[motberg]

  Curious about the NOS sound but not sure if it would be worth doing. From my understanding, the sound will get warmer? I quite like the sound already on my M11. 

I think you can get a good idea of the direction the NOS sound will take by changing your M11 to Oversampling x2 mode (I think that is what it ends up at)
Just jumper ATT0, ATT1 and IPSO, (leave the BYPASS jumpered same as from the factory). Check to see if you have any phase problems after changing the settings, but I think this mode is pretty safe.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/773660/audio-gd-master-11-combination-from-master-7-and-master-9/1920#post_12693105
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/Master/Master-11/M11EN_Use.htm

 

[jdpark]

Wow. My wife is making me listen to Norah Jones - Come Away with Me for the millionth time. It's not that I don't like it, but I like to expand my horizons a bit. But one thing I can say, is that the Dac-19 kills, really kills this album, in the best possible way. I'm not even sure the lady of the house quite realizes why all of a sudden the sound system just got 10 times better than our CD player. (Normally I keep the Dac-19 selfishly hooked up to my headphone system, but I decided to share tonight.) Again, wow. Not one note in the album went missing. 
 
I think the only two or three things that can be obviously improved further from here are the bass weight, the soundstage width, and perhaps the micro-detail with some recordings. All of these can be helped with higher resolution files, and some recordings are still going to be better than others. 
 
If you want to hear the DAC-19 do a huge soundstage try out the very special Hi-Rez recording done in South America by MA Recordings: http://www.marecordings.com/main/product_info.php?cPath=62&products_id=176

 

[gk2013]

 
I think you can get a good idea of the direction the NOS sound will take by changing your M11 to Oversampling x2 mode (I think that is what it ends up at)
Just jumper ATT0, ATT1 and IPSO, (leave the BYPASS jumpered same as from the factory). Check to see if you have any phase problems after changing the settings, but I think this mode is pretty safe.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/773660/audio-gd-master-11-combination-from-master-7-and-master-9/1920#post_12693105
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/Master/Master-11/M11EN_Use.htm

 
The NOS sound - in my humble view - difference between 2x OS Master series is closer to 8x OS than the NOS series. The 1x OS on the Master series has indeed some "phase" incorrectness and thus not recommended. The Master series - even at 2x OS - sounds more sterile, the NOS series are more "friendly". The bass is dry on the Master series, the NOS is fatter but as detailed. This gives a total different experience in my view.
 
I cannot tell you which I like most but I tend to say the NOS series are slightly more enjoyable and touches me emotionally slightly more

 

[eschell27]

Recently I have been experimenting with my system in order to see what capabilities it has. Just got a Woo WA2 amp a couple weeks ago and have been tweaking it's sound via various tube pairings. I got my dac-19 sometime in late january 2016 second hand off the forums and it was only a few weeks old, wasn't even burnt in yet. The person i got it from liked it but decided to convert his system to balanced. It had been ordered with 2 rca outputs instead of 1 acss 1 rca which at first i thought was sort of a bummer as i would have liked to test acss between my C-2 11th, but it sounds great over rca and now that i have a second amp it's nice being able to have both running at the same time.
So the past week i've playing around with my dac-19 10th dsp settings since i have a good DDC and reclocker now, partially for fun and also to help decide if i might want to take the necessary steps to find someone in the states, hopefully local to help install the NOS kit if i go that route. I've been happy with this dac from the first notes i heard played through it, but after getting plenty of burn in time (both brain and electrical hah), finally getting decent USB cables, then first an Uptone Regen and now onto the Singxer SU-1 DDC and tweaking the dsp settings it has done nothing but get better and make me grow more attached to it. The usb cables seemed to slightly help as i remember but it probably wasn't such a hugely noticeable upgrade since i can't even really recall details. Once i got the Regen thought it was a nice step up in sound quality and i was also then able to play around with disabling over sampling and PLL on the dsp thanks to it's reclocking capabilities. It seemed to help take some of that digital noise out of cymbals and the like, helped bring more clean bass out, and gave me the glimpse i needed into the world of NOS enough to know i liked it quite a bit. I was more than happy running my dac-19 via usb input with the Regen most of the time with 2x OS -130dB stopband PLL Enabled Dithering Enabled. Then a couple of weeks before the SU-1 was obtained i popped the dsp settings to NOS -90dB stopband PLL Disabled Dithering Disabled. Nice. Yet another pleasant bump in the realistic cymbal timbre, seemed to bring the mids out in a very natural wonderful fashion, and the bass was so much more clean and clear sounding. Next...enter the Singxer SU-1 DDC. Decided to use this chain: PC/foobar > Straight Wire USB-Link > Regen > Curious Cable 200cm Regen Link > Singxer SU-1 > BJC 75ohm Digital Coax BNC > DAC-19 (then to either my C-2 11th or Woo WA2 with hd650 and beyer t1 gen 1) - dsp: NOS -90dB Stopband PLL Disabled Dithering Disabled. ZIIIIIIIING. Boooom. CRASH. KaPOWWWWWW. WhammmmY. OoooOooo! (That was me getting my ass kicked 1960's batman style by the best sounding digital audio system i have heard to date) Given i have not been to any meets or heard any higher end dacs yet and only been in this hobby around a year and a half so far... But it sounds awesome! In the highs that nasty digitally hash type sound you hear in the cymbals is gone. Tone and timbre through the entire audible spectrum just sound so much more real and natural. The bass sounds so tight and clean. Instrument separation is amazing. Soundstage is the best i've ever head it. The Amanero usb input is pretty damned good compared to the few older xmos chips i had heard in the past, but this just blows it out of the water. If any of you have yet to try the spdif input on your dac-19 and would be interested in breathing new life into your dac, i highly recommend going the Singxer SU-1 or F-1 route. It's convinced me there is no need to upgrade my dac-19 to something else. (The Regen isn't really necessary, i just already had it so i threw it in my chain and enjoyed the smaller changes it offered over the SU-1 on it's own.)
I may end up installing the NOS kit on it still if i can find someone i trust in the states to help me, i really don't want to send it back to China or the UK for a few weeks... i don't think i could live without it that long. HaHa.
Anyway, thanks for indulging me this long if you've made it this far. If anyone is wanting to try out a Singxer SU-1 or F-1 DDC i highly recommend checking out https://kitsunehifi.com/ ...Great Supplier state side. A lot faster than ordering from over seas, very knowledgeable, and excellent customer support.... Can help you with any questions you might have and will go above and beyond to help get what you need.

 

[feelingears]

  So the past week i've playing around with my dac-19 10th dsp settings since i have a good DDC and reclocker now, partially for fun and also to help decide if i might want to take the necessary steps to find someone in the states, hopefully local to help install the NOS kit if i go that route.
 
...disabling over sampling and PLL on the dsp
...via usb input with the Regen most of the time with 2x OS -130dB stopband PLL Enabled Dithering Enabled.
... dsp settings to NOS -90dB stopband PLL Disabled Dithering Disabled. Nice. Yet another pleasant bump in the realistic cymbal timbre, seemed to bring the mids out in a very natural wonderful fashion, and the bass was so much more clean and clear sounding.
 
Next...enter the Singxer SU-1 DDC. Decided to use this chain: PC/foobar > Straight Wire USB-Link > Regen > Curious Cable 200cm Regen Link > Singxer SU-1 > BJC 75ohm Digital Coax BNC > DAC-19...
...The Amanero usb input is pretty damned good compared to the few older xmos chips i had heard in the past, but this just blows it out of the water. If any of you have yet to try the spdif input on your dac-19 and would be interested in breathing new life into your dac, i highly recommend going the Singxer SU-1 or F-1 route. 

 
Thanks for sharing your experience @eschell27 !
 
I'm sorry for asking what has probably been asked, but can you share how you set your jumpers for the DAC-19? I just don't know if I trust the site and other documentation, and I just want to make sure I'm making the right changes (and avoiding things that are "bad"). If it's just a website that you followed, please share the link. 
 
I have a DAC 19 Annie and have been trying to find a good cable match for my system. My two cables currently give me a) great highs and lows, mids less prominent, or b) great lows, great mids, "hidden" highs and softened leading waveform attacks. Some of this is the fact that cable A is old and well-used, and cable B is new and still burning in after 100 hours.
 
But, I am wondering if there is any more I can squeeze out of the DAC... 

 

[intrepidcase]

Thanks for the review! 
 
I already have an SU-1 and I am just in the process of ordering a Dac-19 with I2S HDMI connection instead of USB. From what I have read, the I2S output of the SU-1 should be the best sound I can get into the Dac-19, including 24/192. Looking forward to it!

 

[srisaikat]

  Recently I have been experimenting with my system in order to see what capabilities it has. Just got a Woo WA2 amp a couple weeks ago and have been tweaking it's sound via various tube pairings. I got my dac-19 sometime in late january 2016 second hand off the forums and it was only a few weeks old, wasn't even burnt in yet. The person i got it from liked it but decided to convert his system to balanced. It had been ordered with 2 rca outputs instead of 1 acss 1 rca which at first i thought was sort of a bummer as i would have liked to test acss between my C-2 11th, but it sounds great over rca and now that i have a second amp it's nice being able to have both running at the same time.
So the past week i've playing around with my dac-19 10th dsp settings since i have a good DDC and reclocker now, partially for fun and also to help decide if i might want to take the necessary steps to find someone in the states, hopefully local to help install the NOS kit if i go that route. I've been happy with this dac from the first notes i heard played through it, but after getting plenty of burn in time (both brain and electrical hah), finally getting decent USB cables, then first an Uptone Regen and now onto the Singxer SU-1 DDC and tweaking the dsp settings it has done nothing but get better and make me grow more attached to it. The usb cables seemed to slightly help as i remember but it probably wasn't such a hugely noticeable upgrade since i can't even really recall details. Once i got the Regen thought it was a nice step up in sound quality and i was also then able to play around with disabling over sampling and PLL on the dsp thanks to it's reclocking capabilities. It seemed to help take some of that digital noise out of cymbals and the like, helped bring more clean bass out, and gave me the glimpse i needed into the world of NOS enough to know i liked it quite a bit. I was more than happy running my dac-19 via usb input with the Regen most of the time with 2x OS -130dB stopband PLL Enabled Dithering Enabled. Then a couple of weeks before the SU-1 was obtained i popped the dsp settings to NOS -90dB stopband PLL Disabled Dithering Disabled. Nice. Yet another pleasant bump in the realistic cymbal timbre, seemed to bring the mids out in a very natural wonderful fashion, and the bass was so much more clean and clear sounding. Next...enter the Singxer SU-1 DDC. Decided to use this chain: PC/foobar > Straight Wire USB-Link > Regen > Curious Cable 200cm Regen Link > Singxer SU-1 > BJC 75ohm Digital Coax BNC > DAC-19 (then to either my C-2 11th or Woo WA2 with hd650 and beyer t1 gen 1) - dsp: NOS -90dB Stopband PLL Disabled Dithering Disabled. ZIIIIIIIING. Boooom. CRASH. KaPOWWWWWW. WhammmmY. OoooOooo! (That was me getting my ass kicked 1960's batman style by the best sounding digital audio system i have heard to date) Given i have not been to any meets or heard any higher end dacs yet and only been in this hobby around a year and a half so far... But it sounds awesome! In the highs that nasty digitally hash type sound you hear in the cymbals is gone. Tone and timbre through the entire audible spectrum just sound so much more real and natural. The bass sounds so tight and clean. Instrument separation is amazing. Soundstage is the best i've ever head it. The Amanero usb input is pretty damned good compared to the few older xmos chips i had heard in the past, but this just blows it out of the water. If any of you have yet to try the spdif input on your dac-19 and would be interested in breathing new life into your dac, i highly recommend going the Singxer SU-1 or F-1 route. It's convinced me there is no need to upgrade my dac-19 to something else. (The Regen isn't really necessary, i just already had it so i threw it in my chain and enjoyed the smaller changes it offered over the SU-1 on it's own.)
I may end up installing the NOS kit on it still if i can find someone i trust in the states to help me, i really don't want to send it back to China or the UK for a few weeks... i don't think i could live without it that long. HaHa.
Anyway, thanks for indulging me this long if you've made it this far. If anyone is wanting to try out a Singxer SU-1 or F-1 DDC i highly recommend checking out https://kitsunehifi.com/ ...Great Supplier state side. A lot faster than ordering from over seas, very knowledgeable, and excellent customer support.... Can help you with any questions you might have and will go above and beyond to help get what you need.

 
Hi,
 
How did you set dsp like that? For - NOS, -90dB stopband, PLL Disabled, Dithering Disabled - You need to use 5 jumpers in total, for NOS it requires 2 jumper, -90dB stopband need 1 jumper, PLL & Dithering disabling requires 1 jumper for each. But Audio-Gd supplied me only 4 jumpers to use. Yes, I have additional jumper in stock, but is it safe to use additional jumper? Please confirm whether you are using 5 jumpers or not? Please share the picture of your jumper settings or describe them if possible.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Reading this string with great interest. A few months ago, if I could've found a recent-vintage DAC 19 w/2 RCA outs, I would've snapped it up, then sent to either Audio GD or Magna HiFi/Netherlands for the NOS conversion (already knew that's what I wanted). But never found one, so I purchased a new NOS 19 from Magna HiFi in early August. Can't say enough about Magna HiFi & Jos...he was a real pleasure to deal with.
 
Anyway, w/time away for vaca, the NOS 19 has been cooking for ~275 hrs (low-volume classical music); source:
   -- coax via a fine-sounding cable someone recommended (1.3 meter Oyaide DR-510 ... well worth the $$)
   -- from a Musical Fidelity VLink192. 
 
I know from the DAC 19 string there will be more improvement at the 400+ burn-in mark, but I finally gave in & did some headphone listening for the 1st time the other day:
   -- Fidelio X2s
   -- Takstar HD6000s (rec'd same day, not even burned in yet)
   -- Matrix M Stage HPA-1 v.2 (and/or)
   -- Lake People G109A
 
Damn! This is easily the best digital I've ever heard. Saying it sounds "analogue" is a "kinda/sorta" way to describe it (I had a high end TT & cartridges years ago & treasure that vinyl sound) -- but really, it is its own unique sound: full, tonally rich, yet wide-band, top to bottom, and non-fatiguing in upper mids & treble (the bete noir of digital in my experience), to the point that I simply don't fear the volume dial like I once did. My sub blew up a month ago, so hard for me to check on speakers, but at least via headphones, the bass sounds quite rich and "there." A very few Hz at the bottom may be slightly lower in volume; won't know 'til I do more listening. Even so, the overall improvement is so worth it. BTW, my previous digital source was a Peachtree Audio DAC iTx which, despite its humble cost & specs, was the best digital I'd heard IMS, and very good for me. Still, the NOS 19 is another league altogether.
 
I'm very interested in eschell27's comments about the Singxer digital interfaces. I've been pretty happy w/the VLink192--especially since installing the Oyaide DR-510 cable, which is audibly superior to the BJ cable I had been using. Then again, I've been reading what people say about the Singxers...hell, I paid as much for that new coax cable as an F-1 cost (!?!). May have to try an F-1. And note-to-self: need to try connecting my Regen to the VLink192, not the USB input of the NOS 19 (which I'm not using!).
 
[feelingears -- what kind of cables are you referring to? standard interconnect? or coax?]

 

[feelingears]

Should've been more clear: Chord/Naim interconnect, RCA to DIN.

I use a mRendu into the Amarro USB via Sonore/Cardas adapter.

I picked up the DAC-19 used so no box, jumpers, etc. Wish it were easier to do this but the above post suggests it's not just flipping some dip switches.

 

[Pharmaboy]

RCA to DIN? Hmmm....can't help w/that. Not familiar w/that kind of cabling.
 
As for jumpers & how to use them, I read this entire string at one point, and I'm almost certain both topics were covered (I'm told there's a way to search a thread like this...?).
 
I sorta recall someone writing that jumpers of the type you need can be found at Radio Shack (?). Re where to attach them, Audio GD website has pretty explicit text instructions (admittedly in Chinese English, but still somewhat do-able IMO) + pictures. People on this string seem to have used those instructions as a jump-off point with some success:
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/DAC1911/DAC19EN_Use.htm
 
I'm actually in the same boat w/the NOS 19 (ie, no jumpers & no instructions). Unlike DAC 19, Audio GD's instructions for jumpers on the NOS 19 make absolutely zero sense; I wouldn't even attempt it w/o the guidance of someone who'd succeeded already. But luckily this is already an NOS unit + the sound is good enough so I just don't care...
 
Yeah, dip switches would be terriific. Then again, that wouldn't suit Audio GD's 1970's dreadnaught product-design style at all...

 

[eschell27]

   
Hi,
 
How did you set dsp like that? For - NOS, -90dB stopband, PLL Disabled, Dithering Disabled - You need to use 5 jumpers in total, for NOS it requires 2 jumper, -90dB stopband need 1 jumper, PLL & Dithering disabling requires 1 jumper for each. But Audio-Gd supplied me only 4 jumpers to use. Yes, I have additional jumper in stock, but is it safe to use additional jumper? Please confirm whether you are using 5 jumpers or not? Please share the picture of your jumper settings or describe them if possible.

 
 
Hey srisaikat,
 
Yeah i'm using 5 jumpers. ( Jumpers on IPS0 - IPS1 - ATT1 - DITH - PLLEN ) I ended up with a small bag of them from AGD at one point so i had a bunch and had never read anywhere about what NOT to do in regards to how many could be on there at once. I have had zero problems with mine this way.
A good little write up by one of our own, head-fi'er Luckbad on his one of his sites, is a good reference point. It's based around the newer Master 11 but the info is the same for the dac-19 10th Ann.
 http://www.basshead.club/audio-gear/master-11-info/ 
Give that a looksy. 

 

[eschell27]

I have an I2s input module on it's way for my dac-19 as well. Plan to swap out the usb for I2s and run a nice .3m hdmi cable from the SU-1 to dac-19... will be interesting to see if it makes much of a difference. I2s certainly seems to be generally superior to bnc/rca coax spdif. Still need to consult with a friend who lives locally to see if he would be willing to do the NOS conversion if i ordered the kit. Certainly hope so... I think if i were to get it converted in combo with I2s input and my new input chain... Would make it the ultimate dac-19 setup for me.
Next year i might consider a dac upgrade even though i'm really happy with my current system. Just can't curb my curiosity about a few dacs out there... NOS-7. Metrum Musette and Menuet. HoloAudio Spring DAC Kitsune Tuned Edition. Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 MK II SE+. Schiit Yggy & Gumby. 

 

[srisaikat]

  Cutting/Soldering was easy.
 
New NOS firmware. I did different way than AGD.
 
1. Dowload and install whole package of Altera Quartus SW 12.1 - around 4GB. 
2. Connect USB Blaster to PC and let Quartus 12.1 recognize USB Blaster
3. Try to upload the "output.jic" with USB Blaster connected, DAC19 Disconnected. The process will stop.
4. Continue the way suggested by AGD (connecting USB Blaster to dac etc.) and perform firmware update using Quartus SW.
 
Steps 1,2,3 you can do without opening DAC19 - reversible steps.
 
This way is IMO easier than using chinese cloud which is reccomended by Audio GD.

I find the instructions on Audio-gd for NOS conversion quite confusing like -"Cut one resistor on top side, it had MCK mark close it". I can find the MCK marked resistor, what is the exactly meaning of cut the resistor on top side? Which side of resistor should I cut? What is the top side of a resistor? Will you please explain? or Anybody please come forward with illustration?

 

[motberg]

 
I find the instructions on Audio-gd for NOS conversion quite confusing like -"Cut one resistor on top side, it had MCK mark close it". I can find the MCK marked resistor, what is the exactly meaning of cut the resistor on top side? Which side of resistor should I cut? What is the top side of a resistor? Will you please explain? or Anybody please come forward with illustration?

I think someone posted detailed photos of this... maybe on the thread for the NOS7, or Master 7... or Master 11..
Sorry I do not right now have the exact location, but I am pretty sure I saw it at HF no too long ago and I monitor those 3 threads..
 
Here are the most recent posts from those threads... it is maybe in the NOS7 thread.. if I can find it, I will revise later
http://www.head-fi.org/t/773660/audio-gd-master-11-combination-from-master-7-and-master-9/2055#post_12881005
http://www.head-fi.org/t/806397/audio-gd-new-nos-7-2016-edition-impression-thread/180#post_12879680
http://www.head-fi.org/t/625793/audio-gd-master-7-discrete-fully-balanced-dac-pcm1704/3315#post_12796887

 

[Bombik]

Hi, i did the mod lately.
top side - IMO AGD want to avoid removing the whole board from the box hence you should cut it on top side of the PCB. Cut - I understand to remove it, cut on both sides.
I can make a photo of final modification..
 
BTW sound is imo better than on old DAC19. 

I ended on standard setting - no jumpers.
These days I play with different upsampling setups.