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It was similar with hi-res material. What did go on my nerves a little was the need to switch between 44.1kHz and 48kHz because I did not listen to entire albums but rather groups of a several tracks with different sampling rates. [While auto-sampling file players like PureMusic, Audirvana and JRiver handle this on the computer side, the EVO's two clocks for the 44.1 and 48kHz sampling frequencies require manual switching– Ed]. When you listen to an entire album beginning to the end it's no problem.

In any case, files with high sample rates showed what I already discussed for CD rips and the album 8 on my spinner as an example. However with hi-resolution files I did not instantaneously fall in love. I had to listen a little more for that to happen. What caught my attention in particular was a more dynamic sound than the USB input on the W4S DAC delivered. There too was a smooth transition from ppp to fff but  that wasn't the point. It was something intuitive that came out in every second of the recording as something secondary - as a vehicle for the transmission of emotion. While with the CD material it was evident and resulted in my faster heart beat, hi-res material showed that the former was a little overdone and ‘for show’ - somewhat unpolished. But this was no problem with the converter. It is a problem with the CD format. Anyone who has heard good vinyl, well-rendered hi-res files or SACD knows what I mean. The M2Tech simply made it more evident but without demolishing the recording as often happens with expensive ‘high-end’ devices. The hiFace EVO converter saturated CD material with emotions whilst still showing its disadvantages too. It really was something special.

It really is an excellent converter all by itself, with no external clock or battery power supply added. It performs very well and is easily comparable to the most expensive USB-S/PDIF converters known to me. It may not always win but won’t always lose either. Adding the battery power supply changes the way it reproduces acoustics, space and the drawing out of shapes. The stage moves a bit further away and has a more natural perspective, better extracted reverbs and flavors. It is not better or more ‘detailed per se. It may even seem that the AC mains brings out more details. With the battery supply here is instead greater wealth. It's like with Harbeth speakers. To those used to chirping tweeters they may seem dark and less detailed. For those cured of these artefacts of hyper detailedness—of course in my opinion only—they are simply natural and everything else is warped. So it is with the hiFace EVO. Adding a better power supply highlights this difference.

The addition of the external clock led to a depth of sound I appreciated very much. It became an even more mature sound. This was a very sophisticated change and one that can elude those who are not yet familiar with high-end audio. It’s not that they won’t hear it. I think the changes are very clear. It’s because at some basic level of familiarity with high-end such changes are not particularly highly valued. Once we know our system well and possess good comparative context, this change will polish off what the external power supply and converter already sanded down. It should be noted that as always all these small improvements accumulated into something much bigger. I have a feeling that this accumulation possesses greater value than that effected by anti-vibration accessories, power conditioners and such. Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Although BS in terms of math, in the audio realm it is possible.


Testing methodology: The HiFace EVO converter was connected to the Wyred4Sound DAC2. The former was compared to the USB port of the latter as well as to the 24/96 USB-S/PDIF Halide Bridge and 32/384 KingRex UD384 + U Power. The test progressed as an A/B comparison, with both A and B known and 2-minute long music samples. Other listening sessions included whole albums. Signal source was a dv7 HP Pavilion laptop with dual-core processor, 320HDD, 2GB RAM, Windows Vista operating system and foobar2000 and JPLAY players. Signal from the computer was sent out with the Acoustic Revive usb-5.0pl USB cable. To connect the DD converter with the clock and DAC I used an Oyaide DR-510 digital cable (BNC-BNC and RCA-RCA respectively).