Audio-gd Reference 7 Loaner Program (USA) - Page 19

Hey,

 

May I ask you who made your custom cables and what type of cable are you using, is it Copper/Silver etc? What difference it made to the sound? I have a REF-7 and wondering about having nice ACSS cable connecting to Phoenix.

 

Thanks.

 

 I think the types of impressions you seek are vastly overrated.

I had made one made out of silver, but really didn't like the sound that came through. My favorite, and the one I use is made using Audience's Auric wire, which is my favorite wire hands down. I have another pair that uses Home Grown Audio's solid core copper. The HGA copper is very clear and clean sounding, but the Auric wire is very very luscious and full sounding.
 

Two weeks during holidays just isn't enough time to "tweak" things to get the best the REF 7 has to offer. If it requires all that to shine, shouldn't the "tweaks" be part of the kit? If I'm trying to get the best responses, I'm putting out the best my product can do. Besides, the DAC's sonic character can be heard dropping it in your rig as you know what all the other pieces do. I think owners are disappointed with the subdued responses thus far but it is what it is. As commented earlier, not all can put a reference source, ICs and power cables with massive speakers around a loaner. Had I more time, I'd have loved to have dropped it in my main rig but headphones were it. Our reports are just that, two week reports. You want long term tweaked out comments, go to the owner thread.

x2 More is not always better and in this case that seems to generally always be the case.

 

Having someone tell you about how they feel emotionally about a product, and how it actually sounds are two different things.

I know, one or two weeks is not enough to judge a dac. But it shouldn't be to much work to write how the hifi chain is build up. I mean, you got a nice dac for a free try. If you can not use this information, others can. And the apples to oranges thing...It makes no sense to "compare" like this. But don't feel disturbed by me. That is just my opinion.

I guess I just assumed people check profiles for gear, but I suppose not everyone keeps theirs up to date.

Associated gear from my time with the Ref 7:

Transport: iTunes playing all sorts of genres from lossy to hi rez
Source: Ref 7, PS Audio PWD
Amps: n_maher-built B22, HeadAmp KGSS DX
Phones: Thunderpants, HF-2, O2 mk1
Cables: who cares?
A/B/X device: Manley Skipjack
Dynamic rig is single ended

Hopefully that helps a little.

Mine is in my sig but has since changed. SP Extreme Pl. amp & stock K701 & LCD-2 were in the circuit.

 

 

 

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Not so good at keeping promises huh?

 

 

From the looks of it, they'd be a lot more worthwhile than reading yours. Please don't discourage others when all you've posted is a few vague lines about the DAC after keeping it for a week.

Like flecko, I would definitely be interested in having more info about the tests/setups and more detailed impressions.

 

Actually, I'll continue to post whatever the **** I want.
 

To expand on my point above. I don't put much stock in reviews or in-depth impressions. IMO the vast majority of them take a lot of words to say very little. And I mean that about all audio reviews, not just those on this site. HF has a few decent reviewers. The rest, not so much--myself included. However, I think loaner programs enrich the discussion here, not because more people can write long reviews. Rather, I think loaner programs such as the Ref 7 that is the subject of this thread deepen the knowledge base and provide more data points.

My main reason for participating in this program was due to the fact that I had been an outspoken critic of what I perceived to be shilling for audio-gd. I figured I should at least hear one of their DACs if I was going to be critical. I heard the Ref 7; it did not knock my socks off. It sounded fine. I don't have much to say about it other than that. However, if people have specific questions, I am happy to try to answer them. I think this site works much better as a discussion than a bunch of mediocre reviews. In my experience, ears I trust on this site saying "I like it" or "meh" tend to be much better indicators than someone I don't know who writes a treatise (I think in particular about some of the professional Bryston reviews, which left me thinking WTF after my time with that DAC).

As with all things, reasonable minds can differ on this stuff. I just find this place more informative and interesting when it doesn't try to sound like the audio rags. There are also plenty of impressions in the main Ref 7 thread. Enough to keep anyone occupied for hours.

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I like this

I received the REF 7 on Monday. First impression is that this thing is heavy and appears well made. It's also bigger than both my preamp and Emotiva XDA-1 DAC. I first set up the REF 7 in my speaker system with a Conrad Johnson PV-15 preamp, Conrad Johnson Premier 11a amp and Quad 63's. My source is a Logitech Touch connected via Coax to the REF 7 and Toslink to the XDA-1. MY CJ gear is all single ended so I used the RCA outputs on the REF 7. I haven't spent too much time listening but I like what I hear. I'm pretty sure the REF 7 is louder than my XDA-1 so I'll drag out my SPL meter and some pink noise to make sure I have all the levels matched. After a week in my speaker rig I'll put it in my headphone system and compare to a Modwright Transporter and Metric Halo ULN-2 DAC.  More comments later but so far so good.