[FredA]

I feed the signal from DI-20 directly to my speakers. Avantgarde Acoustic ZeroXd so the dacs are 24 bit BurrBrown.
Never had this kind a problem with any other my digital interfaces.
Can someone explain what is the clock setting in DI-20 settings. I mean this part:
The 2nd display element :
"C" (Clock) means the Clk OUT on the backplate outputs a 256fs main clock , "L" (LRCK/WCLK) means the output is the word clock .
That propably affects only if you are using a external clock?

It's the clock output (at the back) configuration. Does not matter if not used.

 

[soundlogic]

@soundlogic

Hi. I just got the fw (the only existing one) and reflashed it, the glitch seems much less frequent if still there at all, cause the heating unit makes cracking noises.

Yes, just heard it on headphones, there is still an issue and it is far less obvious it seems now. Livable with so far. Parallel sounds so well!

Kingwa uses his own psu with the c16.

PM me to get the fw file or email Kingwa. You need to install the altera quartus programmer and to get a usb blaster first, and install the proper driver, which can be found in the quartus distribution. Quite some work to do...

Thanks to @JaMo for contacting Kingwa, who suggested a reflash, and for giving me the fw file. I think the glitch may very well go away now, it is far less frequent and obvious. There must have been some errors in the original flash.

Haven't heard any glitch in the last 15min, the sound is wonderful.

Thanks for the offer Fred, I will PM you so as not to muck-up this thread.

 

[REAN1MAT0R]

"C" (Clock) means the Clk OUT on the backplate outputs a 256fs main clock , "L" (LRCK/WCLK) means the output is the word clock .
That propably affects only if you are using a external clock?

Clock modes:
- Master (output CLK)
- Slave (10MHz input 0.3Vpp- 3Vpp)

Output clock:
- 256fs clock
- WCLK clock
- DSD clock

It looks like it can send WCLK as master and as slave(recieving 10mhz clock from external 10mhz clock generator)
but it is impossible to send this WCLK to R-7HE(as their last model) because it have 10mhz input only

 

[jimmychan]

My 2 x DI-20HE have over one month burn in already. They are so good that I decided to sell my dCS Network Bridge. The DI has already surpassed my dCS NB in all aspects when they were newly bought.

I am glad that I have the DI20HE. I came a long way from Audio-gd’s DDC, i.e. Ref. 3, DI-V2, DI2014 and now DI-20HE. I had also owned SU1,SU6, U16, Aurender N10. It seems that DI20HE can beat all of them.

 

[Jackula]

I've had a similar problem also a couple of times, mostly with MQA. It disappear after restarting the DI-20. I have no idea why, but also happened sometimes with my U16.

What DAC do you have? I have the Audio-GD R8 and the DI-20 is running with internal clocks.

I also had a couple of times an unbalanced soundstage. This one I guess it must be related to burning maybe ¿?

Had a few similar quirks with and without MQA. Don't need to restart the DI, just recycling the R7HE inputs work just as well.

 

[Tango Sierra]

Had only a few similar quirks. Rebooting the DAC (M7S) cures the problem. Remember the Audio-gd recommendation to wait at least 30 seconds after turning the power off before turning back on.

 

[Tango Sierra]

Right now I am at 340 hours and so far I have been listening using the Aurender N100H Server/Player to send the music to the DI-20HE and the sound quality continues to improve. Decided to try something for contrast and connected the desktop computer USB to the DI-20HE and noticed some strange things while listening to Lay Lady Lay from the album Nashville Skyline.

Computer to DI-20HE using foobar 2000 as player on computer.
BNC/AES/RCA outputs.
Bass guitar is from right side and very weak.
Drums from left side. Snare more prominent on this side but muddy. Bass drum is also very muddy.
Lead guitar is from right side and sounds slightly restrained.
Vocal is slightly right of center and not separated from the band by much.
I2S HDMI out put.
Bass guitar is more pronounced from left side and very muddy.
Drums are from right side. Snare restrained and bass drum can be barely heard.
Lead guitar is from left side and prominent.
Vocal is slightly left of center and has its own space.

Switched USB connection to Computer direct to M7S USB input. (No DI-20HE)
Overall the same anomalies as above but less pleasant.to listen to and lacks the soundstage spacing of the DI-20HE

Went back my normal setup of Aurender USB connected to DI-20HE
Again, the same anomalies as with the direct from computer setup but the Aurender sounds leagues better than the computer feed.

Upon further listening, some of these anomalies are not exclusive to this album or track. Older recordings where instruments are mixed mostly to the left or right stereo channel make the differences more obvious. On newer recordings where the mix tries to lock the instrument into a more natural position on the soundstage the initial impression of the sound when switching inputs is very noticeable but the reversal of channels is not the first thing I notice, but it is there. Still, this does not explain the space the I2S HDMI creates in the sound.

Update: Now listening to Piece of My Heart by Eric Clapton using the Aurender to DI-20HE; even with the overall sound changes happening while switching from HDMI to the other outputs, the Hammond B3 is coming from the far left through all the outputs. DOH, what is happening hear**? (**not a misspelling, just a play on words.) I am getting more confused than ever.!!!

PS: All my attempts to improve the sound from the computer before I got the Aurender was wasted money. My recommendation to others is to get an Aurender or Innous Zenith or Auralic Aries G1 or SOtM NEO Ultra to feed the music to your DAC or DDC. A used Aurender N100H can easily be found for approx $1,700.00 USD. Create an agent on HiFi Shark to alert you when listings on the various websites become available. (an added bonus is the seller usually doesn't delete the music on the server). I prefer to have the music stored on the player which the SOtM does not do. I have the Aurender since last May and my brother bought a used Innous Zenith MK II last October (he had a Bluesound Node 2 but moved up to the Innous after hearing my Aurender). Both of us have been astounded by the SQ improvement. I can't say which is better because I haven't had them side by side to compare yet and the rest of our systems are completely different.

 

[Wynnytsky]

@Tango Sierra you can reverse the channels on the di20he from the front panel.
Is your computer a laptop?

 

[Tango Sierra]

@Tango Sierra you can reverse the channels on the di20he from the front panel.
Is your computer a laptop?

No, as stated it is a desktop computer. The computer part is irrelevant and only mentioned because this is when I first realized that these anomalies were happening. I haven't got around to pulling the CD out and listen to which stereo image is correct but that can be unimportant also because many CD reissues had the stereo image reversed compared to the original vinyl releases. I just don't understand why the I2S HDMI output is the opposite of the other outputs. I like the idea of being able to easily select the output that sounds the best with the individual material but not if the stereo image may be wrong.

 

[Tango Sierra]

If we can reverse the stereo image from the front panel of the DI-20, why can't we get a mono selection? I would prefer it at the preamp, but I would take it at the DDC if that was the only choice.

 

[Wynnytsky]

I just don't understand why the I2S HDMI output is the opposite of the other outputs.

Welcome to i2s. It's been plaguing all of us for over 5years, and now interfaces and DACs are offering dip switches or buttons (U16, DI20, etc) to flip channels while on i2s.

I would prefer it at the preamp, but I would take it at the DDC if that was the only choice.

actually you don't cause then you can't toggle between DAC inputs without the channels swapping on you. You need to do this on the DDC or with a special HDMI cable that inverts pins on one end.

 

[roni44]

is anyone here using IFI Micro iUSB between PC/MAC to DI-20? if you do, what's your opinion? is it necessary or its over killed?

 

[Tango Sierra]

@Wynnytsky
Thank you so much. I reversed the stereo channels for HDMI in the DI-20HE settings and now the HDMI has the same stereo orientation as the other outputs. Now it will be easier to judge the sound differences between the different outputs.

Still doesn't explain the Hammond organ on the Clapton track. Overall I am a happier camper now.

Now if I could get a mono selector for those extreme stereo recordings. Maybe they will add one to the next versions of their preamps including the M9.

 

[Wynnytsky]

@Tango Sierra
For all the angst that the Gustard U16 receives, it did have a fancy front panel display that let you simply choose the family/brand of DAC you have.
My friend just ordered a Lampi Amber3 from Poland and he asked if he can have an i2s input in place of it's optical, and they said [because there is no standard] they have no desire to touch i2s. That says a lot.

My friend went from a 2014 Mac mini to an Aurender N10, and yeah, he's no looking back
For the sorry souls using a win10 PC for playback while contributing to this thread and browsing email, they can put JRiver in mono by hitting ^D and doing either of these...

 

[Pappas3278]

@Tango Sierra you can reverse the channels on the di20he from the front panel.
Is your computer a laptop?

After reading about the DI20 and i2s channel orientation, I'm still confused. Is the stereo channel reversed by default using i2s using internal clocks??