ItsAllInMyHead
100+ Head-Fier
Your post inspired me to swap the pins on my recently procured r8he and i went from latest firmware to old R8TDA_Asy.jic. got to say you are right. This fw is more natural and warmer than any of the latest ones those after pin swap and R8asy3. It has much more smooth and has more bass and less edges on tones although soundstage is smaller and more congested. It reminded me of my old dac19 in some way which i used to love. Thanks very much. I was always wondering why my dac sounds unlike any audiogd that i was used to. I was lazy enough to take off the cover and swap the pins and downgrade to pre r8asy3 firmwares but now i feel its worth for anyone who finds latest firmwares bright and edgy.
I am so glad that the effort paid off in a positive way. I often find that my tastes differ from others and/or that I often can't find too many commonalities with others. I'm a firm believer in that we all have our own ears, gear, and brains (and rooms). The only (very slight) difference in our experiences is that I actually get an expanded soundstage with the "older" firmware. That could be (and is likely) due to other effects. BTW - I should have clarified earlier if I already didn't that this is with a loudspeaker system. I find commonality in tone across both loudspeakers and HPs, but with HPs, I find it hard to discern things related to soundstage.
I try to avoid confirmation / expectation bias - but I'll ask a leading question and offer a statement either way. If you can recall - how do you find the overall "naturalness" of human voices and stringed instruments (particularly in complex pieces and/or heavy chords)? To me and my ears the "older" firmware shines in this regard (in my system). When you swapped over, did you find yourself enjoying vocals / choirs / harmonies and complex musical passages with strings a bit more?
Again, thrilled it worked out well for you.
Separate note - as is typical of Kingwa, when I shared my observations via e-mail, he was very quick to respond. Past experiences indicate that he'll be back to me soon enough with information and/or a few things for me to try. He strives for exceptional customer service. I suspect that he wants the pops to go away just as badly as I.
If I learn anything - I'll be sure to share here.