M2TECH hiFace Evo User Manual

M2TECH

HIFACE EVO

192KHZ/24BIT DIGITAL AUDIO INTERFACE

USER MANUAL

REV. 1.0 – 7/2010

hiFace Evo 192kHz/24bit digital audio interface

REVISION 1.o – JULY 2010

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

Warning!

Changes or modifications not authorized by the manufacturer can invalidate the compliance to CE regulations and cause the unit to be no more suitable to use. The manufacturer refuses every responsibility regarding damages to people or things due to the use of a unit which has been subject to unauthorized modifications or to misuse or to malfunction of a unit which has been subject to unauthorized modifications.

This unit is compliant with the following CE regulations when an USB cable less than 3m is used: CEI EN 55022:2009 Class B (Radiated Emissions), CEI EN 55024:1999, CEI EN 55024:A2/2003, CEI EN 55024:IS1/2008 (Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 50Hz Magnetic Field Immunity Test and Electrostatic Discharges – ESD).

Recycling

The label above, printed on the product case, indicates that the product, when no more usable, can’t be treated as generic garbage, but must be disposed of at a collection point for recycling of electrical and electronic equipment, in compliance with the WEEE regulation (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment). By making sure that this unit is correctly recycled, you will help preventing potential damages to environment and human health, which could be caused by a wrong treatment of this product as generic garbage. Materials recycling helps saving natural resources. For more in-depth information about recycling this product, please contact M2Tech Snc di Manunta & Marino.

WARNING: the information contained in this manual are considered to be reliable and accurate. M2Tech reserves the right to change or modify the information any time, without prior advice. It’s up to the customer to ensure that the manual being consulted is the latest version.

hiFace Evo 192kHz/24bit digital audio interface

REVISION 1.o – JULY 2010

Dear customer,

thank you for purchasing hiFace Evo. What you have is a first-rate USB-to-S/PDIF converter with many unique features conceived to obtain the best audio performance out of a music file.

Even if getting digital music out of a PC or a Mac is nowadays quite simple, much harder is to obtain the best sonic performance from it, due to intrinsic limits in USB 1.1 audio standard and the implementation of digital audio interfaces in computers. Please visit

M2Tech website (www.m2tech.biz) to find extensive literature about this topic.

hiFace Evo overcomes all the limits of usual USB-to-audio interfaces by implementing

proprietary drivers and by using asynchronous data transfer, along with a sophisticated electronic design.

hiFace Evo features a comprehensive set of output connections which suit virtually all DAC’s and A/V receivers around.

We feel that your expectations will be fulfilled by hiFace Evo: you’ll hear your DAC and your music files in a way like never before, prepare for a whole new experience!

Nadia Marino, CEO

Please annotate here your hiFace Evo serial number for future reference:

S/N: ____________________________________

Date of purchase: _________________________

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

hiFace Evo 192kHz/24bit digital audio interface

REVISION 1.o – JULY 2010

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

INDEX

1. Front Panel ......................................................................................................................5

2. Back Panel.......................................................................................................................6

3. Connection to the host .....................................................................................................7

4.1. Obtaining the driver ...................................................................................................8

4.2. Installing the driver on a Windows-based PC............................................................8

4.2.1. Automatic (guided) installation...........................................................................8

4.2.2. Manual installation ............................................................................................10

4.3. Installing the driver on a Mac ..................................................................................11

4.4. Unistalling the driver................................................................................................13

4.4.1. Uninstalling the driver on a Windows-based PC after installation with

setup32.exe or setup64.exe .......................................................................................13

4.4.2. Manually uninstalling the driver on a Windows-based PC ................................13

4.4.3. Uninstalling the driver on a Mac........................................................................14

5. Configuring the computer to use hiFace Evo .................................................................15

5.1. Configuring a PC with Windows XP ........................................................................15

5.1.1. Configuring for Direct Sound with Windows XP ................................................15

5.1.2. Configuring for Kernel Streaming with Windows XP .........................................16

5.1.3. Using hiFace Evo in both Kernel Streaming and Direct Sound mode...............16

5.2. Configuring a PC with Windows Vista or Windows 7...............................................17

5.2.1. Configuring for Direct Sound with Windows Vista or Windows 7 ......................17

5.2.2. Configuring for Kernel Streaming with Windows Vista or Windows 7 ...............18

5.2.3. Configuring for WASAPI with Windows Vista or Windows 7 .............................18

5.3. Configuring a Mac ...................................................................................................18

6.1. FooBar ....................................................................................................................19

6.2. Winamp and MediaMonkey.....................................................................................19

7.1. FooBar ....................................................................................................................21

9. AES/EBU output: consumer and professional mode .....................................................22

10. I2S output .....................................................................................................................22

hiFace Evo

45678

192kHz/24bit digital audio interface

REVISION 1.o – JULY 2010

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

1. Front Panel

Figure 1

1) Supply input. Apply a voltage in the range 7V to 11V. Tip is positive, ring is negative. This input is protected against polarity inversion. 2mm tip jack supply connector

2) External clock in. Apply a clock source if you need higher precision and stability than provided by the internal oscillators. Please remember that a suitable clock (22.5792MHz or

24.576MHz) must be provided depending on the sampling frequency of files to be played back. Please see the specifications section for absolute maximum ratings. This input is galvanically isolated by a pulse transformer. 75 Ohm female BNC connector.

3) USB input. Connect to host with a suitable 2.0 USB cable. Female B USB connector

4) Optical Toslink™ output. Connect to DAC or receiver with a Toslink™ optical fiber.

Toslink™ connector.

5) Optical AT&T ST output. Connect to DAC with a 62.5/125um multicore glass optical fiber. This output is compliant with Avago AV02-0723AN application note. ST connector.

6) Power indicator LED. Turns on in green when power is applied to hiFace Evo.

7) External clock indicator. Turns on in green when an external clock is applied to the

related input.

8) Data indicator. Turns on in green whenever the host is sending data to the hiFace Evo

hiFace Evo

91011

192kHz/24bit digital audio interface

REVISION 1.o – JULY 2010

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

2. Back Panel

Figure 2

9) I2S output. Direct I2S ouput for connection to a board or DAC provided with I2S input. This input is not galvanically decoupled, so an external solution or a galvanically isolated input must be used if galvanic isolation is required.

WARNING: this output CANNOT be directly connected to a North Star Design DAC such as Model 192 or Extremo! An adapting circuit must be used.

10) RCA S/PDIF output. Connect to DAC or receiver with a 75 Ohms digital cable

terminated with RCA male plugs. This output is galvanically isolated by a pulse transformer. Gold plated RCA female connector

11) 75 Ohms BNC S/PDIF output. Connect to DAC or receiver with a 75 Ohms digital cable terminated with BNC male plugs. This output is galvanically isolated by a pulse transformer. 75 Ohms BNC female connector.

12 AES/EBU output. Connect to DAC or receiver with a 110 Ohms balanced digital cable terminated with XLR connectors. This output can set to consumer or professional mode by means of an internal jumper. Instructions about setting the jumper are printed on the PCB. This output is galvanically isolated by a pulse transformer. XLR male connector.

hiFace Evo 192kHz/24bit digital audio interface

REVISION 1.o – JULY 2010

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

3. Connection to the host

Please refer to section 2, “Front Panel Description”.

Connect the “B” plug of a 2.0 USB A-B cable to the USB connector (Figure 1, 3) of hiFace Evo.

Connect the “A” plug of the cable to a 2.0 USB port of your computer.

Connect a 9V power supply or a 7.2V/10.8V lithium battery, or a 9V alkaline battery to the supply connector (Figure 1, 1) of hiFace Evo. The power indicator (Figure 1, 6) will lit.

If a driver hasn’t been installed on your computer, an automatic driver installation wizard may appear.

Note: If you want to avoid the automatic driver installation, please connect hiFace Evo to the computer after manually installing the driver (see section 4).

+ 16 hidden pages

M2TECH hiFace Evo User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual