a better description.

I am running 2 sources into the M1DAC; SONOS Connect via an optical cable and the ELAC Discovery via a digital coax cable. Since it can handle asynchronous USB as well, I'll probably connect my laptop to it just for the heck of it.

Keep in mind that this DAC automatically upsamples whatever it's being fed to 192kHz. I don't know if that has an effect on the sound I'm hearing but I do remember that the HDACC upsampled as well. Both the HDACC & the DAC1 were vast improvements compared to not having them in the setup.

The M1DAC is big. It takes up a lot of real estate on the audio rack. The HDACC was pretty small and easy to tuck away. The HDACC had a remote to select the input & change sampling rates, etc. The M1DAC has no remote. While it's not necessary, it is an added bonus to be able to switch sources from my listening position. Finally, the HDACC ran very warm to the touch and it used a wal wort power supply whereas the M1DAC has an internal power supply.

Honestly, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either one of these if you want to hear what a difference a good DAC can make in your setup.

erniejade

Nice review! Sounds like a solid clean dac to me. The clearer highs might be a hair less jitter vs your other? It might just do a better job of pulling out more detail. MF in general does a good job pulling detail out.

lightman1

I feel a Chicago audio crawl coming on soon. Nice piece of gear, Vic. Rock on!

agfrost

Thanks for the advance warning, Russ.

lightman1

You're first on the list.....

agfrost wrote: »

Thanks for the advance warning, Russ.

Joey_V

Yep like I said. It is a good dac

halo

I believe that this component has lowered the noise floor as well. Without increasing the volume level, the music played back through my setup is noticeably louder than it was before. The dB meter confirms that it is a few dB higher but it really sounds louder in our listening environment. So much so, I've actually turned the volume knob down and it still seems "loud." There's no added distortion or anything like that. As I said earlier, the music is more focused, cleaner, & clearer.

halo

DSkip wrote: »

That's gain, not the noise floor.

So, gain would explain the louder volume level, but not the increased focus/clarity.

halo

Perhaps it's a little of both and I'm just not as well versed?

Whatever is the correct terminology, the sound is more open, overall, and focused; it is bringing out the details associated with/as well as around each instrument and even voices, background vocals as well.

tonyb

Glad your digging it. A good example of what adding a dac can do for your system. Your volume difference can be an impedance thing, noise floor, or just that the dac allows you to hear details at lower volumes so you don't have to turn up the dial.

Now for the bad part, be careful with that volume dial ! The cleaner sound entices people to turn it up to deafening levels and it becomes easier to push those limits without notice. Rock on bro

halo

tonyb wrote: »

be careful with that volume dial !

No worries there. I've been turning it down since I've been getting that focused sound. On the dB meter, it's registering peaks ~ 75-78 dB. At that point, in our apartment, it seems to be quite loud so I back it down until it feels like I'm getting the sound I want without adverse effects.

Wardsweb

Great DAC. I used one for years. I only changed when I moved into DSD files. The M1DAC only does PCM.

WagnerRC

BUMP

halo

WagnerRC wrote: »

if anyone is still looking.... not mine (edited)

http://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649333256-musical-fidelity-m1-dac/

Mine is still available for sale. But now, someone can purchase this one instead of the one I'm offering here. Thank you for your assistance. Hopefully more than one buyer is out there and both will sell.