[seaice]

Anyone with HE-1 experience?

I bought HE-7 Singularity recently and I am really amazed by the sound. The HE-1 is tempting me now. Impressions of HE-7S:

HE7S (latest firmware) vs my old M7 (upgraded firmware 7): The SQ jump is huge. Not sure what is the main cause of this SQ improvement but HE7S does everything (much) better: No weaknesses. Just more rightness of everything. More details from bass to highs but more fluid "analog" sound at the same time, more precise soundstage, more musicality and more enjoyment than the old M7 with the upgraded firmware. And more inputs are usable to reach this higher level of performance - HE7S HDMI and BNC tested and both outperform my M7 via HDMI or other inputs. I am so happy with the upgrade to the HE7S! My Staxes 009 are singing the best bass and everything I have ever heard from them. Just thanks and hail to Kingwa!

 

[oneguy]

I wonder if an HE-7 version of the R2R 7 DAC will follow soon? That would be ver interesting!

 

[jodgey4]

With the amount of distortion on the R2R board, it wouldn't make much sense to go so far overkill on other stages of the DAC. Perhaps there will be an upper offering with more R2R boards in parallel, but we'll see.

 

[FredA]

Anyone with HE-1 experience?

I bought HE-7 Singularity recently and I am really amazed by the sound. The HE-1 is tempting me now. Impressions of HE-7S:

Which one is the best? The Dave ot the HE-7S?

 

[seaice]

I have not finished all comparisions I planned but I would say that Dave is better. This is no surprise considering the price but HE-7S is no slouch in comparison. Dave as a DAC is really special, everything is just right from day one - plus you get a very decent headphone amp. I am not sure I like it as preamp. I like my primary speaker setup more with HE-1 as preamp. And I still like my whole ACSS setup HE-7S>HE-1>Master 2H monos>JBL TI10k. I will have to make detailed comparisons with Dave in this setup but I use Dave as an only DAC in my headhpone setups now. The SQ of Dave is more balanced from top to bottom, you have all details played very nicely with strong natural authority, 3D positioning, musicality and without any harshness. I think that Dave is in a league of its own as a DAC. But I have yet to test all inputs because the USB input of HE-7S is more sensitive to the quality of USB source. USB of Dave is definitely better - it is not so sensitive to input noise. SQ of HE-7S substantially improves with every improvement in my USB>I2S HDMI chain. I have been tuning my PC>USB>I2S path for HE7S for months and I am always surprised that there is still a SQ improvement possible. My USB source is probably very noisy and impacts the HE-7S SQ. So I am considering iFi Micro USB 3.0 as a last USB tweak before I will be totally sure about the position of HE-7S vs Dave.

 

[FredA]

I have not finished all comparisions I planned but I would say that Dave is better. This is no surprise considering the price but HE-7S is no slouch in comparison. Dave as a DAC is really special, everything is just right from day one - plus you get a very decent headphone amp. I am not sure I like it as preamp. I like my primary speaker setup more with HE-1 as preamp. And I still like my whole ACSS setup HE-7S>HE-1>Master 2H monos>JBL TI10k. I will have to make detailed comparisons with Dave in this setup but I use Dave as an only DAC in my headhpone setups now. The SQ of Dave is more balanced from top to bottom, you have all details played very nicely with strong natural authority, 3D positioning, musicality and without any harshness. I think that Dave is in a league of its own as a DAC. But I have yet to test all inputs because the USB input of HE-7S is more sensitive to the quality of USB source. USB of Dave is definitely better - it is not so sensitive to input noise. SQ of HE-7S substantially improves with every improvement in my USB>I2S HDMI chain. I have been tuning my PC>USB>I2S path for HE7S for months and I am always surprised that there is still a SQ improvement possible. My USB source is probably very noisy and impacts the HE-7S SQ. So I am considering iFi Micro USB 3.0 as a last USB tweak before I will be totally sure about the position of HE-7S vs Dave.

The audio-gd needs a high-class transport to perform at its best. That is what people observe with all the dacs featuring the Singularity board.

 

[seaice]

The audio-gd needs a high-class transport to perform at its best. That is what people observe with all the dacs featuring the Singularity board.

Yes, the old A-GD DACs reality. The USB implementation of Dave is better - not so sensitive to input noise - you do not have to invest into the USB chain so much.

I have invested into my PC USB-I2S chain for HE-7S quite heavily. I upgraded it very slowly, one component at a time, and every of the following components has had positive effects on HE-7S SQ:
Battery-powered JCat Femto Usb Card in my PC>Audioquest USB Coffee 0.75m>Intona Industrial>ADL Furutech USB cable>Singxer SU-1 (Magna Hifi edition, clean filtered power)>Audioquest Mocha (i.e. Coffee) HDMI>HE-7S.

The next ( last? ) planned step is the iFi Micro iUSB 3.0. I will compare HE-7S vs Dave again then. But I think that Dave is (clearly) better as a DAC (in DAC mode). It is really superior to everything I have heard so far.

 

[FredA]

Yes, the old A-GD DACs reality. The USB implementation of Dave is better - not so sensitive to input noise - you do not have to invest into the USB chain so much.

I have invested into my PC USB-I2S chain for HE-7S quite heavily. I upgraded it very slowly, one component at a time, and every of the following components has had positive effects on HE-7S SQ:
Battery-powered JCat Femto Usb Card in my PC>Audioquest USB Coffee 0.75m>Intona Industrial>ADL Furutech USB cable>Singxer SU-1 (Magna Hifi edition, clean filtered power)>Audioquest Mocha (i.e. Coffee) HDMI>HE-7S.

The next ( last? ) planned step is the iFi Micro iUSB 3.0. I will compare HE-7S vs Dave again then. But I think that Dave is (clearly) better as a DAC (in DAC mode). It is really superior to everything I have heard so far.

It should be, considering the price. I have a similar usb chain. Schiit wyrd into intona into singxer f-1 (powered by a zerozone lps) into r2r 7 using rj45 i2s. Not much to complain about soundwise.

 

[FredA]

One thing i must add, these big audio-gd dacs need 6 months to reach their full potential. They are fussy with power cables as well.

 

[seaice]

Yes, power source, power cables, digital source... Everything is substantial for A-Gd DACs. Dave is not so sensitive.

And by the way, I compared Dave as DAC+preamp directly into A-GD Master-2H monos versus Dave(DAC mode)>A-GD HE-1>ACSS>Master-2H and I preferred the later config. The HE-1 is a great preamp.

 

[FredA]

Yes, power source, power cables, digital source... Everything is substantial for A-Gd DACs. Dave is not so sensitive.

And by the way, I compared Dave as DAC+preamp directly into A-GD Master-2H monos versus Dave(DAC mode)>A-GD HE-1>ACSS>Master-2H and I preferred the later config. The HE-1 is a great preamp.

I have a 2014 master-1. Just love it. Thinking of buying the he-350 before it's phased out.

 

[oneguy]

They are getting rid of the HE-350? Is it because of sales volume?

EDIT: nm, just went to their website and saw

 

[FredA]

They are getting rid of the HE-350? Is it because of sales volume?

EDIT: nm, just went to their website and saw

Possibly, don't know. If they came up with a smaller cheaper unit still good for 200w, i would buy one instantly.

 

[oneguy]

Cheaper would be nice. I wonder if any on the KG design amps I have would benefit from it.

 

[FredA]

Any HE-350 out there? Thinking of buying one. Feedback would be much appreciated. It's very hard to find.