[Nayyte]

The R1N has some weakness, which you can not repair in amp or cable.

You will find out the importance of a PCIe Bridge and DDC, when you try it.

SPDIF-3 was the first that showed an improvement in the width of the soundstage and the black background. It literally turned the dac into almost as good as deltasigma performance in technicalities, without loosing the holographic experience.

R1N is not the usual DAC. Everything I tried before it in the chain, gave different results. It needs support, to collect the the music and help with the instrument placement. The soundstage is small, the instruments are too big…

This is where the DI20HE comes in:

1. Better instrument placement. Pinpoint them with ease in the stereo image
2. Balanced, levelled sound across the spectrum
3. Soundstage, the instruments are free to play there are a lot more room.
4. The most important is the time/rythm. Its just music, moving.

This DAC has for modules on two DA board, the same you find on the highend models(R8H3/R7H3). Get the point?

Do you know how the R1N compares to the NOS mode of other Audio-GD dacs? I would love to have a R-27RE/Mk2 etc and just switch to NOS mode for certain types of music. If just a little amount of oversampling fixes the size of the sound stage then I would be sold.

 

[FredA]

I'm sure it's great but I really can't justify spending that much on a DDC, even if I want to. I've rolled the dice on a lot of gear the past two months and almost all of it isn't to my liking. I will be spending the next month selling off some stuff and taking a small break from purchases. I really want something that doesn't require another $1.5k in gear/cables to sound "correct".

I really like the R1N, especially for orchestral and sound track music. It's honestly not like anything else I've heard and trying to listen to the same music on normal chip dac's is very disappointing now. Problem is, for all my other music, it's easy for the bass/low mids to get really bloated and fatiguing. Also the more I listen to pop/rock/rap/dance with the R1N, the more I realize it's a DAC that demands high quality masters with actual soundstage. "Mid tier" mastered music, many rock and alt pop bands from the past 30 years, can easily sound too forward and lacking depth with the R1N.

My unit (di20he) will be likely up for sale at a fair price soon. Even the regular di20 or di24 would give you an upgrade.

 

[OCC7N]

Do you know how the R1N compares to the NOS mode of other Audio-GD dacs? I would love to have a R-27RE/Mk2 etc and just switch to NOS mode for certain types of music. If just a little amount of oversampling fixes the size of the sound stage then I would be sold.

Hopefully late february I will have the DI24HE. As soon as I get it, I will turn off R1N/DI20HE for 3 month and start breakin in R8H2 and DI24HE.

I am not that into the NOS modes. I only like the NO mode. Oversampling X8 not my preference when DI20HE already gives a upgrade in all aspects

 

[rsbrsvp]

Does anyone think chaining the DI-24 to the DI20 before the dac would improve things, or make them worse?

Mores isolation on one hand, on the other hand two power supplies means more noise.

I could go PC-usb-24-spdif-20-hdmi-dac. IMHO- overkill and probobly will harm.

 

[ProLoL]

That would be worse.. It's not only about cleaning the power which each device does by itself, it's also presenting a specific presentation which each firmware is affecting, the result would be funky.

 

[rsbrsvp]

That would be worse.. It's not only about cleaning the power which each device does by itself, it's also presenting a specific presentation which each firmware is affecting, the result would be funky.

This would be my guess as well. But lets say two 24's with the same firmware. I still think it will at minimum not help and probobly damage. Too much filtering can make things worse. It depends.

 

[OCC7N]

This would be my guess as well. But lets say two 24's with the same firmware. I still think it will at minimum not help and probobly damage. Too much filtering can make things worse. It depends.

SOURCE/USB/PCIe -> Bridge(Reclocker) -> DI20HE

EXAMPLE:

1. Source/USB -> Ideon 3R mk2 -> DI20HE

2. Source/PCIe -> JCAT/Pink Faun -> DI20HE

If you need more than this I recommend looking at power conditioning instead.

 

[rsbrsvp]

SOURCE/USB/PCIe -> Bridge(Reclocker) -> DI20HE

EXAMPLE:

1. Source/USB -> Ideon 3R mk2 -> DI20HE

2. Source/PCIe -> JCAT/Pink Faun -> DI20HE

If you need more than this I recommend looking at power conditioning instead.

Agreed. Instead of $1000 on a second DI24, get a PSM156 power conditioner or a Topaz isolation transformer for the entire system- perhaps a bit more- but huge effect...

 

[FredA]

Does anyone think chaining the DI-24 to the DI20 before the dac would improve things, or make them worse?

Mores isolation on one hand, on the other hand two power supplies means more noise.

I could go PC-usb-24-spdif-20-hdmi-dac. IMHO- overkill and probobly will harm.

I doubt it.

 

[FredA]

Last night, the DI24HE has shown signs that it will beat the di20he in my setup. It was already very close. The sound will have more clarity than with the di24he in the end, if not already the case. Staging has improved dramatically during the day. But i know better, i am due for a down. Burn-in is a roller coaster. In the end, the highest point will remain. The clarity I speak of is in no way interfering with musicality. Prat is excellent.

 

[rsbrsvp]

Can burn in be done by pluggin in socket and leaving on for a few weeks with no signal? That way- one need not go through the roler coaster.

 

[FredA]

Can burn in be done by pluggin in socket and leaving on for a few weeks with no signal? That way- one need not go through the roler coaster.

Music has to be played for certain parts. Output stages, wires, the FPGA itself.

 

[rsbrsvp]

Sure. But the PS is what I would guess really needs the serious burn in time... The other stuff- maybe 3-7 days...

 

[holotube]

My unit (di20he) will be likely up for sale at a fair price soon. Even the regular di20 or di24 would give you an upgrade.

Hi Fred,
Do you live in Europe?

 

[FredA]

Hi Fred,
Do you live in Europe?

No. I am in Canada. The di20he can be set to 220 though.