[FredA]

Thanks Fred. But if you have 0.5m length, then it should be mk ii since the mk i is starting from 1m length.

Indeed, sorry. Confusing naming.

 

[slazhx]

Indeed, sorry. Confusing naming.

Yup. Can you compare AfterDark and WireWorld that you had been used?

 

[FredA]

Yup. Can you compare AfterDark and WireWorld that you had been used?

I have tried no wireworld.

 

[slazhx]

I have tried no wireworld.

oh. excuse for repeatedly asking for that.

 

[FredA]

oh. excuse for repeatedly asking for that.

No problem.

 

[PeterCraig]

Here I posted some thoughts on the DI-20 vs DI-20HE with the Audio-gd Master 7 dac.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/aud...lly-balanced-dac-pcm1704.625793/post-16461700

 

[GoldenSound]

I've posted some measurements of the Jitter and noise from the DI-20HE.
This thing is seriously impressive and is the best DDC I've seen thus far.

https://goldensound.audio/2021/07/22/audio-gd-di20he-measurements/

 

[sajunky]

@GoldenOne, this looks really very good!

Two things I have to comment. It is expensive, yes - relatively. Where you can find DDC with a regenerative power supply? More - with a low frequency regenerative power supply! Please find such device and the come back with a price, I will be glad to see and compare.

A second one is on ACSS measurements. It is invalid, plain and simple. ACSS is a current loop technology. To measure ACSS noise you need to make a current sense differential receiver and convert it to a voltage. Similar situatiuon (as you have correctly mentioned) is with I2S LVDS port, but LVDS is a voltage driven, here you deal with a current flow.

Otherwise I am glad to see you in Audio GD corner, your recent finding about Denafrips NOS is ground breaking.

 

[GoldenSound]

@GoldenOne, this looks really very good!

Two things I have to comment. It is expensive, yes - relatively. Where you can find DDC with a regenerative power supply? More - with a low frequency regenerative power supply! Please find such device and the come back with a price, I will be glad to see and compare.

A second one is on ACSS measurements. It is invalid, plain and simple. ACSS is a current loop technology. To measure ACSS noise you need to make a current sense differential receiver and convert it to a voltage. Similar situatiuon (as you have correctly mentioned) is with I2S LVDS port, but LVDS is a voltage driven, here you deal with a current flow.

Otherwise I am glad to see you in Audio GD corner, your recent finding about Denafrips NOS is ground breaking.

I didn't measure the acss output noise. Just the normal spdif.

The graphs in blue are showing actual jitter, not noise.
If there is more jitter on that graph then the same would happen on any dac. Though as mentioned in the article it could be that it provides benefits with AGD dacs. But for others, better to use the normal coax out.

I am not entirely convinced by the benefits of the regenerative psu given the poor psu performance of some other audio-gd products that have them. A normal, well done linear power supply vs regenerative needs further investigation before anything conclusive can be said. But I don't have the regular version here to compare so can't say.

 

[sajunky]

There are two versions: DI-20 and DI-20HE. HE version is $400 more expensive, a difference is only in regenerative power supply, but performance? A paramount feature. Ask users what is their experience with these two models, you will be surprised.

 

[myshark]

I've posted some measurements of the Jitter and noise from the DI-20HE.
This thing is seriously impressive and is the best DDC I've seen thus far.

https://goldensound.audio/2021/07/22/audio-gd-di20he-measurements/

Hi,
Good review. Nice to read objective reviews from you. I like the mqa reviews. Thanks.
Many would like to know the effect of the external clocks on jitter and noise as compared to the internal clock. If any benefits using the ext clock.

Regards,

 

[GoldenSound]

There are two versions: DI-20 and DI-20HE. HE version is $400 more expensive, a difference is only in regenerative power supply, but performance? A paramount feature. Ask users what is their experience with these two models, you will be surprised.

I prefer to judge things for myself as unfortunately I really don't trust many subjective reviews on forums etc. Many people are far to quick to judge things or claim something is better when they've not tested properly and are allowing bias or placebo to influence them.
People will often hear what they want to hear or expect to hear regardless of if a difference exists or not. Hence you see people talking about differences in dac weights, special fuses and silly USB cables etc.

And even with stuff where there are differences, like dacs, amps etc, people will often test too far apart, without proper vol matching, fully sighted, and just generally doing nothing to ensure that they're actually hearing what they think they're hearing.
Quite frankly subjective feedback online is nothing close to reliable other than for big/obvious differences like headphones etc.
For subtle stuff like DDCs and even DACs, proper blind AB tests need to be done. It's part of why I release reviews slowly, because I do blind tests with everything I review and if I can't reliably discern something in a blind test I don't talk about it in the review.

Otherwise I could be talking nonsense. Even if I fully believed and was hearing something, I don't know that it's genuine unless I check properly.
NO ONE is immune to placebo or expectation bias.

Something can be more expensive, but that doesn't mean it's better.
R7HE has a regenerative PSU but the PSU leakage is awful.

I think the DI20HE is a great product, but the regenerative PSU specifically I'd like to try regular DI20 to compare.

Hi,
Good review. Nice to read objective reviews from you. I like the mqa reviews. Thanks.
Many would like to know the effect of the external clocks on jitter and noise as compared to the internal clock. If any benefits using the ext clock.

Regards,

It'll likely depend on the quality of the external clock. If I get one in and happen to have DI20HE here at the time I'll definitely test it.

 

[FredA]

Nothing beats a listening test. Long-term. It's a different to thing listen to a component daily vs testing it. For me at least. Only excellent components stand the test of time. Not so many gears are fatigue-free and draw you into music day in day out. Audiophile gears developed by audiophiles, music lovers are what i like. Kingwa and his mates are a passionate group. Kingwa loves what he does.

 

[Toni-Mang]

@GoldenOne thank you again for this informative review. And yes, sound is always subjective, measurements, done properly, are not...i especially like the DI20HE soundstage depths...this is the reason i still use it with the MAY via I2s.

 

[FredA]

I am puzzed by the noise level measurement. Is it ground noise? Cause otherwise the signal needs to be subtracted. Not sure the measured noise figures make sense otherwise cause they seem high considering the jitter level. One should not forget that only differential noise matters as far as jitter. But common noise can contaminate the receiver if no galvanic isolation. My understanding is those figures express common noise and that it is a consequence a great idea to use a galvanically isolated dac input. In my experience, aes/ebu and i2s are indeed best when feeding the r7he mkii.