Quick qn re DI-20HE - how can I tell what the Ext clock input impedance is 75/50ohms etc and does it take square or sine or both? I ask as I tried to use one of my spare ports on the OCK-2 (square + 75ohm I believe) to the DI-20HE but it said FAIL or similar error message when I tried to switch...

I’ve spent much of the day listening to the DI-20HE either alone or in combination with the LHY UIP. Thanks to these superb AES/EBU cables loaned to me by @Mr Brett - thanks again. In a nutshell - I see what all the fuss is about, the DI-20HE is a class above other DDCs I’ve listened to, and...

Your question is timely as I spent a good chunk of an overcast, blowy ANZAC day (WWI memorial holiday here) finally getting the DI-20HE up and running incl with the UIP, incl with external clocks. I’m listening to that combo right now, and it sounds superb. Getting into the theoretical whys of...

Lol good memory re the BT antenna, I did actually put back the pigtail (or whatever they call that short internal coax) but removed the antenna and capped it with foil. But anyway.. resistors and such are a bit outside my DIY comfort zone which doesn’t extend much beyond adding MuMetal shields...

Will try other inputs tonight after work. I’m sure they’ll be fine.

The combo over i2S defaults to DSD ‘signal’ on the R26 display and you can’t change it, even of the source is PCM. Reason is on PIN 15 Gustard DACs expect a DSD on/off aignal that Audio-gd doesn’t send. So to get any sound at all need to change source music format in HQP or Roon to DSD to match...

Cheers for the feedback and suggestion. Seems likely it’s a pin 15 incompatibility I agree, R26 works fine with the Singxer SU-6 that provides for a signal on Pin 15 in one of its configs. If only there was a common i2S standard eh rather than the current free for all. For the purpose of this...

Most likely pin 15 yep, not yet re other connections was late last night.

So I tried the Audio-Gd DI-20HE DDC last night with the UIP, but no dice so far with I2S to my DAC, likely due to an I2S incompatibility. Hopefully solveable. May need to try another connection type.

So last night after rearranging my system including bringing back an old rack to make all the switching and connections manageable for my DDC and USB regen fiesta (3 DDCs & 2 USB regens ), I tried feeding the DI-20HE via USB from the LHY UIP. Had been working nicely doing this with UIP to...

Btw I do agree with @dacwizard most buyers of the R26 don’t have to do anything at all to it get it sounding great in their system. When I got my R26 I had a really imbalanced system with some newly acquired high quality but ruthlessly revealing speakers (I got a deal) in a reflective room...

I've not heard the Pontus (though several here have), but from what I understand of their differences in character and your preference the British Audiophile on YT who has both would likely steer you towards the Pontus.

Easy. Fibre media converters. You can get em for $20, and to begin with use with the cheap SMPS. The difference you hear will be an eye opener. After that less clear cut… For the network the improvement is twice as much with cleaner power, which may be $100-200 or more (or less if you can find...

@m-i-c-k-e-y Would you believe I cannot find my SU-6’s power supply, and if not for the fact they use a less common 7.5-9v voltage I’d have used one of my many 5v or 12v supplies. Sorry the testing / comparisons has taken longer than expected to get properly underway. Found I had to totally...

Cheers, my bad re AudioGd reckclocking, will add a correction.

There's not necessarily a black and white answer to this question - or if there is I don’t know it - you’ll likely need to seek clarification from Singxer or see if you can google the answer. By way of illustration when we sought clarification from Gustard as to when the R26 refers an external...

Just thought I’d pipe up here in solidarity on the Covid tinnitus front which I got a couple of months back… was pretty loud 24/7 for three weeks then took another month to calm down. Came with wierd compression and heightened sensitivity to certain sounds which was almost like super hearing…...

Cheers again. I was aware of the basics - that you can’t block magnetic field lines, just redirect em by providing them a more attractive path via high permeability material like nickel based alloys or certain types of iron, and the fact that many high permeability materials saturate quickly so...

Thanks to @Mr Brett kindly loaning me his Black Ravioli Big Pads today to try I can vouch for these BR pads generally if not the new Plus version. Remarkable for difference they make - hard to describe, but they bring a lovely finesse and delicacy to transient edges and note decay that I won’t...

Cheers Damien. Incidentally I read that distance - which you’ve achieved I understand by removing em from the chassis - achieves the same thing as shielding as magnetic fields drop off fairly quickly with distance. That said shielding can’t hurt and is very satisfying to do. I just ordered 4...

I’m not quite sure what Luciano’s fix is, perhaps reversing the terminals on the GM to which his components and ground rod were connected? My suggestion was that maybe his two ground being close together was the cause of the issue here. Re hum generally, even after using PSM156 which stopped...

I’ll have a look into tin snips I think at my local hardware store. The thing is even with a fairly clean cut you can see the metal stress ripples spread up to 2-3cm/1” or more away from the cut edge. So assuming it reduces the shielding effectiveness slightly in that zone I suspect the lesser...

Looks to me like the Audio-Gd option 1 HDMI I2S pin layout is an exact match for the Holo HDMI I2S pin config (source Kitsune). I note that unlike Gustard the Holo seems to auto detect DSD so doesn’t rely on getting a PIN15 DSD ON/OFF flag which the DI20/24 don’t send from any pin as it also...

Well, well, well. What have we here then? Many thanks to @Mr Brett for the kind loan of his DI-20HE and so much more. I’ve heard quite a bit about the legendary DI-20HE, very much looking forward to listening to it.

If even after an upgrade or two you find yourself hankering to further improve your USB I can vouch for the Innuous PhoenixUSB, there’s even a satisfied May KTE owner or two with it… 😉