[barbas]

DA7-V2 + Accusilicon + Asy3 + NOS is really a killer combo already as boards and clocks still settle. My system never sounded so right as I'm experiencing now. Kudos again to Kingwa and his team!

 

[Toni-Mang]

@Toni-Mang I also appreciate the healthy output of the AGD DACs. Extra gain allows me to use a passive volume control straight into an amp. As good as active preamps are these days they only add noise and distortion however small.

I have tried many actives...up to well accepted once, regardless of the price...forums have the mayor benefit off reading and trying the best discussed items (shown here!!!)...this might be expensive...but preamp wise, i am through and passive (AMRG Amtrans) is the way to go for me...

 

[comzee]

Does anybody have a recommendation for a good HDMI cable to use for I2S? Looking for something obviously short, well shielded, under $100.
Going to be using it for SU-6 -> HDMI I2S -> Master 7

 

[FredA]

Preamp-wise, and hp amp-wise, i thought "what the heck" and ordered the he9. One advantage with an active pre is better macrodynamics and also better bass control. The rest is pretty much in favor of a passive. But you need something with first class volume control.

 

[Chopin75]

@Chopin75 For a test I would try a passive volume control connected to the R2R7's output. After lowering the volume if you still hear distortion then it could very well be your R2R 7. No distortion at a lower volume would indicate gain stage clipping perhaps. Process of elimination....

I would try to play around with my gain stage and my XLR transformer. To get better understanding of what is going on:

I use this XLR--> RCA stage so that it can be fed into my otherwise all unbalanced equipments.

http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZBIT.html

But before reaching my amp, I have this gain stage in between the ZBit and Amp:

http://www.decware.com/newsite/zstage.html

My chain: R2R7-->ZBit---> gain stage ----> amp


So using the Zbit at maximum I may be feeding 7-10 Volts, and with adding few more volts from Gain stage it may be over 10 V.
Now my amp has volume control so lower it down a lot and thought that may may compensate for the high voltage
But I think the sound suffers this way with too much gain from the source.

I have reduced the ZBit to neutral or even lower than the Voltage level for regular XLR and the gain stage has a little gain. and the sound is more relaxed with no more significant disotortion (can't be sure if there is none, esp some could be recording issue)
But the sound also becomes more relaxed, less harsh (compressed?) and more analogue, vinyl-like.

Now I could try the other way, more ZBit voltage output and less on the gain stage and see if the sound is better/different etc.. May do that soon
I can also take out the gain stage and see what happens.

I am moving so I doubt I can test a lot. And I would send the R2R7 to Magna just before the movers come so one less item to move!

 

[FredA]

Does anybody have a recommendation for a good HDMI cable to use for I2S? Looking for something obviously short, well shielded, under $100.
Going to be using it for SU-6 -> HDMI I2S -> Master 7

Got this one, it's very good.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/HDMI-Cable-...ale-to-Male-Audio-Cable-1M-2M-5M/143330475408

 

[FredA]

It needs 50 to 100 hours of burn in.

 

[comzee]

Got this one, it's very good.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/HDMI-Cable-...ale-to-Male-Audio-Cable-1M-2M-5M/143330475408

It needs 50 to 100 hours of burn in.

Ordered it, kinda sucks it's from China and shipping is 2-4 weeks, oh well. Just using one of my spare HDMI cables that I used for TVs in the meantime. I just got my Master 7 (1704uk) back from upgrade to make it a "singularity" model, with the upgraded Accusilicon clocks.
Took 6 months to get it upgraded, huge ordeal I won't go over, @DACLadder knows all about it lol. He told me it should take around a month of burn in, excited to see what it can do.

I'm using the V3A firmware DacLadder also recommended to me, I might try out ASY, but I'm in no rush.

 

[DACLadder]

@comzee Congrats on your M7S! Glad it is back safely and checked out by Kingwa’s team. It’s going to sound like a different DAC as you went full Singularity+Accusilicons in one go. May take a little time for you to acclimate as well. But you should notice nimble bass, better vocals, more detail, and crisper highs immediately! The soundstage will expand when the clocks get some run time.

I like V3A - it’s what Kingwa recommended to me for the M7S. But please try Asy3 when you and the M7S are ready!

 

[FredA]

Ordered it, kinda sucks it's from China and shipping is 2-4 weeks, oh well. Just using one of my spare HDMI cables that I used for TVs in the meantime. I just got my Master 7 (1704uk) back from upgrade to make it a "singularity" model, with the upgraded Accusilicon clocks.
Took 6 months to get it upgraded, huge ordeal I won't go over, @DACLadder knows all about it lol. He told me it should take around a month of burn in, excited to see what it can do.

I'm using the V3A firmware DacLadder also recommended to me, I might try out ASY, but I'm in no rush.

Don't expect.a huge improvment, differences are minor. But it compares with @DACLadder 's expensive wireworld cable, he mentioned at some point.

 

[DACLadder]

Don't expect.a huge improvment, differences are minor. But it compares with @DACLadder 's expensive wireworld cable, he mentioned at some point.

Fred is correct. One thing that makes a huge difference on HDMI cables is their length. Keep them as short as possible. Of the same cable material a shorter cable will deliver lower jitter than a longer one. And you really only need the highest spec cables if a very long length is needed. My favorite cable is a 0.3m WW Silver Starliight 6. But I used a $20 2m length 4K rated HDMI cable the other day while programming the FPGA and it sounded fine. The shortest cable just sounds a little better.

 

[DACLadder]

Preamp-wise, and hp amp-wise, i thought "what the heck" and ordered the he9. One advantage with an active pre is better macrodynamics and also better bass control. The rest is pretty much in favor of a passive. But you need something with first class volume control.

Congratulations Fred! Missed than on first read!

 

[FredA]

Congratulations Fred! Missed than on first read!

Thanks. I figured, i will not think upgrading stuff much after this. I am thinking long term. I will will sell my m1 and r7 to recup some money. Maybe if Kingwa is still working on a DI, and he finally releases one, i will buy one. I would like it to have a no compromise approach and be as good as the very best out there. Beat the u16 for one. It is not a small task, far from it. Kingwa can figure it out but it has to be worth the investment for him. So i am not sure if we will see a new DI. Everyone gives it a shot and no one seems to nail it perfectly on all aspects, the exception perhaps being the su-6. Meaning at a reasonable cost.

 

[DACLadder]

@FredA Maybe Kingwa will come up with a HE-DI... Kingwa needs to perfect Asynchronous playback to level the sound differences between inputs. If he can solve why inputs sound different he will be digital god! Imagine Toslink sounding as good as I2s (bit-for-bit, same sampling rate). That would save us all $$$.

 

[FredA]

@FredA Maybe Kingwa will come up with a HE-DI... Kingwa needs to perfect Asynchronous playback to level the sound differences between inputs. If he can solve why inputs sound different he will be digital god! Imagine Toslink sounding as good as I2s (bit-for-bit, same sampling rate). That would save us all $$$.

To do this, you need a really robust reclocking algorith and good enough hw to remove jitter to such an extent that you end up having the jitter level of the on board XOs. This is a very rare thing, i don't know of any dac that can do it. But it sure would be fantastic.