CEntrance Hifi-M8 V2 Review (DAC and headphone amplifier)

[Nango]

Hifi-M8 V2 Listening Tests
[...]There was good bit of volume. Alas, the last 20% was not usable due to excessive distortion and harshness. I then switched to Sennheiser HD-650 using 1/4 unbalanced jack. Now there was just enough volume and gain, the last 20% of the volume range resulted in distortion especially in bass and brightness in highs. I highly recommend that you stick to the balanced output for any standard to inefficient headphone.

The owner didn't know about this? Why do we send-in such a crap? Waste of time. Please.

 

[Nango]

You are crazy to believe some $100 Topping has a better sound or the at least the same sound.
This is $750 so has better sound quality seven times minimum.
This is the law of capitalism.

Right, lessons learned!!!

 

[radioman]

The owner didn't know about this? Why do we send-in such a crap? Waste of time. Please.

Something does sound strange... we will contact the owner to investigate.

 

[Koeitje]

This thing is clearly designed by somebody with zero experience in industrial design. While I like that you have many options and settings, it makes no sense to have them if none of them are high fidelity (it gets bested by @amirm 20 year old DAC...). I see it's aimed at recording professionals, but I don't quite understand that. You don't work while actually on the move, and if you arrive at a location why not hook up your RME DAC (or whatever else is small enough to just throw in your bag) instead.

 

[Nango]

Something does sound strange... we will contact the owner to investigate.

Good reaction, indeed!!

 

[Nango]

This thing is clearly designed by somebody with zero experience in industrial design. While I like that you have many options and settings, it makes no sense to have them if none of them are high fidelity. I see it's aimed at recording professionals, but I don't quite understand that. You don't work while actually on the move, and if you arrive at a location why not hook up your RME DAC (or whatever else is small enough to just throw in your bag) instead.

Seems that RME DAC to become reference for quite a long time.

 

[Koeitje]

Seems that RME DAC to become reference for quite a long time.

There are probably plenty of other options in pro-audio. The Motu M4 is a pretty good product, I'm not sure if they have a version with a headphone amplifier in it. But its cheap and small enough to just chuck in a bag and take it to somewhere else. The biggest problem you will face in finding a product with good headphone amplifier.

 

[radioman]

There are probably plenty of other options in pro-audio. The Motu M4 is a pretty good product, I'm not sure if they have a version with a headphone amplifier in it. But its cheap and small enough to just chuck in a bag and take it to somewhere else. The biggest problem you will face in finding a product with good headphone amplifier.

No battery.

 

[Lorenzo74]

I think this unit goes back to 2015 or even before that. Back then, the pickings were much, much slimmer, and maybe it passed muster for someone with deep pockets who wanted something "cool" to drive his custom IEMs.

check the picture, manufactured 20th week of 2010.

 

[radioman]

Seems that RME DAC to become reference for quite a long time.

Not portable though.

 

[Koeitje]

Seems that RME DAC to become reference for quite a long time.

I'd say for this use case the RME Babyface Pro FS is the best option. It runs over USB power, so it can be powered straight from your laptop while working on the move. Only lacks a powerful headphone amplifier, but there are good and powerful option available for that. That means we are in the same price range, have a transparant DAC, transparant ADC, and a headphone output that is good enough for listening while working on the train or whatever. If you need more power you can just add a separate headphone amplifier. The fact that the headphone amplifier on this Centrance thing provides decent power is its only redeeming factor. But why is it even balanced if the performance is so bad?

Not portable though.

Its not rack mounted and weighs fuck all.

This product is not aimed at professionals, its aimed at consumers that want to feel like they have pro gear.

 

[Nango]

There are probably plenty of other options in pro-audio. The Motu M4 is a pretty good product, I'm not sure if they have a version with a headphone amplifier in it. But its cheap and small enough to just chuck in a bag and take it to somewhere else. The biggest problem you will face in finding a product with good headphone amplifier.

Dont forget the DSP inside the RME DAC.

 

[Nango]

Not portable though.

But accepts external battery.

 

[phoenixsong]

CEntrance here. Just saw this -- Rest assured the team will review this carefully on Monday. So far, some quick reactions:

- Thank you for commending the product's usability. We are glad operation was easy to figure out for the reviewer. HiFi-M8 is rather complex for a portable device. This small product features 4 headphone outputs, including 2 balanced and 2 unbalanced outputs. It's designed to drive a variety of headphones from either USB or BT input. We are not aware of any other portable, battery-powered device which has four headphone outputs, on different jacks.

- It's important to point out what this product is and what it's not. The main goal with the product was to deliver a large amount of flexibility in the small package, to the mobile user, who may find themselves comparing headphones at meets, listening to music with a friend, switching from USB to Bluetooth, listening at home or on the train, etc. This product will fit a number of scenarios and will do it well. We designed it for those customers, who prefer much flexibility in one device.

- We also worked to accommodate any headphones, from very sensitive IEMs to huge, hard-to drive overhead cans, to give people a tool to compare cans at meets, at the store, etc. But that creates a very large and challenging range of levels. HiFi-M8 can support IEMs with pitch black background AND overhead cans that are hard to drive. We know of no other product that offers that range. As it is, HiFi-M8 will deliver the goods with hundreds of popular cans.

- We noticed the esteemed reviewer didn't get to try listening to the "cool side" (the low power side). We believe that doesn't offer fair treatment and wholeheartedly invite them to do so -- HiFi-M8 is dead quiet with IEMs AND has the power to drive big overhead cans. No other product out there offers this. Again, this is not required for everyone, but we happen to know plenty of people with 30+ headphones in their collections.

- You can think of HiFi-M8 as a Swiss Army Knife, which can help you in a variety of situations. This needs to be kept in mind as you are evaluating this product against the others. Comparing it to a desktop DAC that's got more power, or a pocket DAC that's smaller and more slick in appearance is not completely fair. Again, HiFi-M8 is neither of those devices and it's important to point out that utility and flexibility are huge factors with this product. You don't take your SUV on the race track, but it can certainly take on the rough terrain. If HiFi-M8 was a car, it would be a very sensible and capable SUV. Sort of a Land Rover, if you can go with our metaphor.

- The comment about distortion at the last 20% seems odd indeed. We have requested the review unit back to investigate.

- Sorry to hear the ASIO driver didn't work out for you. In our experience it's quite stable. Which OS did you use? Happy to help, if you are willing to work with us of course. We are in Chicago, just a phone call/email away, and we always provide great support for customers and reviewers.

- Regarding the bargraphs, we find that a lot of people actually like them. Note you can turn down the brightness all the way down to nothing and then they consume almost no power, which saves your battery. We chose analog bargraphs because compared to CPU-driven digital ones they consume less power and produce less noise. So that's a better user experience.

- Bargraph levels are calibrated using 1% resistors. We find that quite precise in practice. The reason HiFi-M8 has bargraphs is simple -- while it's sitting on your desk, it's nice to see the meters bounce. If you have it in your pocket or backpack, turn down the brightness to "off" to save the battery. Your call.

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or require clarifications on the above. We know that this site relies on the opinions of the reviewer and we respect their opinions. We are happy to clarify any questions that the reviewer or any user may have.

Michael Goodman
CEntrance

Indeed, I think it is good to be reminded of the strengths of the product, but maybe- just maybe- too much was bitten off to chew this time? To quote, "Again, this is not required for everyone, but we happen to know plenty of people with 30+ headphones in their collections." If they have 30+ headphones I'm sure they may rather have 2 separate devices that work really well for all their products than one costly underperforming one that tries to do the same. Just some food for thought

 

[phoenixsong]

The owner didn't know about this? Why do we send-in such a crap? Waste of time. Please.

I do not believe any review here is a waste of time ^^

 

[Nango]

CEntrance here. Just saw this -- Rest assured the team will review this carefully on Monday. So far, some quick reactions:

- Thank you for commending the product's usability. We are glad operation was easy to figure out for the reviewer. HiFi-M8 is rather complex for a portable device. This small product features 4 headphone outputs, including 2 balanced and 2 unbalanced outputs. It's designed to drive a variety of headphones from either USB or BT input. We are not aware of any other portable, battery-powered device which has four headphone outputs, on different jacks.

- It's important to point out what this product is and what it's not. The main goal with the product was to deliver a large amount of flexibility in the small package, to the mobile user, who may find themselves comparing headphones at meets, listening to music with a friend, switching from USB to Bluetooth, listening at home or on the train, etc. This product will fit a number of scenarios and will do it well. We designed it for those customers, who prefer much flexibility in one device.

- We also worked to accommodate any headphones, from very sensitive IEMs to huge, hard-to drive overhead cans, to give people a tool to compare cans at meets, at the store, etc. But that creates a very large and challenging range of levels. HiFi-M8 can support IEMs with pitch black background AND overhead cans that are hard to drive. We know of no other product that offers that range. As it is, HiFi-M8 will deliver the goods with hundreds of popular cans.

- We noticed the esteemed reviewer didn't get to try listening to the "cool side" (the low power side). We believe that doesn't offer fair treatment and wholeheartedly invite them to do so -- HiFi-M8 is dead quiet with IEMs AND has the power to drive big overhead cans. No other product out there offers this. Again, this is not required for everyone, but we happen to know plenty of people with 30+ headphones in their collections.

- You can think of HiFi-M8 as a Swiss Army Knife, which can help you in a variety of situations. This needs to be kept in mind as you are evaluating this product against the others. Comparing it to a desktop DAC that's got more power, or a pocket DAC that's smaller and more slick in appearance is not completely fair. Again, HiFi-M8 is neither of those devices and it's important to point out that utility and flexibility are huge factors with this product. You don't take your SUV on the race track, but it can certainly take on the rough terrain. If HiFi-M8 was a car, it would be a very sensible and capable SUV. Sort of a Land Rover, if you can go with our metaphor.

- The comment about distortion at the last 20% seems odd indeed. We have requested the review unit back to investigate.

- Sorry to hear the ASIO driver didn't work out for you. In our experience it's quite stable. Which OS did you use? Happy to help, if you are willing to work with us of course. We are in Chicago, just a phone call/email away, and we always provide great support for customers and reviewers.

- Regarding the bargraphs, we find that a lot of people actually like them. Note you can turn down the brightness all the way down to nothing and then they consume almost no power, which saves your battery. We chose analog bargraphs because compared to CPU-driven digital ones they consume less power and produce less noise. So that's a better user experience.

- Bargraph levels are calibrated using 1% resistors. We find that quite precise in practice. The reason HiFi-M8 has bargraphs is simple -- while it's sitting on your desk, it's nice to see the meters bounce. If you have it in your pocket or backpack, turn down the brightness to "off" to save the battery. Your call.

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or require clarifications on the above. We know that this site relies on the opinions of the reviewer and we respect their opinions. We are happy to clarify any questions that the reviewer or any user may have.

Michael Goodman
CEntrance

SUV? Not a good try. "You are not entitled to drive SUV" (because of their disastrous climate impact), ...... we use in Europe to call to those people on the street!!!

 

[Veri]

Nango, calm down. Half the posts of this page 3 are now in your name.
Think of the signal to noise ratio

 

[Nango]

Well, it is Sunday morning and we are barely not allowed to leave our homes due to coronavirus, so this is the result then.

 

[phoenixsong]

Well, it is Sunday morning and we are barely not allowed to leave our homes due to coronavirus, so this is the result then.

I can empathise, but there is a place and time for each cup to be filled- even Veri's witty reminder has been tuned to the best frequency for this channel
Also, it never hurts to be kinder, especially when the livelihoods of some others (and their loved ones) are at stake here. Take heart in knowing that you are never alone, no matter what you might be going through at the moment

 

[AudioSceptic]

This is my unit. I have to say that I really like the design given the way I use a portable headphone amp, but to each their own. I can’t speak to the measurements, and I’ve sent a note to CEntrance to see if they’d like to look at my unit, which was one of the first to ship.

It was so generous of you to submit this for review, but I have to ask what you use it with. Many phones outperform this without any help.