[maguire]

So this Master7 is the new King, so many more are now coming out with positive opinions....Great to hear....
 
Hey Curra, ON A SIDE NOTE:
 
I heard the Metrum Octave recently & was very impressed with it also, thought it was fast snappy and very lively....Better sounding to me  than my Ref7.1.
Just not happy to hear that it gets mellow & boring after some time......Ive heard of Burn in but Is this a case of Burn out?
 
So you compare the Master7 to it at its lively best.....Interesting.

 

[BearMan]

Thanks for sharing very detailed but the second paregraph might make many hifier confused whom never heard these DACs ....Someone like me...

 
 
Quote:

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 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 sacrifice of a NOS DAC.  The Calyx DAC, by itself being technically great but sounding very "digital" and unnatural was just about spot-on with the far better power and digital source feeding it -- much more natural than using USB straight from my computer into it. So the Master 7 has a combination of the "clear" sound of a Sabre DAC + the organic naturalness of a NOS DAC + the liveliness of the Metrum when new. This with the AP1/PP as a source. The USB32 is slightly behind. Both my computers are being a PITA and being flakey with USB devices so I'll play with that later.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Nice to see some good feedback on some of the Audio-GD gear, makes me happier while I wait for my Reference 10 (since the thread for that is so quiet).

 

[BearMan]

when I connected it on my system 10 hours ago, the first idea appeared in my mind was take up my phone to give KingWa a call to get my money back....

You guys know this season is very cold out there in Beijing... so i thought the first unthinkable terrible sound Master 7 made was because of its balls freeze... (very harsh and lifeless...)

So i gave M7 one more chance to make it right~

10 hours past I thought it might be the right time to share my first impression

There are some Adjective ： 3D , smooth ，transparent , powerful , fully extension , extremely balance and very lively

I am glad I haven't made that call yet :rolleyes:

 

[BoyNamedSue]

As stated many times before, audiogd gear improves a lot with burn in. When I first got my ref 7, I thought it sounded worse than my roommates well-burned in ref 1. However, with many hours on my ref 7 now, the two dacs are sounding similar.

 

[DarknightDK]

Quote:

when I connected it on my system 10 hours ago, the first idea appeared in my mind was take up my phone to give KingWa a call to get my money back....
You guys know this season is very cold out there in Beijing... so i thought the first unthinkable terrible sound Master 7 made was because of its balls freeze... (very harsh and lifeless...)
So i gave M7 one more change to make it right~
10 hours past I thought it might be the right time to share my first impression
There are some Adjective ： 3D , smooth ，transparent , powerful , fully extension , extream balance and very lively
I am glad I haven't made that call yet

 
I'm afraid 10 hours isn't enough. Audio Gd gear take a lifetime to burn-in. By that time returns wouldn't be applicable any longer. That won't matter, however, as you would have grown to love it then. 

 

[BearMan]

Quote:

As stated many times before, audiogd gear improves a lot with burn in. When I first got my ref 7, I thought it sounded worse than my roommates well-burned in ref 1. However, with many hours on my ref 7 now, the two dacs are sounding similar.

Do you mean ref 1 sounds similar with ref 7 when thay are well burned  

 
What can I say ... maybe I will found that M7 sounds similar with ref 7 at last

 

[BearMan]

O yes I am sure about that...
 
All Class-A gears are same - older is better, hotter is better

Quote:

 
I'm afraid 10 hours isn't enough. Audio Gd gear take a lifetime to burn-in. By that time returns wouldn't be applicable any longer. That won't matter, however, as you would have grown to love it then. 

 

[BoyNamedSue]

Quote:

Do you mean ref 1 sounds similar with ref 7 when thay are well burned  

 
That has been my observation. It seems probable since ref 1 and 7 share a lot of attributes. The well-burned in ref 1 was more euphonic and had a bit of a reverb that created a sense of spatiousness compared to my ref 7 at first, but the ref 7 has started to develop these qualities as well.

 

[Currawong]

BearMan: I've fixed that second paragraph to make it more clear. It's hard to explain, with all the bits involved, what is going on in my head. It only really makes sense after a lot of experimentation and listening.
 
 

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).

 
About the Octave though: I thought the soundstage wasn't as wide using it -- more deep. The M7 and Calyx produce a wider sound with the gear I own.
 
The one annoyance with the big Audio-gd DACs is, they only sound their best after being left on for a couple of hours beforehand, especially in winter.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

The one annoyance with the big Audio-gd DACs is, they only sound their best after being left on for a couple of hours beforehand, especially in winter.

 
Each and every time you turn it on?

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Quote:

The one annoyance with the big Audio-gd DACs is, they only sound their best after being left on for a couple of hours beforehand, especially in winter.

 
Each and every time you turn it on?

 
No. It depends on how warm the circuits are. They sound best when everything has heated up well.

 

[BearMan]

BearMan: I've fixed that second paragraph to make it more clear. It's hard to explain, with all the bits involved, what is going on in my head. It only really makes sense after a lot of experimentation and listening.



About the Octave though: I thought the soundstage wasn't as wide using it -- more deep. The M7 and Calyx produce a wider sound with the gear I own.

The one annoyance with the big Audio-gd DACs is, they only sound their best after being left on for a couple of hours beforehand, especially in winter.

HA! I got it this time !

So M7 is a clear , natural , lively and wide DAC


I agree with you and thank you for your explanation

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
No. It depends on how warm the circuits are. They sound best when everything has heated up well.

 
 
OK so I'm currently in the market for a so called "high end" DAC.  On my list right now is:
 
Master 7
PWD2
DA11
Alpha DAC 2
 
 
Can you compare these?

 

[BearMan]

No. It depends on how warm the circuits are. They sound best when everything has heated up well.

Yes , I think so.

IMO temperature is a very important definitive factor for a Class-A gear sounds ,so I never turn them off