[bballas]

aktives -hoeren.de gd he series topic help me so much!!!!!Thanks some guys here.Passive isolation also great!!!

 

[lieberung]

To my knowledge the Hydra Z doesn't work well with Master 7 via I2S.  Two people have reported the same problem.  You can check this thread back in Feb. 2015 timeframe.  But don't know for sure.  Has anyone had success with the Hydra Z? 

Had the Hydra home on demo. Had to use internal jumpers to get it to work with i2s to M7. Alot of disturbance and noise and totally unlistenable. This was resolved by reducing the volume on the pc in windows, but since this was a compromise on digital resolution I didnt want to go that route (but it was noticable better than the native VIA USB32 with drivers from aug 2014). The vendor was helpful but didnt come up with a resolution so I gave up. Im now using Empirical Audio off-ramp 5 fully specced with dynamo psu, also have a gustard u12 (which is a cheap value for money option), it works but its inverted and not as good as OR5, but still better than USB32.

 

[DACLadder]

Had the Hydra home on demo. Had to use internal jumpers to get it to work with i2s to M7. Alot of disturbance and noise and totally unlistenable. This was resolved by reducing the volume on the pc in windows, but since this was a compromise on digital resolution I didnt want to go that route (but it was noticable better than the native VIA USB32 with drivers from aug 2014). The vendor was helpful but didnt come up with a resolution so I gave up. Im now using Empirical Audio off-ramp 5 fully specced with dynamo psu, also have a gustard u12 (which is a cheap value for money option), it works but its inverted and not as good as OR5, but still better than USB32.

Thanks... Yes, that is a strange mystery with the Hydra Z and M7 on HDMI I2S...
 
The U12 is indeed not wired up properly on its HDMI I2S interface to the M7.  After fixing its HDMI pinout the U12 also sounds better with Crystek oscillators versus factory supplied.  Almost up to the OR5 level.  But I did run the U12 for months after reworking and it is decent sounding.  Great value but a little effort required to get to sonic nirvana.  .

 

[Clemmaster]

So Audiobyte didn't fix the issue that was also present on the X+? That's disappointing...
I, too, could only make it work without crazy clipping/noise at very low level. I'm wondering whether it's a matter of word justification? Maybe shifting all the bits to the right (-96dB, assuming a 32bit integer transmission) or maybe forcing Big endian would do?

 

[DACLadder]

So Audiobyte didn't fix the issue that was also present on the X+? That's disappointing...
I, too, could only make it work without crazy clipping/noise at very low level. I'm wondering whether it's a matter of word justification? Maybe shifting all the bits to the right (-96dB, assuming a 32bit integer transmission) or maybe forcing Big endian would do?

A bit slip or two in the frame or big/ little endian is what I am thinking as well. 

 

[Casualx]

 Hi all.
 I would like to now your opinion about Chord Hugo(2qute) as a DAC vs master 7.
  Thanks.

 

[Youth]

   Hi all.
 I would like to now your opinion about Chord Hugo(2qute) as a DAC vs master 7.
  Thanks.

 
I haven't heard the Hugo but based on impressions the Hugo doesn't stand a chance against Master 7. But Hugo seems to be pretty hyped on this website for some reason.

 

[aive]

Still continuing to tweak my M7 and loving the sound.
 
For those of you that care, the grounding on the amp is not optimal: Mains protective earthing actually done at the IEC connector between mounting screw/chassis and IEC plug earth terminal through a ground loop breaker (2 x diodes and resistor).
 
This means that mains earth is not being connected directly to the chassis - possibly illegal in certain countries. And the chassis is actually signal ground, not good practise.
 
The ground loop breaker should be between signal ground and mains ground. This implies that the chassis is at signal ground - and the chassis is actually connected to signal ground of the PCBs at multiple points: mini XLR connectors, XLR connector, screw mounting hole closest to XLR connector is also actually signal ground (all other mounting holes on the output boards seem isolated from signal ground). I don't know about the DSP board as I've removed this.
 
The R-core transformer chassis and screen is earthed to the chassis via mounting screws on the transformer/rectifier PCB - these should be connected to mains earth directly for fault return, not signal ground (which is the chassis).
 
So to rectify the situation, I've basically connected mains earth directly to the chassis (which is connected to transformer/rectifier PCB ground) and isolated the output board signal grounds from the chassis so that it is not separate to mains earth. Typically you'd connect signal ground and mains ground together for situation where primary of transformer is shorted to secondary windings - given the physical arrangement of the R-core transformers, this situation is unlikely.
 
Has it made a measurable difference? I don't know to be honest, lol.
 
Also, with the Amanero USB module, connection of PC to DAC introduces a significant amount of noise via USB GND (~double Vpk-pk noise). I highly recommend incorporating an Amanero isolator board from DIYINHK.
 
Reference reading re grounding: http://sound.westhost.com/earthing.htm

 

[Clemmaster]

Are the RCA ground connected to the chassis? These ARE the signal ground. The GND pin on the XLR output is not necessarily signal ground. People advise against it, actually. It could be chassis ground.

 

[aive]

The GND pin on XLR is signal ground and its soldered to chassis on connector but there are various points where signal ground is connected to chassis.

The RCA connector is insulated but that's silly because the RCA ground is the same as the XLR ground which is bonded to the chassis (plus at various other points).

I see where ur going with it where mains/chassis earth should be cable screen but that's not happening here.

 

[drez]

I haven't heard the Hugo but based on impressions the Hugo doesn't stand a chance against Master 7. But Hugo seems to be pretty hyped on this website for some reason.

Chord and M7 are very different - if u like Chord u might not like M7 and vice versa. I found Chord Qute HD very good for the money. Some might not like the sound. Conversely some might love M7 for the money and others find it lacking in some areas. M7 is a lot of DAC for the money tho just not all things to all people.

 

[seaice]

   Hi all.
 I would like to now your opinion about Chord Hugo(2qute) as a DAC vs master 7.
  Thanks.

I own Hugo and M7 for a long time and, to my preference, M7 is much better as a standalone DAC in every aspect. More enjoyable and natural sounding... Hugo is great as a mobile DAC/amp combo.

 

[Casualx]

 Thank you all for your opinion.
It seems to me you are describing the sound that I hear from my Shanling scd-t200c tube sacd player,with full body midrange-it's a kind of magic

 

[yacine60180]

Hello, here is my new toy...
 
 

 

[mowglycdb]

Is that a Master-9 on top of a HE-7?