M2TECH Marley Spezifikationen PDF herunterladen (Seite 4)

expect to pay for a headphone amplifier.

One would think that the sound produced through my headphones would be better when

connected to the stereo system than an iPod, and one would be correct. The Marley is a high-

end component, and of course sensitive to the source. Still, my comments regarding the sound quality of the Marley are a combination of time spent listening using both

sources I usually use when listening to headphones – the stereo and my iPod. The quality of the source may have changed, but the characteristics of the Marley didn't. The

same can be said of the headphones I used – the Grado is the best I had on hand, the Oppo a close second, followed by the Sennheiser. Even the in-ear models revealed

certain characteristics of the Marley. And even though the majority of the time I used the Grados, my comments regarding the Marley's sonic characteristics is a

combination of my time spent with all of them.

I was lucky enough to be able to critically listen to the M2Tech Marley for about two months, and during this time the Marley revealed itself to be a super-transparent

amplifier, with a very, very neutral sound. Some may be drawn to its very honest sound more than others, but if one's taste in high-end equipment leans toward not glossing

over any recording; be that a fine audiophile LP or downloaded pop single that has entered into the loudness wars, they may find the Marley much to their liking. Still, the

Marley's ability to render each instrument and voice as it was intended is definitely its strong point. And it was its midrange where I could decipher each recording's "sound"

to the fullest. Thankfully, the Marley wasn't a sonic microscope, instead it served at the pleasure of the musicians, engineers, producers, mastering engineers, and whoever

else was responsible for putting the music to tape, hard drive, or whatever medium was responsible for storing the musical signal. The previous headphone amplifier that I

reviewed in Enjoy the Music.com was the Pro-Ject Head Box DS in February's issue. This relatively inexpensive headphone amp/DAC might not be in same league as the

M2Tech Marley, but it set itself apart from other affordable headphone amps in its amount of detail retrieval. During my initial listening sessions with the Marley it was

striking how different these two headphone amps sounded from each other. Yes, the Marley trounces the Head Box DS in every sonic category, yet it still took a while to

accustom myself to a sound that doesn't dissect every aspect of every sound that passes through it. The music coming from the headphones that are connected to the

Marley sound more like music, plain and simple. And although I get a cheap thrill from hearing the intricacies of every waveform on a recording, this is almost a textbook

definition of how one succumbs to listening fatigue. But like I said, the Marley is in a different league than the Pro-Ject, and demands to be compared not only to

headphone amps within its price range, but other high-end components with aspirations to be the best in its class.

Although the Marley's sound is a transparent one, it does lean toward the yin rather than the yang as far as

absolute neutrality is concerned. Although it's best to keep in mind that the asking price of the Marley

demands that a reviewer be somewhat critical of its sound quality, and although I stated that it is a very

neutral headphone amplifier, its transient response is not the quickest I've ever heard. Yet the nature of its

sound was also very musical, so this slight paradox leads me to believe that it was voiced using recordings of

real music recording in real space. Rarely does one listen to live music and make the comment, "wow, the

transient response is fantastic!" Obviously, one listens to music without even thinking about such things, and

that, admirably, was my mindset most of the time when listening to the Marley. This also remained true when

listening to the majority of my iPod's playlists which are largely populated by guilty pleasures, not to mention

material that is rarely sought after because of its recording quality. Yes, I did listen to some audiophile

favorites to objectively test the sonic limits and reveal the sound quality of the Marley in regards to frequency

extension, etc. But what most impressed me was how this headphone amp made instruments and voices

sound like real instrument and voices. Just as impressive was how closely it could came to making me think I

was hearing the exact intensions of the people who were responsible for making the music on the records,

discs, and files I was playing.

Just for fun I also used the Marley as a linestage. I first connected it to my main system in my dedicated

listening room. In this system, when I do use a preamplifier I often use one that is priced many times the price

of the Marley, let alone one that is designed for this purpose, not a headphone amp that can also be used as

a preamp. The Marley performed surprisingly well. I've used a headphone amp as a linestage once or twice

before the Marley's time in my system, but when I did it did not having enough gain, the speakers and room

demand more gain than the component can deliver to drive the speakers to a volume that is greater than what is used for background listening. There are a few DACs that

I have used that can perform this task, but with 4 dB on hand this is the first headphone amp that has allowed me to listen to music at a "normal" volume. Kudos to the

Marley for accomplishing this feat! On the other hand, my main system demands a greater level of transparency than the Marley delivered when using it in this way. When

moved downstairs to my second system which uses not only speakers that are much easier to drive, but is in a room that is much more lively sounding. To the Marley's

credit, I could probably live with using the Marley as a preamplifier in this system. Alas, this is so when only using one source, since changing sources involves not a flick of

a switch or turn of a control knob as on most preamps, but the comparatively laborious task of using the Marley's multi-function encoder to access the menu to switch

between the two sources. Life is tough.

And In Conclusion

The only downside to the M2Tech Marley is not a sonic characteristic, but its price. No matter how you slice it, most would consider $1700 is a great deal of money to pay

for a headphone amplifier, especially for a headphone amp that doesn't have an internal DAC. Just one example of many is the Oppo HA-1, which is priced at $1200

includes a DAC that is DSD capable, and is also a Class A balanced amplifier. But then again, the Oppo has a much, much larger cabinet. And it is not imported from Italy.

This is the third component from M2Tech that I've had the pleasure of reviewing, and not only does it share the same sense of cabinet design artistry, but those other

component also share the characteristic of service to the source. The M2Tech Marley headphone amplifier is not one to gloss over a recording's flaws, but when presented

with a good recording from a good source using a good set of headphones the resulting sound places the Marley in the company of high-end audio products that aspire to

be the best available. It will likely be the last headphone amplifier that one purchases. I would recommend the M2Tech Marley to any audiophile who desires a top-flight,

relatively compact, very stylish headphone amp.

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