Confined Space - A Review of Musical Fidelity M1 HPA

Confined space in general has always been considered as a hazardous area, well at least in the oil and gas industry. There are also people who cannot stand being in a small area or room for a long time due to claustrophobic.

In hifi world,the terms of openness, airy, liveliness etc are widely use to describe how the music flow right from the source to the amp and to the speakers and provide the listener with all these experiences that can be described in the terms above.

Big speakers are usually related to big rooms in order for them to sing. Heck, I got a bashing for buying D18s in putting them in a small room. But hey, me ears are telling me that those speakers are filling up my room with music nicely.

Now, if we often describe the experience we feel with our system to be fulfilling in a given room size, how then there is a big following of so called head-fi??? Whom majority of them have confined their listening pleasure to a set of cans around their ears? Are they missing something that hifi and audiophiles quest for? Cost is no longer a strong reason for people to say that head-fi is cheaper than hi-fi hobby. I have listens to a pair of cans that cost RM25K, nearly double the price of my D18s. And I saw one guy walk away with purchasing it a few months back. !!!!

Enough of rambling. This is a story of how my recently conversion into the dark side was even further darkened by the introduction of Musical Fidelity M1 HPA. Coincidently HPA stands for Head Phone Amp. The idea of using headphones for listening pleasure came to me about 15 years ago but I was not introduced to it properly. I didnt enjoy the confined listening area around my ears. Never got into it again until I got my second child in 2010. Had to start thinking of option to enjoy music without waking up the kid.

Long story short, I went from Musical Fidelity X-Can V2 to X-Can V3 and to M1 HPA within less than 2 years period. And this HPA have further strengthen my believe towards the wonderful dark side of LP.

I have gone through most of the LPs I have now on both D18s speakers driven by MF M6i amp and also a pair of Alessandro Grado MS Pro cans driven by M1 HPA. Both methods gave me a different perspective of the LPs I play.

Here I give you a fe examples.

1. Brand new Diana Krall Quiet Nights - Via the D18s, her vocals were very transparent, fulfilling with a slight touch of low end especially on the Ipanema track. The details of each instrument was defined and well balanced. Of course the LP being brand new, didnt hear any crack and pops. Switch to the MS Pro cans, I didnt loose any of these characteristics. But wait, I gained something else, a sense of space. I feel like I was in the studio where Diana Krall was recording the album. Listening through the cans gave me this enclosed and more control over the reproduction of the album. I though my mind was playing tricks on me. I did the same comparision with Andrea Bocelli's album. It confirms further that confined is not always hazardous

2. Now, vocal-based artists and albums are sometimes easier to comment on their good recording. But how about some heavy metal and rock stuff. Out went Diana and came in Guns & Roses. Still one of my beloved LPs thus fars, Spaghetti Indicent. PLaying Since I dont Have You on D18s just gives me the rocking sensation. The growling guitar of Slash and and the subtle drumming on this track can be considered to me as one of the fine moments of Guns N Roses in their career.The atmospehere it creates in my room was very lively and full of energy. And this was at my normal moderate listening level of 10 o clock on the knob.

Switch to HPA, hhhhhmmmmmm....bass was heaviers and defined, Axl's vocal strength was further refinedwith such balance with the guitar. Its even easier to hear the separation between vocals and instruments used on this track. Again, it gave me this feeling of me being in the recording studio with them.

3. Last example, went in Black Dog Bone. This was an LP from the 70s that is worth every cent (out of Rm40 I paid for it hehehe). I really love the quality (and the simplicity of the recording) from that era. It was clear that the band had fun recording the album. I can really feel that their songs blaring through my D18s have managed to give me this sensation of being in the 70s although I was only born in late 70s.

Switch to HPA and it became a bit too harsh mainly because the cracks and pops were much more evident and the ones that I could tolerate via the D18s, it were too loud for cans.

So, for TT lovers, try out headphones for a more defined experiences with LPs. However, ensure that you are exposed to head-fi properly. Dont make the same mistake I made 15 years ago. Mistake meaning I was listening to a RM15 headphone bought from TTDI pasar malam hehehehe. Get a dedicated headphone amp and a good pair of cans.

Finally, a little bit on M1 HPA.

Its a pure class A headphone amp with low impedance to drive cans with low distortion. I have tested this HPA with 5 different headphones:

1. Alessandro Grado MS Pro

2. Bose Over the Ear

3. Bose QC 15

4. Monster Dr. Dre Beat Studio

5. Sennheiaser PX100

All of them were driven nicely with no sound of stress nor distortion. For moderate listening, 9 o' clock on the knob is sufficient.

Built

The HPA comes in a similar black ash metal shoe box casing like MF's other M1 kit. Sturdily and stylishly builts. Very sleek look. The PSU is built in and power via a good 3 pin plug. I however changed the power cable to QED Conduit just because I had a spare unit.

Inputs/Outputs

It comes with the following:

1. 1 x Line input

2. 1 x USB input (like MF other M1 kit, limited to 48 KhZ)

3. 1 x pre out

4. 1 x line out

5. 2 x headphone sockets

There you go. Another M1 kit that made it nicely onto my rack.

Thanks elhefe for the insight. I have never listened to music thru dedicated headphone amp. My experience in this respect is only limited to using my AKG through the headphone socket in my integrated amp. Is it a fair observation therefore to say that listening thru the cans is a more satisfying experience than thru the speakers? Am frightened by that prospect. Would this venture into confined spaces put paid to our listening pleasure the conventional way,since we know that it is more rewarding listening thru headfi?

I would never say MORE satisfying but it gives different listening perspective and experience. Dont be putting up your speakers for sale just yet hehehehe..

One thing to bare in mind is that even with the most comfortable and lightest headphones like Grados, there is a limit on how long you can use them in one session.

For me, it starts to get uncomfortable if I listen through the cans for more than 1.5 hrs.

Also, you will be stuck on the sofa throughout the session whilst with speakers, we can pop into the loo for a quick business but still listening to music hehehehe...

Tweaking with head-fi is also quite limited....cables, pads and amp...thats about it.

One side-track. BE CAREFUL of DAMAGE to your ears due to long periods of exposure to loud music via headphones. With speakers, there are some natural check and balance (e.g. the other members of the family telling you the music is too loud, or complaints from neighbours) BUT with headphones, due to the natural adaptability of the human body, the ears adjust quickly to a certain volume and often, to get 'more kick' from the music, especially rock, one starts to turn the volume up higher and higher without realizing it. Do note with headphones, the 'speakers' are effectively placed mere cm from your delicate eardrum.

Other than that, GREAT REVIEW elhefe.

Very true WongKN. Ears can get accustomed to sound level but regardless from headphones or speakers. Either way, prolong listening at high level will damage your ears. Its just a matter of immediately or long term effect.

I have a guardian angel on this matter- my wife. She is by profession a senior audiologist and a cochlear implant specialist. All my music level is controlled by her including my drums hehheh.

Wahlau, so has she tested your hearing yet ? Maybe better don't let her. After she finds out your hearing rolls off at 12kHz, then she forbids you from any more upgrades. "Stick to MP3 la, you cannot hear the extra frequencies what".

My understanding is that prolonged exposure to sound levels even as log was 85dB will cause long term hearing loss. Prolonged means more than 2 or 3 hours if I remember correctly. Is that true ? (ask your wife )

She does not test me hearings but she analyse the audiogram chart I get after my annual med check up and of course kena tiau hahahaha.

Will ask that question and update later.

It's not terribly accurate and at best is but a toy but I have downloaded an SPL apps for my iPhone and had some fun measuring common sound levels just now. Actually 85dB is VERY LOUD indeed. On my car stereo, I had to turn the volume up to near 3/4 the max and the music was very loud, painful to the ears, much like one of those 'boom boom terror road machines' we see in hollywood movies (and occasionally see on our own roads here). So I am relieved that my normal hifi listening level is nowhere near 85dB though I will still double check afterwards just for fun.

Again, this iPhone apps is NOT scientific and the result is probably off by many percents but it is something useful and fun to have and to use. And best of all, the one I installed is free ! Highly recommended for everyone who has an iPhone. Install then just do a simple check on your next listening session. Personally I feel it would be wise to heed the 85dB threshold warning.

Of course the purist should go for a Behringer or something more professional instead.

Hmmm..... real life can be a bag of surprises. Again it is not absolute and is not terribly scientific but I opened up the SPL on my iPhone, set the peak hold option on, used A-weighted (for a start) and simply let my iPhone measure the peak sound level for every song I played (checking for the peak after the end of the song).

First, the software seems to have a slightly different standard and it defines 'quiet' as 68dB and below, then 68-90dB is considered 'normal' and 90dB above is shown in red which I assume is 'not healthy' or 'dangerous'.

Happily I found that my normal listening volume, with the iphone placed on a chair beside me (which means at my listening distance from the speakers), playing what in theory should be 'loud' music, i.e. rock and the likes, seems to be 'safe' for me based on the 90dB threshold. Songs like Queen "I want to break free" or Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" played a normal or even slightly higher than normal volume registered a peak of less than 90dB, between 85 to 88dB.

Of course, it do mean that should I go purist or paranoid, I should probably try to borrow a proper professional SPL meter, or use something like a calibrated Behringer mike to measure again, indirectly -check- the accuracy/error of the iPhone so that I know whether the 85-88dB is under-reading (not so good) or conservative (likelihood).

The interesting thing is that 'softer' music like ballads which in theory should be 'safer' registered -higher- peaks ! For e.g. Gordon Lightfoot's "If you could read my mind", or especially Dusty Springfield's "Love of love' from the Casino Royale soundtrack registered over 90dB. Love of Love register 95dB peak but of course only for an instant (or rather several instances I think). I think this probably has to do with the particular LPs I played as my copy of Casino Royale was an original mono and it is very dynamic. So the dynamic peaks in the singing are the ones which registered the 'unsafe' peaks in the SPL.

One good thing I observed is that when the sound level exceeds 95dB, it is when I feel discomfort in my ears so this means I can depend on my natural defense system to guage when my listening volume is unhealthy for me. I.e. if I feel discomfort, that the music is too loud, it means that it IS too loud and I -must- turn it down.

elhefe wrote:Confined space in general has always been considered as a hazardous area, well at least in the oil and gas industry. There are also people who cannot stand being in a small area or room for a long time due to claustrophobic.

U enter confined space without attending course ? Sure get kick off site liao

But seriously, headphone listening is kind of another experience altogether. Too easy to get sucked in. The side benefit of this is that one can also acquire a transportable rig that can be lug around on the plane, in the hotel, work site (to be verified) etc.

As for hearing loss, 85dB (not sure what weighting) for a continuous 8 hours is defined to be bad. This is according to DOSH (just checked with my unsuspecting HSE Manager).

Pretty happy to hear my Doc say to me after my last audiogram just last year : "Wao, u got good hearing huh".

Regards,
Joe Ling

Joe ling,

Yes for industrial standard, 85 dB is limited to 8 hrs/day to MINIMISE not avoid long term hearing loss. Unfortunately for some industries, you cant avoid being exposed to that risk.

An example is when a newly drilled gas well, the first initial flow which is known as 'clean up' stage, where the gas is flared out into open air, the noise level can go up to 130 dB.

My audiorgram however is not as good as it used to be. But still acceptable according to my wife.