[FredA]

The nos mode were improved with v3. And it is pretty obvious. I find they are significantly better than before and not missing as much on dynamics. Very enjoyable sound.

 

[FredA]

Also, i really look forward.to hearing the tda asynch fw. As bonus, it features a tda simulation mode which reduces the bit depth to 16 on purpose. Gotta love what Kingwa has done! The configuration possibilities are numerous!

It might also help fixing the issues i have with the u16 as the incoming master clock signal is ignored. One fewer variable to screw things up. I will also give v3a a try at some point.

 

[anroj]

ON the the older FW V2S I still prefer NOS2, something not right about NOS3. But anyway, maybe V3A or V3S would be different. I have my blaster ready but still need to download my Windows onto my MacBook to do the job, how annoying ! Is there a Mac version, I hope! Funny Kingwa himself uses a MacBook but has to run everything on Windows on his Mac including music playback. he probably runs Bootcamp.

I have the R8 with V3A firmware and I also prefer NOS3 mode and have the "exact" same opinion about it. I couldnt express it better, it just sounds right.
On the other hand V2 boards and Accusilicons made a big difference, as also did the Gustard U16. Totally worthwile!!

Hi, I also have an R8 with V3A firmware and also prefer NOS3. Just seems to be more organic, more fully fleshed out, better front-to-back depth of soundstage, and better voice and instrumental separation. It looks like you are using the Gustard U16 as well. Can you tell me what firmware version and if you are converting to DSD?

 

[DACLadder]

Making my way home to California and just checking in while waiting on the plane. I will be so happy to get home. My audio equipment has been turned off for 9 days and looking forward to relaxing mornings listening to music!

Has anyone returned their V1 DAC modules to Kingwa after swapping for V2s? I need to work on that next week.

I believe V2S and V3S NOS modes are identical?? Only V3A NOS was changed if my foggy brain cells remember correctly. Does TDA support NOS? Never attempted...

@FredA Congrats!! Probably best R7 (HE) on the planet. If anyone one here deserves the finest it is you. Looking forward to a review...

 

[FredA]

Making my way home to California and just checking in while waiting on the plane. I will be so happy to get home. My audio equipment has been turned off for 9 days and looking forward to relaxing mornings listening to music!

Has anyone returned their V1 DAC modules to Kingwa after swapping for V2s? I need to work on that next week.

I believe V2S and V3S NOS modes are identical?? Only V3A NOS was changed if my foggy brain cells remember correctly. Does TDA support NOS? Never attempted...

@FredA Congrats!! Probably best R7 (HE) on the planet. If anyone one hear deserves the finest it is you. Looking forward to a review...

Not sure about differences between v2s and v3s. My memory plays tricks on me.

The TDA fw in asynch version is 100% asynch. It has the same modes available as the others but features the tda simulation in replacement to the pretty useless pll setting. What is amusing is Kingwa simulated as best he could by keeping just 16 bits.

Thanks Scott!

 

[FredA]

What is ironic is my r7 never sounded better as it is sounding now. I might as well just keep it.

Meaning as spare.

 

[PLGA]

Hi, I also have an R8 with V3A firmware and also prefer NOS3. Just seems to be more organic, more fully fleshed out, better front-to-back depth of soundstage, and better voice and instrumental separation. It looks like you are using the Gustard U16 as well. Can you tell me what firmware version and if you are converting to DSD?

I have R8 with V3A firmware, V2 boards, Accusilicons, Gustard U16, Wyred4sound USB Reclocker and Audioquest Jitterbug up in the chain.
I listen only PCM 16/44.1 from my Windows 10 streaming Tidal with Audinirvana+.
It sound "superb" and its getting better with time as V2 boards and Accusilicons are burning in, they just have about 100 hours.
I do not listen with headphones, only speakers.
I also have Audio-gd Master 1, connected with ACSS cables with the R8, Nord Acoustics NC500DM class D power amp, Q Acoustics Concept 500 speakers and a pair of Boston Acoustics M Subs, wich are very good for the price.

 

[anroj]

I have R8 with V3A firmware, V2 boards, Accusilicons, Gustard U16, Wyred4sound USB Reclocker and Audioquest Jitterbug up in the chain.
I listen only PCM 16/44.1 from my Windows 10 streaming Tidal with Audinirvana+.
It sound "superb" and its getting better with time as V2 boards and Accusilicons are burning in, they just have about 100 hours.
I do not listen with headphones, only speakers.
I also have Audio-gd Master 1, connected with ACSS cables with the R8, Nord Acoustics NC500DM class D power amp, Q Acoustics Concept 500 speakers and a pair of Boston Acoustics M Subs, wich are very good for the price.

Very similar setup, although I currently only have the R8 as an Audio-GD product. I may purchase a Master-1 in the near future. I also do not listen through headphones. I have a Windows 10 machine streaming Tidal via Roon/HQPlayer and have been converting to DSD. I have music files as 16/44.1 all the way through DSD256. What firmware version are you using on your U16?

 

[DACLadder]

What is ironic is my r7 never sounded better as it is sounding now. I might as well just keep it.

Nice that you have the older R7 to compare. Give the V2 DAC modules some time. How long does Kingwa burn in DACs these days?

 

[FredA]

Nice that you have the older R7 to compare. Give the V2 DAC modules some time. How long does Kingwa burn in DACs these days?

Not sure. I suppose about 300 hours. Maybe less.

Kingwa and his team have been very busy lately, they shipped lots of r2r 11s, some R7s and R8s, and a few R7 HE as well. With the r-27 having been just released and the 15th anniversary promotion, the next weeks promise to be still very busy. The r-27 should sell very well. The r8 should remain very popular. And the icing on the cake are the new v2 da boards, and the accusilicons and crystek oscillators. The r8 and r27 are huge bargains, with these improvments, they should sell very well.

And what brought me a big smile earlier today is the tda simulation mode.

And the r7-he is a great value too, even at 3500usd.

 

[PLGA]

Very similar setup, although I currently only have the R8 as an Audio-GD product. I may purchase a Master-1 in the near future. I also do not listen through headphones. I have a Windows 10 machine streaming Tidal via Roon/HQPlayer and have been converting to DSD. I have music files as 16/44.1 all the way through DSD256. What firmware version are you using on your U16?

I use PS Audio 1.4 firmware. Ive tried PS Audio 1.6 firmware, but it reversed the channel, I dont know why.
Nevertheless, 1.4 sounds great.
If I understand correctly, you are streaming Tidal 44.1 PCM converting and upsampling it to DSD 256 with Roon on Windows 10. Am I correct?
If so, do you get better sound than just playing PCM directly to the R8? Are you sure?
As I understand, Ladder DACs are the best for PCM and not so good on DSD. Also if you upsample on a PC you could increase jitter as the computer has to work more to do it and that means more noise inside.
Ive read that the best and cleanest way to do it is to minimize the work done by the processor, not upsampling and minimizing internal signal processing as most HQ players do.
May be someone here, with more knowledge than me, could add some light on this issue.

 

[FredA]

I use PS Audio 1.4 firmware. Ive tried PS Audio 1.6 firmware, but it reversed the channel, I dont know why.
Nevertheless, 1.4 sounds great.
If I understand correctly, you are streaming Tidal 44.1 PCM converting and upsampling it to DSD 256 with Roon on Windows 10. Am I correct?
If so, do you get better sound than just playing PCM directly to the R8? Are you sure?
As I understand, Ladder DACs are the best for PCM and not so good on DSD. Also if you upsample on a PC you could increase jitter as the computer has to work more to do it and that means more noise inside.
Ive read that the best and cleanest way to do it is to minimize the work done by the processor, not upsampling and minimizing internal signal processing as most HQ players do.
May be someone here, with more knowledge than me, could add some light on this issue.

The r8 has a dedicated circuit to play dsd natively. So if the dsd contents are of great quality, it will sound really good.

But as you are pointing, the computer working real hard upsampling can be detrimental to sound quality.

 

[FredA]

That said, with v3a, upsampling quality is so good that i let the dac do the work.

 

[Chopin75]

I use PS Audio 1.4 firmware. Ive tried PS Audio 1.6 firmware, but it reversed the channel, I dont know why.
Nevertheless, 1.4 sounds great.
If I understand correctly, you are streaming Tidal 44.1 PCM converting and upsampling it to DSD 256 with Roon on Windows 10. Am I correct?
If so, do you get better sound than just playing PCM directly to the R8? Are you sure?
As I understand, Ladder DACs are the best for PCM and not so good on DSD. Also if you upsample on a PC you could increase jitter as the computer has to work more to do it and that means more noise inside.
Ive read that the best and cleanest way to do it is to minimize the work done by the processor, not upsampling and minimizing internal signal processing as most HQ players do.
May be someone here, with more knowledge than me, could add some light on this issue.

The Audio-GD R2R DACs can surprisingly do DSD very nicely, and shines when the native DSD recordings are great. It is picky as if you have a poor quality DSD it will show as well. There was some issue with DSD256 noice but apparently that has been resolved by using the latest V2 board.
If you have a PC with powerful enough CPU it shouldn't matter if you upsample via HQplayer or do PCM--> DSD. I have tried that and there does not appear to be noise issue and seems to work great. That is not my usual way of playback since I have not paid HQplayer. But if your CPU is weak like an old duo core then yah, it won't sound that good as i did that in the past.
PS: Though I am no fan of HQplayer - there is something not that natural with it, may work better mainly when one tries to redeem some nasty recordings.

 

[PLGA]

The Audio-GD R2R DACs can surprisingly do DSD very nicely, and shines when the native DSD recordings are great. It is picky as if you have a poor quality DSD it will show as well. There was some issue with DSD256 noice but apparently that has been resolved by using the latest V2 board.
If you have a PC with powerful enough CPU it shouldn't matter if you upsample via HQplayer or do PCM--> DSD. I have tried that and there does not appear to be noise issue and seems to work great. That is not my usual way of playback since I have not paid HQplayer. But if your CPU is weak like an old duo core then yah, it won't sound that good as i did that in the past.
PS: Though I am no fan of HQplayer - there is something not that natural with it, may work better mainly when one tries to redeem some nasty recordings.

OK. But there's something I dont understand.
Even if you didnt get any data lost or jitter converting and upsampling PCM 44.1 to DSD 256 on the computer and even if your Audio-gd DAC could play DSD perfectly, what do you get doing it?
If I listen to ALL of my music streaming Tidal PCM 44.1, will I really upgrade the sound quality doing it?
Can you really better the sound of PCM converting it to DSD?
Has anyone done it? If so, is the upgrade really noticeable or worthwile?