[Dusan]

I seem to have understood that the spdif upgrade will be hardware and not just software

 

[sajunky]

I seem to have understood that the spdif upgrade will be hardware and not just software

FPGA firmware upgrade modifies hardware, so yes, it will be a hardware upgrade.

 

[FredA]

FPGA firmware upgrade modifies hardware, so yes, it will be a hardware upgrade.

No need to take the top off though.

 

[pascal1267]

Hello everyone, I need your opinion. Would the di24he be superior to a di20 (non he) paired with an Afterdark Emperor Crown in terms of SQ? I have an M7 dac and an Auralic g1.1 streamer.

 

[FredA]

Hello everyone, I need your opinion. Would the di24he be superior to a di20 (non he) paired with an Afterdark Emperor Crown in terms of SQ? I have an M7 dac and an Auralic g1.1 streamer.

Not sure that it outperforms the di20he with a synchronous dac. Ask audio-gd.

 

[FredA]

Not sure that it outperforms the di20he with a synchronous dac. Ask audio-gd.

Maybe your best upgrade would be a Concentus i2s cable.

 

[pascal1267]

Thanks for the suggestion FredA. I asked Audio GD the same question and they replied that « [the] DI20 with a good external clock sounds slightly better than the DI24HE », which surprised me a bit as I thought the di20 was the weak link in this section of the chain and was preventing me from taking full advantage of my external clock. May be it is but not that much as I now understand it.

 

[FredA]

Thanks for the suggestion FredA. I asked Audio GD the same question and they replied that « [the] DI20 with a good external clock sounds slightly better than the DI24HE », which surprised me a bit as I thought the di20 was the weak link in this section of the chain and was preventing me from taking full advantage of my external clock. May be it is but not that much as I now understand it.

The di24he is designed to minimize noise and not jitter it seems. The di20he has perhaps lower jitter. For the recent audio-gd top dacs, jitter is not very important. Noise matters a lot more. The Concentus i2s helps keeping the noise very low, same with jitter. Also, consider the Harmonic Technology and the Concentus clock cables. Consider getting a Furutech gtx-d ncf(r) to install in the wall.

 

[FredA]

Thanks for the suggestion FredA. I asked Audio GD the same question and they replied that « [the] DI20 with a good external clock sounds slightly better than the DI24HE », which surprised me a bit as I thought the di20 was the weak link in this section of the chain and was preventing me from taking full advantage of my external clock. May be it is but not that much as I now understand it.

If ever you decide to get a gtx-d ncf (r), eBay has good prices. And i have an Oyaide wall plate and cover that could be used with it as a complement. I can let it go for not much. I upgraded to the pricey Furutech plate and cover.

 

[Jake2]

The di24he is designed to minimize noise and not jitter it seems. The di20he has perhaps lower jitter. For the recent audio-gd top dacs, jitter is not very important. Noise matters a lot more. The Concentus i2s helps keeping the noise very low, same with jitter. Also, consider the Harmonic Technology and the Concentus clock cables. Consider getting a Furutech gtx-d ncf(r) to install in the wall.

Taking @pascal1267 's description of Audio-Gd's response at face value, the assertion DI20 with a good external clock sounds slightly better than the DI24HE could have referred the DI24HE alone, using its internal oscillator. i.e. DI20 + clock > DI24 alone would be pretty reasonable, as quality external clocks have a huge effect, easily capable IMO of exceeding the incremental improvements between different iterations of a DDC, even a great one. Noise generally correlates to jitter in the digital domain (it's how it mainly manifests after all), so I'd be very surprised if the new and improved DI-24 had more jitter.

@pascal1267 What was the verbatim question put to Audio-Gd?

 

[pascal1267]

Here is the email exchange:

Me
-Hi there. I would like to know if the di24he would sound better than a di20 (non he) paired with an Afterdark Emperor Crown ocxo external clock? I have a M7 dac. Many thanks

Audio GD
-Dear Sir
Yes, the DI24HE has better sound quality than the DI20.
Best regards
Channel

Me
-Even than a di20 paired with a good external clock?

Audio GD
-Dear Sir
The DI20 with a good external clock sounds slightly better than the DI24HE.
Best regards
Channel

 

[Jake2]

Here is the email exchange:

Me
-Hi there. I would like to know if the di24he would sound better than a di20 (non he) paired with an Afterdark Emperor Crown ocxo external clock? I have a M7 dac. Many thanks

Audio GD
-Dear Sir
Yes, the DI24HE has better sound quality than the DI20.
Best regards
Channel

Me
-Even than a di20 paired with a good external clock?

Audio GD
-Dear Sir
The DI20 with a good external clock sounds slightly better than the DI24HE.
Best regards
Channel

Cheers, all sounds reasonable and what I would expect.

 

[FredA]

Cheers, all sounds reasonable and what I would expect.

Yeah, seems reasonable. But the di24he with the same clock could be on top. I don't know for sure about that jitter advantage with the di20he. Only that the di24he is more silent for sure and that is what matters with a dac that redoes timing from scratch.

The very important point to know is that an asynchronous dac has little sensitivity to jitter in the incoming signal. The opposite is true for a synchronous dac.

@pascal1267 you are not far away from me, I think. You could give my di20he a try. It is a guaranteed upgrade normally.

 

[mantraone]

Here is the email exchange:

Me
-Hi there. I would like to know if the di24he would sound better than a di20 (non he) paired with an Afterdark Emperor Crown ocxo external clock? I have a M7 dac. Many thanks

Audio GD
-Dear Sir
Yes, the DI24HE has better sound quality than the DI20.
Best regards
Channel

Me
-Even than a di20 paired with a good external clock?

Audio GD
-Dear Sir
The DI20 with a good external clock sounds slightly better than the DI24HE.
Best regards
Channel

In my experience the external clock is one of those extremely divisive objects, in some systems it seems to give very positive results, greater dynamics, crazy details, but if the system is set up accurately, the electrical phase is verified and and ground connection well done, the The contribution of the external clock can become minimal and futile. I tested the Mutec Ref 10, Gustard C16 and C18 and other DIY or assembled clock 10Mhz. I'm not fully sure that this result can be repeatable in all our audio system.

 

[Jake2]

In my experience the external clock is one of those extremely divisive objects, in some systems it seems to give very positive results, greater dynamics, crazy details, but if the system is set up accurately, the electrical phase is verified and and ground connection well done, the The contribution of the external clock can become minimal and futile. I tested the Mutec Ref 10, Gustard C16 and C18 and other DIY or assembled clock 10Mhz. I'm not fully sure that this result can be repeatable in all our audio system.

Agree there are a lot of variables in play, and clocking (whether external or internal) is highly sensitive to many of em, so one's mileage may vary, a lot. As a matter of interest did your testing include DACs that have an internal clock input or was it more focussed on externally clocking upstream devices like DDCs and switches etc?