[FredA]

Some days are better than others. Two audiophiles at my office reported observations corresponding to mine as to last Tuesday was just awesome. And i am still with v3a and the original XOs.

Like @borrego, i will not rush the clock upgrade. No need to. I had some issues lately as many silver fuses were being burned at the same time. The burn in seems to be over now. And i am receiving my M3 around next Tuesday. That will keep me busy for a while. And you better change just one thing at once, it's less confusing. So the XOs will stay in their box for at least a month or two.

 

[Chopin75]

AGDs Accusilicon oscillator promo deal ends March 31st. But don't be the last in line as it's while current supplies last. If you are ordering a new, factory direct DAC (or have one on order perhaps) you can upgrade from AGD's premium TCXOs to Accusilicon for $10 US (each)!! Or buy separately and upgrade factory orders from AGD's standard (stock) XOs for $30 US (each). Kingwa is kindly selling these oscillators at factory cost.

I see Magna Hifi (R7 order page) is offering Accusilicon 318B upgrades (98M and 90M) for 98 euros ($110 US) which is not a bad price and would gladly pay if ordering a new DAC. Not sure what Magna charges if you send your DAC to them for upgrade.

Not sure if I should order them now or just have Magna install them but then I would need to ship the DAC to him though at same time Magna can also upgrade my DAC to R7! hmm..... I may ask them.

 

[FredA]

Not sure if I should order them now or just have Magna install them but then I would need to ship the DAC to him though at same time Magna can also upgrade my DAC to R7! hmm..... I may ask them.

For both operations, it should be a fair deal.

 

[borrego]

Kingwa needed a jumper position on the TDA firmware to control the 16-bit, shallow filter mode for his TDA DAC project. So he chose the Dither jumper on these TDA firmware versions. I suppose Dither function may return at some point once it all gets sorted out for production units going forward.

I hope the Dither function shall return with the official firmware. I am doing live sound mixing in church every alternate week and is quite a freak on imaging. I know some others in the audio-gd Chinese forum find the V3A + Dither On sounding too "stringent", but I find the V3A + Dither On just right with my M7S especially with my speaker setup with room reverb added.

It should also be noted that Kingwa's taste on sound has recently change to prefer more relax and lay back sounding. First the TDA1541AS DIY DAC Kit, then the Master 1 Tube preamp, and now the ASY-TDA firmware.

 

[remoss]

Yesterday Jos from Magna Hifi installed the new Accusilicon clocks. I was hoping for an improvement but wow, that's something else. No burning-in yet so cold out of the box and allready sounds a lot more "precise", more air and definition. It isn't a small difference, it's big on my sytstem.

Using R7 with firmware V3 smooth/accurate...

 

[DACLadder]

@Chopin75 Really like the R7 faceplate upgrade. After using for several months it makes new firmware audition a breeze with instant sound comparisons as you switch the various DSP modes - like NOS and OS. No audio memory needed. My recollections are usually faulty! Have the faceplate display set to blank after fiddling with the controls. Just one horizontal segment indicating power on. Looks nice!

Worthy upgrade for R2R 7 owners...

 

[DACLadder]

I hope the Dither function shall return with the official firmware. I am doing live sound mixing in church every alternate week and is quite a freak on imaging. I know some others in the audio-gd Chinese forum find the V3A + Dither On sounding too "stringent", but I find the V3A + Dither On just right with my M7S especially with my speaker setup with room reverb added. It should also be noted that Kingwa's taste on sound has recently change to prefer more relax and lay back sounding. First the TDA1541AS DIY DAC Kit, then the Master 1 Tube preamp, and now the ASY-TDA firmware.

There are so many firmware variations/ modes that users will migrate to what works best for their use. But I see your need for dithering. As a home user like me I would rather see dithering capability versus TDA DAC simulation. So if you like V3A you still have it until something better comes along for your application. And I like V3A a lot in M7S as it really benefits from V3As abundant highs. Thankfully we can easy enough change firmware. If you need consistency week-to-week I would not change anything without a long audition!

The R7 can seem strident with V3A even with no dithering. Had to work my way up and change/ swap a lot of components (power, cables, warm up time, etc.) to get the highs to sound right. But I can see why users may prefer Smooth at first listen.

Kingwa is a businessman and if smoother products sell more then that is good for everyone. But he hasn't abandoned his customer "base" as he keeps coming up with enhancements for older products. And support and thank him for that! Maybe we need to speak up more if he is not listening!

 

[DACLadder]

After 3 days the Accusilicon oscillators are coming together in the M7S. This morning switched to the internal Singxer F1 on IN6 because the Gustard U16 just wants to output noise.. Really nice sound with the SIngxer F1. Open, dynamic, silky highs, excellent vocals, and much more depth. The M7S still sounds warm but has much less grain and better highs.

I am tempted to try the U16 S/PDIF but remember the serial outputs do not work properly with its PSA 1.4 f/w. Sigh! I am getting really tired of the U16 and its issues! So very happy the F1 sounds great today. I may prefer the U16's sound a little better but operationally i rate it low for consistency.

I don't know about you but I get fatigued auditioning new components/ firmware and endlessly trying to describe sound differences. Ultimately I just want to listen to music, relax, and not think about it. So today will just listen for sheer pleasure and let the oscillators cook. .... .

 

[Chopin75]

After 3 days the Accusilicon oscillators are coming together in the M7S. This morning switched to the internal Singxer F1 on IN6 because the Gustard U16 just wants to output noise.. Really nice sound with the SIngxer F1. Open, dynamic, silky highs, excellent vocals, and much more depth. The M7S still sounds warm but has much less grain and better highs.

I am tempted to try the U16 S/PDIF but remember the serial outputs do not work properly with its PSA 1.4 f/w. Sigh! I am getting really tired of the U16 and its issues! So very happy the F1 sounds great today. I may prefer the U16's sound a little better but operationally i rate it low for consistency.

I don't know about you but I get fatigued auditioning new components/ firmware and endlessly trying to describe sound differences. Ultimately I just want to listen to music, relax, and not think about it. So today will just listen for sheer pleasure and let the oscillators cook. .... .

Is it possible that with the new Accusilicon clock the advantage of U16 (assuming it has a better clock than F-1) would be minimal so F-1 would still be a very cost effective device! I hope there will be a next Gen F-1 soon.

 

[JaMo]

I don't know about you but I get fatigued auditioning new components/ firmware and endlessly trying to describe sound differences. Ultimately I just want to listen to music, relax, and not think about it. So today will just listen for sheer pleasure and let the oscillators cook. .... .

I agree 100%. It is easy to get lost searching for phenomenias in the sound and to forget why we have got these high perfomance gears. You/we must take a rest and just enjoy music ...and let the "urge" for testing to build up. And when we do, we should follow Your own advice..: -Change one thing at the time and stay on it to really get/understand what it is before the next step of change.

So, Scott stay where You are for a while and just enjoy. (I still wait for my Accu's to get delivered. I sure look forward to that.)

/Jan

 

[DACLadder]

Is it possible that with the new Accusilicon clock the advantage of U16 (assuming it has a better clock than F-1) would be minimal so F-1 would still be a very cost effective device! I hope there will be a next Gen F-1 soon.

The Asy fiirmware is supposed to minimize variations in the inputs. But, as reported to Kingwa with the standard XOs, the sound varies with source or, at least, the three I tried - U16 and F1/SU1. The new clocks most likely make every input and source just sound better. Kingwa is looking into all of this and he reported today that he is testing a DSD fix. No word when or how the DSD fix will be applied.

@JaMo We get carried away in this hobby but comes down to music enjoyment for hours at a time. Give the new oscillators a week of burn in before really judging (based upon the U16 with Accusilicons). Sound varies a lot during the first 48 hrs especially.

 

[JaMo]

@JaMo We get carried away in this hobby but comes down to music enjoyment for hours at a time. Give the new oscillators a week of burn in before really judging. Sound varies a lot during the first 48 hrs especially.

Thanks for the advice. I will not rush when I get the Accu-XO's. I will install first in my 27.77 (3xXO's) and at same time preburn for a month as adviced by Kingwa the XO's for the R2R-7.
The reason for this is to have a solid reference during upgrading...so when the R gets its new XO's the 27.77 has settled. I like to have the A-B testing possibility...to know what I am doing...
Well.. sort of..
/Jan

 

[FredA]

Is it possible that with the new Accusilicon clock the advantage of U16 (assuming it has a better clock than F-1) would be minimal so F-1 would still be a very cost effective device! I hope there will be a next Gen F-1 soon.

Very possible indeed!

 

[DACLadder]

@Chopin75 I think Fred is correct. If I were you I would get the new Accusilicons installed together with a new faceplate for your R2R 7. The F1 will sound better afterward. DDCs will come and go as technology improves. I currently don't see a replacement for the F1 that fits better inside or functions as well. Maybe the isolated Amanero board. And you still have the HDMI I2S port in case some future DDC blows away all former rivals. Kingwa stated previously that DSD is more susceptable to clock jitter versus PCM so the new clocks can only help the DSD experience.

Just my 2 cents of advice...

 

[Chopin75]

@Chopin75 I think Fred is correct. If I were you I would get the new Accusilicons installed together with a new faceplate for your R2R 7. The F1 will sound better afterward. DDCs will come and go as technology improves. I currently don't see a replacement for the F1 that fits better inside or functions as well. Maybe the isolated Amanero board. And you still have the HDMI I2S port in case some future DDC blows away all former rivals. Kingwa stated previously that DSD is more susceptable to clock jitter versus PCM so the new clocks can only help the DSD experience.

Just my 2 cents of advice...

Hi thanks for your advice, and I think this makes good sense to send back top Magna at some point as I am not good with soldering and also the whole process is too taxing so better just pay someone and the warranty won't be voided. I am also going to wait if Kingwa comes up with hardware solution for the DSD. He recently upgraded the R2R-11 hardware for the DSD issue and perhaps another hardware is needed improve further? Of course software upgrade would be best. I don't think Amanero board would beat the F1. The new Singxer-SU6 use the same XMOS board but a better femto clock, that is all correct?