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

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amirm

amirm

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Thank you for your guidance. Appreciated. And we will be sending another unit, and we are working to understand what went wrong.
I will send the tested unit to you on Monday. Before I spend more time testing this product, I like to see your measurements to see how they differ from mine. As it is, I am not seeing a reason to test another sample.
 

radioman

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I will send the tested unit to you on Monday. Before I spend more time testing this product, I like to see your measurements to see how they differ from mine. As it is, I am not seeing a reason to test another sample.
But of course ;) And thank you for connecting!
 

AudioSceptic

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Don't want to start a fight, but if you happen to like something and someone tells you it's junk, do you have to immediately unlike it? Are you allowed to continue liking it or is that bad form? ;)
That is completely up to the individual.

FWIW I'm impressed by your engagement here, and willingness to investigate the issues with this product. I'd love to see that it's just a one-off departure from your usual standards.
 

AudioSceptic

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Thank you for your guidance. Appreciated. And we will be sending another unit, and we are working to understand what went wrong.

And while there are objective measurements mentioned in the review, which we are trying to clarify, the esteemed reviewer added some personal notes, which don't pass for objective measurements.

We are trying to clarify the weight of those as well, since some people are driven by the logical left brain yet others, by the emotional right brain. Only the lucky few can approach the issue from both perspectives. Those people are lucky because they can easily tell the difference between the subjective and the objective.
I think it's clear which parts of Amir's reviews are subjective. We can all make up our own minds on whether we find those comments useful or relevant to us, but they don't alter the validity of the measurements.
 

Nango

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Luckily we can go hiking and walk as we wish as long as we keep distance or wear a mask if not. Which we did today. I don't think the rules in Rheinhessen forbid this.
We are kindly advised to stay at home, for your own safety, as long as the code red alert applies in our town. Its getting serious!
 

PeteL

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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?


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.
Of course there are workarounds, but "only lacks a powerful headphone amplifier" is the key word here. I agree here that those are hard to find, usb powered reference quality DAC, small ang rugged, with a good headphone amp for on location work. I had a few audio interface that are small enough, but barely usable headphone amps and carrying a different box for headphone is not practical. Where are these devices? I know, computer USB ports are quite current limited. I'd be open to a design with a battery Or maybe a decent option for this to at least have a separate usb power supply port, but could still work with some limitations when bus powered, I don't know, just throwing ideas up there.
 

Dmitri

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It’s amazing to me how some find Radioman’s responses as “unprofessional,” or a “weird advertising pitch” VS. those who applaud his interaction and willingness to work with both Amirm and the owner of the M-8 to figure out if there are issues with this specific unit.
The man’s putting his butt on the line here. If the new unit tests the same or significantly worse, he’s not doing himself any favors. If it does test better, than he’s vindicated.
If Amir can fit it in...and with no expectation, given his backlog, to do so- let the measurements do the talking.
After all, that’s the mantra around here, isn’t it? ;)
 

vkvedam

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Thank you for sharing. We invite you to take a second look after we work with the reviewer to clarify their findings.
Thanks for taking the time to reply, I shall be looking forward to your feedback
 

xykreinov

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No form or function. Pitiful.
At least my Klipsch RP-41M look nice...
 

Music1969

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I will send the tested unit to you on Monday. Before I spend more time testing this product, I like to see your measurements to see how they differ from mine. As it is, I am not seeing a reason to test another sample.

Any reason why @radioman can't share his measurements here for all of us to see?

Rob Watts of Chord gets bashed a lot but openly shares his APx555 measurements: Post #1,666 of 19,355

And RME share their measurements in their ADI-2 DAC manual !
 
OP
amirm

amirm

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Any reason why @radioman can't share his measurements here for all of us to see?
No reason at all. That is what I meant anyway.
 

radioman

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@radioman Is your gear made in China or in the U S. ?
We get subassemblies from China and Taiwan and put everything together in Chicago. Can a bug still creep in? Yes. We are human. And to put your mind to ease, we offer a 2-year warranty and quickly jump in to help every customer who needs our help.
 
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