[Solude]

When you say went do you mean to the Head-Fi meet or to say HeadRoom for sale?

 

[shuttleboi]

  Solude,  I think this review from Computer Audiophile. com is what I was referring to; though, the m920 should be a significant step up in terms DAC sound quality.
 
"There’s a subjective continuum of sound quality from the worst to the best. Near the middle of that continuum rests good components like the Grace m903. Higher up on my sound quality continuum is components like the Bel Canto DAC 1.5 ($1,395), Ayre Acoustics QB-9 ($2,750), and the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Series 2 ($5,000). Major League Baseball teams don’t get to complete against only those teams with the same payroll. Similarly evaluating sound quality should not be done in a vacuum or strictly by price points. With that in mind I don’t believe I’m being too harsh on the m903 although I am holding it to a high standard. Compared to many other DACs in all price ranges the m903 is a home run, if not grand slam when it comes to features. In terms of sound quality the m903 is a base hit up the middle."
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/423-grace-design-m903-reference-dac-preamp-headphone-amp-review/
 
Bugs

 
I'm not sure why you think an amateur blogger's review would compare to the professional review done by Stereophile. Computer Audiophile is just some guy with a website.

 

[mbgrace]

Both will require updating.

 

[shuttleboi]

  As you can see the chassis is pretty much the same as the m903 but with a new color scheme 

 
I like the silver, but it's hard to tell from just pictures. Is it brushed aluminum? For reference, is it the same shade as MacBook laptops?

 

[mbgrace]

The top and bottom plates are machined, brushed, and anodized aluminum. Very similar to MacBooks  The front/side panel is brushed stainless steel and the rear panel is nickel plated aluminum.

 

[hugoboss]

  The units that went will need a hardware modification to enable the minimum phase filter.  Unfortunately they will need to come back to Colorado for that.

do you mean in future there will be a m920 revison that enable the minimum phase filter?

 

[mbgrace]

All m920s available to purchase will have the minimum phase filter.

 

[Solude]

Now I'm confused.  Earlier I asked if the batch shipped to retailers for sale needed the update and you said yes.
 
I will ask once more...  if I order the m920 from HeadRoom today... will the m920 I receive have the minimum phase filter function in  the menu or will that unit need to go back to Grace for an update?

 

[Solude]

  I should get a first listen on this by Friday......will update as soon as I do!

 
Been Friday for hours now... where's that review

 

[mbgrace]

  Now I'm confused.  Earlier I asked if the batch shipped to retailers for sale needed the update and you said yes.
 
I will ask once more...  if I order the m920 from HeadRoom today... will the m920 I receive have the minimum phase filter function in  the menu or will that unit need to go back to Grace for an update?

Any m920 purchased will have the minimum phase filter.  The small number of units that went to dealers without this feature are being returned to the factory.  No units will be sold to customers without this feature!
That said, there will be a minor delay in getting the new units to the dealers.
Cheers,
Michael

 

[Solude]

Phew, that's good news =)

 

[ungo]

@mbgrace The M920 technical overview looks very sexy and I can't wait to listen to it.
 
My and my friends have had 2 questions about I/O since M902 was out:
1. Why do you choose mini-USB as instead of regular USB port as USB input? 
2. WHy the balanced I/O setting is XLR as input and TRS as output instead of TRS as input and XLR as output?

 

[Solude]

Space and internal board layout.  Though I do think that if the unit grew in size just enough to use the more common xlr and usb connectors that it would make people's short list more.  Pro market may be different but audiophiles are a fickle bunch

 

[third_eye]

We did get a chance to listen to the m920 and first impressions are very good. Used a DAC (but not in DAC only mode via the jumpers on the board)  it seems a step up from the m903 in terms of overall resolution and has a lot of presence. Build quality is impeccable and the new aluminum top plate looks fantastic in a very modern sort of way. The unit is currently in the process of being reviewed for @www.audio360.org and I will post the review as soon as its complete.

 

[mbgrace]

  @mbgrace The M920 technical overview looks very sexy and I can't wait to listen to it.
 
My and my friends have had 2 questions about I/O since M902 was out:
1. Why do you choose mini-USB as instead of regular USB port as USB input? 
2. WHy the balanced I/O setting is XLR as input and TRS as output instead of TRS as input and XLR as output?

Hi ungo,
The reason for the connector choices is largely panel space requirements.  There is a large number of input and output options on the m9xx series and the balanced input is used more frequently in the professional world.  That is why there is an XLR input rather than output.