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CEntrance HiFi-M8 DAC/Headphone amp

CEntrance HiFi-M8 DAC/Headphone amp

The name CEntrance may not be familiar to many audiophiles just yet, but the odds are that at some point many of us have heard or enjoyed digital audio products that benefit from embedded CEntrance technologies. I mention this because, long before CEntrance began building audio components of its own, the firm had already earned an enviable reputation as a provider of expert engineering consulting services in the areas of DAC design, USB interface design, and low power-consumption amplifier design. Indeed, CEntrance’s client list reads a bit like a ‘Who’s Who’ of movers and shakers in the digital audio world and includes names such as Benchmark Media Systems, Bel Canto Design, Empirical Audio, Harman, KORG, KRK, Lavry Engineering, Mackie, TASCAM, WAVES, and more. It is from this consulting background—a background that has deep roots in the pro audio world—that CEntrance has now emerged as a manufacturer of very cleverly conceived high-performance consumer audio products, one of the most fascinating of which is the £599 HiFi-M8 (the M8 is pronounced ‘mate’) portable DAC/headphone amplifier that is the subject of this review.

Honestly, portable DAC/headphone amps are becoming fairly commonplace these days so that a legitimate question to ask is, “What makes CEntrance’s HiFi-M8 special?” The answer to that question has several parts.

First, the HiFi-M8 incorporates an asynchronous USB DAC capable of supporting resolutions of up to 192/24 and that, significantly, is fully compatible with iPhone/iPad/iPod devices, Android devices, Macs, and PCs. This capability alone gives the HiFi-M8 a significant leg up on many would-be competitors since achieving full-on iDevice compatibility certification has proven to be a feat that is harder to pull off in practice than you might think. Perhaps the only things missing might be DXD and DSD compatibility (features that are appearing in a growing number of DAC products these days), though in fairness I should mention that initial design and development work on the HiFi-M8 began well before the current DXD/DSD movement began to gather momentum.

CEntrance’s DAC section provides a very high accuracy (error </= 10ppm) internal clock and is said to deliver “unmeasurable jitter.” When used with Macs and iDevices no additional device driver is required, but users of Windows-based systems will need to download a free copy of CEntrance’s famous ASIO Universal Driver—a time-tested and proven driver that a number of semiconductor manufacturers have licensed on a private-label basis for use with their own silicon devices. 

Next, the HiFi-M8 provides an unusually powerful, wide-bandwidth, Class A amplifier section that offers a maximum output of 1.4 watts (yep, we’re talking actual watts, here—not milliwatts as with most headphone amps), and that also provides both single-ended and balanced outputs. What is more, the HiFi-M8 amplifier section is extremely flexible, offering user-adjustable control switches for amplifier output impedance (where the options are 1, 2, or 11 Ohms), master gain (options are -2dBV, -10dBV, and -22dBV), bass boost (options are ‘flat’, ‘+’, and ‘++’), and treble boost (where the options are again ‘flat’, ‘+’, and ‘++’). In short, the HiFi-M8 makes a strong bid to be considered as ‘an amp for all seasons’—one that is equally comfortable driving anything from power-hungry full-size headphones on through to ultra-sensitive custom-fit in-ear monitors.

Expanding upon the ‘flexibility-R-us’ theme, CEntrance offers a total of five different versions of the HiFi-M8, as listed below, each created with specific user groups in mind.

HiFi-M8 XL4: This version provides two single-ended outputs (via 3.5mm mini-jack and 6.5mm TRS or “phone” jack), an optical S/PDIF output (housed within the barrel of the 3.5mm mini-jack), and a balanced stereo output (via 4-pin female XLR connector).

HiFi-M8 RSA: Nearly identical to the XL4, the RSA version replaces the 4-pin XLR connector with a miniature 4-pin RSA (Ray Samuels Audio) connector.

HiFi-M8 CMB: This version provides balanced outputs via a dedicated set of Left/Right 3-pin XLR connectors, but with a twist. The XLR jacks are so-called “combo” connectors that each incorporate single-ended stereo outputs via embedded 6.5mm headphone jacks.

HiFi-M8 PRO: Intended for pro audio applications, this model provides only balanced outputs via a dedicated pair of 3-pin male XLR connectors. 

HiFi-M8 LX: Unlike the preceding models, the LX is a non-iDevice compatible version that substitutes a TOSLINK input for the iDevice input provided on all other HiFi-M8 units (CEntrance calls these “HiFi-M8 Classic” models).

Note: Our review sample was a HiFi-M8 XL4—a model we requested because its outputs fit the various reference earphones and headphone we had on hand for our listening tests.

 

How does the HiFi-M8 perform? In a blog I wrote earlier on the CEntrance I said my first impressions were that the HiFi-M8 could be characterised by the words ‘refinement, muscle, and freedom’ and little has changed since to alter those initial reactions.

Let me say a bit more to explain my choice of descriptive words. In discussing the sonic character of products under consideration, I think it would be fair to say many audiophiles seek to describe components in the context of several fairly well understood continua. We might speak, for example, of the “bright vs. dark” continuum, the “detail and resolution vs. smoothness and fluidity” continuum, the “analytical and revealing vs. musically and emotionally evocative” continuum, and so forth.

I chose the word ‘refinement’ to characterize the HiFi-M8, hoping that it would capture the idea that the sound of the CEntrance falls very near the centre points of the various continua I’ve sketched above (in other words, if the sound of the HiFi-M8 were a tee shot in golf, one might say that it landed smack-bang in the middle of the fairway!). Candidly, this ‘centre-of-the-road’ quality can initially make the HiFi-M8 difficult to assess, because there is no one performance parameter or set of parameters where the
HiFi-M8’s performance excels above all others. Is it the most revealing headphone amp I’ve heard? No. Is it the most romantically alluring and thus emotionally seductive headphone amp I’ve heard? Again, no it is not. But what is remarkable is that the HiFi-M8 can claim, not unlike certain legendary Rolls Royce automobiles, to offer entirely ‘adequate’ performance (and then some) in virtually all the areas that matter most and all at once. There are, then, about this product, uncanny and almost Zen-like qualities of equipoise and balance—virtues that are almost certain to grow on the listener over time.

CEntrance HiFi-M8 DAC/Headphone ampI chose the word ‘muscle’ in my blog to denote the simple fact that the HiFi-M8 is powerful—exceptionally so for a portable unit. This really is the sort of amp that can claim to drive most headphones, most of the time, without breaking much of a sweat. With that said, however, I must point out that the CEntrance is not the ideal amp for the purposes of driving two of the most power-hungry headphones of which I am aware: namely, the Abyss AB-1266 and the HiFiMAN HE-6. Oddly enough, the problem is not that the HiFi-M8 lacks sufficient power, but rather that it provides insufficient gain—even when its highest gain setting is brought to bear. This might seem an exercise in splitting hairs, but it’s not.

Amps that lack power exhibit audible signs of clipping, distortion, or distress. As a general rule, the HiFi-M8 shows none of those problems, which is a good thing. However, amps that lack sufficient gain simply cannot be turned up loudly enough to yield satisfying volume levels with the loads being driven; the problem I encountered when trying the HiFi-M8 with the Abyss
AB-1266 or HiFiMAN HE-6 headphones. The sound was generally clean and clear, but even with the volume knob cranked all the way up, it was not possible to achieve realistic output levels for, say, listening to orchestral crescendos and the like. For this reason, I would say one way CEntrance might improve the HiFi-M8 would be to dial in more gain for the amp’s highest master gain setting.

Finally, I chose the word ‘freedom’ to indicate that the HiFi-M8, more so than most competing products, is a true do-all, go-anywhere, drive (almost) anything kind of product. I really can’t think of another portable amp/DAC that can do so many different things as well as the HiFi-M8 does. For me, this was never more apparent than when I tried the CEntrance with my very high-sensitivity Ultimate Ears Personal Reference Monitor (PRM) custom-fit in-ear monitors and then, in a matter of seconds, switched over to my vastly more power-hungry Audeze LCD-3 headphones. With the PRMs, as you might expect, I used the HiFi-M8’s lowest master gain setting and found it to be quiet and very, very detailed and nuanced in its presentation (qualities the PRMs are capable of revealing in an instant). But, by flipping the master gain switch to its highest setting, I was able to plug in my planar magnetic LCD-3 reference headphones and obtain an equally robust and equally subtle and nuanced sound rich in textural and dynamic details. This ability to switch contexts on the fly is one of the CEntrance’s sweetest characteristics. Within certain limits, it will happily give you a great result no matter what your transducers of choice might be.

 

Qualitatively, the HiFi-M8 will bear comparison to full-size desktop DACs and amps that each cost considerably more than the CEntrance does, which goes a long way toward explaining why production runs of HiFi-M8s are sometimes sold out even before they leave the factory. For an example of what I mean, try listening to “Ramblin’ Rose” from The Songs of Nat King Cole by Monty Alexander [Chesky, 192/24 file] through a good set of reference headphones (e.g., Audeze LCD-3) as powered by the HiFi-M8. “Ramblin’ Rose” is chockfull of textural subtleties—the expansive and full-throated action of the piano, the crisp and energetic ‘snap’ of snare drum rimshots, the evanescent shimmer of cymbals, the stentorian growl of the acoustic bass, and the overarching sound of reverberations from the walls of the recording venue—and the HiFi-M8 gives you all these sonic treats in full measure. But perhaps just as importantly, the amp’s dynamics do a great job of capturing the rolling, ‘swinging’ feel of the song and especially of its chorus.  In all these respects, the sound you hear from the CEntrance could easily pass for that of a pricey desktop amp and DAC combo, not that of a compact integrated amp/DAC smaller than a paperback book.  Suddenly, the £599 HiFi-M8 starts to feel like excellent value given the sound quality—not to mention the convenience—on offer.

Are there shortcomings in the HiFi-M8? I can think of only two, both of which might be fairly easy to rectify in future versions of the product. As above, I think CEntrance would do well to provide an even higher master gain setting to facilitate driving ‘torture test’-grade headphones such as the Abyss AB-1266. Also, given how beautifully the HiFi-M8 already handles high res PCM files, I think it may only be a matter of time before CEntrance will need to add even higher resolution DXD and DSD decoding capabilities so as to keep pace with models from iFi Audio, Light Harmonic, and others, that are now entering the market.  And that is about it for my wish list.

CEntrance’s HiFi-M8 is arguably the most versatile and accomplished portable headphone amp/DAC you can buy at anywhere near its price. Precious few portables can match the HiFi-M8’s well-balanced mix of flexibility (the combination of effortless iDevice, Android device, Mac, and PC compatibility is tough to beat), bulletproof driver software, sonic refinement, and sheer output power. While strong competitors will no doubt continue to appear on the horizon, they will have their hands full trying to beat the CEntrance at a price point below £600.

Technical Specifications

DAC Section

Sample Rates/Resolution: 44.1kHz. 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.2kHz, and 192kHz at up to 24-bit resolution

Interface: Asynchronous USB, two inputs (one for iDevice, one for all other device types)

Compatibility: iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac, PC, and Android

Local Clock: 10ppm precision, unmeasurable jitter

Amp Section

Frequency Response (flat EQ settings): 20Hz -50kHz

S/N Ratio: 113dB (A-weighted)

THD + N: 0.002% (mid gain position)

Output Impedance: 1, 2, or 11 Ohms (switch selectable)

Output Power: 1.4W (max), 1 W (typical)

Headphone Compatibility: 16 – 600 Ohm loads

Output Voltage: -2dBV (nominal, maximum gain), -10dBV (nominal, mid gain), -22dBV (nominal, minimum gain)

Inputs: 2 x USB, as above.

Outputs (XL4 model): 3.5mm combo jack (headphone and S/PDIF optical), unbalanced 6.5mm TRS jack, balanced 4-pin XLR jack.

General

Accessories: Power supply/battery charger, Apple 30-pin-to-USB Type
A digital audio cable, USB Type A-to-USB Type B cable, two CEntrance-branded rubber coupling straps (for attaching a smart phone or small iDevice to the HiFi-M8)

Battery Life: 6 hours

Dimensions (HxWxD): 33mm x 82mm x 127mm

Weight: 0.9kg

Price: £599

Manufacturer:

CEntrance, Inc.

URL: www.centrance.com

Tel: +001(847) 581-0500

UK Distributor:

SCV Electronics Ltd./SCV Distribution

URL: www.scvdistribution.co.uk

Tel: +44(0)3301 222500

Tags: FEATURED

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