In fact, at the time of writing this article,Colorful CDA-M2 Ti version has been on the market for a while,Up to now,Colorful CDA-M2 series has three versions:One version is the initial standard version,One version is purple limited with ddHiFi custom data cable version,In terms of recording cable configuration,It is consistent with the Ti version that came out later,In addition,In addition to the Ti version equipped with ddHiFi custom data cable version,The body material also uses a more high-end TA15Titanium alloy,And comes with a wax oil leather case。 The price of the M2 series is clearly layered, forming a stepped distribution, and the difference between the three models is exactly 300.
And this difference in price is also reflected in the sound.
Some friends felt that it was a bit hasty to put the purchase recommendation at the end of the article, so this time I put the purchase recommendation at the beginning. If you like the purest and want to feel the colorful player, such as the C10 generation of sound, I suggest that you can directly buy the CDA-M2 standard version, with the standard version of the recording cable has been completely "continued" downC10 loose, thick sound style; The purple limited model with ddHiFi custom data cable is more instrumental than the M2 standard version, and the lines are tougher, of course, the relative weakening of the entire low frequency and vocal mid-frequency density is followed; The Ti version has not been heard for a long time,But this "one ear" of listening makes me have a sense of "dreaming back"C4,This conclusion is to let readers understand the general style of the M2 Ti version,Because I didn't get the Ti version (mainly out of stock),Or I want to wait for the "retro player" series to be done laterC4When it arrives,I have the opportunity to share it in detail。
Of course, there is a "retro player" series, which also stems from the idea that the sound of the colorful CDA-M2 is a "continuation" of the C10, but after all, this is a series of articles to be done later, this time we will focus on the colorful CDA-M2. Why is this portable decoder headphone amplifier a continuation of the C10 player style?
Let's talk about an "objective" reason first,This is because M2 adopts the same processing architecture and shielding measures as the colorful player,It is not easy to achieve it in such an inch of land and gold volume as a small tail,For example, in addition to upgrading the PCB board process to use 6 layers of immersion gold process,It also uses JitterKill femtosecond clock technology on the U series player,And uses a low-vibration active clock crystal oscillator,Resize the data through ASYNC asynchronous mode,Bypass the USB clock and SRC that affect the sound, In short, it's about making the sound purer.
In addition, the materials used in the decoding and amplification part are also very luxurious,Two CS43198 are used in the DAC part,There is no need to write too much about the strength of this decoding chip,It has become the flagship decoding headphone amplifier、Big tail and even some players"Standard",In addition, it is also reflected in the hardware indicators and style,It is more flavorful than ES,At the same time, it can also play a more analytical level than AKM on the portable small tail。 The op amp uses the uncommon XR2001, and there is very little information about this op amp on the Internet, so it is still based on the "subjective" voice.
The content of this issue is equivalent to the "Introduction" of the "Retro Player" series, so let's first review the colorful C10 in my hand, I must blow down the colorful quality, this player has been in my hands for 5 years, whether it is the leather case or the rosewood panel on the back, there is not the slightest crack, and with the passage of time, the whole rosewood is getting smoother and smoother, and the leather case does not show the slightest sign of relaxation, it is still difficult to pull out. The hardware decoding chip is the same CS4398 as C4, and the CS43198 in M2 is a follow-up product of CS4398, so in the decoding part of the sound style, although the "different paths to the same end" are all to strengthen the analysis, but in terms of style, there are still slight differences.
Compare and listen to it,C10 and M2 are the same in terms of sound bottom style,Both are thick、Delicate、Highlight the density and thickness of the mid-frequency vocals, and pursue analysis and information。 The difference is,C10Because it is a portable player,It still has great advantages in the dynamic range and transient response of low frequency,And M2Although it has a good sense of low frequency volume,It is also sufficient in the atmosphere,But I personally feel that it is still limited by power supply,It is not very sharp in terms of transients,A little "sticky"Feeling,And the advantage of this is,With the current entry price of in-ear headphones,It can be "neutralized" Some quality flow is more interfering with the sense of hearing,And in terms of high frequency,C10 is not very transparent,Although there is a certain extension,But because the whole is relatively dim,So when listening to some instrumental music,There will be a layer of sandpaper,Of course, in the basic quality of instrumental lines and overtones,C10There is still a C4 shadow,And M2Compared with C10The biggest difference,In terms of instrumental performance,M2Instrumental music is obviously tougher than C10 lines,Personal speculation is XR2001 This op amp effect, The instrumental knot image should be significantly more solid, the musical overtones should be more abundant, and when paired with some flagship stoppers like Dayin Kechuan, there is no overly bright and stimulating listening sense of the violin, which is in contrast to the C10's slightly stimulated lack of control, obviously M2 is better than C10 in instrumental control performance, M2 is able to show the hard quality of Dayin Kechuan overtones sufficient, extending far, and the knot image is full and solid. However, I personally feel that in some pianos that need strong dynamics and transients to show the texture of instrumental music, M2 is slightly conservative, lacking stronger transient performance, all of the above is based on high gain hearing, for portable decoding headphone amps, if you want to change some timbre, you can only start from the recording line, so it is recommended that if you want to change the M2 timbre to get a different style of hearing (you can replace the neutral copper silver plating or enhance the silver wire of high frequency)
I'll leave a tail here at the end of the picture and text, and in the following video, I will match some high-end mainstream flat-head plugs, pure dynamic headphones, and multi-unit circle Tie Jingxin to replace the M2 for the recording cable, interested friends can pay attention to it.
Of course, Colorful M2 in terms of function,In fact, it is also close to the current mainstream pure sound player,Through the front display, you can display the bit rate、Gain mode、Audio source mode、Channel balance、Filter selection、Display direction,In addition, Colorful also added S/PDIF digital interface function in M2,Direct coaxial output can be connected to external decoding,75Ohm can provide 500mV drive,In additionPCM can support to32bit/384KHz,DSD can support to128, Enough for everyday use.
Brief summary:
From C4 to C10 and then to CDA-M2, it can be seen that Colorful not only continues to iterate in technology, but also deepens in the spiritual core of the brand. CDA-M2 is not only a tribute to the classics, but also a guide to the future HiFi trend, which interprets what is the "perfect blend of classics and the future" with a new attitude, and continues to write a new chapter in the legend of Colorful HiFi.
If you are ready to buy a small tail that is suitable for daily use,Continuation of the Colorful C10 player style,At the same time, there is a need to temporarily expand the use of functions,Then such a "feeling"Colorful M2 is the best choice。