Centrance HIFI-M8 V2

I was recently disgusted with how bad the Cayin RU6 was. I think it's probably the worst DAC I've heard along with the Topping E30, reaching the same conclusion (gross sound homogenization) through different approaches.

I decided to try one last attempt at finding a transportable solution that didn't suck and I became intrigued by the Centrance HIFI-M8 (henceforth just the M8). I've been aware of Centrance since I started playing with headphones in 2015, they have a community of supporters on head-fi, but I never tried their products. I liked the utilitarian look of the M8, its full-size headphone jacks, the bluetooth support and the reviews claimed a more neutral and studio-like signature (whatever the f**k that means, people also said the Cayin was neutral which is a joke).



first impressions out of the box were poor. I'm normally allergic to AKM based DACs, all implementations have a sound and the latest generation of AKM chips tend to have a smiley-face EQ: tipped highs with a ssh-ssh-sheen, scooped presence region that messes with electric guitar transients (makes Fender amps sound like Marshalls), and elevated low mids/upper bass. my biggest fear with the M8 was confirmed, it sounded exactly like that feeding USB into it from my 2015 iMac and driving my HD600s. I turned it off in disgust and wouldn't return to the unit until a week later, where I decided to try it in Bluetooth mode.

Not sure what happened, but the sound in Bluetooth mode is much more agreeable. All the AKM signatures are still there but much less pronounced to where my brain could filter them out and focus on the music. My opinion on the unit changed totally and now I think it's actually pretty awesome. The sound can be described as clean, wide, and only slightly smoothed over in the presence region. This helps listenability for longer listening sessions. Bass is pretty bombastic, it has blamo when you turn it up and a clean bass boost switch. high levels of intelligibility, macro-detail and composure that AKM dacs are known for.

This unit is expensive, and I guess it's billed as a replacement for a desktop stack of comparable price. I think it lives up to that, it has a lot of drive for all the headphones in my collection and doesn't feel or sound like a portable source. The Bluetooth fidelity is pretty impressive and my preferred method of operation.

some other things of note: the device feels fantastic in the hand. not too light or too heavy. it starts in Bluetooth mode on power-up and you have to switch it to USB manually (good for me, annoying for others). the level indicator LEDs can be shut off. the 1/4" jack sounds better than the 1/8" jack even for sensitive headphones, I think the 1/8" jack is only for IEMs. it can charge and play at the same time.

I recommend this device if it fits your use case. any questions let me know.

 

I believe Centrance is one of the few companies who actually writes their own drivers, and also does so for many others.

Many moons ago I had the original cigar shaped Dacport, and I have also had two iteration of the Dacmini (there was a CX version, and also the PX version that could power speakers which I still have). I've always enjoyed their stuff.

The last few years have seen them focus on the portable recording market. They are currently crowdsourcing a Dacmini 2, and one of the potential options was to have a mic input which would make me very curious.