[Quinto]

I placed a review on my website about the Master 7 Amanero Combo 384 upgrade
http://www.maartenvandruten.com

Great review!
 
I bought a Master11 from Jos of Magna Hif with an option to switch it to the Master 7..hope it will be here soon..
 
Jos did a great job building a Amanero Combo 384 module into my 'old' DAC19DSP, sounds awesome!

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

Almost in the process of ordering the 11. I am going with a 6 db boost to drive my HE6. Do you guys think it's overkill? I do wanna drive "normal" sensitivity headphones too, the 11 doesn't have a gain switch so that worries me. Kingwa said it should be fine. 

 

[BIgsurprise]

I'm wondering if any of you guys cross shopped this with the NFB-27H? Looks like they were both released recently.

 

[Stillhart]

I'm wondering if any of you guys cross shopped this with the NFB-27H? Looks like they were both released recently.

 
The NFB-27H is the Sabre DAC version of the M-11, as far as I can tell.

 

[defbear]

Almost in the process of ordering the 11. I am going with a 6 db boost to drive my HE6. Do you guys think it's overkill? I do wanna drive "normal" sensitivity headphones too, the 11 doesn't have a gain switch so that worries me. Kingwa said it should be fine. 

I ordered mine vanilla without a gain boost. More gain=more noise? I could very well be wrong on that. With my 300 ohm hd800's I cant my play my Master 11 past 60 until its way too loud. I do like loud. With my hd598's its more like 40.

 

[Audiodandy]

Hi Zeissiez,

Thank you for you nice comment, i found that the Amanero greatly improved the soundstage, the instruments are placed wider, and there is more "air" around them
The transparency is also great, I just got the Amanero upgrade, I will do some more tests soon, and I will come back on that point
Do you perhaps know a good music piece to test the transparancy?

Best regards,

Audio Dandy

 

[Velomane]

  Almost in the process of ordering the 11. I am going with a 6 db boost to drive my HE6. Do you guys think it's overkill? I do wanna drive "normal" sensitivity headphones too, the 11 doesn't have a gain switch so that worries me. Kingwa said it should be fine. 

As a fellow canuck and HE-6 owner, I'd be interested in what you buy, how it sounds with the 6's and what the import experience is like.

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

I ordered mine vanilla without a gain boost. More gain=more noise? I could very well be wrong on that. With my 300 ohm hd800's I cant my play my Master 11 past 60 until its way too loud. I do like loud. With my hd598's its more like 40.

 
I think the he6 might need a little more juice, although the type of music I listen to doesn't warrant for that, even with my nfb 10.33 it's plenty loud, so thinking if it's worth it. Might go with it anyway, a little headroom won't hurt. Just wanna know if preamp will be affected significantly. 

 
As a fellow canuck and HE-6 owner, I'd be interested in what you buy, how it sounds with the 6's and what the import experience is like.

 
I'll definitely keep you posted. I am ordering as soon as all the details are confirmed by Grace, so far they have been very helpful. 

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

Ordered! Should take 7 business days according to Grace. 
 
Still thinking if I should go for the 6 db boost, or should I do 3 db? or just vanilla? Kingwa said 6 db boost should be okay with everything. As long as there's no additional noise I am good. Anyone knowledgeable feel free to chime in. 

 

[bimmer100]

Ordered! Should take 7 business days according to Grace. 

Still thinking if I should go for the 6 db boost, or should I do 3 db? or just vanilla? Kingwa said 6 db boost should be okay with everything. As long as there's no additional noise I am good. Anyone knowledgeable feel free to chime in. 

Congrats on your future end game setup.
Consider getting the rj45 to hdmi upgrade if you plan to use a USB transport in the future.

I'm using a heavy modded gustard u12 with i2s hdmi.

And I ordered the +6db gain stages and installed them myself. Definitely the perfect choice! No noise, just brute power with finesse. Ideal gain if you listen to super low efficiency cans.

What headphones do you use? Likely you don't need the upgrade...the m11 is a beast as is.

But my he560's need a bump on some very select classical music. I still never listen at max.


Before the mod I only listened at 99 onetime on one song. But mostly am around 65/100, and classically around 78-82 with the +6db.
My he-560 are not efficient.

The oppo pm3 is around 28/100 maybe 35 on some select classical music.


You won't hear any more noise by increasing the gain at such small amounts.
If you have clear power, don't worry.
I use ps-audio ps300 ac regenerator (mw2) for pure sine wave goodness.(ps audio lab cable too) Black black blackity black noise floor at high gain. Nuff said.



If you have he6, just get +9 db and be done with it. Makes sense.
There is so much room to adjust in the volume control for even sensitive cans/iems

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

Thanks,that's great to know! My primary audio listening is through the computer, for foreseeable future, so may be I'll do the hdmi upgrade later myself.


I do have the he6. Since I'll use the m11 as a preamp to my active monitors too, I'll probably stick to 6 for now. I don't listen to classical, so shouldn't be an issue. The other headphones I have are mid fi bass head cans(m100, sz2000). Don't think I'll use my iems with this beast, might try!

Also wanna add that Audio gd customer service has been stellar so far. Kingwa addressed all my issues sincerely, he even asked my listening preferences, specs for all my headphones etc. So far very happy with the whole process.

 

[bimmer100]

Thanks,that's great to know! My primary audio listening is through the computer, for foreseeable future, so may be I'll do the hdmi upgrade later myself.


I do have the he6. Since I'll use the m11 as a preamp to my active monitors too, I'll probably stick to 6 for now. I don't listen to classical, so shouldn't be an issue. The other headphones I have are mid fi bass head cans(m100, sz2000). Don't think I'll use my iems with this beast, might try!

Also wanna add that Audio gd customer service has been stellar so far. Kingwa addressed all my issues sincerely, he even asked my listening preferences, specs for all my headphones etc. So far very happy with the whole process.

I have found that my modded Gustard U12 is the most musical for my M11.
Its modded with a diff IC to allow compatibility with Audio-gd I2s HDMI pin layout.
also had txco replaced with better super low jitter crystek's and upgraded the caps.
 
anyhow, I would think the best option may be the Hydra Z HDMI i2s 
just my opinion.
 
off subject, but i've yet to test a bit more with the Paul Pang USB V3 OCXO card I just got in the mail. I also just received the Teradak to power it. Since i'm in the middle of moving....it may be a while til i'm able to write up some reviews.

 

[defbear]

Bimmer100, What happenend to the heat / stutter issue?

 

[Khragon]

Anyone using the M11 as preamp care to comment? how does it perform?  Reading the audio-gd site seems to indicate that Kingwa has put good thoughts into the volume control and it should be pretty good.

 

[Luckbad]

Is the +6dB option okay for IEMs? I have quite a few 16 Ohm IEMs and 25 Ohm cans. I need enough play to have full-day listening levels for them and I'm wondering if getting the +6dB option would make that no longer an option.