[SP Wild]

Perhaps in order for TI to find 4 thousand of the best BB1704 and grade them as UK needs a production run of 20 thousand processors...which may not be feasible according to overall demand?
 
Happy enough to have bagged one of the last of the dying breeds.

 

[IPodPJ]

Guess those Audio-gd DACs will actually go up in price now on the used market.

 

[elwappo99]

Guess those Audio-gd DACs will actually go up in price now on the used market.

Glad I snatched up a Ref1..... Not that I'm ever going to sell it.

 

[IPodPJ]

So is TI never going to make another 1704UK chip?  If they eventually do will Audio-gd dis-discontinue those DACs?

 

[Currawong]

All the PCM1704-based DACs are discontinued last I looked at their price list.

 

[Nada]

Has anyone with a Reference7 been able to compare it with one of Kingwa's Delta-sigma DA chip flagship DAC's like the NFB-7 (WM8741) or NFB-8 (ES9018)?
 
Im curious as Ive never heard a Delta-sigma based DAC sound right compared to R2R DA chip DAC's with PCM1704 / PCM62 / TDA1541 / TDA1543 etc.
 
Maybe Kingwa can get a modern Delta-sigma chip to sound good using fastidious power regulation and I/V stages?
 
Anyone?

 

[Denys]

 
Quote:

Has anyone with a Reference7 been able to compare it with one of Kingwa's Delta-sigma DA chip flagship DAC's like the NFB-7 (WM8741) or NFB-8 (ES9018)?
 
Im curious as Ive never heard a Delta-sigma based DAC sound right compared to R2R DA chip DAC's with PCM1704 / PCM62 / TDA1541 / TDA1543 etc.
 
Maybe Kingwa can get a modern Delta-sigma chip to sound good using fastidious power regulation and I/V stages?
 
Anyone?

I'll tell you soon.... I ordered an NFB-8 (WM8741 by the way !!) last Thursday... I'll compare it with my REF-5...
 
I'll probably get the new chassis too.

 
Denys

 
 

 

[dukja]

Thanks for the upcoming report.  Unfortunately, Ref-5 is not at Ref-7 level.  So, it is still not a direct comparison.
 
Quote:

 
I'll tell you soon.... I ordered an NFB-8 (WM8741 by the way !!) last Thursday... I'll compare it with my REF-5...
 
I'll probably get the new chassis too.

 
Denys

 
 

 

 

[Denys]

Quote:

Thanks for the upcoming report.  Unfortunately, Ref-5 is not at Ref-7 level.  So, it is still not a direct comparison.
 


 

I realize that.... but the sound characteristic is the same....on a technical point of view.... It's the same chip as the REF-7 and designed by the same person.... At least, it good give a good idea...
 
Denys
 
 

 

[haloxt]

deleted post.

 

[sorue]

haloxt, it's a good thing i caught you here! it's been a crazy month for me - i spent the last few weeks doing missionary work in cambodia, and i had no access to the internet. I'm so sorry that you didn't receive it, i had no idea at all. Got back a couple of days ago, still trying to catch up on my backlog of mails.I got my sister to send your chip out.
 
I sure hope it's a case of her forgetting to send out your chip and not the dsp1 being lost in transit. Let me check it out with her and/or the courier. If it is really lost, i'll reimburse you what you paid for a new chip. Please accept my sincere apologies, it must have been frustrating for you. My bad

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

I realize that.... but the sound characteristic is the same....on a technical point of view.... It's the same chip as the REF-7 and designed by the same person.... At least, it good give a good idea...
 
Denys

No, it's not really relevant.  The difference between the NFB-7 or NFB-8 and the Ref 7 could be as much a difference or less of a difference than the Ref 7 to Ref 5.  There's really no way you can tell.  Many would argue the difference in power supply implementation is much larger than the actual DAC chips used.  There is no way you'll find an answer to your question unless you're directly comparing those two DACs in question at matched levels.
 
I'm just glad I was able to sell my Ref 7 and snatch up a Ref 7.1 before it was discontinued because it certainly is the best DAC they have ever made.
 
I do hope though that Kingwa has spare PCM1704UK chips as backups for repair purposes in case any of them ever fail in DACs that have already been sold.
 

 

[Denys]

 
Quote:

No, it's not really relevant.  The difference between the NFB-7 or NFB-8 and the Ref 7 could be as much a difference or less of a difference than the Ref 7 to Ref 5.  There's really no way you can tell.  Many would argue the difference in power supply implementation is much larger than the actual DAC chips used.  There is no way you'll find an answer to your question unless you're directly comparing those two DACs in question at matched levels.
 
I'm just glad I was able to sell my Ref 7 and snatch up a Ref 7.1 before it was discontinued because it certainly is the best DAC they have ever made.
 
I do hope though that Kingwa has spare PCM1704UK chips as backups for repair purposes in case any of them ever fail in DACs that have already been sold.
 

OK then....I thought that the sound could be close to the REF 7. Kingwa told me of course the REF 7 was his best at that time.... anyway... I use my REF 5 with my HD800 and my Woo 6SE only, and I am more than happy with it... 
 
Denys 

 

[txhifi]

Hello everybody: I am new here and need help. I just got the Ref 7.1 with new chassis, but the selector buttons dont work. Anyone know what the problem is?
 
help appreciated.
David.

 

[LarsHP]

Hello everybody: I am new here and need help. I just got the Ref 7.1 with new chassis, but the selector buttons dont work. Anyone know what the problem is?
 
help appreciated.
David.

I received my Ref 7.1 a week ago - shipped around May 22nd.
The selector knob is working, but I have to turn it more than just one click to make it shift input.
No big deal. Also - the DAC was shipped with extra selector and knob, so if I want, I can switch to the spare set.
Don't know about any new chassis though. Mine looks like the one on the home page.
If anyone want to see the Ref 7.1 page it's still there, but there is no links to it.
You might find it by Google'ing it. If not I'll post it here if anyone's interested.