[Solurano]

Hello to everybody.I am a new owner of an R2R 2,I have the DAC for a month.Fed by an Allo Digione Player.

It has been playing for 150-200 hours +/-.Sound has been changing to improve for the, let's say, first 50 hours.Now it seems to be stabilized.Or is it going to change/improve further?Just for sharing your experience.
Also have the pops when turning on the DAC and when switching files.They were more noticeable at the very beginning, as they've decreased a lot now and not always there...

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

Hi All,

New to the thread. I'm new to the Audio-Gd lineup. I've read through a great deal of the thread, but not all of it. So, apologies if I'm asking some already answered questions. My Google-Fu and thread searching may have let me down.

I am currently running the R-1 with the 2x TCXO board. Just received it a few weeks ago.

1) One of my sources is direct from Macbook Pro running Audirvana+ => USB to R-1. Supplied cable. No other stuff in the chain. Audirvana+ does not recognize the Amanero card for DSD playback. Any assistance is appreciated. Audirvana + recognizes all my other DSD capable DACs appropriately at their proper sampling rates.

2) I find myself fond of the NOS with the FIFO (2) setting, but... that could change. I am researching some things about the actual function of all these settings and I haven't spent much time on other settings except N21 ... 10 and N31... 10

3) The Sync setting display (3rd number) seems to always stay on 1 - regardless of whether I've attempted to change it. Per the manual, that the default setting is 0. Anyone else experience this? Any concern and/or does it matter?

4) I've looked up PLL and some of its meaning. I understand the car analogy on Wikipedia. Personally I don't hear much difference on or off. Any resources you've found for better understanding that you could share is appreciated. Do any of you alter this setting? If so, why? I'll assume for now that my MBP is a "low performance" source and could benefit from PLL.

5) I'll get into I2S later along with other inputs, but for now - that's it.

Overall, I am enjoying it quite a bit. Lovely piece of gear.

Thanks in advance for any insight or help you can offer. Are their other Audio-Gd threads related to their amps / R2R DACs?

-Cheers.

 

[Chopin75]

Hi All,

New to the thread. I'm new to the Audio-Gd lineup. I've read through a great deal of the thread, but not all of it. So, apologies if I'm asking some already answered questions. My Google-Fu and thread searching may have let me down.

I am currently running the R-1 with the 2x TCXO board. Just received it a few weeks ago.

1) One of my sources is direct from Macbook Pro running Audirvana+ => USB to R-1. Supplied cable. No other stuff in the chain. Audirvana+ does not recognize the Amanero card for DSD playback. Any assistance is appreciated. Audirvana + recognizes all my other DSD capable DACs appropriately at their proper sampling rates.

2) I find myself fond of the NOS with the FIFO (2) setting, but... that could change. I am researching some things about the actual function of all these settings and I haven't spent much time on other settings except N21 ... 10 and N31... 10

3) The Sync setting display (3rd number) seems to always stay on 1 - regardless of whether I've attempted to change it. Per the manual, that the default setting is 0. Anyone else experience this? Any concern and/or does it matter?

4) I've looked up PLL and some of its meaning. I understand the car analogy on Wikipedia. Personally I don't hear much difference on or off. Any resources you've found for better understanding that you could share is appreciated. Do any of you alter this setting? If so, why? I'll assume for now that my MBP is a "low performance" source and could benefit from PLL.

5) I'll get into I2S later along with other inputs, but for now - that's it.

Overall, I am enjoying it quite a bit. Lovely piece of gear.

Thanks in advance for any insight or help you can offer. Are their other Audio-Gd threads related to their amps / R2R DACs?

-Cheers.

Audirvana should be set to DoP, can u see DSD256 on the display page of audirvana showing the USB drive? It should play whenDSD256 is bolded, and no forc sample to PCM, but assuming uknow audirvana well ten I am not sur why. Magna hifi said amenero is difficult with DSD but I know some on this forum has done so with audievana with no problem.

ALSO PLL I tested, it makes the sound more forgiving and smoother, more refined on NOS1, but not necessarily. Note I use R2R7, not the R-1

 

[FredA]

Hi All,

New to the thread. I'm new to the Audio-Gd lineup. I've read through a great deal of the thread, but not all of it. So, apologies if I'm asking some already answered questions. My Google-Fu and thread searching may have let me down.

I am currently running the R-1 with the 2x TCXO board. Just received it a few weeks ago.

1) One of my sources is direct from Macbook Pro running Audirvana+ => USB to R-1. Supplied cable. No other stuff in the chain. Audirvana+ does not recognize the Amanero card for DSD playback. Any assistance is appreciated. Audirvana + recognizes all my other DSD capable DACs appropriately at their proper sampling rates.

2) I find myself fond of the NOS with the FIFO (2) setting, but... that could change. I am researching some things about the actual function of all these settings and I haven't spent much time on other settings except N21 ... 10 and N31... 10

3) The Sync setting display (3rd number) seems to always stay on 1 - regardless of whether I've attempted to change it. Per the manual, that the default setting is 0. Anyone else experience this? Any concern and/or does it matter?

4) I've looked up PLL and some of its meaning. I understand the car analogy on Wikipedia. Personally I don't hear much difference on or off. Any resources you've found for better understanding that you could share is appreciated. Do any of you alter this setting? If so, why? I'll assume for now that my MBP is a "low performance" source and could benefit from PLL.

5) I'll get into I2S later along with other inputs, but for now - that's it.

Overall, I am enjoying it quite a bit. Lovely piece of gear.

Thanks in advance for any insight or help you can offer. Are their other Audio-Gd threads related to their amps / R2R DACs?

-Cheers.

I have not tried the sync setting. Mine is on 0 with rj-45 i2s. With usb, it has no effect, try changing it after selecting the hdmi input. Pll is almost without effect on the r-7. Not sure about the r-1. I prefer without.

Nos2 sounds great indeed. Nos3 as well and os8. All different flavors.

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

Audirvana should be set to DoP, can u see DSD256 on the display page of audirvana showing the USB drive? It should play whenDSD256 is bolded, and no forc sample to PCM, but assuming uknow audirvana well ten I am not sur why.

Thank you. So the R-1 needs to receive a DoP stream vs. native DSD? That would be helpful to put in the R-1 manual / Summary page. If it's there, I missed it. I'll also chalk it up to being a bit of a noob if I should have known that.

I'll check when I get home on Audirvana settings. All my other DACs receive the native stream, but it shouldn't be too tricky. The Audirvana interface is pretty user friendly and Damien is always nice to work with.

ALSO PLL I tested, it makes the sound more forgiving and smoother, more refined on NOS1, but not necessarily. Note I use R2R7, not the R-1

Thank you for the impression.

I have not tried the sync setting. Mine is on 0 with rj-45 i2s. With usb, it has no effect, try changing it after selecting the hdmi input. Pll is almost without effect on the r-7. Not sure about the r-1. I prefer without.

Nos2 sounds great indeed. Nos3 as well and os8. All different flavors.

Thank you. Noted that Sync should not apply to USB. I saw that in the manual, but was unsure since it said default was 0 if it mattered that it was stuck on 1 (on) with USB. I'm still fiddling with learning about pros and cons of feeding I2S to the DAC. So, I'm not quite there yet. I'll swap the input with no source and see if it allows the hardware to switch.

I'm hopefully going to hear the R-7, R-8 and some other gear of his in Foshan in the coming weeks and learn a bit more. This and a few other pieces were the only ones I was willing to try solely based on recommendations without hearing.

So far, I dig it.

Thanks to you both.

-Cheers

 

[Chopin75]

Thank you. So the R-1 needs to receive a DoP stream vs. native DSD? That would be helpful to put in the R-1 manual / Summary page. If it's there, I missed it. I'll also chalk it up to being a bit of a noob if I should have known that.

I'll check when I get home on Audirvana settings. All my other DACs receive the native stream, but it shouldn't be too tricky. The Audirvana interface is pretty user friendly and Damien is always nice to work with.



Thank you for the impression.



Thank you. Noted that Sync should not apply to USB. I saw that in the manual, but was unsure since it said default was 0 if it mattered that it was stuck on 1 (on) with USB. I'm still fiddling with learning about pros and cons of feeding I2S to the DAC. So, I'm not quite there yet. I'll swap the input with no source and see if it allows the hardware to switch.

I'm hopefully going to hear the R-7, R-8 and some other gear of his in Foshan in the coming weeks and learn a bit more. This and a few other pieces were the only ones I was willing to try solely based on recommendations without hearing.

So far, I dig it.

Thanks to you both.

-Cheers

I should clarify that only with Mac one cannot do DSD native. It can only do DoP. Both windows and Linux can do native DSD. Remember Left hand upper corner of audirvana shows u what the DAC is actually receiving. It needs to show DSD. And u should hear pops with changing tracks.

I don’t think u would be able to output DSD native via Macbook to other DAC either. It may state DSD on the DAC but the route is also via DoP.

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

I should clarify that only with Mac one cannot do DSD native. It can only do DoP. Both windows and Linux can do native DSD. Remember Left hand upper corner of audirvana shows u what the DAC is actually receiving. It needs to show DSD. And u should hear pops with changing tracks.

I don’t think u would be able to output DSD native via Macbook to other DAC either. It may state DSD on the DAC but the route is also via DoP.

That is extremely helpful to know. Thank you. I did not know that the Mac could not do this.

I simply assumed (incorrectly) that when the other DACs showed up in bold in Audirvana that it was sending and receiving the DSD natively. I thought I saw the DSD in the upper left, but it may have been upper right. I'll check and report back when I get to the computer.

In my case the Amanero card is not showing with any DSD in bold for Audirvana, so I'll just force the DoP stream to it, and see how it goes. I believe I can only do 64 and 128 on the Mac also, but that does not limit me. I do not have any files beyond 128, and I don't software upsample to DSD.

Once again, thanks for the help!

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

I should clarify that only with Mac one cannot do DSD native. It can only do DoP. Both windows and Linux can do native DSD. Remember Left hand upper corner of audirvana shows u what the DAC is actually receiving. It needs to show DSD. And u should hear pops with changing tracks.

I don’t think u would be able to output DSD native via Macbook to other DAC either. It may state DSD on the DAC but the route is also via DoP.

Wanted to confirm fully on my machine first. Below is what shows and how it plays with autodetect.



File and output to DAC with an iFi DAC
File and output to the R-1

Thank you for the suggestions.

Cheers.
Edited to remove - the incorrect statement re: DoP.

Edited to Add - When I turn off the auto-detection and and set to below. It still shows the DSD 64 same as above, but from more reading, it does seem clear that even though it is showing DSD in the upper left it is using DoP.

Thanks again! Now, the only annoying thing is a "screech" at the beginning of the track and some pops. Others have mentioned this in the past. I think there is a work around. If I find it, I'll post and share with others.

 

[Chopin75]

Wanted to confirm fully on my machine first. Below is what shows and how it plays with autodetect.



File and output to DAC with an iFi DAC
File and output to the R-1

Thank you for the suggestions.

Cheers.
Edited to remove - the incorrect statement re: DoP.

Edited to Add - When I turn off the auto-detection and and set to below. It still shows the DSD 64 same as above, but from more reading, it does seem clear that even though it is showing DSD in the upper left it is using DoP.

Thanks again! Now, the only annoying thing is a "screech" at the beginning of the track and some pops. Others have mentioned this in the past. I think there is a work around. If I find it, I'll post and share with others.

Yes, you got it! iFi is doing DSD via DoP, not native DSD but the amanero is doing DSD converted to PCM, Amanero clearly shows it is not doing DSD, but I suspect this is because you were not doing over DoP (over PCM) then it gets converted to PCM The autodetect does not work for audio-gd R2R for whatever reason, so yah, now if you forces DSD to doP it would work. The screech and pops confirm you are in DSD! The screeching sound may come and go during quiet passages of the DSD as well but usually during the beginning or ending of a track. This defect ironically helps confirm DSD but is otherwise annoying. DSD256 is worse (making headphone listening impossible at times) but not as annoying with speakers.
Interesting to know that R-1 and R-7 suffer from same issue, no improvement after all this time!

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

Yes, you got it! iFi is doing DSD via DoP, not native DSD but the amanero is doing DSD converted to PCM, Amanero clearly shows it is not doing DSD, but I suspect this is because you were not doing over DoP (over PCM) then it gets converted to PCM The autodetect does not work for audio-gd R2R for whatever reason, so yah, now if you forces DSD to doP it would work. The screech and pops confirm you are in DSD! The screeching sound may come and go during quiet passages of the DSD as well but usually during the beginning or ending of a track. This defect ironically helps confirm DSD but is otherwise annoying. DSD256 is worse (making headphone listening impossible at times) but not as annoying with speakers.
Interesting to know that R-1 and R-7 suffer from same issue, no improvement after all this time!

Thank you for confirming. Agreed that the screech is a bit annoying. I'm trying to find some sort of workaround. The vast majority of my music is PCM, so it's not a huge problem for me. I don't hear any screeching or pops after the DAC switches to DSD or during songs (even quiet passages). I can play multiple DSD tracks in a row with no issue. I'll do critical listening later, but mainly wanted to make sure the DAC was working properly (or at least as intended by the manufacturer) while I could still evaluate it for defects at no cost to me (return shipping covered by Kingwa).

Next steps are to learn more about I2S.

- Cheers

Edited to add... At the risk of sharing my stupidity, I will, if it saves someone else a headache. Don't forget to turn off AUs when comparing PCM to DSD using Audirvana... DOH!

 

[Chopin75]

Thank you for confirming. Agreed that the screech is a bit annoying. I'm trying to find some sort of workaround. The vast majority of my music is PCM, so it's not a huge problem for me. I don't hear any screeching or pops after the DAC switches to DSD or during songs (even quiet passages). I can play multiple DSD tracks in a row with no issue. I'll do critical listening later, but mainly wanted to make sure the DAC was working properly (or at least as intended by the manufacturer) while I could still evaluate it for defects at no cost to me (return shipping covered by Kingwa).

Next steps are to learn more about I2S.

- Cheers

Edited to add... At the risk of sharing my stupidity, I will, if it saves someone else a headache. Don't forget to turn off AUs when comparing PCM to DSD using Audirvana... DOH!

There is a way to reduce the DSD noise. Using HQplayer resample DSD without upsampling. I.e. u play dsd128 without direct mode and so it resamples thr file but limit to 128 so the final output is still DSD128. The down side is that there is slight loss in SQ. The noise is gone unless u strain to hear it. U must have great ears as I bearly hear it on DSD128, omly DSD256 and i am a bit deaf on R ear so I cannor hear it on R side with headphone. I think the noise is added during DSD editing for the quiet and silent passages apparently needed for 1 bit signal, not sure how that works, i think the noise is to be digitally filtered out, but audio-gd may not have that.

 

[PLGA]

Hello guys!
About a week ago I bought one R8 and it should arrive here in about two weeks. Im very excited!!

It will replace my R2R-2 and it should be an important upgrade in sound and attack on my system, as I've been told! I hope so!!

Just to mention, I'm not a techinician and I don't understand well the tech part of the DA conversion.

I order it with the Accurate Firmware (V2 or V3??? I don't know) because I understand (and hope) it will the best for my system and my taste in sound.

If any of you have experience with the R8 (or the R7 as it shoud be similar) with the Accurate Firmware, I would appreciate if you could told me wich mode has the best sound for your taste (NOS 1; NOS 2; Ox8, etc). I'm a little bit confused with all the posts published on this regard.

Thank you!!

Pedro

PS: I have to add that a couple of months ago I bought the Master 1 (2017 version) preamp and its a monster. I cannot believe the upgrade in sound it makes. The only con is that the R2R-2 has a low wattage on the ACSS output so now I'm kind of missing the punch of my integrated (now used as power amp) because the total output of my system is like 10/12 dB lower (a lot). That's my main reason to buy the R8.

 

[FredA]

Hello guys!
About a week ago I bought one R8 and it should arrive here in about two weeks. Im very excited!!

It will replace my R2R-2 and it should be an important upgrade in sound and attack on my system, as I've been told! I hope so!!

Just to mention, I'm not a techinician and I don't understand well the tech part of the DA conversion.

I order it with the Accurate Firmware (V2 or V3??? I don't know) because I understand (and hope) it will the best for my system and my taste in sound.

If any of you have experience with the R8 (or the R7 as it shoud be similar) with the Accurate Firmware, I would appreciate if you could told me wich mode has the best sound for your taste (NOS 1; NOS 2; Ox8, etc). I'm a little bit confused with all the posts published on this regard.

Thank you!!

Pedro

PS: I have to add that a couple of months ago I bought the Master 1 (2017 version) preamp and its a monster. I cannot believe the upgrade in sound it makes. The only con is that the R2R-2 has a low wattage on the ACSS output so now I'm kind of missing the punch of my integrated (now used as power amp) because the total output of my system is like 10/12 dB lower (a lot). That's my main reason to buy the R8.

Nos2 is great with v3 accurate. Try them all, you can switch from the faceplate.

 

[PLGA]

Thank you!

I will try in NOS 2 at the beginning and during the burning period because I want to get used to the sound of the R8 burned before I change modes. Otherwise I may get confused.

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

Hi All,

I have been experimenting a bit. Is there an overall resource guide for the R2R products on Head-Fi? I've created a file to try and keep track of settings, firmware etc, along with what I've learned through this thread and others. I find a lot of very interesting information on the Master/Reference 7 thread, but I can never be sure what applies to the R-1 or the R-8 (or even R-7). Now there's a special order set of products from what seem to be older, but fantastic designs around "singularity" and the 1704 chipset.

From the evolution of products, it seems most settings had to be changed by opening the chassis and moving DIP switches. Now, on some of the newer products, it's as easy as pressing a button. Kingwa has been fantastic for me to work with through e-mail. I feel badly that we don't speak the same native language, and I speak very little "engineering". However, I have learned some of the fundamentals and continue to learn. I love the fact that there is so much to "play with". It helps me learn how the product functions and how changes to its operation can affect the listening experience in my own rig. With that.... If folks are kind enough to help assemble answers, I'll try to catalog some of them. Perhaps they'll help others in the future too.

So, what I'm wondering (for now) specific to the R-1 is:
1) Does using the HDMI I2S interface with a Singxer SU1 use the Audio-GD internal master clock, the Singxer's Master clock or does the R-1 recover the master clock from the bit clock? Does this matter re: what options I choose on the R-1's settings? Is this a completely ridiculous question from a person that only thinks they understand how some of this works? If anyone is using a Singxer SU-1 with a recent Audio-Gd product with I2S over HDMI, I'd appreciate any personal insight. Seems like no changes are needed to the settings on the Singxer. Kingwa confirmed his pinouts are the same as PS Audio. I am still trying to find a short HDMI cable, so I have not hooked it up yet. At its fundamental, I am trying to understand below.

• From USB (computer) to Singxer - it is Asynch USB. Clocking controlled by Singxer. Correct?
• From Singxer to DAC, there seem to be a number of options for the Singxer potentially, but I am not sure which one the R-1 adopts or if within the Audio-GD settings I can alter it (or if I should).
  • Master clock from Singxer (R-1 "Slave")
  • Master clock from R-1 (Singxer "Slave")
  • Master clock recovered from bit clock. Seems ill advised, but apparently this is a workable option, and not the best one.

From my reading, it seems that "reclocking" is only needed for lower quality clocks and that one "good" clock is all that's needed. I don't know which clocks are "better" in the chain (the Singxer or the R-1) or if you should just always let the DAC clock be the master. This one topic may have me the most confused of all.

Will DSD play in this configuration over I2S? If so, any of the bugaboos (squeal / clicks) present like with using the Camanero USB? I don't mind the squeal and clicks, but if it's better using I2S, then that's wonderful.

2) Do the NOS / OS settings affect anything in the signal chain when using I2S input or is all DSP / Digital filtering bypassed? I was reading a bit about the bypass setting on other DACs, but I admit I did not understand or retain all of it. If some settings are in effect, which ones? Example, is using PLL advised with I2S? I've read varying accounts.

3) How does a person know which firmware is installed, which firmware is available and their characteristics or intended uses? Kingwa included a USB blaster. I have seen references to firmware intentionally being changed (and supported) for affecting the accuracy / warmth. However, I am not sure if they apply to the R-1 and if so, where to find them.

4) If there is a thread or other resources available re: how to use an rPi + HAT with appropriate software to go directly to I2S vs. using a DDC I would be grateful. My (maybe) goal for a small set up is to use a WiFi RPi + appropriate software as a Roon endpoint and/or to access my Qobuz streaming account. I'd very much like it to sit atop the R-1 using the I2S interface direct from the HAT.

All help from the community is appreciated. I know I'll have more questions as I get going. Thanks in advance for your help.