[ProLoL]

I haven't been getting an answer from them in the past months.. wanted to purchase something but oh well..

 

[Telin]

I haven't been getting an answer from them in the past months.. wanted to purchase something but oh well..

There are official Audio-GD dealers of you really want to purchase something...

 

[Pharmaboy]

There are official Audio-GD dealers of you really want to purchase something...

Just checked Magna HiFi, from whom I bought 2 past AGD DACs. The R2R 11 is out of stock. It's not listed as out of stock on Audio GD's website--but the distinction means little if they won't respond to repeated emails (meaning I can't buy one from them).

If it was in stock at Magna HiFi, their price of 348 Euros is ~$75 over AGD's USD price of $350 (not incl. shipping), a 15% bump. I had 2 great experiences buying from Magna HiFi, but that's a steep fee for the convenience of dealing w/them vs Audio GD.

 

[ProLoL]

There are official Audio-GD dealers of you really want to purchase something...

I've purchased 3 R2R11's and 1 DI20 + their power cable which feeds my Ifi powerstation directly from their website. Purchasing via magnaHifi is nothing but extra money to pay.

 

[sajunky]

If it was in stock at Magna HiFi, their price of 348 Euros is ~$75 over AGD's USD price of $350 (not incl. shipping), a 15% bump. I had 2 great experiences buying from Magna HiFi, but that's a steep fee for the convenience of dealing w/them vs Audio GD.

Last time I checked it was EU348 VAT inclusive. There is a toggle switch on the top to show a value excluding VAT.

R2R-11 will be a collectors item soon. You can get one on Aliexpress between $450 and $750, from three sellers. Someone clever bought the entire stock shortly before the announcement. And I told you a month before that the next victim after NFB-1AMP would be R2R-11.

 

[Telin]

I've purchased 3 R2R11's and 1 DI20 + their power cable which feeds my Ifi powerstation directly from their website. Purchasing via magnaHifi is nothing but extra money to pay.

Depends where you live.
I live in the EU and then buying from Magna costs just as much as buying from Audio-GD directly. Buying from Magna is the all-in price, don't have to pay import fees, customs fees and lot of shipping costs. As a bonus I'm protected by the EU laws and I can just send the unit back for a full refund without any additional costs.
Then I have not even started about warranty and RMA...

 

[ProLoL]

My tip for anyone that wants the sound of the R2R11 untouched to the speakers, give yourself a try with a vintage pioneer A400 amplifier, it's very cheap and works like wire with gain. I was surprised to hear nothing but as if the R2R11 itself powered my speakers. I myself now own a pioneer A400 which is converted into a power amp making the R2R11 work as all in one as the amp section of the R2R11, in regard to the tonality is spot-on with the dac making me hear exactly what I hear from the headphone socket to what I hear via the speakers, a wire with gain unicorn power amplifier which I don't see myself switching for anything else regardless of pricepoint. Give yourself a try with a cheap A400 integrated, you'll be surprised.

 

[Telin]

@Telin, can you post a photo of oscilators?

I'll see what I can do, will be next weekend at the earliest though.

 

[sajunky]

My tip for anyone that wants the sound of the R2R11 untouched to the speakers, give yourself a try with a vintage pioneer A400 amplifier, it's very cheap and works like wire with gain. I was surprised to hear nothing but as if the R2R11 itself powered my speakers. I myself now own a pioneer A400 which is converted into a power amp making the R2R11 work as all in one as the amp section of the R2R11, in regard to the tonality is spot-on with the dac making me hear exactly what I hear from the headphone socket to what I hear via the speakers, a wire with gain unicorn power amplifier which I don't see myself switching for anything else regardless of pricepoint. Give yourself a try with a cheap A400 integrated, you'll be surprised.

I kept my eye on this amp when I had to replace all my gear having very limited amount of money, but no avail. Tried a vintage NAD 3020, it was not reveiling digital source enough, perhaps it needed full restoration. On the other side modern digital amps based on the TPA3250 and IcePower 125ASX2 where heavy on tweeters and fatiguing on the long run. A big surprise for me was Denon PMA-520AE, bought almost new at a half price. This is an excellent entry level amp, it has beatiful hights, matching perfectly super smooth treble of R2R-11. It is well balanced, fast enough to make a dynamic content sound natural, but not very detailed. My speakers are not very good either. Interesting that on a poor recording fast transients of the internal amp can be quite disturbing, then I am moving HD-600 to a Denon socket. It has no dedicated HPA, it takes output through the pair of resistors, it damps some harshness.

 

[Telin]

Experimented a bit with the Singxer F-1
Current situation is optical Toslink out from motherboard to optical Toslink in of the Audio-GD.

Listened using USB out from computer to Singxer F-1 and then to coax in of the Audio-GD.

If I have to see something I would say that coax through Singxer F-1 sounds perhaps a tad brighter then optical Toslink from motherboard. Nothing that I would pick out in a blind test though I think.
Kinda expected a bigger (more improvement) difference between motherboard optical Toslink out vs. Singxer F-1 coax out as the Singxer F-1 has it own dedicated clocks and all.

Prolly not going to keep the Singxer F-1.
Sound improvement is not really there and the coax cable is thick and riggid making it hard to properly cable manage in the limited space behind the Audio-GD.

Nice mod would be to squeeze in the bare Singxer F-1 board into the chassis of the Audio-GD lining up the USB port with the cutout for the USB port and just solder the coax out to the coax input on the Audio-GD motherboard. Quick look tells me that it might just fit

 

[Telin]

As promised @sajunky some close-up pictures of the Amanero module in my Audio-GD NFB-11.38 early 2021 version.

Best I can do to get pictures from a shiny surface using phone camera.

 

[Telin]

Anyone know what jumpering the Optical and Coax will do? The numbers are for the filters which are well documented but can't find anything about what a jumper on the Optical or Coax is suppose to do.

 

[sajunky]

Thanks @Telin. These rectangular 5x7mm oscilators marked CC are important. There are Crystek brand, but a standard type, not a low phase noise. It may be little better than my SCTF, but in both cases jitter is in a picoseconds range and not specified for 10 or 100Hz, not a big deal.

I exchanged Emails with Magna HiFi. They respond quick, they would prepare a board for a P&P as posted already, it looks like a good service. Unfortunately oscilators are exactly the same as on your board.

The only option now is to order oscilators from mouser or digikey and get someone to get SMD soldering job done, a relevant Mouser parts are:
Crystek CCHD-575-25-22.5792
Mouser part# : 549-CCHD57525-22.579

Crystek CCHD-575-25-24.576
Mouser part#: 549-CCHD57525-24.576

I don't know yet how I get these parts in South Africa, but I am going this route.

 

[Telin]

I have decided to return the unit to Magna HiFi so that they can take a look at the issue I have with the Amanero USB interface. (another advantage of not directly buying from Audio-GD)

I will try sajunky's fix with soldering an extra ground wire on the interface if Magna can't find or solve the issue. I don't want to solder the ground wire and void my warranty completely before I have given Magna the chance to fix it.

If both options fail I will give up on this unit and move on to something else.
Bit of a shame as besides the USB issue i really like the unit.

 

[sajunky]

I will try sajunky's fix with soldering an extra ground wire on the interface if Magna can't find or solve the issue. I don't want to solder the ground wire and void my warranty completely before I have given Magna the chance to fix it.

Before you return a unit, try to place a short multistrand copper wire between USB plug case (when plugged to the DAC) and a screw on the case. A thick wire will hold itself against a plug and the enclosure. Ask someone to hold the other side against a screw to make contact and start playing. If helps, then this fix will work, if not, just return a unit and get money back.