[spytsi]

Quote:

Did you buy this from Audio-gd or from a third party?  If it was from a third party, someone might really have sold you a Ref7, not a 7.1.
I suggest you open up the cover and look inside.
If you purchased it from Audio-gd, then it appears they have decided to give us different chassis because my Ref 7.1 has no hole and therefore no LED.
I'm pretty certain my Ref 7 had it, but my 7.1 surely does not...

I ordered and paid for mine through a third party; still I have no reason to believe I was sold a Ref. 7 instead of 7.1. My order was custom (single RCA; a second BNC instead of the AES/EBU) and the unit I received was indeed assembled that way. It took nearly 3.5 months before AGD built and shipped it to the third party's shop; if they were to sell me a stock Ref. 7, the whole thing must have taken much less than that.
 
I guess the other Ref. 7.1 owners can help clarify this: does the chassis of their units have a LED hole? Maybe some do (no LED whatsoever?) while others don't. Still the unit reviewed by John Darko back in April had both hole and LED light, as seen in the picture:
 


 
To drive a long story short, maybe we cannot tell between Ref. 7.1 and 7 from the chassis alone, unless we remove the top cover. What are the differences inside?

 

[Currawong]

The 7.1, when I looked at the pictures, doesn't have removable ACSS modules in the output stage, nor are the ACSS modules covered as they were in the previous versions. That's probably the easiest way to tell.

 

[IPodPJ]

Spytsi,
I suggest you open up the unit and show us some pictures.  Then I could tell you for certain if it is a 7.1, as I have examined mine and noticed the differences between it and the 7 that I used to own.  Like Amos mentioned, the 7.1 does not have removable ACSS modules.  There is also a better power wiring scheme, and the output stage is different.  It also seems to have slightly bigger transformers, but I haven't confirmed that with Audio-gd.
 
It is certainly possible that some of the 7.1 chassis do not have LED holes and lights.  There have been inconsistencies like that in the past with other units and models and only Audio-gd could tell you why that is (perhaps they discovered along the way that it wasn't necessary or was causing issues), but if that's all it is then fortunately you won't have to worry about getting the lesser sound quality of the 7 vs. the 7.1.  Maybe they discovered exactly what you did, that the LED had a tendency to become dislodged in transit.  A similar reason is why they have now changed the chassis design of their DACs.
 
If the LED should be there than I wonder why mine doesn't have it, even though I would never return it for repair solely for that reason.  You know the unit is on when the LED screen comes on after a few seconds anyway so the LED light would just be a redundancy.  Back when they made the Ref1 and there were no multiple inputs, the LED light was important.  As long as your unit turns on and is working properly then it's probably just a cosmetic issue.
 
If you know where the LED solders to and have the skills to do so, you could always buy one online from Mouser or Digikey or ask Audio-gd to send you a replacement which they should.  It doesn't seem like it would be worth boxing up the unit and shipping it back just for that issue (unless you planned on reselling it later and a potential buyer might want everything intact), as long as nothing else inside came loose.  Obviously that's a decision that you have to make on your own which no one can help you with.

 

[.Sup]

Man when I see the old chassis of the Ref7 again I am reminded how the new ones look ugly and displaced with the oddly placed display.

 

[spytsi]

IPodPJ, I too believe that this whole thing has to do with some kind of inconsistency. Just like you, I wouldn't ship the unit back for that LED only; from what I can tell the DAC works fine, so this practically is just a cosmetic issue.
 
Even so, I'm curious about what's behind that hole, so I'll have a closer look inside and post some pics here. And if it looks like a simple task to install/fix the LED, maybe then ask for Kingwa's guidance.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

IPodPJ, I too believe that this whole thing has to do with some kind of inconsistency. Just like you, I wouldn't ship the unit back for that LED only; from what I can tell the DAC works fine, so this practically is just a cosmetic issue.
 
Even so, I'm curious about what's behind that hole, so I'll have a closer look inside and post some pics here. And if it looks like a simple task to install/fix the LED, maybe then ask for Kingwa's guidance.

Yeah, just make sure nothing else broke off the PCB.  It would be a good idea to ask him anyway about the LED, because we don't know what purpose it serves in the circuit, if any at all other than to light up.
 

 

[Paul Meakin]

This gets great reviews, but seems to be no longer available new (from UK stockists at least); so what else measures up to those of you that have heard and like it?

 

[borrego]

Quote:

IPodPJ, I too believe that this whole thing has to do with some kind of inconsistency. Just like you, I wouldn't ship the unit back for that LED only; from what I can tell the DAC works fine, so this practically is just a cosmetic issue.
 
Even so, I'm curious about what's behind that hole, so I'll have a closer look inside and post some pics here. And if it looks like a simple task to install/fix the LED, maybe then ask for Kingwa's guidance.

One could note that the new NFB7/NFB8 chassis does not have the LED hole anymore. May be your unit's internal parts were prepared for using the new chassis, but somehow installed in the old chassis in the last minutes.
 
You can just think 1 less LED would have less effect on the incoming power, and would result to possibly better sound :->

 

[spytsi]

borrego, this has actually crossed my mind. Not only NFB7/8, but maybe also Ref. 7.1 (at least the last units ever built) were assembled without LED. The degree to which this could result in sound quality benefits is uncertain; theoretically it could, though I believe only marginal that I doubt they'd be perceptible. What I'm certain about is that I explicitly opted for the old chassis...

 

[spytsi]

Quote:

This gets great reviews, but seems to be no longer available new (from UK stockists at least); so what else measures up to those of you that have heard and like it?

Hi Paul. What measured greatly in my decision going for the (PCM1704-based) Reference 7 is conveyed by LessLoss, in their web page explaining why they chose the PCM1704 chip for their DAC 2004 MkII.
 
The reason I trusted Audio-gd's top PCM1704 implementation is easily understandable from most users' very positive feedback throughout this thread. This was certainly the best PCM1704 DAC my sub-€2000 budget could buy.

 

[flecko]

Hi,
if anyone is interested, I am selling a Audio-GD DSP1-V5 Module on ebay for 1€.
Have Fun

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

Hi,
if anyone is interested, I am selling a Audio-GD DSP1-V5 Module on ebay for 1€.
Have Fun

Hi would it fit in the Ref5?

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Hi,
if anyone is interested, I am selling a Audio-GD DSP1-V5 Module on ebay for 1€.
Have Fun

PM me.  I wouldn't mind having an extra on hand.
 

 

[jimmychan]

 
This is the best DAC at this price.

 

[tamahome77]

if anyone is interested, I'm selling my Audio-GD DSP1-V5 on the forum.