post.smzdm.com/p/a0d6omdr/In straight-through mode, the M30 presents a more neutral and straightforward sound. In the three frequencies, the high frequencies have a good extension, without adding too much gloss to make the band harshly bright, but without sacrificing information; the midrange seems natural and gentle, the vocals are in the right place, and the mouthpiece is clear without being muddled; the low frequencies do not offer too much elasticity, and there is not too much volume, and they converge relatively quickly. Overall, the M30 in straight-through mode has a balanced distribution of the three frequencies, creating a sound that does not over-emphasise one frequency band. This straightforward and balanced sound style is somewhat universal in its interpretation of music, and is relatively good at interpreting instrumental repertoire and reproducing the timbre of the instruments well.
The sound of the transistor mode, on the other hand, is distinctly different from that of the straight-through mode. The transistor sound is more neutral with a bit of moistness, adding a bit of softness to the expression of both vocals and instruments. In terms of the three frequencies, the bass is noticeably heavier than in the straight-through mode, diving deeper into space while flooding the reverb outwards. The midrange has increased in density, the vocals have more thickness and are positioned slightly further forward, giving a definite boost to the presentation. With the low and midrange frequencies, the ambience of the piece is more intense and the sound more listenable. If you take the high frequencies out on their own, you will find that this band still retains a similar expressiveness to the straight-through mode, but in the middle of the piece it is more like a garnish for the midrange. In general, I tend to prefer transistors for pop, jazz, rock and other genres. Also, when switching from straight-through mode to transistor mode, the sound pressure of the headphones increased a bit, so you need to turn down the volume a bit before switching.
After 10 seconds of warm-up, the M30 is ready to work in tube mode as the LEDs in the module light up. The sound of the M30 is very mellow at this point, and the unique flavour of the tubes gives the music, especially the vocal tracks, a thick sound that is both melodic and captivating. The three-frequency distribution of the tube mode is generally somewhat similar to that of the straight-through mode, with a slightly thicker midrange, which overlaps with the rich rhythms to give a more distinctive effect to vocal tracks.
In both straight-through and transistor modes, the M30 delivers a solid performance in terms of quality: thanks to the purity of the 18650 battery-powered current, the M30's sound background is dark enough and the sound is interpreted quite consistently. The soundstage is open and spacious, and the sound is very well situated, with distant and blurred boundaries. The junction is medium sized and clearly shaped. Resolution is slim and slightly sharpened, amplifying detail. Dynamics are not quite mountainous, but they do show a certain sense of surging. On the other hand, the M30's transient response is not very fast and can sometimes be too gentle in response to changes in mood.
In terms of resolution, the tube mode is somewhat inferior to the other two modes, which is of course often the case with tube equipment, but in terms of spaciousness, the tube mode stands at a similar level to the other two modes.
In terms of drive, the M30 at ultra-high gain is perfectly capable of holding up the sound architecture of the K812 Pro and giving a good soundstage and dynamic effect. If I had to pick a problem, I think the overall sound performance would have seemed a little more solid if the sound density could have been improved. And even when driving headphones that are not easy to push like Sennheiser's old flagship HD800, the M30 doesn't let the sound collapse, it still maintains the basic sound structure and gives a full content performance, there is just room for improvement in the sound layering.
The big headphones are a good driver, what happens to the earbuds? I started by turning the M30 gain gear to low gain and then plugged in the Beyerselanto with the DITA OSLO upgrade cable. The M30 in straight-through mode brought out the delicate, warm side of the Salento quite well, and didn't deliberately hide the remoteness of the Salento's vocals, bringing back the character of the Salento to my ears. When switching to transistor mode, the vocal position is not much more advanced, but the listening experience is much clearer, compensating to a certain extent for the shortcomings of the "Salento's vocal ineptitude", and the transistor sound signature is also quite compatible with the Salento's own style, with a rich and loose ambience that is quite listenable.
After trying the M30 as an all-in-one player, I started to "torn" around the two rows of ports on the back of the machine: first I connected the computer through the USB DAC port to regain the PC HiFi gameplay, and played computer local music or more. Multi-stream media platform resources are obviously more convenient, but the digital signal output at this time is somewhat impure, with some noise, not as good as the effect of an all-in-one player; using coaxial access to several portable players as the sound source, you can feel The higher the level of the sound source, the better the quality of the output digital signal; when the traditional discrete decoding amp system is connected, it can be compared to the M30's driving fullness of the headset is somewhat inferior to the traditional discrete system, but it can still let The big earphones play a regular and healthy sound.
In general, the M30's first module combination, I think, takes into account the driving effect of earplugs and large headphones, and has achieved a certain balance between them. Although it may not be able to surpass the split desktop system at the same price, the strength of the M30 is also closer to the desktop system; if you compare the driving effect of most portable devices on large headphones, there is no output slew caused by insufficient output. "The sound cannot be opened". What's more, most desktop systems specialize in driving big ears, and they often have over-pushing problems when driving earplugs. The M30's good compatibility with earplugs undoubtedly gives fans more room for fun.
[Extension: Future Direction]
The trend of changes in the shape of HiFi players is quite similar to the development of phones-Big Brother opened the pattern of mobile communication, and then mobile phones became smaller and smaller, smart systems gave them more diversified functions, and then the screen of the mobile phone became more and more compact. The gradual increase has driven the volume of the mobile phone to become larger.
As a portable player, in terms of its function and play, M30 is closer to the console: it can not only be used as an all-in-one player, it can also be used as a turntable, decoder, amp, and front-end separately. Connecting traditional desktop equipment or even active speakers, a certain module can be upgraded in the future. It is not an exaggeration to call the M30 a "small machine". Recall that the emergence of folding screen mobile phones has completely blurred the boundaries between "mobile phones" and "tablets", can it be said that the M30 has also blurred the boundaries between mobile players and desktop computers?
In my opinion, the M30 also sets new possibilities for the future shape of HiFi players on a certain level. M30 is an independent product, but the two major elements of "modularity" and "full interface" bring unlimited possibilities for extension. Through its own new modules to achieve upgrades, or access to external equipment to create a new system, the designer of M30 hopes to present a complete HiFi solution for everyone.
In a more far-reaching sense, the mobile phone field is still used as a reference: as a mobile smart terminal, nowadays various brands are building a smart ecosystem around mobile phones, and the current common smart homes are relatively successful landing cases. For the HiFi field, using a terminal to control home audio systems, desktop systems, portable systems, etc., to create a HiFi ecosystem will undoubtedly bring great convenience to fans with a variety of fever methods. From the M30, we have already seen signs of such a scene.
Of course, it’s hard to guess the reason for those distant things, but recent things are worth looking forward to, such as new DACs, amps, and tube modules, which bring new choices to fans; such as how to fill the position of the spare module. , To expand the playability of the M30; for example, how the main control system will be upgraded to make the operating experience more convenient for fans... Every step taken means that the "M30 ecology" will be more complete, with rich interfaces and covering most The M30 in daily use scenarios can further exert its value.