M2Tech Young DAC
The M2Tech Young must be one of the coolist/sexiest looking DACs on thr market. There are some other interesting looking DACs out there but they are often packed in a larger chassis, while the smaller ones are boringly from the same design pool, the claim being that all the money goes to what's inside the DAC. The Young possess style that almost all other small DACs lack. A matter of taste, of course, to some extent.
The Young is one of the few DACs currently on the market that can handle 384kHz/32 bit data also via its high speed asynchronous USB input, based on the company's proprietary hiFace technology.
Other inputs include S/PDIF on RCA and BNC, AES/EBU on XLR and optical on Toslink.
The DAC features a high performance minimum-phase oversampling filter (allowing for 768kHz internal operation), custom-made on a programmable logic device (FPGA). The synergy between the 32 bit DAC IC and the custom oversampler is said to produce a low noise floor and low THD. The output buffer uses a special operational amplifier. The output stage is class-A biased.
The sharp edged chassis is made of aluminiumin. The rear panel is of black steel, and a curved black metal net covers the front panel. Behind the net is a large display showing the input sample frequency. Kind of cool. The firm's logo is CNC'ed on the top plate.
Dark blue sounds
Just like hiFace UBS/RCA adapter, the Young requires its own drivers. M2Tech makes them available on their webpages. Downloading and installing went without problems. The guide provided is informative enough.
What's needs to be taken into account when comparing the Young to other similar DACs, is that its output voltage is a half a volt higher than the standard 2V, 2,65V precisely. The difference is immediately audible. Contrary to what is generally believed, it's far from self-evident that the louder one is always better simply by virtue of being louder.
My preliminary test for all DACs is to connect them to a cheap Denon DVD player (digital output) who in addition to being already five years old - a long time for a digital product in these days - has a sufficiently low-fi DAC/analogue output so that most DACs can bring about an audible change in the sound (the DVD player is connected analogically to the next input of the amplifier allowing an easy and quick remote controlled comparison).
Yes, the Young made a difference. Not a tremendous one because such is the nature of things in the digital domain that no DAC is able to make a tremendous difference. But a meaningful difference in audiophilic terms anyway. The Young made the sound more handsome, bolder and more powerful than offered by the Denon DVD player itself, with dark blue shades. Imaging was better, the impression of a 3D soundstage was more evident. All in all, the Young was less boring to listen to.
As compared to the Danish Lead LA-100, the Young delivered an equally pure but wider, and less focused sound. The Young didn't squeeze the sound between the speakers like the LA-100 did. Some hobbyists prefer to intake the sound in this style, others fancy a more defined and spatially constrained sound. No problem with that. My own Sentec Di-Ana was closer to the Young in this respect.
Via its USB port (16/44,1 to 24/96 bit) the Young sounded likewise open, not bright but not matt either. The Young offered a very effective digital reproduction without sentamentalism, without warbling. No humming but clear musical articulation.
Simphonic music suits well to the Young. The focal point of the sound stays quite long behind the speakers, and recordings with lots of spatial information, are presented from the horizon. Dynamics of the music is also well reproduced: as compared to other DACs I tried, the quietest sounds of music appeared to be quieter with the Young while the loudest were equally loud. I also liked a kind of tremor on the surface of the Young sound.
Price-wise the stylish M2Tech Young DAC (1100 euro) is in the middleweight together with Benchmarc DAC 1, Hegel HD10 etc. Unlike the latter, the Young is not yet a fully competitive product lacking for example proper drivers for Mac OSX. But what exists is good stuff with a number of different type of inputs and high resolution converter even for the USB route. All in a handsome package.
M2Tech Young DAC, 1100 euro.
Sampling frequencies (kHz): 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4*, 192*, 352.8**, 384**
Resolution: 16 up to 24 bit (S/PDIF, AES/EBU, optical), 16 to 32 bit (USB)
Freq. response: 10-20kHz +0.1/-0.5dB (fs = 44.1kHz); 10-90kHz +0.1/-0.1dB (fs=384kHz)
S/N-ratio: 121dB (A-weighted, 192kHz, 24 bits, 20kHz)
THD+N: 0,0003% (192kHz, 24 bits)
Inputs: 2 x S/PDIF (RCA ja 75 Ohms BNC), 1x AES/EBU (XLR), 1x optical (Toslink), 1x USB (USB female Type B)
Output: RCA
Output voltage: 2,65Vrms (7.5Vpp @ 0dBFS)
Measures (WxHxD): 200 x 50 x 200 mm
Weight: c. 1Kg