Micromega M-100/150 field reports

Usery - I was interested in your statement “The hype surrounding the playback performance of some of the pay-for apps is just that: hype.” And whether you have upsampled to DSD or tried various filter settings that are features in the pay-for apps that I believe has a lot of potential.  The “everything sounds the same” crowd, whether it is the resolving power of the system or the hearing, may dismiss, but changing pre-ring settings or some of the other filters in Audirvana result in real changes.  And as I’ve said before, the interface and ability to dig into your music collection in Roon is worth money to me.  Maybe I just come from the time when it was expected to pay for things related to music...

benb:

"...worth money to me"

Totally agree with that. Let the spender of the money be the last word on what’s-worth-the-money.

"...upsampled to DSD or tried various filter settings that are features in the pay-for apps that I believe has a lot of potential?"

I haven’t tried any of that, but I’d like to. Have you tried such modded source material on the M-100? How would you describe the output from your speakers, compared to unmodified?

"...interface and ability to dig into your music collection in Roon is worth money..."

Yes that seems to be a Roon value-add that some people find worth the cost of the software.

"...the time when it was expected to pay for things related to music"

I think the institutionalized expectation of ’paying for things related to music’ has in large part created an industry where hype and ’manufacturing consent’ drive music-enjoyers to spend lots of money on products of dubious objective value. Whether there’s sufficient subjective value to the beholder, well, that returns us to let-the-money-spender be the last word.

I emailed Micromega and they said they were going to integrate Qobuz in their app hopefully by the end of the year. I guess about the same time Qobuz is suppose to be available in th US. 

"...they said they were going to integrate Qobuz in their app hopefully by the end of the year"

Yup, that’s what they replied to me when I asked about the outdated Android app. Looks like Micromega has outsourced that development to a 3rd-party, and from the reply there might even be contractual obligation to finish the work by end of year - which includes Qobuz integration

on 9/6/2018 3:33 AM <Micromega> wrote :
...
Indeed we decided to go straight to and finalize the iOS version before Android. But as the software is very demanding in term of time, cost and development, [we] decided to work with a new software company dedicated & specialized in the Android development! [In] our agreement with them, [the] entire development including Tidal, Qobuz, deezer, web radio and audio server has to be completed by December 31st 2018.
...

Cordialement,
AUDIS / MICROMEGA
13-15 rue du 8 mai 1945
Parc d’activité de la Haie Griselle
94470 Boissy-saint-Leger

Just another informational update.  I had originally had my subwoofer hooked up to the binding posts.  I received clarification from Micromega on the sub out.  It outputs 20 Hz to 400 Hz while the binding posts continue to output full range.  So I hooked up an RCA cable from sub out to my subwoofers low level line in (with a y built into the RCA cable) and readjusted the sub controls since I get louder output this way.  I re-ran mars calibration and the system is sounding great.  Not necessarily better but a much cleaner wiring hookup and I’ve bumped the bass up a tad as part of the process and the whole system sounds fuller.
every time I turn it on, I’m struck by how much presence the human voice has with the M100.