[PhMZ4]

Having personally a R8HE 2019 with the 2021 upgrade and a friend of mine a combo DI20HE/R7HE2020 with 2021 upgrade, I could compare them directly on the same system (Parasound JC2 pream/ 2x JC1 monoblocs) and I have to say they are very very close, the differences being very subtle for a trained listener and nearly impossible for a non initiated person….

Then I’m fully on the side of Fred, as the difference starts to become quite tangible when using a decent external clock (in this case a Gustard C18), were a simple A/B comparison is immediately highlighting the benefits of the better clock, making a clear difference to the R8HE.

The question which remains is, would an R8HE 2021 with an ext. clock input be able to make this quantic step up in a similar way the R7HE is able to handle it? (will sadly never be possible to be tested, unless using MKII models)

 

[FredA]

Having personally a R8HE 2019 with the 2021 upgrade and a friend of mine a combo DI20HE/R7HE2020 with 2021 upgrade, I could compare them directly on the same system (Parasound JC2 pream/ 2x JC1 monoblocs) and I have to say they are very very close, the differences being very subtle for a trained listener and nearly impossible for a non initiated person….

Then I’m fully on the side of Fred, as the difference starts to become quite tangible when using a decent external clock (in this case a Gustard C18), were a simple A/B comparison is immediately highlighting the benefits of the better clock, making a clear difference to the R8HE.

The question which remains is, would an R8HE 2021 with an ext. clock input be able to make this quantic step up in a similar way the R7HE is able to handle it? (will sadly never be possible to be tested, unless using MKII models)

An ext. clock applied to the di20 feeding a Master 7 through i2s brings a significant upgrade. It should be even greater on the r27he. Kingwa will be able to tell

 

[Ninja Theory]

Sonus Faber's arrived today. Heavenly on the R7HE and Kinki EX-M1+

 

[Presence]

he question which remains is, would an R8HE 2021 with an ext. clock input be able to make this quantic step up in a similar way the R7HE is able to handle it? (will sadly never be possible to be tested, unless using MKII models)

I wrote Kingwa multiple times pertaining to adding external clock capability to the R8HE. His first reply was that it was dependent on getting an R8 from a Chinese customer to test with. The second said he thought it would be possible but was involved with several projects he needed to get done before he could get to it. The third response was that he was going to do it but decided not to due to there not being space for the BNC on the back panel/ it not being a field-friendly upgrade, and the forth at the beginning of January, after telling him I would be willing to pay for it and also give up the RCA SPDIF or drill a new hole for the BNC, he said he would do it at no cost, but the new code would take several days for him to port to the R8 and he would get to it after he addresses the projects he needed to get done first.
Fingers crossed... I'll make my fifth request after he returns from holiday. I have always found him very generous, open-minded and willing to assist with information and with mods.

 

[Bleumoonljb]

I wrote Kingwa multiple times pertaining to adding external clock capability to the R8HE. His first reply was that it was dependent on getting an R8 from a Chinese customer to test with. The second said he thought it would be possible but was involved with several projects he needed to get done before he could get to it. The third response was that he was going to do it but decided not to due to there not being space for the BNC on the back panel/ it not being a field-friendly upgrade, and the forth at the beginning of January, after telling him I would be willing to pay for it and also give up the RCA SPDIF or drill a new hole for the BNC, he said he would do it at no cost, but the new code would take several days for him to port to the R8 and he would get to it after he addresses the projects he needed to get done first.
Fingers crossed... I'll make my fifth request after he returns from holiday. I have always found him very generous, open-minded and willing to assist with information and with mods.

I am using R8HE too. I asked same question a year ago. Hopefully Kingwa will implement ext clock for R8HE eventually.

 

[cycchar]

I find that the Holo does an outstanding job with DSD tracks - and I have quite a few DSD titles. The Holo has entire section of its R2R "brain" that is reserved exclusively for DSD playback! ...it was built from the ground up to support DSD. It was not an afterthought. Most software packages put DSD data into a PCM "envelope". That's DoP - DSD over PCM. The Holo supports native DSD without the need for PCM encoding. On the hardware side, many DAC's convert DSD to PCM or use DoP internally to play DSD encoded streams. As I said before, the Holo has completely separate R2R chips for DSD playback.
It was one of the reasons that swayed my purchase decision to the Holo.

If you use HQPlayer and convert to DSD (I've never tried it) the Holo's native DSD support is a real asset.

There's one small quibble that I have with the Holo's DSD playback - it's that there is sometimes an audible "pop" when switching from PCM to DSD encoded music. It's not a showstopper, more of a mild annoyance than anything.

Hi, I recently bought r8 and am now offered an opportunity to buy a 2nd hand Holo Spring 2. I'm also using HQP to upstream and convert to DSD before send the signal to DAC.

Do you know if audio gd r8 also have separate r2r chips for DSD playback, or to your knowledge it is only with Holo's DAC?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Hi, I recently bought r8 and am now offered an opportunity to buy a 2nd hand Holo Spring 2. I'm also using HQP to upstream and convert to DSD before send the signal to DAC.

Do you know if audio gd r8 also have separate r2r chips for DSD playback, or to your knowledge it is only with Holo's DAC?

"Four sets of fully discrete and independent DSD hardware decoders." http://audio-gd.com/R2R/R8mk2/R8mk2EN.htm

If you have another version of R8 just check the product page.

 

[DACLadder]

The V2 DAC boards on the R7 and R8s have separate decoder circuits for DSD playback versus the PCM ladders..

 

[Raul77]

Friends, tell me, please, I have a problem after updating the audio gd r7 he mkii firmware. I downloaded the R7 MK2_N firmware, then downloaded the R7 MK2_PLL_N firmware to optimize the operation of the external clock. Both firmware were successfully downloaded. But the audio gdr 7 he mkii does not work with the clock! Everything is fine without the watch, I notice that the sound has become better, but when I connect the watch, there is no sound! At the same time, he is audio gdr 7, he mkii sees the clock, there are no errors when connecting them, but there is no sound. Before the firmware update, the same watch did a great job with this. Queen watches from ebay. Please tell me what could be the reason, Kingwa is on vacation and will not be able to answer in the next few days.

 

[FredA]

Friends, tell me, please, I have a problem after updating the audio gd r7 he mkii firmware. I downloaded the R7 MK2_N firmware, then downloaded the R7 MK2_PLL_N firmware to optimize the operation of the external clock. Both firmware were successfully downloaded. But the audio gdr 7 he mkii does not work with the clock! Everything is fine without the watch, I notice that the sound has become better, but when I connect the watch, there is no sound! At the same time, he is audio gdr 7, he mkii sees the clock, there are no errors when connecting them, but there is no sound. Before the firmware update, the same watch did a great job with this. Queen watches from ebay. Please tell me what could be the reason, Kingwa is on vacation and will not be able to answer in the next few days.

Somehow, the fw update on the CPLD might have failed. The update sw is flimsy and can lead to bad programming. I have no issue on Windows 8. You will have to rewind a bit on this thread, there are good info about this issue.

 

[Raul77]

I have read the previous posts, but there is no such information. I have Windows 10, and if anyone has encountered a similar problem, please tell me what solution you have found.

 

[DACLadder]

@Raul77

The PLL_N firmware has a much tighter PLL window than the original firmware. Possibly the 10M clock is out of tolerance in frequency or stability. Seems you would get an error on the faceplate if the clock can't lock. But have no knowledge of how the f./w actually works. With the original f/w Kingwa told me it would lock to almost anything.

Kingwa is probably monitoring Email so I would give him a shout.

 

[FredA]

@Raul77

The PLL_N firmware has a much tighter PLL window than the original firmware. Possibly the 10M clock is out of tolerance in frequency or stability. Seems you would get an error on the faceplate if the clock can't lock. But have no knowledge of how the f./w actually works. With the original f/w Kingwa told me it would lock to almost anything.

Kingwa is probably monitoring Email so I would give him a shout.

I maintain it could also be an issue with the programming. The clock led indicator does not indicate that the clock signal is locked, but only that it is present as far as i remember.

 

[norbert2nd]

The V2 DAC boards on the R7 and R8s have separate decoder circuits for DSD playback versus the PCM ladders..

@DACLadder: I was really wondering what the architecture of that DAC module is! Is that dac map confirmed information by Kingwa or an educated guess?
If that information is from Kingwa, DSD is propably converted to a 4 bit DSD stream.
Could also be a 24 bit ladder + 16 elements (4 bit) converter for PCM only. In that case a single bit DSD converter would not really be as prominently visible as the PCM part on that PCB. Just guessing ...
Thanks, Norbert

 

[DACLadder]

@norbert2nd The picture is from Kingwa. I asked the same questions a number of years ago.