Aloha; yes- not to give a mini review here… but I do feel that some words shared on Grace Design is worthwhile.
Without doubt one of the best hifi purchases I have EVER made. :and I have bought a lot of (excellent/‘top tier’) kit at some insane prices.
With Grace Design there is a ‘smile factor’ with each time I go to use the product… from well thought out menus and a handbook that gives a person ‘pride of ownership’ and realises that these parts are made with ‘pure love’ (and attention to detail).
The fact that they talk about which Digital inputs might benefit from spending more on a cable, and ‘things like a Mono function’; the sheer amount of times that having this part in line has gotten me out of troubles in ways that nothing else has, with a sound quality that has blown me away on more than a handful of occasions where I look at how small and how crowded this ‘little box is’; yet it delivers something MUCH MUCH better than what my mind tells me it should.
Clearly a case of ‘you get what you pay for’ (at full RRP)!
At second hand ‘peanuts prices’: I would NEVER let this part go!
For anyone that is selling one of these for some notion of what ‘second hand’ market prices equivelate - “just do it”. (BUY)
The m903 is a keeper.
The USB input, whilst using an annoying cable type, arguably, IS a proper implementation (and they paid good money to make sure it is top tier).
The smoothness of the DAC circuit had me use this as my main DAC (and made a Topping D90 seem like pure and absolute junk by comparison)… and the features are just icing.
Two things it does that have proven ‘very useful’ is being able to level match the inputs via XLR and RCA (and use it as a high quality switch box, with ‘appropriate trim’).
When doing this I sent an email off to Grace and was given reply email within a super short amount of time confirming what settings I would need.
They CARE (and service products with people communicating in a timely manner)…
At no point did I feel, as the second owner, and ‘years beyond sell date’, that I was a second class citizen.
Having a DAC that can switch between UAC1 and UAC2 mode is handy. (eg Playstation 5 and Switch input)…
The sheer quality of a product like this (feels like studio kit with audiophile sound quality (not just 'spec sheet warfare and a part that is 'naff to listen to)) is something to keep.
The world doesn’t seem to engineer parts like this for ‘sane price points’ anymore, which means, due to scales of production, stuff like this simply isn’t around…
If you ever come across an m903 I’d say ‘jump on it’; it will be selling for less than it is worth, and will continue to be useful in a plethora of ways, and generally being better than just about anything else that is likely to ‘do the same job’.
Even as a simply DAC/headphone amp, it is ‘top tier’ goodness.
Maybe not for large over ears (I feed the output into a Burson Conductor V2 if I need more juice), but it makes the Burson seem ‘cheap’ (yes the 7kilogram GIANT headphone amp is ‘good for more power’, but not much else).
As something in the heart of a ‘nice’ (/very nice) rig, the m903 fits, not just because of its’ tiny size… but because it was built to be the best and it shows.
Every time I use it it makes me smile.
(/rant or ‘mini review’)
oh and having ‘used’ the crossfeed on a Chord Hugo (useless),… the included crossfeed is actually useful, and makes me realise WHY having one is advantageous.