[aneep]

I took 'Preproman's' advice and bought the Master 7. One of the 'two' best advices I have received on audio equipment. The other one I had received was on the PTE Phoenix active loudspeaker. After about 50 hours of burn-in the Master 7 is outperforming my Anedio D2 on all fronts - tone, density, soundstage, extension, leading edge and trailing edge note definition, decay - you name it. I want to let it burn in for another 200-250 hours and then try and write the first every review in my life. Just fabulous!

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Gl

I took 'Preproman's' advice and bought the Master 7. One of the 'two' best advices I have received on audio equipment. The other one I had received was on the PTE Phoenix active loudspeaker. After about 50 hours of burn-in the Master 7 is outperforming my Anedio D2 on all fronts - tone, density, soundstage, extension, leading edge and trailing edge note definition, decay - you name it. I want to let it burn in for another 200-250 hours and then try and write the first every review in my life. Just fabulous!

Glad you're enjoying it aneep! I know that I would be thrilled to own a master 7, hopefully at some point in my future ill be able to get one. I liked my anemic d2 a lot, but the master 7 was a step above I felt

 

[aneep]

Thanks Souprknowa, I do plan to enjoy the master-7. To be honest I am feeling a bit guilty letting the D2 go cause there's no dac that can beat the D2 at the 1500 range. And it is just so easy to listen to. The Master-7 is a very different animal in comparison. A friend has a Eximus DP1 and from what I am hearing, the Master-7 is as detailed as the Eximus.
 
Is anyone using the DHC ACSS interconnects? I tried using the Audio-gd ACSS but found my Nordost Tyrs to be much better. I am thinking of trying out the DHC double stranded or Chaperone. Would appreciate if anyone has used these or heard these and can give their opinion.
Cheers

 

[preproman]

Quote:

Thanks Souprknowa, I do plan to enjoy the master-7. To be honest I am feeling a bit guilty letting the D2 go cause there's no dac that can beat the D2 at the 1500 range. And it is just so easy to listen to. The Master-7 is a very different animal in comparison. A friend has a Eximus DP1 and from what I am hearing, the Master-7 is as detailed as the Eximus.
 
Is anyone using the DHC ACSS interconnects? I tried using the Audio-gd ACSS but found my Nordost Tyrs to be much better. I am thinking of trying out the DHC double stranded or Chaperone. Would appreciate if anyone has used these or heard these and can give their opinion.
Cheers

 
 
Please,
 
More comparisons of the two..

 

[BournePerfect]

Quote:

 
 
Please,
 
More comparisons of the two..

Well, I sold my M7 and rebought the DP-1.
 
Different animals though...whereas the M7 seemed to be a technical beast, it seemed bland and boring to me frankly. The DP-1 presented a more holographic soundstage and was more musical...which is a huge understatement. The M7 seemed to put you a few rows back, watching the musicians on stage in a very precise left to right presentation. The DP-1 definitely presents music as a 'they are here' vs 'I am there' presentation that the 6Moons mentioned. The DP-1's mids are brought forward bringing a more intimate presentation, and imo the Eximus is *gasp* more transparent than the M7. Different strokes for sure, but the M7 is definitely more neutral, at the cost of musicality for lack of a better word.
 
-Daniel

 

[preproman]

Oh - it seems as though the DP-1 is colored where the M7 is dead neutral as no knowing it's there.  If the DP-1 is colored, then transparent may no be the right word for it..
 
Disclaimer:
 
I never heard the DP-1.

 

[BournePerfect]

Disclaimer-I heard/owned them both and those are my perceptions.
 
I wouldn't call the DP-1 colored...I'd call it sweet, and the M7, bland. So I guess they're both 'colored'.
 
-Daniel

 

[preproman]

I own the M7 and PWD mkII now - colored or bland is the absolute last things I would call the M7.  IMO it does exactly what a DAC should, "Stay out the way of the music" As I said before, its neutral and transparent as neutral and transparent can be..  
 
Using words as sweet and musical could mean to some (me) that it's adding stuff to the music to make it what it's not.  The M7 adds nor takes away anything from the music. A technical beast is just what the M7 is, anything less I wouldn't want it.  

 

[BournePerfect]

Being bland could be considered taking something away from the music, no?  That said it's all relative, and I stand by my impressions. The M7/M8/HD800 was the most bland, clinical, lifeless sound I've ever heard. Some call it perfectly neutral or  uncolored-but ime real music has emotion...something the DP-1 seems to have a little bit of. I think with the HD800, you need some coloration somewhere in the chain, whether that's the amp or dac, otherwise you're left with boring and clinical. I'd imagine in your setup-the GSX is working some magic with the M7/HD800 that my M8 amp simply couldn't-it being extremely neutral and not exactly helping in the bass department. For my tastes, the DP-1/ZDSE/HD800 absolutely destroyed that pairing musically, without budging on the technicalities. Here's hoping the Leviathan can supersede that...
 
-Daniel

 

[preproman]

Gotcha.... and yes, the GSX-mkII works very well and M7/GS-X mkII/HD800 works very well together.. 

 

[colour97]

,  . should forget to pair  hd800 with m8. i will prefer he-6 is much more better match with my m6.
give you tube sound signature with full details. 

 

[LarsHP]

Quote:

Being bland could be considered taking something away from the music, no?  That said it's all relative, and I stand by my impressions. The M7/M8/HD800 was the most bland, clinical, lifeless sound I've ever heard. Some call it perfectly neutral or  uncolored-but ime real music has emotion...something the DP-1 seems to have a little bit of. I think with the HD800, you need some coloration somewhere in the chain, whether that's the amp or dac, otherwise you're left with boring and clinical. I'd imagine in your setup-the GSX is working some magic with the M7/HD800 that my M8 amp simply couldn't-it being extremely neutral and not exactly helping in the bass department. For my tastes, the DP-1/ZDSE/HD800 absolutely destroyed that pairing musically, without budging on the technicalities. Here's hoping the Leviathan can supersede that...
 
-Daniel

That's my impression of the HD800 too. Without having heard it extensively, my impression of it was a dry treble and a generally lean or bright sound. The Audio-gd Master series are (supposed to be) dead neutral and this won't pair nicely with all headphones. I find my Ref 7.1 / Master 6 pairs well with HE-6. HE-6 has a little too much treble (but less than HD800) and the treble is not dry (like the HD800). The rest is quite balanced and neutral and thus suits the Audio-gd combo.

 

[aneep]

While my impressions on the m-7 are still preliminary, I do agree that the M-7 is a very different animal as compared to the DP-1. Both seem to bring out all the details in the music, but the way in which they do it is very different.  To give an example - and I am no music critic so do forgive if my analogy is not correct - I like listening to flamenco guitar and I also take sporadic lessons from time to time. When the guitar string is plucked, the sound that comes is a combination of your finger and nails. As you release the string, first your finger brushes against the string followed by the nail. The finger creates a slightly subdued tone and the tone created by the nail is comparatively brighter - with more twanng if I may say so.
Now when I listen to this through the M-7, the m-7 plays the tone with all its texture and all it's density, without giving emphasis on either the leading edge or the trailing edge of the note. What I hear is closest to how I hear my instructor play the guitar. The DP-1 in my opinion tends to give a very slight emphasis to the nail plucking the string - when I say very slight I mean perhaps a 9 .5 - 10 difference. But it does create a slightly more compact note structure and a slightly sweeter tone. I would say that the M-7 has a more organic tone  while the DP-1 is slightly sweeter. The Eximus also has a slightly forward presentation in my opinion and brings out the midrange and lower midrange out in the front - again only a smidge forward.
Now here is where I am going out on a limb and I have not actual proof - but the question I want to ask is, whether the top end of the Eximus shows a bit of a rolloff????? I will try to explain myself. I have a pair of active loudspeakers with which I do most of my listening. I also owned a pair of ATC 50ASL speakers. Now the ATC's have probably the most revealing midrange of any speaker but the treble while very extended is also very smooth. This I believe has to do with the 6db drop in frequency after 17KHZ which reduces any harshness present in the treble.
I sort or hear a similar tendency with the Eximus. While it will not completely mask treble harshness on bad recordings, the treble in general is very sweet.
All in all, my opinion is that the M-7 is more neutral in it's presentation while the Eximus is slightly sweeter.
 
Now the thing I have been noticing with the M-7 is that it is constrained by its outputs. The XLR outputs are supposedly inferior to ACSS outputs (only a bit). I have been shuffling the M-7 and M-1 between their ACSS and XLR output/inputs. I find that the ACSS output has a much better sound to it but the Audio-gd ACSS cable is clear inferior to the Nordost Tyr which I am using for the XLR connection. The TYR brings out a whole lot of details and tonality which the ACSS cable does. And this difference is something like 7 for the ACSS cable and 10 for the TYR. So a huge difference. With the A-Gd ACSS cables the sound is laid back, slightly diffused and loses clarity and tone. But with the TYR's the music comes out very fast, placement is fantastic and music gets PRAT.
 
What I am wondering is - what happens when I connect the M-7 to M-1 with a really good ACSS cable; something like the DHC cables? How much will it improve on the sound. Even with the Tyr the difference is quite a lot. Drum sound subdued with the ACSS cable while the Tyr gives them the required clarity and all the vibration and the boom boom sound comes out in the open. Sam with the Guitar, same with the Piano!
 
I also tend to agree with Daniel that the M-7, M-8 and HD800 presentation might be too much of a good thing. Its like neutrality to the power three.  The M-7 IMHO needs really good ancillaries to bring out the best in it.I prefer the M-7 simply because of the tonality. With good recordings I can hear music as close to the real thing as I have ever heard.  Perhaps a M-7 & LCD3 combination ?
 
I think that there is no winner among the DP-1 or the M-7 or the PWD MKII because they are all at the top of the chain. The choice will be made on the basis of your personal preference. If you like it a bit sweet, go with the Eximus; and if you like it neutral, go with the M-7.
Cheers

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Quote:

 
Even if it were wrong, the internal plugs are fiddly, but not too hard to re-order. You just need a thin screw driver to push each female pin out of the connecting plug and re-order them as necessary.

 
Ahh I see, thanks for the information.  I haven't really been able to open my NFB-7.32 as the lids a bit stiff, but hopefully I won't have to.  Kind of wonder why they would use a different pinout though when quite a few DAC's are just the same RJ45 scheme as Empirical.

 
I am talking about the internal wiring, not external. I hooked up the internal connection of my DI to the internal connection of the M7, for example, which required changing the pin order.
 
Quote:

I just bought iFi iUSB. Now using the M7 USB input is so much better compare with HiFace coaxial input. Before that I always think the USB input is lag of body and sounds thin. I didn't buy the Gemini cable. The power supply from iUSB really help a lot. I am happy with it.

 
This doesn't make any sense, as the USB doesn't have the 5V line connected and its power comes from inside the M7. An external 5V supply wont do anything at all. 
 
Quote:

Thanks Souprknowa, I do plan to enjoy the master-7. To be honest I am feeling a bit guilty letting the D2 go cause there's no dac that can beat the D2 at the 1500 range. And it is just so easy to listen to. The Master-7 is a very different animal in comparison. A friend has a Eximus DP1 and from what I am hearing, the Master-7 is as detailed as the Eximus.
 
Is anyone using the DHC ACSS interconnects? I tried using the Audio-gd ACSS but found my Nordost Tyrs to be much better. I am thinking of trying out the DHC double stranded or Chaperone. Would appreciate if anyone has used these or heard these and can give their opinion.
Cheers

 
Nordost cables are extremely coloured. That is what you are hearing I'm pretty sure. 
 
Quote:

Disclaimer-I heard/owned them both and those are my perceptions.
 
I wouldn't call the DP-1 colored...I'd call it sweet, and the M7, bland. So I guess they're both 'colored'.
 
-Daniel

 
I tried the DP1 last weekend. It seems more forward and very musical than other DACs we had on hand, but I liked it a lot.

 

[BournePerfect]

Some good comments here...I think we're pretty much on the same page for the most part. Great explanation Aneep-I think the PRESENTATION is really what sets the DP-1 apart from other dacs, and it's sweet (not necessarily forgiving) nature. Different strokes I suppose. After my Leviathan is built, I do intend on getting the GSX as a totl SS amp and am excited to be DONE with my amp journey lol.
 
-Daniel
 
edit: Also agree that the HE-6 sounds like it would be a prime candidate to pair with the M7/8...too bad I never got to try that combo...