[PLGA]

Guys, the Wireworld Chroma 7 cables seem hard to find in the EU. I see some Chroma 8, has the 7 series been replaced? Even with the 8 I'm not sure there is an HDMI cable.

I'm considering this one from Chord https://mp3store.pl/kable/hdmi/chord/2019030127232211301//chord-kabel-hdmi-c-view-075m which is not expensive and I hope it would be good coming from Chord. Any recommendations around this price (+-40 euros) would be appreciated.

Me, Fred and some others have tried a pure silver HDMI cable from Aliexpress with very good results for the price ($60 for 0.5m).

I only compared to my Belden and it's considerably better. Fred compared it to other more expensive cables and I understand he liked it very much.

 

[FredA]

Me, Fred and some others have tried a pure silver HDMI cable from Aliexpress with very good results for the price ($60 for 0.5m).

I only compared to my Belden and it's considerably better. Fred compared it to other more expensive cables and I understand he liked it very much.

Indeed. I recommended the cable around. Ten persons i know got one and like it very much. It is really good, even from the start. It's the one sold under the brand AVPlay. The craftmanship is very good.

 

[Jackula]

The best HDMI really depends on your personal preferences and synergy with the rest of your gear.

Chroma7 has long time been Kingwa's favourite, not sure if it still is, last I heard he was still using it when he was tweaking his PLL firmware. It's also my favourite cable (yes I've listened to Belden and others), it's not a coincidence since Kingwa and I run very similar gear including the speakers, the main difference is my DAC, pre, amp are one or two generations behind his.

The Belden is too syrupy on my setup, especially with the Afterdark ext clock (that FredA recommended). I used to like Ultraviolet7 the best when I was using the int clock.

I find Chroma7 the most correct on my current setup (I use piano recordings as my main reference since I'm familiar with how a piano should sound). But of course I am hoarding my other cables in case something new comes along and I need to re-tune.

I think my next upgrade will be my speaker cables, currently I'm quite interested in trialing a pair this: https://foilflexcables.com/collections/frontpage/products/loudspeaker-cables-per-pair

 

[AudioAlex]

For those interested the AGD R-27 2021 (latest updates) in my opinion is very close to the AGD R-27HE with the main difference being blacker background, slightly more dynamic and a “cleaner” overall presentation favoring the HE. These differences are NOT huge but definitely noticeable. I also like the fact that Kingwa will give you different remote codes to control multiples in the same room as well. I would say that if you were looking at either the HE would be worth the extra if you want to take advantage of the user interfaces improvements. Now what is funny is even with the various power conditioning that I am using the differences are subtle so maybe without delta may be larger but not sure. Anyhow hope this helps in some way for those trying to decide between the two.

Many thanks for the valuable input! That's pretty much the info I was looking for. The conclusion I make is that there are improvements with going HE, but now the question for me is whether the improvements are worth the price hike..

Any experience using R27 2021 via DI-20HE? Provided that the same improvement in SQ could be achieved going this way, I could save with the possibility of keeping DI-20HE for future upgrades..

 

[Articnoise]

The R8 MK2 does not employ switching power. The digital board has two large linear regulators feeding DC to nine chip type linear regulators for the circuits. Analog circuits have 4 Class A regulators. Class A is just another term for linear, always conducting power.

You could argue the HE supplies are a type of DC-DC switcher but only at 50Hz and a sine wave at that. Not at all like a cheap switcher that generates 100Khz+ and feeds a square wave to a small inductor.

Kingwa’s DACs with V2 DAC boards take a long time to break in. The R27 has been shipping for a month so would not trust a review until June 2022.

Quote from Jos at Magna Hifi.

"The R2R boards of the R8, R8HE ,R7, R7HE and R27HE are all the same.
Digital processing DSP is also very similar. (no difference could be found)
Power supply to the DSP is different. The R8, R8HE and R27HE share the same voltage regulators in cascade principal.
R7, R7HE have Class-A PSU's."

 

[DACLadder]

@Articnoise Thanks. I don’t see how my R8 MK2 comment above differs from Magnas. The designs share the same V2 DAC boards. And none of the power supplies are switchers. Cascading is another term for one large DC power regulator feeding smaller DC regulators for the circuits.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Me, Fred and some others have tried a pure silver HDMI cable from Aliexpress with very good results for the price ($60 for 0.5m).

I only compared to my Belden and it's considerably better. Fred compared it to other more expensive cables and I understand he liked it very much.

Indeed. I recommended the cable around. Ten persons i know got one and like it very much. It is really good, even from the start. It's the one sold under the brand AVPlay. The craftmanship is very good.

The best HDMI really depends on your personal preferences and synergy with the rest of your gear.

Chroma7 has long time been Kingwa's favourite, not sure if it still is, last I heard he was still using it when he was tweaking his PLL firmware. It's also my favourite cable (yes I've listened to Belden and others), it's not a coincidence since Kingwa and I run very similar gear including the speakers, the main difference is my DAC, pre, amp are one or two generations behind his.

The Belden is too syrupy on my setup, especially with the Afterdark ext clock (that FredA recommended). I used to like Ultraviolet7 the best when I was using the int clock.

I find Chroma7 the most correct on my current setup (I use piano recordings as my main reference since I'm familiar with how a piano should sound). But of course I am hoarding my other cables in case something new comes along and I need to re-tune.

I think my next upgrade will be my speaker cables, currently I'm quite interested in trialing a pair this: https://foilflexcables.com/collections/frontpage/products/loudspeaker-cables-per-pair

Thank you very much, guys. Been working extra so did not have time to get back to this. Importing anything from Aliexpress is expensive and painful now, but at that price it should be manageable. Is it just AVPlay HDMI cable or is there a specific item number etc.?

 

[myshark]

Thank you very much, guys. Been working extra so did not have time to get back to this. Importing anything from Aliexpress is expensive and painful now, but at that price it should be manageable. Is it just AVPlay HDMI cable or is there a specific item number etc.?

It is this one
US $61.75 5%OFF | AVplay HD-300 99.99% Pure Silver Hi-end HiFi Top Audiophile i2S IIS Digita Wire Audio Player Connect DAC HD-MI2.1 4K 8K Cable
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ms8GbyQ

 

[gimmeheadroom]

It is this one
US $61.75 5%OFF | AVplay HD-300 99.99% Pure Silver Hi-end HiFi Top Audiophile i2S IIS Digita Wire Audio Player Connect DAC HD-MI2.1 4K 8K Cable
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ms8GbyQ

Last time I tried, I was unable to log into my Aliexpress account. Their system is FUBAR and I don't mean foobar2000

I'll search to see if it's available anywhere else. Thank you for the link!

This looks like it could be the same one https://www.ebay.com/itm/134026371326 but the guy charges 35 USD for shipping. Works out to be a little more than Aliexpress.

Also, when I scroll down on the ebay listing, the guy is saying you should tell him your DAC and DDC because they have different pinouts. That seems crazy, given he says if you use it for HDMI video it will work.

 

[XavierP56]

Hi Guys,

Using R7HE21 and Roon.
2 options here: What would be your choice ?
a) Rock Server + Rock USB Player
b) Rock Server + RPI 3b Roopieee HDMI output

Currently using option a) but you do think option b) is worth investing ?
Thanks.

 

[PLGA]

Also, when I scroll down on the ebay listing, the guy is saying you should tell him your DAC and DDC because they have different pinouts.

If your gear is all Audio-GD, it should be regular HDMI, without change in pins layout. Ask the seller.

 

[FredA]

If your gear is all Audio-GD, it should be regular HDMI, without change in pins layout. Ask the seller.

You should say audio-gd. It matters if you play dsd.

 

[PeterCraig]

Avplay! Excellent cable. You won't regret it.

Takes a long time to burn in.

Almost as good as how it sounds is the price.

I went for 0.5m which is a lot of length actually.

There are two versions of the cable.

1) 8k HDMI which will work with any gear but costs considerably more.

2) And then the i2s cable...which is specifically made for the type of DDC DAC combo you have.

 

[Thorbee]

Many thanks for the valuable input! That's pretty much the info I was looking for. The conclusion I make is that there are improvements with going HE, but now the question for me is whether the improvements are worth the price hike..

Any experience using R27 2021 via DI-20HE? Provided that the same improvement in SQ could be achieved going this way, I could save with the possibility of keeping DI-20HE for future upgrades..

I did have only the DI-20 but decided to go back to SU-6 for dual HDMI outputs needed for easier A/B comparisons. Having said that I would go with the DI-20HE and R-27 vs the R-27HE without DDC….but if you can swing R-27HE with either DDC I think you would really enjoy….especially if you are not using any type of power conditionin.

 

[Currawong]

Hi Guys,

Using R7HE21 and Roon.
2 options here: What would be your choice ?
a) Rock Server + Rock USB Player
b) Rock Server + RPI 3b Roopieee HDMI output

Currently using option a) but you do think option b) is worth investing ?
Thanks.

The RPI HDMI output is for displays. It's not for I2S. It just so happens that both use the same connector.