New Audio-gd R-7, R-7HE R-8, R-27, R-27HE, R-28 Flagship Resistor Ladder DACs and DAC/amps

[DACLadder]

My R-7HE MK2 turned 3 months old today. With at least 1,500 hours the sound is consistent day to day. Warmup time is quick. If I was flush with cash I would like to compare to the Holo May and the best Denafrips has to offer. To be brief it just sounds better than my other Audio GD DACs. Top to bottom.

So far the AGD 1.5m power cable sounds good. Still early but a little less on top and more mid-range flesh compared to the DH Labs Red Wave cable. Minor differences really but easily noticed.

The R7HE MK2 consumes slightly less power in operation than any similar predecessor. After hours of operation it is only medium warm on the chassis top. 73W vs 61W for the MK2 R7HE (16% less power).

With parts from FredA I built a 0.2m HDMI cable from DH Labs CAT 8 wire. And did not connect the I2S MCLK signal as it is no longer needed in Audio GD equipment. Hopefully the effort is not to pollute the other I2S signals with the constant 22M or 24M MCLK signal. It works great and like it much better than the $15 Belden HDMI cable.

Have been reading about a global shortages of integrated circuit chips (ICs). It is affecting everything from automobiles to refrigerators. Driving up prices everywhere. Monetary inflation will be bad this year. Glad I am done with buying audio equipment but that has never worked out as a long term strategy!

 

[sajunky]

Have been reading about a global shortages of integrated circuit chips (ICs). It is affecting everything from automobiles to refrigerators. Driving up prices everywhere. Monetary inflation will be bad this year. Glad I am done with buying audio equipment but that has never worked out as a long term strategy!

Global inflation is driven by the NEP (New Economic Policy) or a Bidenomics as described in Wikipedia. Many elements are similar to the post-WWII reconstruction plan leading to printing a hudge amount of money. A specific price hike for hi-tec chips canot be explained by a global inflation, something is happening in the background. What Wikipedia doesn't say is amount of money from this program going to a military. It would explain increased demand for CPLD chips sucking out all production facilities.

 

[XavierP56]

Got probably the latest batch of R-7HE21 if not the latest one Mine (2 week old) isn't too hot after 2 days of continuous use. Warm-up is quick. So far, I've only used it with OS8 and RCA connect. Very happy by results I got from it. According to Kingwa performance is similar to Mk2, good news !

 

[FredA]

Global inflation is driven by the NEP (New Economic Policy) or a Bidenomics as described in Wikipedia. Many elements are similar to the post-WWII reconstruction plan leading to printing a hudge amount of money. A specific price hike for hi-tec chips canot be explained by a global inflation, something is happening in the background. What Wikipedia doesn't say is amount of money from this program going to a military. It would explain increased demand for CPLD chips sucking out all production facilities.

Yep, possible. Or someone is causing a shortage in raw material. I knew it was coming hence my buying frenesy. Tough times ahead.

 

[FredA]

Got probably the latest batch of R-7HE21 if not the latest one Mine (2 week old) isn't too hot after 2 days of continuous use. Warm-up is quick. So far, I've only used it with OS8 and RCA connect. Very happy by results I got from it. According to Kingwa performance is similar to Mk2, good news !

Yep. The mkii is a slight improvment, Kingwa always maintained, and is also a cost reduction move.

The new digital board is mostly soldered by robots, same as the di20, as SMD is used. Thus, the mkii costs less in labor, and also because of the eliminated wiring on inputs/outputs. The mkii is more modern, the 2021 is the old school version.

 

[FredA]

I'm thinking of doing the same. Will keep my eyes open for your impressions.

The Eva needs some burn-in. I am close to 200h. It is quite impressive at this stage. The instruments have more texture than ever, bass impact is also excellent, and the soundstage is big. It's not done yet i think.

 

[XavierP56]

R-7HE2021 old school version is perfect with my Linn DMS loudpseaker from 1976, old school but so good

 

[GU1DO]

My R-7HE MK2 turned 3 months old today. With at least 1,500 hours the sound is consistent day to day. Warmup time is quick. If I was flush with cash I would like to compare to the Holo May and the best Denafrips has to offer. To be brief it just sounds better than my other Audio GD DACs. Top to bottom.

So far the AGD 1.5m power cable sounds good. Still early but a little less on top and more mid-range flesh compared to the DH Labs Red Wave cable. Minor differences really but easily noticed.

The R7HE MK2 consumes slightly less power in operation than any similar predecessor. After hours of operation it is only medium warm on the chassis top. 73W vs 61W for the MK2 R7HE (16% less power).

With parts from FredA I built a 0.2m HDMI cable from DH Labs CAT 8 wire. And did not connect the I2S MCLK signal as it is no longer needed in Audio GD equipment. Hopefully the effort is not to pollute the other I2S signals with the constant 22M or 24M MCLK signal. It works great and like it much better than the $15 Belden HDMI cable.

Have been reading about a global shortages of integrated circuit chips (ICs). It is affecting everything from automobiles to refrigerators. Driving up prices everywhere. Monetary inflation will be bad this year. Glad I am done with buying audio equipment but that has never worked out as a long term strategy

Congrats on the new dac , i assume you are one of the beta testers ?
how is the new phono simulation mode ? you like it ?
i hope it is better than the old TDA1541A mode which i rarely used

 

[DACLadder]

Congrats on the new dac , i assume you are one of the beta testers ?
how is the new phono simulation mode ? you like it ?
i hope it is better than the old TDA1541A mode which i rarely used

Thanks and yes I got an pre-production unit. I tried phono simulate but, like TDA simulation, do not care for the effect. Just think OS 8x is more pure, open, and dynamic. NOS is also very good if you want a slightly warmer sound.

 

[FredA]

The Afterdark triple-output Eva is now fully burned-in after 250 hours. I think. Cause compared to the internal, the gain in sound quality, using the r7 mkii and the di20he, is about 15 to 20%.

The effects are

1. Better clarity, like going from 480p to 1080p (or 720p at the very least)
2. Better bass extension
3. Ultra analogue sound, you would swear it's a hires analogue source playing.

The clarity of course has big incidence on soundstaging and imaging, and on the capacity of following each instrument at will, because of better delineation.

Also, i heard a flute solo on a Chet Baker record earlier. Flute is one of the toughest to get right. My setup nailed it.

This makes all records more enjoyable.

Take note that i have top noch analogue cables (nimak 5 acss), a good mix of quality power cord, including a Nimak x18 on the main power distributor. And i use the Afterdark top spec 50-ohm cable to feed the dac and a 0.5m 4k Afterdark HDMI cable as i2s cable. This matters as the magic is absent switching to aes/ebu as i am burning a new cable there.

So after though times at the begining of the week, the performance has been consistent for the last 2 days. Back to the reference level i refered to earlier. I am beyond spoiled. I am able to forget the daytime nightmare we are all in.

 

[FredA]

When you system is good enough, sound becomes music.

When it's excellent, you are in it, like a fish in water, if you love music as much as i do.

 

[rsbrsvp]

If I understand correctly, my R-7HE 2020 is sonically the same as the 2021 as long as I changed the HDMI and USB boards (which I did).

The new R-7HE MK2 is only slightly better than the R-7HE 2021 if I understand correctly.

Conclusion: I should not sell my R-7 2020 with upgraded HDMI board to buy a R-7HE MK2 for the slight improvement at a very large cost.

I ask my fellow head-fiers to confirm that my calculation is reasonable. Please correct any errors in my calculation.

 

[XavierP56]

Kingwa told me Mk2 and HE21 are similar in features and performance.
I have the R-7HE-2021. I will keep it until it dies. Probably better to add an external clock rather than updating to Mk2.

 

[rsbrsvp]

In that case, I think I will keep my R-7HE2020 with upgraded HDMI board (which is sonically equivalent to a HE 2021) till it dies.

Thanks for the advice....

 

[FredA]

If I understand correctly, my R-7HE 2020 is sonically the same as the 2021 as long as I changed the HDMI and USB boards (which I did).

The new R-7HE MK2 is only slightly better than the R-7HE 2021 if I understand correctly.

Conclusion: I should not sell my R-7 2020 with upgraded HDMI board to buy a R-7HE MK2 for the slight improvement at a very large cost.

I ask my fellow head-fiers to confirm that my calculation is reasonable. Please correct any errors in my calculation.

This is my understanding. I had the 2018 before and i can say that the biggest upgrade is by far the external clocking applied to the dac. And the fact that without it, the mkii is only slightly better than the 2018.

You get more of an upgrade with the Nimak 5 acss.

By the way, has your Nimak 7 come around?