[Toni-Mang]

I see. Which transport do you like most between the two?

Ps audio pwt...even if the gustard u16 sounds better than the isolated amanero (the reason for the hdmi card on 5), the ps audio pwt is a class of its own imho.

 

[tumpux]

Ps audio pwt...even if the gustard u16 sounds better than the isolated amanero (the reason for the hdmi card on 5), the ps audio pwt is a class of its own imho.

do you need a specially configured hdmi cable to connect pwt to the dac?

 

[Toni-Mang]

do you need a specially configured hdmi cable to connect pwt to the dac?

No, the cable is a normal aq hdmi. Plug and play with asy3...

 

[remoss]

@remoss Asy will be a real experience! Remember Asy(3) only has one NOS mode (besides OS 1x). Same for all 3 settings on the display. But NOS is all new for Asy vs V3.

I am still trying to get used to tda_asy and am not yet convinced that it sounds better than V3 NOS3, which was my favorite.
I hope that the tda_syn is also released for my dac (I2S on input 4), I have a Singxer SU1 with sOTM sCLK-EX built in, so I can benefit from that.

 

[DACLadder]

@remoss With the older hardware it took me a while to work up to the Accurate versions of V2 and V3. The Accurate highs sounded aggressive in comparison to Smooth. I spent months trying power cables, XLR, and HDMI cables when using Accurate with V1 DAC hardware. Took some time. After all, Kingwa shipped Smooth (V2 then V3) on new DACs until Asy came along with the V2 DAC boards. Big switch as Kingwa says "In the simple, you can consider tda_Asy is the Accurate version and the tda_Syn is the Smooth version."

But don't let our opinions sway firmware decisions. I try to audition them all. Turned on NOS yesterday with Asy3 and like what I hear vs OS. Many thanks for sharing your ideas. Gave me the notion to give NOS a fair trial!

 

[Toni-Mang]

Nos in asy3 is really nice sounding, in tda asy i found it is a little bit cheeky in the mids , i am not a nos fan due to potential out band noise, -6db is not much for redbook...or am i wrong?
But i will give it a try too, one digital filter less, might be a phase benefit...

 

[DACLadder]

You are correct, -6dB analog is not much filtering for digital audio. Plus analog filters have phase shifts where digital filters can be designed with minimal phase shift. But Asy3 NOS sounds good. Not overly warm with plenty of silky highs. Good tight bass. Vocals have an ease and balance that is really nice. CDs sound great.

With the hardware mods I stayed on OS 8x and TDA Asy. It would have been too confusing to switch around during run-in. Nice to be free to experiment! I also like OS 1x for high-rez PCM audio and OS 8x for CDs.

 

[guzz46]

So out of curiosity I thought I would see how MPD compared to hqplayer, to my surprise it was more dynamic, but it didn't sound quite as polished with the R8 in NOS, so I tried OS 8x and that brought some polish back, then I tried PLL just for kicks, and it actually sounded really good, even more polished, MPD feeding the R8 in OS 8x with PLL sounds better than hqplayer feeding the R8 in both NOS and OS 8x, very surprising considering hqplayer cost over $400 and MPD is free, apparently PLL in the TDA firmware's has something to do with simulating the sound of the Philips TDA1541A chip.

 

[remoss]

@remoss With the older hardware it took me a while to work up to the Accurate versions of V2 and V3. The Accurate highs sounded aggressive in comparison to Smooth. I spent months trying power cables, XLR, and HDMI cables when using Accurate with V1 DAC hardware. Took some time. After all, Kingwa shipped Smooth (V2 then V3) on new DACs until Asy came along with the V2 DAC boards. Big switch as Kingwa says "In the simple, you can consider tda_Asy is the Accurate version and the tda_Syn is the Smooth version."

But don't let our opinions sway firmware decisions. I try to audition them all. Turned on NOS yesterday with Asy3 and like what I hear vs OS. Many thanks for sharing your ideas. Gave me the notion to give NOS a fair trial!

Yeah, trying out all the possibilities is very time consuming. But it's just that what makes the audio hobby so mutch fun. My R2R7 dac has developed big time: new front, new V2 dac boards, new oscillators and it became a real R7
Next week or so, Magna Hifi is going to upgrade the R7 further on and replace all the capacitors on the digital board and change the internal copperwires for silverwire.

Every time i try OS, i find it spatially, but it feels kinda "fake", especially OS8. Lower OS like 4, 2 and 1 sounds less fake. NOS sounds more real to my ears, with more than enough depth and width. Also more natural and organic sound with acoustic instruments and voices. At least in my set that is, it's all a matter of synergy and cooperation of all the audio equipment in the set.

 

[DACLadder]

Next week or so, Magna Hifi is going to upgrade the R7 further on and replace all the capacitors on the digital board and change the internal copperwires for silverwire.

You are going to replace all caps on the digital board? There's a lot of them the reason for the question. Which ones are you changing?

 

[remoss]

My mistake, not all of them. I have two pictures, one of the main digital board and the second with one of the V2 DAC boards. The purple caps are the new ones. (pics are borrowed from Jos from Magna, i hope he doesn't mind...)

EDIT: removed pictures on request

 

[DACLadder]

@remoss Thank you... Looks like some the mid-sized Nover electrolytic caps are replaced with a different type. Let us know how that works out!

 

[remoss]

@DACLadder, i removed the pictures on request, the guys from Magna worked on this mod for months to get to the right caps on the right place, so i understand that. But they assured me that the leap forward is big!
Off course I will keep you posted how things work out.

 

[jimmychan]

Does the latest FW has the TDA emulations? Or does it has 3 NOS mode?

 

[DACLadder]

Does the latest FW has the TDA emulations? Or does it has 3 NOS mode?

Asy3 shares many features and functions as TDA Asy. So yes, TDA simulation is included.

For TDA Asy/ Asy 3 there is only one NOS mode and new for TDA. V3 has three NOS modes in comparison.

Kingwa did optimize clocking/ timing for Asy3 PCM. And DSD is all new for Asy3.