Way back in 2011 that British audio company AudioLab created a bit of a stir in the audio world with its M-DAC. The Cambridgeshire-based company cemented its reputation with the M-DAC for providing a sonic boost to smartphones, tablets, PCs and Macs with the M-DAC. It was a great device for using at home with audio systems but not suitable for portable use. What if AudioLab could make something similar that could fit in a pocket or a bag and serve up great sound quality without wires for users on the move?
Now AudioLab has come up with the answer in the form of the M-DAC Nano, a pocket-sized DAC no bigger than a squared-off matchbox and weighing a mere 28g. The little device includes a high-quality headphone amplifier, a Bluetooth receiver, and a high-quality DAC based on the Cirrus Logic CS43130 DAC chip. It’s all powered by a tiny rechargeable battery with sufficient power to play for up to eight hours.
Pairing the Nano is a simple case of holding down the device’s function button and then pairing up from your smartphone. This only needs doing once and the Nano is great at reconnecting for a new session. Some devices display what I call Bluetooth amnesia, but no such problem here. The Nano’s tiny size makes it far more convenient than some of the larger phone-sized DACs and headphone amps that currently dominate the market.
Unusually, the M-DAC Nano’s battery doesn’t get its charge via a conventional USB port. Instead, the supplied wireless charging pad charges it. The idea is you get home from a commute or an exercise session at the gym and pop the M-DAC Nano on its little charging pad and it will charge up without the need of a cable. The advantages of using wireless charging is there’s no strain placed on the USB charging socket which is something that often fails on devices requiring frequent recharging. AudioLab claims the M-DAC Nano’s battery supports Qi wireless charging so it should work with compatible wireless chargers. I tried recharging the Nano using a Qi wireless power bank but had no luck in getting it to work.
Despite its tiny size, the M-DAC Nano’s packs a mighty punch. The Bluetooth chip is capable of supporting both aptX and AAC codecs, which is great news for Android and iOS users. There’s no support for aptX HD or Sony’s LDAC, something worth noting if either of those two codecs are a deal breaker for you.
At the heart of the M-DAC Nano is a Class H analogue amplifier with auto-sensing output that can adapt to suit the load placed on it. This is a device that can drive earphones or headphones from 8Ω to 300Ω, so that just about covers everything.
There’s a choice of ‘standard’ and ‘enhanced’ audio modes on the M-DAC Nano. Standard mode offers extended battery life while the enhanced mode optimises sound quality by upsampling the digital signal from 16-bit 44.1kHz to 32-bit 384kHz. A press of the ‘f’ button on the side of the M-DAC Nano engages enhanced mode, which is indicated by the LED on the device changing from dark blue to light blue. All forms of digital audio can benefit from this upscaling and it certainly delivers a more dynamic, louder and slightly wider performance. That’s not to say that the standard mode isn’t any good, and if you’re worried about running out of power then standard mode is absolutely fine and uses 30% less power than enhanced mode.
I should say at this point that power could be an issue as there’s no conventional USB socket on the M-DAC Nano for topping up the battery. If you want to recharge then you’ll need to take the little wireless charging pad with you. I would have preferred to see a backup socket on the Nano for emergencies or for powering the device when it has run out of juice, sometime around five to eight hours depending on how loud it’s being used and on which mode it’s set.
Volume is adjusted using a side-mounted, 64-step rotary dial. The volume can go really loud and it’s good to see such a finely stepped control with small increments enabling the sound level to be set precisely. The volume dial also doubles as control for pausing music or skipping tracks. For hands-free phone use there is a MEMS microphone into the case, which can also be used to issue voice commands for Siri or Google Assistant. One other useful feature is the auto-pause function, which kicks in whenever the headphones are unplugged. The device automatically powers down to conserve the battery after 10 minutes of inactivity.
The sound quality produced by the Nano is impressive and it can drive even the most demanding earphones with ease. It has a good balance with a warm and accurate bass, and a smooth yet detailed treble. There is possibly a slight hint of compression in the midrange that sometimes shows up in some vocals, but mostly the M-DAC Nano serves up an impressive sound that’s ideal for anyone who owns a great pair of wired headphones and a smartphone without a headphone socket. The sound quality is virtually on a par with a wired connection and possibly even better if used with a phone that has an average quality DAC and amplifier.
Verdict: AudioLab has designed and engineered the M-DAC Nano in the UK and they’ve made a great job of it. The device is unusual in being compatible with Qi chargers but I would like to see a back-up charging port. The sound quality is excellent without any of the background hiss of some Bluetooth receivers. The upscaling enhanced mode really works, although I found the standard mode to be perfectly adequate. Support for aptX and AAC is great but if aptX HD is something you want, you might prefer to look at the excellent Astell&Kern X10, which supports the higher standard codec now appearing on some Android phones. All in all, a great little device that provides superb wireless audio on the move.
Pricing: £149 / $199 / €169
More info: www.audiolab.co.uk
Specifications:
- Bluetooth version: 4.2
- Output: 30mW (per channel)
- Impedance: 8-300ohms
- Charging time: 2 hours
- Playback time: 8 hours
- Dimension (HWD): 4.4 x 4.4 x 1.4cm
- Weight: 28g
