News

The M2tech Joplin, one of the A/D converters profiled in the recent A/D converter "shoot out" has had a "make over".

According to Mark Gurvey, of importer Source Systems, Ltd. the M2tech JoplinMk2's upgrades include an updated FPGA (field programmable gate array) input chip, improved signal to noise ratio and lower total harmonic distortion and other electronic improvements that can be accessed on the company's website.

M2tech says: "we have also reduced the 0dB sensitivity to 2.55Vrms in order to cope with digital sources which usually output between 2Vrms and 2.5Vrms. The impedance values set includes 47K with 3 different capacitance values (0pF, 100pF and 220pF), as well as a 15K value which is good for some high output MC, plus various low impedance values from 1000 Ohms down to 20 Ohms. Also, we have enabled the VU-meters with the digital input (as well). Finally, we have introduced a numeric gain factor in order to match the clip indication with the 0dB (rightmost) LED in the VU-meters. This implies that now equalized files use all the dynamic headroom allowed by the chosen resolution, while the old Joplin had a typical loss of 6-8dB.”

Two stand out upgrades: as the photo shows, the ridiculous LED obscuring mesh front piece has been eliminated and, despite the many tech improvements, the price has been reduced from $2899 for the original Joplin to an MSRP of $1999 for the Joplin Mk2. The price for the remaining stock of the original Joplin has been reduced to $1699. Joplin2 will be available in the United States mid to late April, 2015.