[mtoc]

Where're the fuses in the AGD products?

 

[bimmer100]

Where're the fuses in the AGD products?

It's not replaceable.
In the transformers ther is some sort of protection, but when it goes, the transformers need to be replaced. This approach is for better sound quality. But it's not likely you will accidentally blow them. So if you want to fuse roll or whatever, not going to happen with audiogd products. Most of them are by design this way

 

[Sivert]

I bought an Ether-C at CamJam and I am thinking of moving my DAC-19 and LC to my desk at work. So now I need to replace my home setup and I was thinking of the Master-11 (since I like the DAC-19 so much). But I'm also contemplating using my LC discount and buying a Cavalli amp (I would still need to get a DAC). Of course, the Cavalli route is quite a bit more expensive.
 
Does anyone with a Master-11 have experience with the higher level Cavalli amps, such as Crimson or Gold? How would you compare the amp section of the Master-11 to the Cavalli? Also, I remember hearing of an option to make the Master-11 more resistant to static (regarding the abrupt volume changes). Does anyone know how would one specify this option when ordering?
 
Thanks!

 

[Khragon]

You want the active MCU, just ask Kingwa for it.

 

[mtoc]

My fiancé...

 
Quote:

 
my wife..
 

 
congrats!

 

[nikko510]

Hello
 

[left] Please, what do you recommend AC cable to the Master 11 . I wanted to gently brighten the sound of my system.[/left]

 

[Articnoise]

  Hello
 

[left] Please, what do you recommend AC cable to the Master 11 . I wanted to gently brighten the sound of my system.[/left]

 

Nordost is famous for its speed and bright sound. They are all pretty expansive thou. (All but the ridiculous expansive Nordost PC are too clinical sounding for me)

 

What other gear do you have in your system? 

 

[nikko510]

Bimmer100

[left] Recommended cables PANGEA AC 14 SE , anyone has any experience with this cable in conjunction Master 11[/left]

 

[Synyster48]

Hi i thinking wanna get audio gd m11 to pair with my mrspeakers ether
i mostly listen to metal hard rock
so do this pair suit with my genre?
tq

 

[krzysmac]

Hi.
 
I am quite new to this forum. It took me a while to read through this thread. I've realised how much knowledge you guys have and how much I need to learn . First of all I am considering to buy Master 11 this year and upgrade my Sennheiser HD-580 to Audeze LCD-2F (wishing for LCD-X). I hope that you will educate me a bit in domain of DACs and their use answering my two questions below:
 
1. I have never used any DACs before. I've listen to music from CD player and turntable only. I thought that if I get Master-11 I could convert all my music from CDs to FLAC. I still don't know the best path for that. Do I need to use computer, laptop, tablet? Are there FLAC players with hard drive replacing CD player?
 
 
2. I don't know much about DACs apart from what I read here and there. As I understand listening music from CD player (Cambridge Audio Azur 640C v2) through Master-11 DAC would definitely improve the sound. I have no concerns here.
However, I don't know how the Master-11 works with turntables. Signal from turntable is analog. I don't want it to be processed by Master-11 DAC. Is it possible to bypass the DAC section and send analog signal from turntable straight to the Master-11 amp section without processing. It may be a silly question, but how is it in reality? Can you switch off/bypass Master-11 DAC and send signal from turntable straight to amp section so there is no analog to digital conversion? It defeats the purpose of using turntable if the signal is processed by DAC in my opinion.
 
If the DAC can't be bypassed I guess I should get the Master-9 instead, shouldn't I?
 
 
Kristof

 

[borrego]

"DAC" stands for digital to analogue converter. Any signal going into a DAC has to be digital in the first place. So you don't really need to do any "bypass" for your phono analogue signal feeding into one of the Master-11 analogue signal input, as the signal won't go into the DAC circuit anyway.

You may still need a MM/MC preamp before the Master-11 though.

 

[GrdironTrenches]

  Hi.
 
I am quite new to this forum. It took me a while to read through this thread. I've realised how much knowledge you guys have and how much I need to learn . First of all I am considering to buy Master 11 this year and upgrade my Sennheiser HD-580 to Audeze LCD-2F (wishing for LCD-X). I hope that you will educate me a bit in domain of DACs and their use answering my two questions below:
 
1. I have never used any DACs before. I've listen to music from CD player and turntable only. I thought that if I get Master-11 I could convert all my music from CDs to FLAC. I still don't know the best path for that. Do I need to use computer, laptop, tablet? Are there FLAC players with hard drive replacing CD player?
 
 
2. I don't know much about DACs apart from what I read here and there. As I understand listening music from CD player (Cambridge Audio Azur 640C v2) through Master-11 DAC would definitely improve the sound. I have no concerns here.
However, I don't know how the Master-11 works with turntables. Signal from turntable is analog. I don't want it to be processed by Master-11 DAC. Is it possible to bypass the DAC section and send analog signal from turntable straight to the Master-11 amp section without processing. It may be a silly question, but how is it in reality? Can you switch off/bypass Master-11 DAC and send signal from turntable straight to amp section so there is no analog to digital conversion? It defeats the purpose of using turntable if the signal is processed by DAC in my opinion.
 
If the DAC can't be bypassed I guess I should get the Master-9 instead, shouldn't I?
 
 
Kristof

If you are getting a Master 11 or any DAC/AMP combo it might be best to rip CDs with "Exact Audio Copy" from any computer. "dBpoweramp Music Converter" is a great program for converting ripped .WAV files to .FLAC or any other format. To get the most out of the DAC/AMP digitally theres a thing called "bit perfect" which bypasses windows mixer. Foobar and JRiver are the main bit perfect players. Audio GD mentions using foobar with foobar plugins foo_out_asio , foo_out_wasapi , foo_out_ks, foo_input_dsdiff, foo_input_sacd.  After installing foobar and drivers youll select "ASIO : Combo384 ASIO 1.03" as main output device in foobar settings (Settings > Playback > Output) The Master 11 drivers are here http://amanero.com/index.htm and this is from Audio GD http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/Amanero/AmaneroEN.htm but i use the drivers from amanero.com. I think most FLAC players use microsd slots even some support up to 128gb. The Master 11 can act soley as an AMP like the Master 9, it has a Preamp/DAC switch on the back. People like the Master 11 because of its flexibility. People in this thread use the Master 11 to drive speakers  or whatever else around the house. Some just prefer feeding the dac to an amp they already have while having the usefulness of the Master 11. But there are regulars in this thread that know way more about answering your second question. By the way, The Master 11 is a godsend compared to a cd player, you will love the smoothness and its distinct neutral sound. Also, think about grabbing a pair of Audeze with a base 4-Pin XLR cable instead of the normal headphone end. That will bring you more power as the Master 11 has 3 balanced 4-Pin XLR ports. Most high-end headphones come with XLR to 1/4th adapters im not sure about the LCD-2F

 

[PeterCraig]

The M11 has three analog preamp inputs. Your turntable would need to feed first into a phono preamp to convert the signal to standard analog. Next the phono preamp feeds into the analog inputs on the M11. Most preamplifiers today don't have the built in phono section so that's pretty standard to get a separate unit. Plus you can usually get a higher quality sound from your turntable that way.

 

[krzysmac]

"DAC" stands for digital to analogue converter. Any signal going into a DAC has to be digital in the first place. So you don't really need to do any "bypass" for your phono analogue signal feeding into one of the Master-11 analogue signal input, as the signal won't go into the DAC circuit anyway.

You may still need a MM/MC preamp before the Master-11 though.

 
 

 
If you are getting a Master 11 or any DAC/AMP combo it might be best to rip CDs with "Exact Audio Copy" from any computer. "dBpoweramp Music Converter" is a great program for converting ripped .WAV files to .FLAC or any other format. To get the most out of the DAC/AMP digitally theres a thing called "bit perfect" which bypasses windows mixer. Foobar and JRiver are the main bit perfect players. Audio GD mentions using foobar with foobar plugins foo_out_asio , foo_out_wasapi , foo_out_ks, foo_input_dsdiff, foo_input_sacd.  After installing foobar and drivers youll select "ASIO : Combo384 ASIO 1.03" as main output device in foobar settings (Settings > Playback > Output) The Master 11 drivers are here http://amanero.com/index.htm and this is from Audio GD http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/Amanero/AmaneroEN.htm but i use the drivers from amanero.com. I think most FLAC players use microsd slots even some support up to 128gb. The Master 11 can act soley as an AMP like the Master 9, it has a Preamp/DAC switch on the back. People like the Master 11 because of its flexibility. People in this thread use the Master 11 to drive speakers  or whatever else around the house. Some just prefer feeding the dac to an amp they already have while having the usefulness of the Master 11. But there are regulars in this thread that know way more about answering your second question. By the way, The Master 11 is a godsend compared to a cd player, you will love the smoothness and its distinct neutral sound. Also, think about grabbing a pair of Audeze with a base 4-Pin XLR cable instead of the normal headphone end. That will bring you more power as the Master 11 has 3 balanced 4-Pin XLR ports. Most high-end headphones come with XLR to 1/4th adapters im not sure about the LCD-2F

 
 

The M11 has three analog preamp inputs. Your turntable would need to feed first into a phono preamp to convert the signal to standard analog. Next the phono preamp feeds into the analog inputs on the M11. Most preamplifiers today don't have the built in phono section so that's pretty standard to get a separate unit. Plus you can usually get a higher quality sound from your turntable that way.

 
thanks for your replies, all the useful info about FLAC, conversion etc is a new stuff for me. That's really good news that analog signal from turntable doesn't go to DAC. I have a phono preamp, so no problems here. I intend to buy balanced cable for new headphones to make best out of Master-11.
From what I read here in this thread convinced me to get Master-11 and slowly transfer all my CDs collection to FLAC format and have the convenience of storing music on hard drive.
 
It is probably not the thread to ask questions about what digital source is best for a Master-11. People posting in this thread where saying that laptops introduce a lot of noise compering to desktop computers. Are there any alternatives to computers in regards to playing Flac files? I don't need a high specs computer as I don't play games any more.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but is there a better way than spending way over $1000 for a computer with good power supply mother board and sound card just to use it as a FLAC player? Are there any devices playing FLAC files with equal SQ as from very good computer but cheaper? I know computers are convenient and versatile to use, with availability of different software. I own a 4-5 years old gaming laptop Asus G73JH and don't want to change it until it dies . It has very, very loud fans though. Thanks for any suggestions. 

 

[gk2013]

   
 
 
 
 
thanks for your replies, all the useful info about FLAC, conversion etc is a new stuff for me. That's really good news that analog signal from turntable doesn't go to DAC. I have a phono preamp, so no problems here. I intend to buy balanced cable for new headphones to make best out of Master-11.
From what I read here in this thread convinced me to get Master-11 and slowly transfer all my CDs collection to FLAC format and have the convenience of storing music on hard drive.
 
It is probably not the thread to ask questions about what digital source is best for a Master-11. People posting in this thread where saying that laptops introduce a lot of noise compering to desktop computers. Are there any alternatives to computers in regards to playing Flac files? I don't need a high specs computer as I don't play games any more.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but is there a better way than spending way over $1000 for a computer with good power supply mother board and sound card just to use it as a FLAC player? Are there any devices playing FLAC files with equal SQ as from very good computer but cheaper? I know computers are convenient and versatile to use, with availability of different software. I own a 4-5 years old gaming laptop Asus G73JH and don't want to change it until it dies . It has very, very loud fans though. Thanks for any suggestions. 

 
Looks like you are getting good help from everyone and even better you are going to have a great new adventure because the Master 11 is not only a great dac, it is also a great headphone amplifier and pre-amplifier. Highly recommended!
Now in regards to your question about spending $$$$ for a computer I have my own personal preference. I am not a big fan using a computer and USB - although it could sound very good and I do not want to start a discussion - it is my personal preference to use a music streamer. They are build to reproduce music and convenient in daily use. (easy application from tablet or phone to control). I own an upgraded Sonos from Magna Hifi named Sonos Ultimo The easiness of Sonos to set it up and their application is fantastic and the upgrade makes this little streamer a fantastic high quality player. (As good as my old CD transport $1750!) Search the web and you will find a lot of good reviews. Nice guys, send them an email and they will answer quickly and friendly. They are Audio-GD partner as well Just my 2 cents..