M2TECH hiFace Hi-End S/SPDIF Output Interface with RCA connector - EHIFACER

How to connect a laptop to a hi-fi system if you want to use bit perfect streaming? Having this question in mind I bought a DAC (digital audio converter) and the M2TECH hiFace. Its obvious for you, audiophiles, that this review is NOT for you. It is for beginners in digital audio like me.So, straightforward, before using the hiFace go to the manufacturers homepage and download the drive for your system (mine is Windows 7, but it worked also with Mac OS X ). The "easy" way includes using a software (or rather a package) that allows you to stream the bits of information (the music in 0 and 1 format) from your laptop to the DAC. I use Media Monkey, but several other will do (iTunes included). Hearing is subjective, but interruption of the music, as in jittering, is not. I used to stream from the USB port directly and better quality audio (320 kbps mp3, FLAC, 24/96 FACS...) presented a challenge. Usually it simply would not work (and for the first time and unmistakably I understood what audio jittering means). With HiFace it disappeared even streaming 24/192khz FLAC through it (my DAC display shows me the bit depth and sample rate of the incoming signal).I recommend (without entering subjectivity as much as possible) because it was the cheapest (but not cheap) way to get my "laptop" music out of the box, digitally, without jittering. Higher quality should be achieved with costlier products comparing apples and oranges (Wavelength USB DACs or hiFAce EVO, for example).P.S. as of may 2012, the price has dropped because of a new release HiFace TWO.

M2Tech has failed to write a driver that allows audio to sync with video on OSX. There is about a 2-3 second delay. Unwatchable. Not fix in sight. If this is your purpose look elsewhere.Windows does not have this problem.Works good for music, but honestly I can't tell that much difference. On the shelf it goes...

I was looking for a great sounding, simple solution for playing my music files on my computer through my main audio system. The M2TECH HiFace has been well received in the audio forums I frequent so I gave it a try.For some reason, the driver wouldn't automatically install on my laptop (running Windows Vista) so I had to do it manually. It took a bit of fussing over, but I finally figured out how to do it. I should note I'm an amateur when it comes to computers, so it would probably be much easier for computer users more savvy than I. Once I got the driver installed, the rest was a breeze.The hiFace is a bit bulky to have sticking out of the side of my laptop, so I bought a short USB extension to connect between the laptop and the hiFace. I highly recommend doing this as it is less awkward and puts less stress on the laptop's USB port.I've been using the hiFace for about 7 months now and I am happy to report that the hiFace has exceeded my expectations in terms of sound quality and functionality. I would describe it as very transparent. High quality recordings sound absolutely wonderful with no perceived loss of quality.Highly recommended!

I had a chance to borrow this item for about a month while a family member built a DAC that could take advantage of 192 Khz audio. While I had it I used it with an Arcam r-dac, an unnamed headphone amp with a 12au7 tube, and a pair of Grado sr125i headphones.This product worked perfectly as advertised, the drivers were easy to install on my macbook, and once I listened to some music it was transparent. I have a decent number of 96 Khz files and a few 192 Khz files, both of which sounded very good. The 96 Khz files sounded the same as when I played them over the DAC's USB port and as far as I can tell this device did not color the music at all.I would recommend the M2Tech hiFace to anyone looking for a transparent USB to S/PDIF coax interface.