M2Tech HiFace - using it? Like it?

I suspect this will never end as more manufacturers get on the band wagon. The answer seems to be, pick your product, like it, live with it.

The new one that Blindjim refers to has options that I would never use but will no doubt be an awesome little gizmo.

One thing that still confuses me - so the modded Hiface comes with a 3.3V external power supply (batteries). This I understand but apparently the Hiface STILL needs the 5V power supply from the Mac for some other purpose. If you opt to purchase the modified USB cable that has the power line removed, or disabled, then you need to find another source for the 5V power supply which is in addition to the 3.3V battery pack.

Do I have this right? If so, then I wouldn't bother with the modified USB cable because according to what I am reading, this only "corrects" the final 5% of the sound quality being sought.

Cdm - Is this your understanding and what approach did you take? The modified USB or a regular USB cable and did not concern yourself with the last 5% of SQ?

I am concerned about the development of the drivers for the HiFace on Win 7. The current release (1.0.3.141) does not work with J River and WASAPI. You need a previous version (1.0.3.140) which has some problems of its own. This has been the situation for over 2 months. I know they are working on it, but I hope the driver becomes more robost soon. I hope they do not over extend themselves with the next generation product. I love the sound using the 140 driver.

Puerto -

I ordered the boxed version on John's mod, and also ordered the modded USB cable. I wasn't overly anxious to employ the USB cable because I was so floored by the battery mod. And I never got the chance because the box died shortly after I received it! It's on its way back to Ireland.

To be honest, if I had known how much improvement the basic mod provided, I would have skipped the cable entirely.

Cdm: How were you going to provide the HiFace with that extra 5V that normally comes from the Mac if you were using the Modded USB cable? Your experience has caused me to scratch the Modded USB cable anyway,