[bimmer100]

 

Without question,

HDMI i2s

 


Sadly not speaking of I2S (my Master 11 is RJ45) and even then it's depending on the converter (USB>I2S) but yes, I have the HDMI input on my Master 7.

That said, I have some options for S/PDIF input/output, RCA, BNC or TOSLINK from a Wyred4Sound Remedy Reclocker. Ordering a BNC S/PDIF cable from Blue Jeans Cable and wondering about why the BNC input is rated lower speedwise than the RCA?

yea, you can install the hdmi i2s module. it's plug and play. 5-10min process.
 
but the DDC is critical as you say. But since you have RJ45, maybe the breeze would work. I have not used RJ45 with it before....but I think it should work
 
otherwise, I'm using a DIU8 from audio-gd with ndk upgraded crystals. the crystek 957's were good too, but ndk surely is the most ideal setup.
 
i2s is by far the lowest latency, also cleanest sound quality. 
and BNC uses a diff IC than the digital RCA hence the difference of 96k vs 192k.
 
I have some great digital RCA's that come close to performance of i2s, yet latency isn't as great.  I have a graphene extreme from cerious technologies and also MSA heretic carbon fiber digital coax. Both sound pretty darn good. And you can use BNC if you want, but will always be limted to 96k. It does sound great through either imho.
I still prefer i2s as it's a step up without question.
 
I have a heavily modded gustard u12 for sale (cheap) that is modded for audio-gd hdmi i2s. AckoDac voltage regulator of 1.6uV - also converted to linear power input (gutted a/c mains and transformer) (now 7V dc input) and also has crystek 957's! sounds damn good for i2s. I don't use it anymore since I got the DIU8, yet its definitely better than the amanero combo. One down side is the coax doesn't work on the u12.

 

[johnzz4]

 
I am curious as well since their normal methods likely won't detect it. Personally I'd give it a poor ground and expose it to static to see if they're right that it spikes under those circumstances but I'm not sure they will since it seems like they're following standard procedure of using their bench testing tool for 3 days.
 
Bimmer had some instructions earlier in the thread.

My ground is fine and I still had the volume spikes.  I developed a channel imbalance at low frequencies, so my unit is heading back to Kingwa tomorrow.  I asked for a new unit and he was willing to comply.  Hoping the new unit (which should come with the active MCU installed) will be the keeper.

 

[RAZRr1275]

  My ground is fine and I still had the volume spikes.  I developed a channel imbalance at low frequencies, so my unit is heading back to Kingwa tomorrow.  I asked for a new unit and he was willing to comply.  Hoping the new unit (which should come with the active MCU installed) will be the keeper.

I'm very very happy to hear that Kingwa has responded that way. It definitely shows that he's taking this seriously now and I applaud him for that.

 

[RAZRr1275]

So somewhat bad news. They finished testing my unit and, as expected, found nothing with their testing methods and don't seem to feel inclined to do more than standard procedure to pin down the exact problem. Without any confirmation, it seems like the issue is, in fact, static. I encouraged them to install an active MCU in all units from the factory. They've asked how I'd like to proceed and I asked for the promised refund so we'll see if they follow through.

 

[Articnoise]

New DSP software design with two NOS modes for the Master 7, Master 11 and DAC 19 will be released in April.

 

http://www.audio-gd.com/En%20audio-gd.htm

 

[rigo]

I'll be interested to know how Audio-gd test for this kind of problem.

On a similar topic, Kingwa sent me an active MCU for replacement, however I have no idea what to do to replace one. Grace pointed me to the user manual, but that doesn't have any instruction. I guess there's some miscommunication and I will have to try harder.

Did you end up replacing the MCU?

 

[mojolo]

  New DSP software design with two NOS modes for the Master 7, Master 11 and DAC 19 will be released in April.

 

http://www.audio-gd.com/En%20audio-gd.htm

Per the page linked to:
 

 Please note : Limit by the Amanero USB input, support up to 384KHz now. In Simulation test  , it can support up to 768KHz even 1536KHz input . In future if had the new USB interface , users can easy replace in the unit even without soldering.
Will offer the upgrade for all Audio-gd product users who own the DSP + PCM1704 product  in near future!

So does this mean we'll be able to upsample up to 768KHz on our PCs with something like HQPlayer, fed into the Master 11 and then bypass the M11's native oversampling? The PCM1704 can indeed accept a 768KHz input.
 
Also found this YT video of the Amanero Ultra M4 768 Khz. Wonder if this is the new USB input board?
 
 

 

[mojolo]

From the A-gd page, it seems there are a few things to be excited about - the new USB input board (up to 768KHz), new DSP w/ 2 new NOS modes, and the FIFO data process, which should help with jitter.
 
I wonder if all these upgrades will be available to current PCM1704 owners.

 

[bimmer100]

I'll be interested to know how Audio-gd test for this kind of problem.

On a similar topic, Kingwa sent me an active MCU for replacement, however I have no idea what to do to replace one. Grace pointed me to the user manual, but that doesn't have any instruction. I guess there's some miscommunication and I will have to try harder.

 
so can you post photos of the MCU? i'm assuming its just the standard MCU IC and the old one pulls out and the new replaces it. like plugging a chip into a socket. pretty simple. but please send photos and I can confirm. I've done MCU swaps, I even have the MCU programming tool to make custom settings and startup messages etc. It's a 5min job if it's what i'm thinking. I sent you a reply to your PM, but i'm not sure as I never heard back from you.

 

[Ivan303]

New DSP software design with two NOS modes for the Master 7, Master 11 and DAC 19 will be released in April.



 



http://www.audio-gd.com/En%20audio-gd.htm

 



"Will offer the upgrade for all Audio-gd product users who own the DSP + PCM1704 product in near future!"

Wonder what that really means. Have BOTH the Master 11 for about four months for personal headphone use and just took delivery of a new Master 7 a few weeks ago for the main listening room.

Should have waited a bit?

Keeping in mind the shipping costs from West Coast US to China and back, it will be a pretty costly upgrade unless it's a board or just software somehow?

 

[mojolo]

The Amanero Combo384 USB input board can easily be swapped for the new USB input board by the user. No soldering required. Several people in this thread ordered the M11 with the original VIA USB32 input board and purchased the Combo384 afterwards. The Combo384 was shipped to them from China and they performed the upgrade themselves.
 
I'm curious if the other upgrades will be available to us though. Do we get FIFO? Do we get the new DSP via a SW upgrade? Do the two NOS modes replace the oversampling modes or are they still included too? What are the diffs between the two NOS modes? Are there any other improvements to the DSP? So many questions...

 

[Khragon]

   
so can you post photos of the MCU? i'm assuming its just the standard MCU IC and the old one pulls out and the new replaces it. like plugging a chip into a socket. pretty simple. but please send photos and I can confirm. I've done MCU swaps, I even have the MCU programming tool to make custom settings and startup messages etc. It's a 5min job if it's what i'm thinking. I sent you a reply to your PM, but i'm not sure as I never heard back from you.

I just received it today, here's a photo:

 
I haven't open my M11 up yet, still I don't I know where this will go.
I'll open it this weekend and find out.

 

[rigo]

I just received it today, here's a photo:



I haven't open my M11 up yet, still I don't I know where this will go.
I'll open it this weekend and find out.

Did he offer to send it to you or did you ask?

 

[RAZRr1275]

Did he offer to send it to you or did you ask?

I should probably say he offered to send one to me but he did so after I had already sent my unit back.

 

[Khragon]

Did he offer to send it to you or did you ask?

I asked, at first Kingwa hesitated a bit, insisting that having a good ground is more important to preventing static. I told him that although I believe I have good ground, I still would like to get the active MCU to eliminate any chance of volume spike.