[preproman]

Quote:

To be honest, I'm not surprised. I think this particular DAC is limited by the transport, which is why I have invested more money into that than I have in the DAC.

 
 
I see...  the "Empirical Audio Off-Ramp 5" this is a power move..  I was seriously looking at this:  http://shop.grantfidelity.com/Yulong-U18-Asynchronous-24-192-USB-Digital-Interface.html
 
It cost waaay less than the off road.  However, I have no idea how it sounds or work for that matter.  It's one person on here that has one, he really likes it.  That's just one person.   

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

 
 
I see...  the "Empirical Audio Off-Ramp 5" this is a power move..  I was seriously looking at this:  http://shop.grantfidelity.com/Yulong-U18-Asynchronous-24-192-USB-Digital-Interface.html
 
It cost waaay less than the off road.  However, I have no idea how it sounds or work for that matter.  It's one person on here that has one, he really likes it.  That's just one person.   

 
You know, this might be a case where you get what you pay for. That doesn't look like anything special to me. Has the person who owns it compared it to other decent transports?
 
The OR5 is tried and tested. Same with the Audeophilleo and MK3 JKSPDIF. I'll get to compare atleast two of those soon. One thing's for sure though, any of those will change the sound of the DAC. Depending on the jitter susceptibility of the DAC, this change can range from just a "different sound" to a huge improvement. In the case of the Ref7.1 and Master 7, it's closer to the latter.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

I got my Master 7 exactly 2 months ago. The last weeks I have been busy moving to a new house, so not much time for "listening". As with all Audio-gd stuff: don't listen to it after at least a few hundred hours of burn-in. So I let it play in the corner of my new listening room for a few weeks. I upgraded from a Ref.7 DAC.
After about 500 hours on my Master 7, this weekend I decided to A-B the DACs for a few hours. I listened through the HP and the speaker setup. Source was my PC via USB (WinAMP-ASIO) and my Transporter via AES-XLR digital out. Music was 16/44 to 24/192. My 42 years old ears could not distinguish any difference between them.
My guess is that this is as good as it gets (for my ears)...

 
FYI, the designer of the Transporter specifically has said numerous times that the AES/EBU out is not nearly as good as the BNC output.  It was made as more of an afterthought and doesn't have as clean a signal path as the BNC output.  Kingwa also agrees with this, that BNC is better.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

To be honest, I'm not surprised. I think this particular DAC is limited by the transport, which is why I have invested more money into that than I have in the DAC.

 
Exactly true.  This is why I fully modified my Logitech Transporter to take full advantage of the Ref 7.1.

 

[seaice]

Quote:

I got my Master 7 exactly 2 months ago. The last weeks I have been busy moving to a new house, so not much time for "listening". As with all Audio-gd stuff: don't listen to it after at least a few hundred hours of burn-in. So I let it play in the corner of my new listening room for a few weeks. I upgraded from a Ref.7 DAC.
After about 500 hours on my Master 7, this weekend I decided to A-B the DACs for a few hours. I listened through the HP and the speaker setup. Source was my PC via USB (WinAMP-ASIO) and my Transporter via AES-XLR digital out. Music was 16/44 to 24/192. My 42 years old ears could not distinguish any difference between them.
My guess is that this is as good as it gets (for my ears)...

Pardon me if my question is stupid but I do not understand it clearly (maybe because of my limited English):
Do you compare the DACs or transports? Are you saying that there is no sound difference between the DACs or between the transports?
 
And another question: Has anyone compared the direct USB input of the Master 7 with some decent USB transport?
I red an opinion from a guy stating that the direct USB input of his Master 7 was better than the Audiophilleo>Master 7. Unfortunately, I am unable to remember or find the source.

 

[Currawong]

I've upgraded to the Master 7. I'll compare the USB32 to my Audiophilleo 1 + Pure Power at some point. I get too distracted listening! The digital section has definitely improved. The way Kingwa describes it on the M7 page is spot-on -- it's more dynamic and detailed. It seems to combine the best of the other DACs I've owned, being detailed and dynamic yet not harsh or with other compromises to the sound.

 

[tme110]

Quote:

 
 
I see...  the "Empirical Audio Off-Ramp 5" this is a power move..  I was seriously looking at this:  http://shop.grantfidelity.com/Yulong-U18-Asynchronous-24-192-USB-Digital-Interface.html
 
It cost waaay less than the off road.  However, I have no idea how it sounds or work for that matter.  It's one person on here that has one, he really likes it.  That's just one person.   

of course, a step down from the OR5 is the synchro mesh which is much cheaper.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

of course, a step down from the OR5 is the synchro mesh which is much cheaper.

 
 
You got a link?

 

[paradoxper]

Link

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

I've upgraded to the Master 7. I'll compare the USB32 to my Audiophilleo 1 + Pure Power at some point. I get too distracted listening! The digital section has definitely improved. The way Kingwa describes it on the M7 page is spot-on -- it's more dynamic and detailed. It seems to combine the best of the other DACs I've owned, being detailed and dynamic yet not harsh or with other compromises to the sound.

 
More dynamic and detailed than? Do you still have the Ref7.1 on hand Amos? Would like to hear your thoughts on the comparison. Something more elaborate than Kingwa's description
Also, which transport are you using for the comparison? Are you referring to the direct USB input of both DACs when you say USB32?
 
One person says no difference, another says big difference. I'd like to know what's going on. It could be the transport imposing its sound onto the chain in the former scenario.

 

[seaice]

Quote:

I've upgraded to the Master 7. I'll compare the USB32 to my Audiophilleo 1 + Pure Power at some point. I get too distracted listening! The digital section has definitely improved. The way Kingwa describes it on the M7 page is spot-on -- it's more dynamic and detailed. It seems to combine the best of the other DACs I've owned, being detailed and dynamic yet not harsh or with other compromises to the sound.

Hi Curra, I look forward to your comparison. I was considering a newer transport for my Ref1 (instead of AGd Interface with TE7022) but haven't bought it so far. Audiophilleo was one of the candidates. I hope that an upgrade to Master 7 will solve everything for me. I am really curious about your comparison of the Audiophilleo with the direct USB input of Master 7.

 

[BearMan]

I ordered Audio-gd Master 7 DAC last week, haven't got it yet...but I am looking for my next Amp for CAST system already



Is there anyone try HE6 and LCD3 on Master8/Master10 ? Which combo is sounds better under CAST connection? (not only high resolution but also more musical)

 

[IPodPJ]

I've upgraded to the Master 7. I'll compare the USB32 to my Audiophilleo 1 + Pure Power at some point. I get too distracted listening! The digital section has definitely improved. The way Kingwa describes it on the M7 page is spot-on -- it's more dynamic and detailed. It seems to combine the best of the other DACs I've owned, being detailed and dynamic yet not harsh or with other compromises to the sound.

Amos,
Are you just using USB input or have you tried it with a good transport with a BNC output? I've never much been a fan of USB, partially because all media software imparts its own signature on the sound. With the Transporter however the Logitech Server streams the raw data over and it gets decoded to S/PDIF in the Transporter, bypassing any Windows thread issues.

I'd much prefer an interface like iTunes over the Logitech one though, but the Logitech server isn't that bad, especially when I can control it with iPhone and iPad apps like iPeng.

 

[Currawong]

I upgraded to the Master 7 by replacing the digital board in my 7.1, so I can only compare to my set-up with the Calyx DAC, which I did before the upgrade.  I had Audiophilleo feeding the 7.1 and then daisy-chained it (since two of the inputs were connected together) to the Calyx DAC. I felt the Calyx, fed by the AP1/PP was a tiny bit more detailed and, either in a quick A/B or longer listening, made music more "young" sounding as Kingwa described, and the 7.1 was "darker". Upgrading the digital board seems to have my one, tiny disagreement with the sound of the 7.1, where I felt it was a very tiny bit lacking in most areas, but those tiny bits made me want to listen with the Calyx/AP1/PP/Vaunix combo more often.
 
To explain some of my feeling -- back when I bought the Metrum Octave, initially it had this amazing, extremely lively presentation where it emphasised even the quietest sounds in the music. It was addictive to listen with. Then it mellowed and became more boring (if still very natural-sounding with the usually difficult-to-reproduce piano and violin).
 
The Master 7 is more like the Octave was before burn-in, but without the usual sacrifice of a NOS DAC, which can be too mellow in some cases.  On the other hand, the Calyx DAC is, used by itself connected via USB direct to my computer and using no other power source, sounds technically great but very "digital" and unnatural. Using a good source via the S/PDIF input (at least the Audio-gd DI but better still with the Audiphilleo set-up) the Calyx was just about spot-on.
 
The Master 7, however, has a combination of the "clear" sound of a Sabre DAC (eg: The Calyx) + the organic naturalness of a NOS DAC + the liveliness of the Metrum when new. In other words, I don't feel like I'm missing any of the other DACs I've owned or own using it, which I did very slightly when I had the Reference 7.1.
 
I haven't done a comprehensive comparison of the USB32 with the Audiophilleo set-up, but it's pretty good, if not quite as clear-sounding (but at a much greater total cost the AP set-up should be better).

 

[BearMan]

It's looks like my lucky day today...the courier appeard out of my door with my Master 7 when i just done with the last post...



I just wanna say...WHAT A MONSTER DAC IT IS !!!



Compare to the Master 7 my EF6 looks quite cute...
 
 

now...warm up...