anroj
100+ Head-Fier
You have a very nice system. How do you like your HE1 XLR?
You have a very nice system. How do you like your HE1 XLR?
Canada Post was a few hundred dollars last time i checked. Should do it.I've been testing out the HE stack (DI20HE, R7HE, HE9) 2021 version. Best I've heard all my HPs sound but unfortunately the R7HE has an issue with the RCA Coax-input. It starts producing prominent scratching/popping artifacts after about 1 hour of play (when the DAC warms up). The actual blue LED screen starts flickering as well, coinciding with each of these artifacts. The HDMI input doesn't have any issues (but doesn't sound quite as good as the Coax input to me, partly because I'm using an Audioquest Diamond cable for Coax and a mere BJC Series-Fe for HDMI). I've swapped the cables, the DAC, amp, transport and it's definitely the R7HE causing distortion.
Having spoken to Kingwa, he's advised me to send it back to China to have it repaired. For anyone in North America (and ideally Canada), what's a cheap, reliable way to ship to China?
Also, if anyone else has ideas before I do RMA the DAC, I'm all ears. It's definitely the best I've ever heard. Blows away the Yggdrasil 2 USB Gen. 5.
@Shahrose. You need to test with some other source, not only with DI-20HE to make sure that you won't send back the wrong part. The main suspect is R7HE, but it is not 100% sure. Connect other S/PDIF source and a different (even cheap) cable. I also suggest to test USB input directly for quality, bypassing DI-20HE completely (disconnecting all other input cables from R7). Alternative test using optical cable between DI-20 and R7 (again, disconnecting all other cables).
Good point. I did use the DI20HE Coaxial output with the Audio-gd Reference 7.1 DAC for 24 hours without issue. I also used two different coaxial cables.
So basically, with multiple cables and a different DAC the DI20HE doesn't misbehave. To your point though, one thing I haven't tried is using a different transport altogether. I have a DI20 as well so will swap that for the DI20HE. Thanks for the suggestion.
Try different source , i had same issues with my old pc , new pc doesnt have any problem.I've been testing out the HE stack (DI20HE, R7HE, HE9) 2021 version. Best I've heard all my HPs sound but unfortunately the R7HE has an issue with the RCA Coax-input. It starts producing prominent scratching/popping artifacts after about 1 hour of play (when the DAC warms up). The actual blue LED screen starts flickering as well, coinciding with each of these artifacts. The HDMI input doesn't have any issues (but doesn't sound quite as good as the Coax input to me, partly because I'm using an Audioquest Diamond cable for Coax and a mere BJC Series-Fe for HDMI). I've swapped the cables, the DAC, amp, transport and it's definitely the R7HE causing distortion.
Having spoken to Kingwa, he's advised me to send it back to China to have it repaired. For anyone in North America (and ideally Canada), what's a cheap, reliable way to ship to China?
Also, if anyone else has ideas before I do RMA the DAC, I'm all ears. It's definitely the best I've ever heard. Blows away the Yggdrasil 2 USB Gen. 5.
I tried the DI20 and got the same result. I'll be shipping the DAC back for repairs.
However, to add some useful info for others. This DAC is easily the best I've heard. Nothing has come close (check my profile for full gear list). Amazingly black background, micro and macrodynamics, super punchy, tight, textured bass with proper clarity throughout the frequency range. Nothing sounds harsh, everything sounds pleasing and yet it's highly revealing of recordings. It pulls off a liquid yet simultaneously laser-focused sound. Soundstage is holographic and layered with excellent overall size/scale.