For the testing, I powered the M2Tech Young from the Palmer Power Station, which had been fully charged. I repeated some of the measurements powering the Young with its wall-wart supply. The testing was primarily performed with Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"), feeding data to the Young via an AES/EBU link.

Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.7, iTunes 10.6, Sonic Studio Amarra 2.3, Songbird 1.9.3, XLD; Western Digital 2TB NAS drive; Oppo BDP-103 universal Blu-ray player; Meridian (formerly Sooloos) Digital Media System (Control 15, TwinStore x3); Apple iPad 2, 3, iPod Touch 1G, iPhone 4S;

M2Tech Young: Solid-state, DC-powered D/A processor. Inputs: two S/PDIF (RCA, 75-ohm BNC), 1 AES/EBU (XLR), 1 optical S/PDIF (TosLink), 1 USB (female Type B). Output: single-ended on RCA female. Sampling frequencies (kHz): 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4*, 192*, 352.8**, 384** (*not on TosLink, **only on USB). Resolution: 16–24 bit (S/PDIF, AES/EBU), 16–32 bit (USB). Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz, +0.1/–0.5dB (Fs=44.1kHz); 10Hz–90kHz, +0.1/–0.1dB (Fs=384kHz).

It took a little over three hours to fully charge the Palmer, at which point I turned off the AC and was able to run it for a couple days of normal listening (I turned off the power to the DAC when I wasn't using it) before I started charging it again.

A new path for me is M2Tech's Young DAC, with its optional external battery power supply, the Palmer Power Station.

What's playing in heaven: 20 perfectly written, perfectly performed singles.

1) "Waterloo Sunset," the Kinks
2) "Eleanor Rigby," the Beatles
3) "Lost Highway," Hank Williams
4) "If You Could Read My Mind," Gordon Lightfoot
5) "1999," Prince
6) "Street Fighting Man," the Rolling Stones
7) "Help!," the Beatles
8) "She Loves You," the Beatles
9) "Four Seasons in One Day," Crowded House
10) "Senses Working Overtime," XTC
11) "The Bitterest Pill," the Jam
12) "This Guy's in Love with You," Herb Al

First on the Rega P1 was Mercedes Sosa’s Homenaje a Violeta Parra. I closed my eyes and focused on the sound.

On March 27, 2013, Stephen Mejias blogged about the single “Love and Respect” from Danish electro-pop group When Saints Go Machine, which “features Killer Mike offering strong and exciting contrast to Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild’s delicate falsetto.” Although the track left him “