View Full Version : Asynch1 vs hiface2 ?
any of you guys compared these 2?
i have the hiface2 and have had issues with it. so looking at alternatives.
thanks
Stratmangler
27-08-2014, 19:52
What's up with the HiFace2?
its not really sound related.
basically i have to keep unplugging it and re-plugging it on boot up to get it to be recognized.
the guys on another forum (diyah) have suggested it maybe the 5v usb power that fluctuates and causes the issue.
have tried it with powered hubs without any luck.
i have ordered a linear psu and suitable injector cable to see if this helps.
sometimes it will be fine for weeks, then plays up every day for a while.
i figured the asynch1 may be worth a punt as it seems reasonably priced.
Stratmangler
27-08-2014, 21:07
Sounds more like a Windoze issue or possibly a BIOS thing more than anything else, so I think you're likely to have this kind of issue with another device
The HiFace2 is already asynchronous if you didn't already know.
It also works wonderfully well out of the back of a Squeezebox Touch, and that's where mine resides - I've not had one problem in the 6 months since I started using it there.
Sounds like the pc to me as well....my old one(laptop) can do similar things....
Buggleskelly
28-08-2014, 08:02
No problem with the M2 on both of my Samsung Laptops. Worked fine with Win 7, 8 & 8.1. M2 also checked it on a mates Leveno (X200 if memory serves) and that was also ok too.
The only issue I found was that the master volume on the Samsung's was still working instead of being disabled - which is probably the WASAPI driver not playing ball with the laptop hardware.
Stevie
hmmm
this is the direction i was sent in initially by the guys on the other forum.
i then carried out a bios (and all drivers) update, followed by a complete re-format of my hard disk and a clean windows install.
sorry, maybe i should have mentioned this earlier?
this is what lead them to believe it may be power related issue, i guess.
anyway, putting this aside ,have any of you tested the asynch1 against the hiface2 ?
thanks guys
Stratmangler
28-08-2014, 11:45
Can't help on the asynch1 front.
Buggleskelly
28-08-2014, 12:22
Yup, I've tested the Highface M2 vs ASYNCH.
I thought the M2 was good until I plugged in the ASYNCH. ASYNCH took the sound up a notch or two.
What I found with the ASYNCH was an improved sense of spaciousness to the instruments, tighter bass line, things like reverb in the mix was improved and other small things came to light when listening, crisper definition to vocals; going back to the M2 it was softer and veiled in comparison. I did A/B comparisons over a few days when messin' around with the laptops to find out what my drop out problem was.
Of course I can trot out more of the usual old hackneyed verbiage but to me there was a very good improvement and well happy with the ASYNCH; great value for money in my humble opinion.
Going back to your problem, does sound like you may have USB power problems. I've had this with an external CD drive before - the USB wouldn't power it even though the OS saw it.
Stevie
Yup, I've tested the Highface M2 vs ASYNCH.
I thought the M2 was good until I plugged in the ASYNCH. ASYNCH took the sound up a notch or two.
What I found with the ASYNCH was an improved sense of spaciousness to the instruments, tighter bass line, things like reverb in the mix was improved and other small things came to light when listening, crisper definition to vocals; going back to the M2 it was softer and veiled in comparison. I did A/B comparisons over a few days when messin' around with the laptops to find out what my drop out problem was.
Of course I can trot out more of the usual old hackneyed verbiage but to me there was a very good improvement and well happy with the ASYNCH; great value for money in my humble opinion.
Going back to your problem, does sound like you may have USB power problems. I've had this with an external CD drive before - the USB wouldn't power it even though the OS saw it.
Stevie
Pretty much sums up my findings. And the Asynch works from an iPad while the HiFace does not
hmmm
this is the direction i was sent in initially by the guys on the other forum.
i then carried out a bios (and all drivers) update, followed by a complete re-format of my hard disk and a clean windows install.
sorry, maybe i should have mentioned this earlier?
this is what lead them to believe it may be power related issue, i guess.
anyway, putting this aside ,have any of you tested the asynch1 against the hiface2 ?
thanks guys
I tested it against an hrt streamer and external psu and it bested it by a shade and was far more stable PC wise. Have had a hiface as well and the hrt bested that so by my reckoning the asynch should beat the Hiface by a fair bit.
purite audio
28-08-2014, 13:26
Pretty much sums up my findings. And the Asynch works from an iPad while the HiFace does not
The HiFace works with the Ipad via the camera connection kit.
Keith.
The HiFace works with the Ipad via the camera connection kit.
Keith.
Hi Keith
Mine didn't. Tried it several times and got no output whereas the Asynch 1 connects firsthand every time
Steve
purite audio
28-08-2014, 14:42
Stephen Hi, do you have the original model HiFace?
Keith.
Ammonite Audio
28-08-2014, 14:59
I'm completely bowled over by the HiFace2 that I bought from the classifieds a few months back. It's cheap, stable, M2Tech seem to be good with drivers etc; and it supports ASIO output. After a few years of playing with PC music sources, I have become convinced of two things: that good and current driver support is one of the most critical things, and ASIO sounds far, far better than WASAPI of any flavour.
Stephen Hi, do you have the original model HiFace?
Keith.
Hi Keith - no the HF2 & iPad3
purite audio
28-08-2014, 15:19
Steve Hi, I will check it out here, the HiFace2 works on your laptop? How do you connect the other converter to the iPad?
Kr Keith.
Steve Hi, I will check it out here, the HiFace2 works on your laptop? How do you connect the other converter to the iPad?
Kr Keith.
Hi Keith
Yes HiFace2 works like a dream from my MacBook Air - I use the OEM Apple camera kit (USB) to connect to my iPad
Steve
purite audio
28-08-2014, 16:33
Steve Hi, I will check it out, I a just waiting for a new delivery of the HiFace 2 to arrive, as soon as they do I will experiment, if you have a faulty unit we can swop it over.
KR Keith
Pretty much sums up my findings. And the Asynch works from an iPad while the HiFace does not
Errr, the HiFace2 works just fine with my iPad (and iPhone)
Some variations of versions in iOS/iPad?
EDIT: *note to self* Read the fecking thread before answering! :)
Steve Hi, I will check it out, I a just waiting for a new delivery of the HiFace 2 to arrive, as soon as they do I will experiment, if you have a faulty unit we can swop it over.
KR Keith
PM sent
Yup, I've tested the Highface M2 vs ASYNCH.
I thought the M2 was good until I plugged in the ASYNCH. ASYNCH took the sound up a notch or two.
What I found with the ASYNCH was an improved sense of spaciousness to the instruments, tighter bass line, things like reverb in the mix was improved and other small things came to light when listening, crisper definition to vocals; going back to the M2 it was softer and veiled in comparison. I did A/B comparisons over a few days when messin' around with the laptops to find out what my drop out problem was.
Of course I can trot out more of the usual old hackneyed verbiage but to me there was a very good improvement and well happy with the ASYNCH; great value for money in my humble opinion.
Going back to your problem, does sound like you may have USB power problems. I've had this with an external CD drive before - the USB wouldn't power it even though the OS saw it.
Stevie
at the price it may be worth a punt then.
i have learnt to live with the hiface2 issue and in the past have considered an upgrade just to see if there is a SQ improvement to be gained.
i have been interested in the model next up the M2 food chain, the evo.
i even nearly, in a moment of madness, pulled the trigger on one of the mega expensive audiophileo units! but then common sense made me stop as for not much more i could have bought a new usb dac instead.
Buggleskelly
29-08-2014, 10:22
at the price it may be worth a punt then.
i have learnt to live with the hiface2 issue and in the past have considered an upgrade just to see if there is a SQ improvement to be gained.
i have been interested in the model next up the M2 food chain, the evo.
i even nearly, in a moment of madness, pulled the trigger on one of the mega expensive audiophileo units! but then common sense made me stop as for not much more i could have bought a new usb dac instead.
That was my thought - it's 68 quid and worth a punt. I haven't been disappointed so far. I've spent a lot, lot more on stuff that's turned out to be not as good as I expected :rolleyes: , I think we have all been there.
If I recall Stan does a money back guarantee on his products if you're not satisfied, however check with him first regarding the ASYNCH.
The ASYNCH will be staying in my kit for sometime to come.
Cheerio / Stevie
Buggleskelly
29-08-2014, 17:35
just ordered one!
Cool :cool: Looking forward to seeing what you think about it. I'm just listening to Stacy Earle - Simple Gearle while typing this and lovin' it. Hope you get the same enjoyment out of the ASYNCH.
Stevie
i might go for a Caiman II in the next few months also. (when i have the funds)
i read over on head-fi where someone compared my current dac to the original Caiman.
to sum up he said that they were comparable in sound quality but with slightly different signature.
as Stan's range has moved on from then, in theory i may prefer the Caiman II to my current dac.
again the outlay is worth the gamble, imo, rather than trying a £1k dac.
I've just bought an ASYNCH and I'm very happy with it. I'm amazed how much improvement in SQ can be had for £50 !!
I've just bought an ASYNCH and I'm very happy with it. I'm amazed how much improvement in SQ can be had for £50 !!
what did it replace?
what did it replace?
Previously I was using nothing .... straight out of the laptop into a Rega DAC
oh dear.
having a nightmare with this.
cant get it to play my 24/192 tracks at all, and the rest of my files sound distorted.
os is w7/64. is there a specific driver for this?
Stratmangler
01-09-2014, 21:11
os is w7/64. is there a specific driver for this?
Yes, and it's here http://www.homehifi.co.uk/products/ASYNCH_acc.html
Buggleskelly
02-09-2014, 08:44
oh dear.
having a nightmare with this.
cant get it to play my 24/192 tracks at all, and the rest of my files sound distorted.
os is w7/64. is there a specific driver for this?
Any joy with the Win 7 driver ? Win 7 driver worked fine with both me laptops.
Stevie
Yes, and it's here http://www.homehifi.co.uk/products/ASYNCH_acc.html
yeah that is the one i used.
i thought there may be a specific one for 64 bit.
cheers anyway.
Any joy with the Win 7 driver ? Win 7 driver worked fine with both me laptops.
Stevie
have not tried again yet.
do i need to disable security software or anything like that?
just made some progress.
did nothing more than try a different usb port.
that got things working on youtube etc.
now in the properties drop down menu for the sound device it does give options up to 24/192. where as yesterday the only options were 16/41 or 16/48.
now foobar works when the "push" option is selected but not "event" (both wasapi), dont understand the difference on these anyhow.
when i was trying yesterday i was using the power hub built into my monitor, this worked ok with the hiface (sound quality wise)
my printer was plugged into the same hub, but yesterday my printer blew! smell of burning too. maybe this screwed the usb port with a power spike or something????
will test this later.
but at least i have my music again:)
just made some progress.
did nothing more than try a different usb port.
that got things working on youtube etc.
now in the properties drop down menu for the sound device it does give options up to 24/192. where as yesterday the only options were 16/41 or 16/48.
now foobar works when the "push" option is selected but not "event" (both wasapi), dont understand the difference on these anyhow.
when i was trying yesterday i was using the power hub built into my monitor, this worked ok with the hiface (sound quality wise)
my printer was plugged into the same hub, but yesterday my printer blew! smell of burning too. maybe this screwed the usb port with a power spike or something????
will test this later.
but at least i have my music again:)
right/ it appears my monitor has 2 hubs. 1 on the side and 1 underneath.
just plugged into my old printer lead (underneath the monitor) and the Asynch works perfectly still.
however when i plug into the port on the side (where the hiface used to be) it does not work properly. ie sounds distorted and only options are 16/41 and 16/48 again.
so the issue must be just that 2 way port on the side.
Stratmangler
02-09-2014, 17:56
right/ it appears my monitor has 2 hubs. 1 on the side and 1 underneath.
just plugged into my old printer lead (underneath the monitor) and the Asynch works perfectly still.
however when i plug into the port on the side (where the hiface used to be) it does not work properly. ie sounds distorted and only options are 16/41 and 16/48 again.
so the issue must be just that 2 way port on the side.
You never mentioned running stuff connected to USB hubs :doh:
What's wrong with running directly off your computer?
You never mentioned running stuff connected to USB hubs :doh:
What's wrong with running directly off your computer?
ahh
the reason was when using the hiface2 out of the back of my pc, half the time it would not be recognized on start-up.
this would require me getting on me old knees under the desk to unplug and re-plug it in!
this wears thin after a while.
so to save the need for this i plugged it into the side of my monitor, which made life much easier. ironically the number of times i needed to un/re-plug decreased but did not disappear completely.
now if this continues to happen with the Asynch1, i can just flick the power switch, so will be even easier.
after the hassle i had last night i cannot be asked to re-install the hiface, to do any a/b testing.
i never had any issues with the hiface as far as sound quality goes and the the Asynch certainly is no drop in quality.
everything is sounding pretty damn good to me.
have also got a cheap linear psu coming tomorrow, so may improve more yet!? (having said that, i hear no interference nasties at all)
just downloaded the latest version of foobar, wasapi and aiso.
working just fine.
this is one heck of a good value product!
Stan , many thanks for the excellent service and product.
it could be all my troubles with the hiface2 not being recognised on boot-up were down to the 5v usb power.
even when the hiface was working properly on boot up, i would be seeing a red cross over the speaker icon on windows task bar. this cross would disappear after about 20 seconds.
this also happens with my new Asynch1.(so i thought nothing of it).
now i have connected the external psu and injector cable, there is no sign of the red cross on boot up, not even for a second.
fingers are still crossed :)
Did an extended session with the psu and without today and it is better with, especially via foobar which was always better than JRiver to my ears anyways on this system....so Going to keep the aqvox for the present.
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