Audio-Gd Master 7 - Discrete Fully Balanced DAC (PCM1704) - Page 3

yea, but you shouldn't need a DI with the CD7 and it would be cool if the CD7 could have i2s out - though I'm guessing not.
 

What input on the Master 7 provides the most optimum sound quality with the less amount of jitter:

AES or I2S?

Quote:

Originally Posted by shogo33 


I2S for sure. But it works well if you keep the cables short.

OH I see.  But AES works better with longer runs..  So how short is optimal for I2S?

2 cm.

OK, a bit of a joke, but the truth is I2s was invented as a standard for transfering data between CD spinnner mechanism and DAC chip(s) inside CD players. It was never meant to be long and definitely not external (SPDIF or AES was used for external digital audio data transfer).

So - keep it as short as possible, but even then you have no guarantee that it would best decent SPDIF or USB implementations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FauDrei 

2 cm.

 

OK, a bit of a joke, but the truth is I2s was invented as a standard for transfering data between CD spinnner mechanism and DAC chip(s) inside CD players. It was never meant to be long and definitely not external (SPDIF or AES was used for external digital audio data transfer).

 

So - keep it as short as possible, but even then you have no guarantee that it would best decent SPDIF or USB implementations.

Thats correct..not the 2cm bit..;)

There are some 0.3 meter CAT6 patch cables floating around the net for very little $ that would work.  But again, nothing's guaranteed but at least it would be an inexpensive exercise.

New NFB-7.32 Balanced DAC uses 32bit / 192K Sabre ES9018.

 What's the difference in the sound signature between the Saber ES9018 and the PCM1704?

What's the pros and cons to both?

According to Kingwa, the Sabre is most neutral and revealing while the PCM1704 is the most musical. Wolfson should be somewhere in the middle. I own the PCM1704 based SA-1 and it does a good job of warming up my HD 800. Bass quantity is boosted and the background seems darker than it was previously. Soundstage is more 3D as well.

The SA-1 is specially tuned for musicality. The Reference 5.2 should be a bit more neutral, but Kingwa does provide directions on how to improve dynamics and detail at the cost of warmth by cutting a few cables.

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve2151 

According to Kingwa, the Sabre is most neutral and revealing while the PCM1704 is the most musical. Wolfson should be somewhere in the middle. I own the PCM1704 based SA-1 and it does a good job of warming up my HD 800. Bass quantity is boosted and the background seems darker than it was previously. Soundstage is more 3D as well.

 

The SA-1 is specially tuned for musicality. The Reference 5.2 should be a bit more neutral, but Kingwa does provide directions on how to improve dynamics and detail at the cost of warmth by cutting a few cables.

I agree and Kingwa said the same thing to me.

However while the neutral & revealing statement is a matter of fact the musical statement is actually a statement of opinion based on personal preference.

I value neutrality and detail highly and find my NFB-7 VERY musical.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigeljames 

 

I agree and Kingwa said the same thing to me.

 

However while the neutral & revealing statement is a matter of fact the musical statement is actually a statement of opinion based on personal preference.

I value neutrality and detail highly and find my NFB-7 VERY musical.

Neutral and detail are not mean the sound cool, bright and no musical.

But just if the music records have musical, the DAC have musical.

The records have litter, the DAC also output litter.

Just my personal point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingwa 

Neutral and detail are not mean the sound cool, bright and no musical.

But just if the music records have musical, the DAC have musical.

The records have litter, the DAC also output litter.

Just my personal point.

+1

What the man said

I got mine yesterday, replacing the Ref.7. Still having problems getting the VIA USB driver to install properly. Using the Audio-gd DI, it sounds a bit more sterile than my Ref.7, but as with all audio-gd stuff: don't listen to it after at least a week 24-7 burn in. I'm in the process of moving to a new house, so time is scarce. This weekend I'm planning to put more time in it and will post a few pics....

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenBau 

I got mine yesterday, replacing the Ref.7. Still having problems getting the VIA USB driver to install properly. Using the Audio-gd DI, it sounds a bit more sterile than my Ref.7, but as with all audio-gd stuff: don't listen to it after at least a week 24-7 burn in. I'm in the process of moving to a new house, so time is scarce. This weekend I'm planning to put more time in it and will post a few pics....

Thanks for sharing BenBau. Looking forward to more...best to leave it running for a solid week as you said.