M2Tech HiFace - using it? Like it?

I am using the Mac Mini with digital output to my PS Audio Digital Link III. I started using the optical output to the DLIII and it is good. Adding the M2 Tech Hiface converter, the sound became more detailed with a larger soundstage. I use 2 external hard drives to store the music. I am only using iTunes and have not yet tried the other programs such as Pure Music but can attest to the improvement with the Hiface. It may be an interim step considering that there will be an explosion of USB converters in the future. But, for the time being it is money well spent. It also allows the playback of high resolution downloads which the optical would not.

Thanks Tgrisham - glad to hear you are having success with the HiFace. I really am tempted to go ahead with it. Like you, my music is stored on an external HD (2 TB mirrored) so I am not clear on just how something like Pure Music would work but frankly, I am happy with iTunes and hate to mess with it. Appreciate the feedback.

I liked it enough after listening to a borrowed one to buy it in BNC style.

Of Windows Media, J River Media Center iTunes and Fubar 102, the latter player provided the best results in it’s Kernal straming setup. All were improved upon using the Hiface though . Just NOT to the extent Fubar did things!

It’s important to know, some media players are or can be optimized for playback using differring hardware. WMP & iTunes have the least degree of flexibility in this regard.

Media players like J River; Fubar 2K; and perhaps some others allow for more configuration flexibility. PURE MUSIC might just be one of those players that will give you the options necessary to see the Hiface at it’s best . And at rates above 16/48 as with iTunes ceiling, for example.

Itunes & WMP are nice players with great organizational resources, but they just ain't the best sounding players out there.

I should say too... J R MC 15 beta was quite close to sounding as good as Fubar 2K, with better archiving options, but it was clearly second place IMHO to Foo' 25.

Thanks for the input Blindjim. I am not clear on how Pure Music and others work. Is it a music download operation or does it play my own library? If it plays my own library, what happens to iTunes? Does it mess with my iTunes artwork? BTW, still waiting for the arrival of the M2Tech. It is coming from Italy to Mexico and was shipped from Italy on April 23rd. Maybe the Iceland volcano ash has delayed its arrival. Happy to hear that you have experienced good things with it.

Wouldn't you know it - about 30 minutes after my last post the M2Tech arrived. I will test it out this evening and give my first impressions. No doubt the world will be waiting anxiously.