Musical Fidelity M3X DAC Review
Under Austrian management, Musical Fidelity is flourishing. With the new M3x DAC, the British company provides a more affordable little brother to the M6x DAC.
By Stefan Schickedanz
Since Arnold Schwarzenegger, we know that Austrians can achieve gigantic success even in the Anglo-Saxon world. Somewhat less spectacular and rather in secret is the stunt that fellow countryman Heinz Lichtenegger has been performing since 2018. For five years now, Musical Fidelity, a prime example of quintessentially British hi-fi, belongs to the successful businessman from near Vienna.
The friendly takeover did not harm its success. Obviously, Lichtenegger is still hungry and full of ideas. He was not even deterred by EU regulations promoting automatic shutdowns, switching power supplies, and digital amplifiers. Recently, the reanimator even brought back the legendary Musical Fidelity A1 by Tim de Paravicini. The quiescent current of the Class A integrated amplifier causes the surface temperature to rise above 80 degrees Celsius according to measurements.
By contrast, the M3x DAC seems like the epitome of reason. From a beginner’s perspective, one might consider it quite a luxury to offload the digital-to-analog conversion of one’s streamer or CD player to an external DAC that is in no way inferior to an integrated amplifier in terms of price and space requirements. To justify this step, the external DAC has to offer something special.
But Musical Fidelity relies more on insider knowledge and trust in the brand founded in 1982 than on the usual eye-catching but ultimately not very meaningful number games. The core message behind the new addition to the M3 series is: Here comes the little brother of the M6x. Yes, it’s good to know that the sonic brilliance of Musical Fidelity components cannot be easily expressed in paper values.
After all, it would hardly express the difference to some mobile headphone DACs.
Little Brother
While the M6x still delivers hi-fi figures suitable for casual discussions, the M3x offers little fodder in this regard. After all, the former uses two ESS DACs from the HyperStream II series in dual-differential mode for maximum dynamics. The PCM1795 from Texas Instruments in the M3x DAC also processes up to 32-bit word length. But it tops out at a sampling frequency of 192 kHz. The dual ES9038Q2M in the M6x casually surpass the M3x with up to 768 kHz.
Interestingly, the “little” M3x DAC, when selected as a sound card via USB input on the author’s Mac, also offered 768 kHz despite this limit, which is even specified by Texas Instruments. This is thanks to the sampling rate converter SRC4392, which, like the converter, comes from Texas Instruments. The SMD chip with 48 pins on the board theoretically handles over 2 MHz input but outputs a maximum of 24-bit word length.
The user does not notice this technical trade-off. They can use the little brother via USB without thinking, with the same PCM audio data as with the DAC of the 6 series, even if not natively. But honestly: For most users, especially those preferring rock and pop, unless they are purely number-focused, these are luxury problems. The M3x DAC and its big role model, the M6x DAC, process DSD natively or DoP up to 256 times oversampling.
Made Practical
Those who want to upgrade their audio components equipped with S/PDIF digital outputs with an external D/A converter can only dream of such data rates. Here, there are two coaxial and two optical digital inputs available for maximum PCM resolutions of 24-bit/192 kHz. For analog outputs, there is a choice between asymmetrical, gold-plated RCA sockets or symmetrical XLR sockets like in the studio. A headphone output is only available on the M6x DAC. The internal design relies on power supply via a toroidal transformer and careful spatial separation of the individual sections.
Musical Fidelity is generous with the accessories. The M3x DAC comes with a full-fledged, tidy system remote control, which can also, for example, operate the CD player connected to the DAC, provided it’s from the same manufacturer. With it, the inputs of the M3x DAC can be conveniently selected directly from the sofa. And there are also goodies for the playful: upsampling of the input data and two switchable filter characteristics each for PCM and DSD.
In the first case, these are digital filters with steep or gently sloping low-pass characteristics. For DSD, they are analog filters that engage at either 85 or 185 kHz. Sound detectives with a joy for experimentation can use the M3x DAC to hunt for the optimal setting, promising exciting material for boring winter evenings.
In the listening test, however, the differences were, as so often, very subtle, with the corresponding recordings making a difference. So let’s forget all the previously mentioned number talk; we have to conclude that the M3x DAC has a lot of sonic charm and paints in rich, natural colors. This brings natural instruments or voices to life. In the bass, it delivered hearty punch with due precision. But more subtle virtues like imaging and focus also fully convinced us with CD sounds via S/PDIF.
With high-resolution recordings like Don Henley’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows,” the evaluation notes for USB playback included terms like “brilliant vocal reproduction” and “finest high-frequency resolution”—virtues that really count for audiophiles.
Measurement Lab
Frequency responses: Slightly falling below 20 Hz (1 dB at 10 Hz), perfectly linear up to 20 kHz, above that a slight rise dependent on the sampling rate (from top: 192/96/44.1 kHz).
Harmonic distortion k2 to k5 at PCM 1 kHz, −20 to 0 dBFS (lower figure): very low distortion, k2 (red) is the relatively strongest component. Total harmonic distortion plus noise THD+N at 0 dBFS 0.004%. Output voltage (RCA/XLR) 1.9/3.9 V, not adjustable; output impedance (RCA/XLR) 48/94 Ω; noise ratio, A-weighted at 2 V (RCA) and 4 V (XLR): 110 dB. Power consumption (standby/operation): 0.3/7 W.
Specs
Manufacturer: Musical Fidelity
Model: M3X DAC
Retail Price: €2,500
Warranty Period: 2 years
Dimensions (W x H x D): 44 x 10 x 36.3 cm
Weight: 0.8 kg
Digital Inputs:
- USB / S/PDIF coaxial: Available
- TOSLink/AES/EBU/BNC: Not available
- Bluetooth/Airplay: Not available
- HDMI: Not available
Digital Output Rates:
- TOSLink, AES/EBU, S/PDIF: Supports up to 192 kHz
- USB: Supports up to 768 kHz, up to 24-bit
- DSD up to 256
Analog Outputs:
- Cinch / XLR: Available
Features:
- Remote control: Available
- Headphone output: Available
- Display for kHz/Bit: Available
- Switchable filters: Available
Audiogram Characteristics:
- Sound Quality (Cinch / XLR): 125/125 points
- Equipment: Very good
- Operation: Very good
- Build Quality: Very good
Overall Audio Rating:
- Score: 125 points
- Price/Performance: Outstanding
Conclusion
The result is more than the sum of its parts: Even without eye-catching acrobatics, sound experts with the experience of Musical Fidelity can construct powerful-sounding components.
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