In this feature, Marcelo reviews the MUSE HiFi M5 Ultra, a BT-capable portable ES9038Q2M DAC/Amplifier with dual tube and solid-state resistor output. It is currently priced at $289.
Disclaimer: This sample was sent to me in return for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website that does not have any affiliate links. I thank HiFiGO and MUSE HiFi for this opportunity.
Click here to read more about other HiFiGO products previously reviewed on Headfonics.
This article follows our current scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.
The battery-powered $289 MUSE HiFi M5 Ultra is the company’s largest and most expensive Bluetooth DAC/Amplifier offering from their current catalog.
MUSE HiFi is a brand name by a China-based company called Shenzhen Yunke Acoustic Technology Co., Ltd. They do the innovating, designing, producing, marketing, and selling of HiFi products.
Though this is my first time reviewing a MUSE HiFi product, I read many great things about this company and their products, and I’m happy to report that the MUSE HiFi M5 Ultra didn’t disappoint.
What excites me the most about the M5 Ultra is the inclusion of the two Jan 6418 vacuum tubes as an optional amplifier section.
I will be testing it with various IEMs and headphones and comparing it to a similarly priced and featured competitor, which is my Topping G5. Does it stand a chance against this venerable but popular portable amplifier? Find out in my review below.
Features
At the heart of the MUSE HiFi M5 Ultra are two American-made RAYTHEON JAN6418 military-grade mini direct-heated pentode NOS vacuum tubes.
The tubes are mounted in shock-absorbing mounts with a Sabre ES9038Q2M DAC chipset with a build-in suite of 7 user-controlled digital filters.
One thing to note is that whilst there is plenty of detail on the gain modes, and it offers SE 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced outputs, there is no mention of any Vrms Lineout numbers or power specs for various loads when using the M5 Ultra.
From my testing, I would say the power is good, perhaps up to 500mW in a regular 32Ω load, but not huge, nothing over 1W, for example.
Wireless is an option also with M5 Ultra, using a Qualcomm QCC5125 chip for its Bluetooth connection, supporting up to LDAC, aptX adaptive HD, as well as ACC for iPhones.
No hiccups were found when I used it with my phone and two digital audio players, namely the FiiO M15s and the Shanling M3X. It worked flawlessly and never showed any compatibility issues.
The M5 Ultra has a 3000mAh capacity battery that lasts more than 10 hours in my actual use. You can recharge via a single USB-C slot with QC4.0+PD Fast-Charging compatibility which is quite helpful. Maximum charging times is around 2 hours.
Design
It is a full-metal chassis with angular design and modestly rounded edges that is sandwiched between tempered glass panels on the front and back, with a nice, clean, and classy aesthetic.
On the front, there is a big, clear tempered glass window which showcases the nicely laid out printed circuit board, in which you can examine what parts they use. At the back is the blacked-out tempered glass panel with prints of the brand logos and product name.
Nothing can be seen on top except an empty and plain metal panel, but you’re going to find the ports at the bottom.
When the M5 Ultra faces you, the controls are on the right side, and the beautifully designed vents for the two Jan 6418 vacuum tubes are on the left side.
It is even more beautiful when the supplied leather protection case is used. The blue colored leather protection case for the M5 Ultra must be used at all times to protect the tempered glass back of the unit and soften the feel of the edges of the unit. It fits perfectly and exposes the control, vents, I/O, and front.
I/O
All the input and output connections are located at the bottom of the unit. From left to right: 3.5mm headphone output jack, the 4.4mm headphone output jack, the USB-C digital audio input port, and the USB-C charging port.
I noticed there was no change in loudness when I switched the plug of my IEM cable from 3.5mm to 4.4mm connection, indicating that the 4.4mm output might not be balanced.
There’s nothing wrong with this as long as the amplifier can drive your IEMs and headphones to a high-volume level with good dynamic range, which the MUSE HiFi M5 Ultra easily does for my tested gear.
You can use both the 3.5mm and 4.4mm jacks simultaneously with only a little ill effect on the sound quality.
There is only a small decrease in dynamics, meaning the sound became slightly compressed, but it’s barely audible, and I certainly recommend using this feature for the musical enjoyment of a couple or two people.
Controls
The first thing I noticed was that the controls are very intuitive to use, the buttons are grouped into different sizes and shapes, so controlling without looking is easy though right side dominant.
On the top is the power button, which doubles as a screen-off and screen-on button. Below are the volume-up and volume-down buttons.
Below the volume control buttons is the mode button, which controls the features that would be changed.
This is then followed by two direction buttons that point up and down, which normally control the music player to skip to the next track or return to the previous track in the library. It also controls the parameters when the mode button is activated.
Bluetooth
It connects with my Android phone quickly, just like most Bluetooth devices with the latest chip.
Using it with my Android phone via LDAC codec connection, the sound quality is excellent for a Bluetooth audio device, and it remained that way even when I went out of my room with 6-inch concrete walls.
I went to the kitchen and into the next room, and I had a very consistent signal reception, except when I got far away of about 12 meters or about 40 feet away, with a concrete wall in between. Then that’s when I started noticing signal dropouts.
There is a noticeable delay in sound when playing a billiard game and other slow games on my phone.
While it is not bad, I would certainly not recommend using the Bluetooth connection when playing fast-shooting games that require the sound to come as close to real-time as possible.
Packaging & Accessories
It came in a luxurious-looking black cardboard box that functions like a jewelry display box. The box has a clamshell-style opening on top that opens to a foam that covers the M5 Ultra Bluetooth DAC/Amplifier.
A drawer near the bottom front stores a USB-C to USB-C, C to Lightning, one-meter-long USB-C to USB-A cable, a leather protection case, and a manual.
Sound Impressions
I used my Fiio M15s and my Android phone as sources and my IEMs and headphones, which vary in prices from entry-level of around $100 to mid-price of $525. They are the NF Acous NA20, DUNU Falcon Ultra Ti, Dita Project M, Xenns Mangird Top, and DROP + Sennheiser HD 6XX.
Throughout this review, I never noticed any noise or radio frequency interference through the IEMs or headphones.
There is no crackling, hissing, or popping sound when I plug the USB inputs or the phone outputs, or on just about any occasion, the M5 Ultra is clean when no music is playing.
Summary
The MUSE HiFi M5 Ultra is an impressive portable headphone amplifier; it is practically noise-free and clean-sounding sounding which lets the music come through as if there were no electronics in between. It sounds very clear and transparent.
The sound signature of the M5 Ultra can be described as neutral, but doesn’t sound dry, lifeless, thin, analytical, and boring like others, even in its solid-state mode, because it sounds energetic, with big presentation, and has a spacious spatial presentation akin to that of very expensive digital audio players.
It sounds very transparent, detailed, clean, and clear without being fatiguing in its solid-state mode, but the fact that there is a tube mode makes the M5 Ultra special, and I’m not merely talking about features on paper, but in actual, perceptible sound quality.
The JAN6418 vacuum tubes are the icing on the cake of this already delicious-sounding DAC/amplifier. The difference the tube mode offers is subtle at first, you almost can’t hear it, but once you do, it is impossible to ignore.
In its wireless Bluetooth connection, there is a reduction in sound quality; it loses dynamics and micro-details, but the overall sound is still very good and musically enjoyable.
Even though there is no published output power rating, I noticed that the M5 Ultra never lacked in dynamic and power output.
It can drive the majority of IEMs and Headphones available effortlessly. Unless one wants to damage their hearing, the power output of the M5 Ultra is more than enough for most use cases.
Solid State Mode
The M5 Ultra is practically coloration-free and neutral in sound signature, but if listened to carefully, it sounds brighter in its solid-state mode and warmer in vacuum tube mode.
It’s very transparent and high in resolution that the sound is full to the brim with details and micro details, the details are slightly forward in their presentation, but sounds natural, never pushed in your face, and there is a lot of space available for each instrument.
The instrument’s background decay rendition is so clean that the last echo can be heard in the background of a song. This is similar in performance to expensive DAPs and DAC/amplifiers.
The soundstage is big and spherical, it is equally wide as it is deep and high, it is very delightful, because it helped in the holography of the images, provided that the partnering IEMs or headphones are capable of it.
Its dynamic performance didn’t render any music with exaggerated energy nor make them lethargic. It is accurate in this regard, which is excellent in my opinion.
Vacuum Tube Mode
Everything said in the solid-state section applies, except that it sounds warmer. There is more perceived bass presence, and the sound of snare drums is more relaxed.
There is added lushness in all the instruments and vocals, especially in the midrange region. There is longer and lusher decay; the treble sounds gentler and has more finesse, and together, they add to the pleasantness when listening in this mode.
There is a minimum loss of perceived details because they are now pushed back in the musical presentation, but the overall feeling of musical engagement and palpability is increased due to its natural, transparent, realistic, and beautiful delivery of the music.
Click on page 2 below for my recommended pairings and selected comparisons.
