November 2011
Reviewer: Wojciech Pacuła
CD player: Ancient Audio Lektor Air
Phono preamplifier: RCM Audio Sensor Prelude IC
Cartridges: Air Tight Supreme, Miyajima Laboratory Waza
Preamplifier: Ayon Audio Polaris III with Regenerator power supply version II
Power amplifier: Tenor Audio 175S, Soulution 710
Integrated amplifier/headphone amplifier: Leben CS300 XS Custom version
Loudspeakers: Harpia Acoustics Dobermann
Headphones: Sennheiser HD800, AKG K701, Ultrasone PROLine 2500, Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro
Interconnects: CD-preamp Acrolink Mexcel 7N-DA6300, preamp-power amp Wireworld Platinum Eclipse
Speaker cable: Tara Labs Omega Onyx
Power cables: Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9300
Power conditioning: Gigawatt PF-2
Audio stand: Base
Resonance control: Finite Elemente Ceraball under the CD player, Pro Audio Bono platform under CD player
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Just a few years ago companies like Burr-Brown manufactured large quantities of USB digital receivers capable of receiving 16-bit signals with 32/44.1/48kHz sampling frequencies like the PCM2702 chip. So many of them were manufactured that they now sell for next to nothing and remain used in sometimes even very expensive gear. Those USB receivers by today's standards usually sound bad because they are characterized by very high jitter. There are of course exceptions to the rule like the magical and by all common sense inexplicable sound of the Musica Ibuki DAC or the incredibly successful KingRex UD-1 Pro. But those really are the exceptions.
As a matter of fact it does seem that if sound quality were their only concern, the major brands would not raise a finger to do anything about it. Changes were brought about by life itself, not even audiophiles this time. It simply turned out that selling files via the Internet is very profitable and not only as MP3 or 16/44.1 formats but also in 24-bit versions with higher sampling rates. So USB receiver chips were manufactured which would would handle such 24/96 files. One of the first was probably the TAS1020 TI, now rather obsolete because of its still high jitter. The decision to stop its manufacture was seemingly premature. For example the digital board of Primare newest I22 amplifier sports exactly this receiver chip. The thing here is, Primare’s engineers developed a special program with PLL loop embedded inside the chip whereby their signal is reclocked in this silicon. This gave outstanding results!
Hifi firms quickly embraced another chip, the Tenor Audio TE7022 now almost ubiquitous from the inexpensive Audinst HUD-mx1 DAC all the way to the very advanced Soulution 540 player. Yet even this chip remained limited to 24/96 input signal. Something more was required to unlock computers for their native 24/192 files. This has become the new de facto ‘gold standard’ for audio files as it is in some way endorsed by the DVD-Audio and Blu-ray carriers whose best sound is defined by those exact parameters. But to transfer audio data with these parameters intact via USB mandates proprietary drivers for Windows whose default drivers limit out at 24/96 . For higher rates you need to install more advanced drivers.
Enter Wavelength Audio who in my opinion must be viewed as the most important trend setter of two paths currently shaping digital audio - USB DACs with 192kHz sampling frequency and asynchronous receiver mode. Although the latter is not absolutely essential, unlocking 192kHz files is. Fortunately other companies beside Wavelength quickly took the lead and introduced their own advanced solutions. One of them was the Italian firm M2Tech which conquered the audio scene with their hiFace USB-SPDIF converters. Those were really small but fulfilled two requirements - they handled 24/192 files in asynchronous transfer mode.
One might have thought this the end of the road but humans are pushy animals. We need to explore the limits of the possible. That’s why the barely obtained 24/192 formula seems already no longer sufficient to some. Count M2Tech amongst those. Word got out last year that the company was working on a DAC and USB-S/PDIF converter which would handle 32-bit/384kHz audio [Antelope Audio’s Igor Levin already had his in the Zodiac Gold – Ed]. Although 32-bit compliance had already appeared in for example the KingRex UC192 DAC (32-bit at 192kHz), the 384kHz sampling rate seems pure madness. What's it currently good for?
One can approach a possible answers in different ways. In my view two are most valid - the need to present something nobody else has yet; and the need to introduce a device capable to reproduce all available consumer formats including DXD, an archiving format developed for DSD characterized by 32-bit 384kHz. The first approach is clear. Every company attempts to be first with something. Regarding the second and ultimately probably more important factor, the M2Tech Young should be future proof except for currently not handling DSD files which need to be played with two sampling frequencies: 2.8 and 5.6MHz. Currently only the Playback Designs MPD-3 can do that but others will undoubtedly follow shortly. Regardless, the Young is a very advanced DAC which can receive the 32-bit 192kHz signal via the classic connections and 32/384 via USB. It has a fantastic big display showing selected input and incoming sample frequency and analog RCA outputs with higher than usual voltage – 2.56V instead of the CD standard 2V.
The Young as DAC with S/PDIF input and 16/44.1 material. The Italian DAC was compared directly to reference players of Ancient Audio Lektor Air V-edition and Soulution 745 caliber to show something I’ve not heard for a very long time, perhaps five years and which—attention!—I missed in both the players. I refer to the incredible dynamics and energy of the treble. The Young was so direct that all other players seem a bit veiled by comparison. After longer listening this became less explicit and the more natural sound was judged to really come from the two reference CD players but - the impression of some loss with them stayed with me for long after disconnecting the Young from my system.
I remember a similar uncompromised presentation of dynamics and treble in top models from dCS a few years back which were replaced by new models I do not know. Only the Gryphon Mikado tried to repeat it later. Now the Young delivered almost the same—if not exactly the same—quality for a fraction of the money you needed to put down for a dCS or Mikado. Once heard, you keep searching for this trait in all other products.
These were incredible dynamics! Although heard each and every time on any disc, it made the biggest impression with albums that were rather withdrawn in the treble due to recording limitations or choices. That was the case with Art Pepper’s Intensity and Seven Steps To Heaven by Miles Davis. Especially with the former the Young seemed better at showing the leader’s saxophone in a stronger more selective way. Selectiveness is probably the keyword here. The whole sound is built around it. It’s a very worthy center of things.
The proportions between treble energy, selectiveness and subjective treble level were very interesting. They are interconnected of course but not equal. Compared to the Lektor Air, the Young’s sound spectrum seemed a bit more restricted as though there was less treble. Yet with each disc I could hear more energy in this range. I think the solution to this puzzle was the completely different differentiation of shapes and localization between Young and Lektor Air. It is here where the world of difference in price and quality became visible.
The Young sounded flatter and instruments did not develop as well as over the reference player. Despite the Italian DAC’s much greater energy of the higher frequencies, if we have a clear strong cymbal beat like on Dream of Fools from the Clan of Xymox disc, the Air will present it closer with higher mass and saturation (quite as though somebody upped the color saturation when retouching a photo). Ditto for counter-phase effects like the voices of Simon and Garfunkel from Punky’s Dilemma. The Lektor Air and Soulution placed those much better around the listener . The Young showed them rather upfront to only suggest the level of density the reference players generated.
Given price all was well. Except that I now must return you to the shock I mentioned earlier when Eva Cassidy’s guitar on Autumn Leaves had the Young show how it really should sound while the recorded sibilants of Cassidy’s voice were not exaggerated in turn. This was incredible. When something sounds brighter and sharper, it usually goes over the top and often such recordings no longer are enjoyable. The treble energy of the Young was terrific, as though attempting to convey what we know from reality but what is usually tamed by recording technologies and the limitations of listening at home. At the same time there was absolutely no overemphasis of the upper frequencies wherein lies a certain paradox, a magic ability of this DAC for which we can only envy the Italians
As I already described, this DAC isn't perfect nor does it aspire to such a costly coronation. It was lighter than the reference players and also the Wyred4Sound DAC-2. The latter had the fleshier bass and a more saturated denser midrange. On the other hand the Young controlled these ranges far better and simply sounded cleaner. Where the DAC-2 rounded off the edges and slightly washed out dynamics, the Young was ultra-precise and astonishingly accurate. Yet one cannot invoke exaggeration to suggest a lack of emotions. We shall absolutely not lack those! Even so you must know the remaining limitations of this device to have a clearer picture of the whole. There are a few worthy DACs in the 5.000zł price range but none will be as precise, quick or dynamic as this Italian DAC. And up to few dozen thousands zlotys none will be as resolving either.
Young as DAC with USB input and high resolution material. I tested the Young first as a classic DAC because only that way could I separate the D/A and D/D sections. In the latter role as USB/I²S converter, the USB 32/384 input is the main feature. Playing computer files resulted in a slightly different sound than from the S/PDIF input. Such files were not as brilliantly dynamic nor as clean in the upper registers yet they were better saturated and more coherent internally. The sound of high resolutions files with the Young exceeded what we usually assume to be the median for this price range. Their sound would easily convince all who regard a CD player from the 5.000 – 6.000zł price range to be very good because the Young is so much better. Of course a lot depends on the files and other elements like the software player but the general conclusion remains intact.
As I said, the sound from the USB input was denser. The treble remained quite strong but this time the bass was equally so. It still did not extend as low as with the reference player but was nicer than before, denser than what I heard via S/PDIF and a CD drive. Finally Depeche Mode from their latest single Personal Jesus 2011 was more potent and had more kick. This was helped by outstanding dynamics, a very characteristic feature of the Young. Even so it was clear that files from the computer had the better balanced timbre. In terms of resolution and staging there were slight improvements too but these changes were not big. One could further improve on those with a few setup steps in the right direction. Each one brings a change that can be demonstrated but only all of them together result in any relevant qualitative change.
The first thing is proper computer setup. It is important that the computer output is not upsampled but identical to the file we play. Next is the file player. When Marcin Ostapowicz visited me as one of the JPlay developers, he presented me with various playback modes for the Young. In those comparisons to foobar2000 the Young factored as DAC and each change was clearly audible. This confirmed its splendid resolution. That’s why it’s so worthwhile considering each detail. This M2Tech DAC will show it immediately by being an exceptional—really exceptional—DAC that opens up our horizons for what is to come tomorrow by handling almost everything we have today (almost - there is still the undiscovered world of DSD files). It’s also a small well put together unit with a splendid interface. Bravo!
Description
The Young is a small device. Its chassis is a thick aluminium extrusion with the PCB assembly inserted into it. In the front we have an arc-shaped perforated black mesh screen hiding an incredibly big red LED display. The displayed text is scrollable and super legible. The overall cosmetics are splendid.
The inputs and outputs are on the back. All sockets are of the highest quality. We have USB 2.0, AES/EBU, optical, coaxial and BNC digital inputs. The analog stereo outputs are unbalanced. On the far right side there is a small socket for the external power supply. This socket is similar to those used in mobile phones and I frankly would prefer to see a better one. The external power supply is medium sized and resembles a laptop brick. It would be ideal to have a battery power supply like the hiFace EVO has but the power requirements of the Young might have negated that option.
The outer aluminum shell covers an inner steel molding to which are bolted the PCB, inputs and display. The circuitry can be divided into three sections: USB, digital inputs and DAC. At the USB input there is a large Cypress Semiconductor microprocessor housing the M2Tech software to handle the USB signal. Next to it are two eight-channel digital isolators providing galvanic separation of the digital inputs from the rest of the circuitry. But this is not the only isolation. The digital inputs are also coupled to digital impedance-matching transformers.
The even bigger Xilinx Spartan processor works as a digital filter wherein the incoming signal is upsampled to 786kHz. This digital filters seem to be the most important part of this device. Next we see the Burr-Brown PCM1795 DAC. This is a new chip with 32/192 parameters and good dynamics. I/V conversion is handled by the Analog Devices 8674 which is highly respected by DIYers. In the output there is a TI OPA2211 buffer amp accompanied by nice Wima polypropylene caps. All other parts are surface mounted but also of very good quality. Each section features its own sophisticated power supply with stabilizers and filters. The digital section is exceptional. The relatively low cost of the Young is determined by its analog section which is fairly simple despite using good parts.
Technical data (according to manufacturer):
Dimensions: 200x 50x 200mm WxHxD
Weight: 1kg
Sampling frequencies (kHz): 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384
Resolution: 16-24 bits (S/PDIF, AES/EBU, optical), 16-32 bits (USB)
Frequency response: 10-20kHz, +0.1/-0.5 dB (fs = 44.1kHz); 10-90kHz, +0.1/-0.1 dB (fs=384kHz)
SNR: 121dB (weighted A, 192kHz, 24 bits, up to 20kHz)
THD+N: 0.0003% (192kHz, 24bits)
Inputs: 2 x S/PDIF (RCA & 75Ω BNC), 1x AES/EBU (XLR), 1x optical (Toslink), 1x USB (USB type B)
Outputs: stereo RCA
Output voltage: 2.65Vrms (7.5 Vpp/0dBFS)
Power supply voltage: 15V-18V DC
Power: 240mA/15V
Source: 6moons
