Hey guys, just finished reading all 67 pages of this thread! Got my R2R-11 last week and been using it consistently since then with both my LCD-2 (2016F) and ZMF Atticus. Initially I bought it to compare to it to my SS combo of ifi Micro iDSD (used as a dac only) and Matrix HPA-3B fully balanced amp. My interest was piqued by all the talk of this ‘mystical’ R2R ladder dac that’s supposed to make music sound natural and ‘non-digital’, and at worse I figured I could sell it on - even at a profit - because of the huge demand for this amp in my country.
I won’t go into too much detail just yet because I’m still in the hypothetical ‘burn in’ stage, but I can tell you that after a few days I already knew what was going to be sold - my ifi and Matrix! The R2R-11 simply has better synergy with both my headphones, whereas the Atticus, until now, was limited to use on my Woo WA3 because it didn’t like the SS setup too much (flat and unexciting would be how I’d describe the Atticus sound with my solid state gear).
As for the pops, yes they’re there at the start of each sample rate change, but not when switching between songs or jumping to different parts of a song. Sounds like the sound you get when you lower the needle onto vinyl for the first time; it’s really not that bad and quickly forgotten, and like I said doesn’t affect playback during an album.
I have to say I’m surprised by all the complaints about these pops on this thread. The R2R-11 product page clearly describes them, and the fact that they’re there because the mute circuit was left out of the amp by design. So it’s not like it’s a surprise - it’s a known limitation, so if you can’t live with it, move on. My ifi iDSD has mute circuitry for the same issue, which introduces a 2-second silence at the start of an album or during a sample rate change, which is far more annoying than the R2R-11 pop. At least the R2R plays a song from the start, whereas the iDSD loses the first second or two.
One last comment on the pops/DSD issues, given all the talk of Eitr around here. Clearly most of you don’t listen to DSDs, otherwise the Eitr would be a no-go. Just be aware that if you want and need DSD playback like I do, you may come across minor issues with the R2R-11, and the Eitr won’t solve them.
Can you comment about the R2R 11's ability to retrive details and its soundstage comparing to the Matrix? I have the Matrix currently and just like to hear some opinions about the 2 gears. My headphones are not power hungry so power is not an issue for me.
Also, thank you for bringing the pop issues to light. I have a Yggdrasil, and I used to have the optical out from my Creative X-fi to the Yggdrasil. Doing that made the Yggdrasil made a click sound constantly, every time the sample rates were changed. I couldn't stand it either so I changed to another SPDIF transport, and the clicking are gone. So the R2R 11 is not the only dac that has this problem. I don't have the R2R 11 yet but I could see how the pop sounds come about.