Musical Fidelity M1 DAC - Review by WHF

I use a V-dac II....................how much better is the M1 ?

I believe that the WHF is a good reference point for choosing kit. It is, however, the start point, as before buying any kit you should do the research, there's loads of info out there.

Once you've narrowed down your choice, be it cost, SQ or any other attributable factor them try and get a listen.

DACs are pretty good value 2nd hand too, having no 'moving' parts to wear out and can be found ex demo, in classifieds or auction sites.

I managed to get a used PSAudio Dlink at less than half the retail, and at that money, if it doesn't gel ( in my case it was exactly what I was looking for in SQ ), you can sell on at little loss. 

I believe that the WHF is a good reference point for choosing kit. It is, however, the start point, as before buying any kit you should do the research, there's loads of info out there.

Once you've narrowed down your choice, be it cost, SQ or any other attributable factor them try and get a listen.

DACs are pretty good value 2nd hand too, having no 'moving' parts to wear out and can be found ex demo, in classifieds or auction sites.

I managed to get a used PSAudio Dlink at less than half the retail, and at that money, if it doesn't gel ( in my case it was exactly what I was looking for in SQ ), you can sell on at little loss. 

Sorry about the double post post. Don't know how that happened happened!

Although its good to see MF being featured again in WHF after for God knows how long....to me the review came out more than a year late. The M1 have been around since 2010 and MF fans have to keep on reading the rave reviews of rDAC, Rega and Audiolab DAC since then. The details of the review is spot on though as thats how I would describe the unit as well.

It will be great to read the review of the M1 vs other opponents article.

hi. I bought an M1 DAC about two weeks ago and i think it sounds great, at least for the money. I'm not good at describing how it sounds, but i find it has a nice smooth and detailed sound. I auditioned it at the dealer out of the box along a burnt in Rega DAC and a VDAC II. It carries the same sound signature as the VDAC, but it sounds quite noticeably better - bigger and more in control. The Rega was not my cup of tea, it was a bit too fuzzy for my liking (maybe it's what that analogue sound signature everyone is talking about, but i thought the instruments didn't have enough air around them). Note that the VDAC had its stock PSU, and not an upgraded one, and I understand that makes a difference. But the dealer said that the M1 sounds quite better then the VDAC II, and I agree.

@ Cypher - depending on your money, from what I understand from reviews, you can get pretty close to the M1 if you add the VDAC PSU to your VDAC II (or any upgraded PSU, there are other less expensive ones i think). But the M1 sounds quite better then the stock VDAC II.

Also, all or most M1 DAC reviews I found say that trebble might sound thin if you're not careful with system matching, and I agree. I run mine via USB (because, as I understand, the USB on M1 takes the edge off the trebles a bit) through a Rotel RA 1520 and B&W 602 S3 (to be upgraded to XTZ 99.26 mk II) and i think it sounds great - my soundstage opened up hugely, there is detail and smoothness, and the treble doesn't sound over-emphasised to me. It is a nice and musical DAC.

I used to have a M1 DAC few year back when it came in the market. I found it to be more clinical than Audiolab M-DAC and ofcourse treble was bothersome. However in your case 602S3 speakers do amazing wonders to modern electronics in the most positive way. IMO, I was mentioning this before too, most speakers & electronics tend to sound more dynamic at the price of overblowing higher frequency especilly at low to mid price range (This include B&W CM series). However the older 60X S3 was never tuned that way and offers a great match to many of the most modern electronics.

I still think I should have retained my pair of 602S3 instead of selling them away.

Thanks Rainsoothe.

The V-dac II sounds so good already..................maybe I'll check out the M1 dac in the future but for now I'm happy with the V-dac II. 

The problem with doing group tests based on price bands is that anything under that band but that is equal or superior to the ones inside it can be easily overlooked. Take my own new DAC for instance. I have had customers asking for one to try out against more expensive DACs in that are in the £400 to £700 price band. Next thing I knew they had their more expensive DAC on eBay or on forums and kept mine instead. This has been happening in the last two weeks. A group test wouldn't flag up up the existence of a new British designed giant killer though, even if feedback and discussions on  many forums indicated otherwise.