[FredA]

Sounds like 4.075 will continue to be my winner then
The external 10mhz had made the sound too smooth on my setup and had to revert back to copper HDMI for a balanced sound - but, it is 60cm so the soundstage isn't as good as my 30cm silver. If the new firmware makes the sound dryer, I hope it will let me go back to my shorter silver HDMI without it becoming silky smooth.

Kingwa will be releasing the same FW for mk1 sometime this week - it's great to see him supporting legacy owners like myself

You will have plenty of configurarions to try, give mine one. With the r7 fws, the external clock gets a significant upgrade but the sound gets a bit too lean in my setup. The 4.076 on the di gives me the perfect blend. But it's not just a matter of tonal balance. From what i hear, i would say jitter is even lower with it. Kingwa has been wanting to upgrade the ext. clock for month as the di20 was using a better algorithm. I am glad he did. Next, i will be trying Nordost-inspired speaker cables, just for fun.

 

[Rockitman]

Hi all,

Noob here looking for insights on the R8 mk2. It's down to a choice between this and the Denafrips Pontus 2. The only review I can find is the Audioscence one which was borderline objectionable.
Would be grateful for anyone's impressions.

 

[FredA]

Hi all,

Noob here looking for insights on the R8 mk2. It's down to a choice between this and the Denafrips Pontus 2. The only review I can find is the Audioscence one which was borderline objectionable.
Would be grateful for anyone's impressions.

Have not heard it. But because of the ext. clock option, the r8mkii is the best of the two. The Pontus has been commented on as being clearly inferior to the r7. Don't remember where exactly. The r8mkii with ext. clock should best it quite easily.

 

[Rockitman]

Thanks Fred.

 

[FredA]

Thanks Fred.

My pleasure.

I was to add the r8 mkii is not so far from thr r7mkii if they stand as they stood before the mkii versions. But only the r7 had the external option. Now i would take for granted the r7 is still the better dac, and take better advantage of the external clk.

If you look at the Pontus, it is obviously a high-quality dac and a very good value, but the r8 mkii has beefier psus, hence the weight difference of 7 pounds.

 

[FredA]

Not saying the Pontus has ordinary psus, only that Kingwa's transformers are a bit more oversized. The killer argument for me is the ext. clock input.

 

[Rockitman]

My pleasure.

I was to add the r8 mkii is not so far from thr r7mkii if they stand as they stood before the mkii versions. But only the r7 had the external option. Now i would take for granted the r7 is still the better dac, and take better advantage of the external clk.

If you look at the Pontus, it is obviously a high-quality dac and a very good value, but the r8 mkii has beefier psus, hence the weight difference of 7 pounds.

I'm not planning on an external clock at this stage, in fact I didn't know they existed until reading part of this thread.
The psus do look impressive.
Also the R8 seems to be more user configurable in terms of sound profiles.

 

[FredA]

I'm not planning on an external clock at this stage, in fact I didn't know they existed until reading part of this thread.
The psus do look impressive.
Also the R8 seems to be more user configurable in terms of sound profiles.

They are many ways to tweak the sound and you get the acss outputs as a bonus. The description of the Pontus says nothing about the output stages while Kingwa's are non feedback class-A, a fancy design which is transparent and smooth.

As for external clocks, you can start with a budget of 200$ buying on Ali or ebay. They make a real difference.

 

[Rockitman]

They are many ways to tweak the sound and you get the acss outputs as a bonus. The description of the Pontus says nothing about the output stages while Kingwa's are non feedback class-A, a fancy design which is transparent and smooth.

As for external clocks, you can start with a budget of 200$ buying an Ali or ebay. They make a real difference.

Thanks again Fred I much appreciate your info.

 

[FredA]

Thanks again Fred I much appreciate your info.

This is the review comparing the r7, but it was not with the Pontus, it was with the much more expensive Venus. Both have been updated since then.

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/audio-gd-r7-2020-version-review-r2r-done-right/

 

[Il Cuffiotto]

Hi all
Today Kingwa posted new double fw's even for my "old" R7HE 2020. The altera part will not be a problem for me, as I did it for past updates, but the Xilinx upgrade confuses me a little...first of all I need to buy the correct blaster. Could some kind heart post a link of a correct item to buy? As for the procedure...Will be the next issue, but I do not think it will be so critical. Am I right? Thanks!

 

[DACLadder]

The R7 2020 and 2021 firmware have been released!

http://www.audio-gd.com/Firmwaredownload.htm

 

[DACLadder]

Hi all
Today Kingwa posted new double fw's even for my "old" R7HE 2020. The altera part will not be a problem for me, as I did it for past updates, but the Xilinx upgrade confuses me a little...first of all I need to buy the correct blaster. Could some kind heart post a link of a correct item to buy? As for the procedure...Will be the next issue, but I do not think it will be so critical. Am I right? Thanks!

I have a similiar Xilinx USB download adapter as pictured below... Purchased many years ago (different vendor). Others may post better deals or more reliable unit. But I have had no problem with mine. Just search Ebay or Aliexpress for "Xilinx USB download"
https://www.ebay.com/itm/164293346924?hash=item2640a5866c:g:zlgAAOSwPvxfEJW-

 

[XavierP56]

For R7HE21, in the PDF there is a picture "Updated the firmware clk_sel_720_721_PLL_N_jed" with the connector hilighted in RED. Where is the 1 Pin ?
Thanks !

 

[FredA]

For R7HE21, in the PDF there is a picture "Updated the firmware clk_sel_720_721_PLL_N_jed" with the connector hilighted in RED. Where is the 1 Pin ?
Thanks !

The correct oriention corresponds to putting the conneceor's indentation in the right direction, as illustrated.