[mscott58]

You could use it in OS mode as well, but as per @Torq's findings (see LaY) you would likely not want that. It seems to perform best in NOS mode.

Exactly. It has both NOS and OS capabilities, but the NOS setting is where I leave it 100% of the time.

And not sure what one might not like about NOS when it is well implemented with a solid piece of gear. I'd (as always) recommend listening to things before deciding what one might like or not.

Cheers

 

[Insidious Meme]

Well, I'm sticking to my original opinion that the S19 sounds excellent. It compares favorably against both my DAC-19 and Yggdrasil. Now, the S19 does not have the resolution of the Yggy, but that's to be expected. It definitely has more than the DAC-19. Maybe I got a golden sample or something. I'm really OCD about my music and the sound quality of all my setups. If the S19 was really as bad as has been said, I would have gotten rid of it already. I got it because I wanted to try a discrete ladder DAC. I definitely didn't need a new DAC, just thought it would be fun to try. Wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised.

It's unfortunate that it appears to not measure well in tests. I can only postulate that either the tested unit was faulty, or there is some type of manufacturing issues that need to be worked out. Might be a firmware related issue as well. I wonder if reflashing it might be worth trying?

Reviews say a lot about the person's preferences as well as their intent.

 

[Astral Abyss]

You could use it in OS mode as well, but as per @Torq's findings (see LaY) you would likely not want that. It seems to perform best in NOS mode.

Exactly. It has both NOS and OS capabilities, but the NOS setting is where I leave it 100% of the time.

And not sure what one might not like about NOS when it is well implemented with a solid piece of gear. I'd (as always) recommend listening to things before deciding what one might like or not.

Cheers

I don't want to get too far off track here, but what about the Metrum Musette? Have either of you had a chance to hear or compare the Holo and Musette? One of the things I found interesting about the S19 is that it can go from OS to NOS, and supposedly in the next firmware update Kingwa will be improving the NOS capabilities. I guess we'll see. Maybe that would give me a chance to try out NOS and see if it's something I would enjoy or not. I'm really sensitive to harshness or brightness in the audio stream, so I've been leery of trying it.

 

[Hooster]

I guess we'll see. Maybe that would give me a chance to try out NOS and see if it's something I would enjoy or not. I'm really sensitive to harshness or brightness in the audio stream, so I've been leery of trying it.

One NOS DAC is unlikely to sound the same as another. The sound is a sum of many parts and sometimes the fact that it is NOS may not have much of an impact at all.

 

[landroni]

I'm really sensitive to harshness or brightness in the audio stream, so I've been leery of trying it.

While I haven't tried any myself, my understanding is that one characteristic of NOS sound is precisely that it exhibits less "harshness" or "brightness". One easy way to test this to try the SPS DAC3, which is a FL and NOS TDA1543 design.

 

[wiz2596]

I spent some time auditioning the Audio-GD Singularity 19 recently ... the fully-loaded version (neutral tuning - the "warm" version was not shipping when this was purchased).

It is, without doubt, the absolute worst DAC I've ever heard (and I've done serious auditions on a LOT of DACs).

Words literally fail me as to just how bad this thing really is.

There was a claimed 100 hours of factory burn-in and test on this unit. It had a subsequent 300+ hours of burn-in before I did any serious listening to it. And it had almost four full days of continuous power-on time (playing music) in order for it to warm up before I did my audition (which was done in my own rig).

It didn't matter what jumper settings were used. It didn't matter what input it was driven via. It didn't matter what source material it was fed. And it didn't matter what I used as a source. It sounded consistently terrible.

It was auditioned with both Woo WA5-LE Mk2 (fully upgraded) and iFi Pro iCAN amplifiers, using Abyss, Utopia, LCD-4 and HD800S headphones.

This is not the kind of thing I had come to expect from Audio-GD, and if this is what one can expect from the Singularity-based models then I'd be damn sure to get an audition before you hand over your cash. It would be flat-out embarrassing at $100 never mind nearly $800 after shipping.

Terrible.

is it really that bad? how would you compare this one with a modi multibit? I was thinking to buy one but your review changes my mind

 

[FredA]

is it really that bad? how would you compare this one with a modi multibit? I was thinking to buy one but your review changes my mind

Go with your guts. One's opinion, even unbiased, is not worth your own instinct. It is nice to be right or wrong by yourself, even when being wrong. As for me, i trust audio-gd. Kingwa would not release a bad DAC after all the great ones he produced, no way. I have no interest in telling you this besides the fact that i consider Kingwa a friend and that i like the Chinese culture. They are a great people. My first audio-gd dac was an nfb-8. It was so much better than the w4s dac2 it eventually replaced that i knew it within a minute. Never looked back afterwards and got many other products from Kingwa, never regretting a single one. Some persons have a negative opinion of China in general, this should be taken into account. Audio-gd is not perfect, but it is without a doubt a fantastic cie. And Kingwa is a very honest guy.

 

[landroni]

Go with your guts. One's opinion, even unbiased, is not worth your own instinct.

@wiz2596

^ Please don't follow this advice. While a Modi MB is 250$, the S19 can go up to 800$ with all upgrades. This is a significant amount for many people, and you should think thrice before committing to such a downpayment "on a hunch".

As previously mentioned in this thread, if at all possible make sure you can audition a unit before committing to the purchase, especially so as the officially recommended "burn-in" time is so long ("24 hours X15 days"), and preferably this should be the same unit that you will be purchasing.

My understanding is that the S19 fails at basic technicalities as a DAC. By comparison, the Modi MB does not, and is itself an outstanding value in the market.

 

[FredA]

@wiz2596

^ Please don't follow this advice. While a Modi MB is 250$, the S19 can go up to 800$ with all upgrades. This is a significant amount for many people, and you should think thrice before committing to such a downpayment "on a hunch".

As previously mentioned in this thread, if at all possible make sure you can audition a unit before committing to the purchase, especially so as the officially recommended "burn-in" time is so long ("24 hours X15 days"), and preferably this should be the same unit that you will be purchasing.

My understanding is that the S19 fails at basic technicalities as a DAC. By comparison, the Modi MB does not, and is itself an outstanding value in the market.

Then you get what you pay for. The audio-gd is a no feedback design, with class A output stage, oversized PSU, etc... It it not in the same league. A comparable would be the Gungnir. Just for the digital input circuit, which does not use any off the shelf receiver, and works at high frequency to remove a max of jitter, the S19 is special. No other dac within this price range has so many high-end features. Schiit is also a great cie, for sure and i am certain the Mimby (multibit) is something special. But again, not in the same league technically.

Soundwise, i would not know. But don't forget the S19 is modular and software upgradable, so it can be tweaked/improved easily. And it will be.

 

[landroni]

A comparable would be the Gungnir.

At these price points one would indeed be much better off getting a Gungnir MB (or a Bifrost MB, depending which direction your budget stretches). If you're worried about modularity or upgradeability, Schiit's MB line offers you that. And Schiit DACs may be short on buzzwords and "high-end features", but they're long on performance.

 

[FredA]

At these price points one would indeed be much better off getting a Gungnir MB (or a Bifrost MB, depending which direction your budget stretches). If you're worried about modularity or upgradeability, Schiit's MB line offers you that. And Schiit DACs may be short on buzzwords and "high-end features", but they're long on performance.

I never listened to any Schiit DAC. I have heard 3 audio-gd Dacs. They were excellent in their price range, all i am saying. And i think they are because of the way they are designed and built. I have a master-7 since 2013 or so. Never thought of upgrading it since then, while i kept no other dac for more than 2 years.

I am just trying to balance the opinions here because of the very negative review by Torq, which for me seemed very unfair. No details, no explanation, no back and forth with audio-gd to fix a possible issue. And there were some inappropriate comments made elsewhere. Go read them to see what i mean. PM me if you need a link.

 

[oyster]

Go read them to see what i mean. PM me if you need a link.

He's already there.
& Assuming Torq indeed got a defective unit, they are trying to arrange another unit.

 

[Ancipital]

Soundwise, i would not know.

..aaaaand this is why this "advice" is worthless.

 

[FredA]

..aaaaand this is why this "advice" is worthless.

Audiophiles are usually cool persons. Moderate, open-minded and respectful. Never have any problem with them. Most of the headfi community is this way, fortunately. That is why i contribute to this forum when I can. People on this thread have posted racist comments in another forum. I am not sure they can be fair when reviewing or commenting on chinese products, that's all.

 

[bilboda]

Err, I dunno. I have read some nice reviews on the holo spring lineup and on other audio-gd dacs. It isn't a Chinese thing. It's a dac thing. And you should try a Schit dac, 15 day trial , use spdif and compare. See for yourself...