EVO DAC

As a prelude to the review, I'll mention that I earlier purchased M2Tech's tiny, orange USB-only HiFace DAC for my PC. Although I liked the sound of my Oppo BDP-80 CD/DVD player (good bass with a warm vocal sound that is never harsh), after hearing the HiFace playing music from my PC, I couldn't listen to CDs via the Oppo without feeling I was missing something!I have to confess my ignorance, because I didn't realize that a Digital to Analog converter can be added to any disc player or other type of digital playback device, as long as it has a digital output. I was able to easily connect the rear jack on "Little Evo" (to mangle the name of a classic pop singer) to my Oppo BDP-80 player with an RCA cable plugged into the output labeled "digital." Also on the back of this small, aluminum-cased unit are standard RCA analog outputs for connection to a stereo amp's aux inputs. Power is supplied with one of those the ubiquitous chunky AC adapters which, inelegantly, plugs in at the front of the unit. (I would say that M2Tech put all their efforts into sound quality and designed an attractive, but no-frills case for their creation.)With the Evo DAC taking the place of Oppo's built-in DAC (it is bypassed when the DAC's RCA outputs are used rather than those of the CD/DVD player), the sound of a singer's voice has a lot more realism and instruments that I didn't realize were kind of buried in the overall mix stand out much more clearly. The sound is not really "aggressive," but "powerful" and "vivid." Whether you're listening to Van Morrison, Beatles, or Game of Thrones, the difference is dramatic and involving! Little Evo has no USB input, but it does have an optical input in addition to the copper (RCA). A toggle switch allows either input (plus a 3rd, called I/s) to be selescted if both are connected at once. I added an optical cable and found the same dramatic improvement with music and movies coming from my Apple TV.If you have an inexpensive or an older CD/DVD player with a coaxial or optical digital output and plenty of life left in it, this little DAC is well worth considering. I have seen pretty steep discounts on the EvoDAC, probably because it lacks a USB input, so it can be an absolute steal. Even at it's list price, it's a powerful music maker. (M2Tech design and build all their products in Italy, by the way.)

The M2Tech Evo DAC lists for $524.00, but I picked one up new at 50% off list price. The reason: the Evo DAC lacks a conventional USB input. It uses the I2S interface (with a "Cat" cable jack), which is found on the company's SPDIF converter--or you can use use a USB converter with a non-proprietary interface, like the Musical Fidelity V-Link, and run that into the Coax jack on the Evo DAC. Either way you'll incur more expense to use the Evo DAC with your computer. The unit is slightly smaller than the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100, but if you purchase the company's SPDIF converter, the units taken together will take up more space than the Cambridge. Other modules for the same system are available from M2Tech.Lack of a USB input wasn't a drawback for me. I only needed the Coax input (the DAC also has an Optical input). If your application doesn't require USB, you'll find the Evo DAC has a very clean, textured sound with punch in the bass.An excellent product which will be of limited use for many users. That's unfortunate, because it's an impressive sounding DAC.