M2Tech Vaughan & Young DACs

edited May 2012 in Digital
The much anticipated Vaughan DAC from M2Tech is coming soon - the web is full of rumours of it's imminent arrival. It will be a statement product, state of the art and with a price-tag to reflect it, so I am saddened to say it will probably not be gracing my my listening room.

However, as there is a bit of an M2Tech following on AudioChews it would seem to be of general interest to post this here, even if only for us to ogle. Ogle away...

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With the man in question. BTW, it's not really as big as a record deck...

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It has excellent connectivity, even more than it's little brother, and it is a pre-amplifer as well, which will be of interest to quite a few. It features balanced outputs, a master clock input and 8 DAC chips. mmmm...chips.

Much more importantly, from my perspective, is that it uses HiFace 2 tech. This means it is fully USB2 compliant - no drivers needed for Windows or MAC and up to 32bit 384kHz. (Perhaps it is Linux compatible now? The Young is not). A list of specifications can be seen here, on the Australian distributors website.

What I am really, really hoping to see shortly is an upgrade path for us Young DAC owners. It would be great to see HiFace 2 tech in the Young (which would involve a hardware upgrade in Italy, probably). There are quite a few reports already of the HiFace 2 sounding significantly better than HiFace 1 did, and the fact that it is in a relatively low cost device gives hope that we can expect to see it in M2Techs mid-priced DAC. Indeed it would be a shame to be left behind. Not that we could hope to get Vaughan performance for beer money, but the thought of having this new development in the Young is most exciting.


Comments

  • Marco isn't huge but It is quite a big box, four times the size of the Young, there are plans to implement the Xmos chips across the range but probably not until next year.
    Keith.
  • That's good news Keith, thanks. I already sent M2Tech an email enquiry about this, but I imagine they are busy with the Vaughan launch. If I do get a reply I will post what Marco says.
  • That's beautiful! Really lovely, I look forward trying it Keith :-D
  • Do we know UK prices yet? Not that I think I want to know....
  • Monty Hi, about £4.5k inc vat, I haven't received any yet, but hopefully soon.
    Keith.
  • Hiya, Actually thats much less than I thought and not completely out of reach...... Will have to wait until next year. I'm interested to see how it compares to the DAC202 (something else I'd love to hear).....


  • Can you put me down for a virtual one, please Keith :-)
  • I'll send you a real one to try,
    KR Keith.
  • I think you'll find a few of us making a beeline for Dave's in that case...

    I hope this DAC really outs M2Tech on the map for high end, rather than budget stuff Keith. I can't understand why they aren't taken more seriously TBH, the Young sounds spectacular IMO.

    Is there any truth to the rumour Chris @ Computer Audiophile might review the Vaughan?
  • The more advertising we take the better they become!
    KR Keith.
  • I'll send you a real one to try,
    KR Keith.
    That's a double-edged sword, if ever there was one, Keith.

    I'll only end up wanting one, and I don't have any children to sell into slavery :-)
  • Well I do, so I better be careful...
  • Have you heard one yet Keith ?

  • Waiting for them to arrive!
    KR Keith.
  • Holding breath... :-)
  • This week I have been mostly listening to the new Weiss MAN 301 server, it is super cool ,so neat to control everything from my IPad .
    Keith.
  • And how much will one of those set us back?
  • About £5k
    KR Keith
  • I wish I was rich! :-)
  • Any sign of the new M2Tech in the UK ?
  • the Vaughn should be arriving in the next week or two, after the longest gestation period ever!
    KR Keith.
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