[FredA]

We're gonna have to agree to agree

What I'm saying is, given normal HDMI cables are 99.9999999999% of all HDMI cables, variant pinouts are more expensive to make even though there are less lines.

A normal HDMI cable is what I want, so I have doubts, seems like buying from some ad that offers 1,000 permutations of pinouts is too risky and also, they probably expect us to pay extra to subsidize the costs of weird pinouts for the 100 people who want to run an Audio-gd DAC off a Gustard. Etc.



Ok, well, a plain HDMI cable works. And that's what I want to buy.

It's your money.

 

[FredA]

Well... Got my https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/dac-...pour-raspberry-pi-spdif-i2s-tcxo-p-15821.html
(Took this one because R7HE reclocks the inputs, did not see the point going with IanCanada more expansive setup)

Setup: R7HE21 in NOS mode.
HDMI Cable: Basic one
Optical : Basic cable.
Power : USB Adaptor 3A, powering both RPI3B + Audiophonics card
Software: RooPiEEE setup as HifiBerry+

It works. Is it better than USB ? Different. Less highs which is not a bad thing on my system
Not much of a difference between Optical vs I2S.

Wondering if I should:
- Upgrade the HDMI cable ? Since Optical sound the same, not sure.
- Upgrade the power supply to have a dedicated power supply for the audiophonics card.
- Do nothing.

The cable sure matters. The noise level too. Perahps even the jitter level. Galvanic isolation between the i2s board and the pi should also be considered. Even though the dac reclocks, a di20he will sound better than a di20 for instance.

 

[DACLadder]

The MK2 DACs (R7 and HE7) have so much resolution that cable swaps are readily noticed. Even though HDMI I2S is asynchronous cable changes are heard. Can't explain why but is reality.

On HDMI cables I would start at the bottom end price range and work my way up the ladder. Some fancier, high end cables aren't my favorites. Like it's said before - all about synergy. Currently using Wireworld Silver Starlight 6 0.3m before trying the AVPlay 0.5m again.

 

[AudioAlex]

For people waiting for the review of the R27HE, the TLDR is: Being an AIO, it's not quite as good as dedicated units -- the DAC isn't quite as clean as a TT2, and the amp isn't quite as good as my Studio Six, but I could happily listen with TOTL cans out of it exclusively. The SU-1 and HQPlayer push it just that bit further into delicious listening. The nice thing is being able to run it straight out of the wall without a power conditioner.

Here is a weird question: how does R27HE sound compared to Cayin RU6 in terms of sound signature? Recently I find myself enjoying Cayin more than R28 especially with Shure 1540.. they just sound perfect together.. I can't achieve the same level of enjoyment from my R28 no matter what I do.. And the small R2R dongle costs only a fraction of R28's price..

 

[FredA]

The audio-gd amp are better suited for the warmer headphones IMO. Using cables sounding more round will help. Leaner headphone can also be good matches too. Finding the perfecf balance is tough.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

It's your money.

I'm sorry, I had no intention to create hard feelings.

After you recommended the AVPlay cable I intended to buy it. But, I can't log into Aliexpress, it takes 5-10 minutes for their signon verification email to arrive and then the site doesn't accept the number. Anyway, I also didn't realize that maybe you specified which variant of the cable when you ordered until it was too late. Originally, I thought you were talking about an off the shelf HDMI cable. So I was surprised to see that it's not the case. I didn't realize that the Aliexpress seller also has variations since I didn't look further at the listing when I couldn't log on...

Plan B was to find a Wireworld Chroma 7 but I have not found one of the right length in the EU.

 

[PhMZ4]

The cable sure matters. The noise level too. Perahps even the jitter level. Galvanic isolation between the i2s board and the pi should also be considered. Even though the dac reclocks, a di20he will sound better than a di20 for instance.

@XavierP56 I’m fully aligned to Fred as even if you have the HDMI isolator, the garbage in garbage out principle still applies and the more noise you feed into the DAC, the harder will it be for the DAC to reclock properly and to have a near bit perfect input (remember I2S protocol has no error correction), and that’s why I advised you the more expensive IanCanada gears.
A DI20HE will make it as well as suggested by Fred, however with one more conversion (I2S to USB to I2S) compared to the IanCanada gears.
On top, if you precisely look at the Audiophonics hat you are seeking for, it has some limitations in the supported speeds preventing you to do upfront upsampling with HQP or Roon for example with your DAC in pure NOS mode as suggested Currawong, bringing the whole system to the next level… now it’s in your hands.

 

[XavierP56]

I use my R7HE21 in NOS mode. I prefer, it is more alive.
When I want to upscale, I put the R7HE21 in OS8. I'm not asking the computer to do it.
Even though, if I want I can ask Roon to upscale to 192khz with Audiophonics card.

I have received the Audiophonics card: It's good.
Depending of the recording played, USB wins or HDMI wins.
I'm waiting for another power supply so I will power the RPI3B and Audiophonics card separately.
I also wait for a better HDMI cable (Pearl 48).

So far, it's not night and day between USB and I2S. Both are already very very good.

 

[PhMZ4]

I use my R7HE21 in NOS mode. I prefer, it is more alive.
When I want to upscale, I put the R7HE21 in OS8. I'm not asking the computer to do it.
Even though, if I want I can ask Roon to upscale to 192khz with Audiophonics card.

I have received the Audiophonics card: It's good.
Depending of the recording played, USB wins or HDMI wins.
I'm waiting for another power supply so I will power the RPI3B and Audiophonics card separately.
I also wait for a better HDMI cable (Pearl 48).

So far, it's not night and day between USB and I2S. Both are already very very good.

When I was speaking of SW OS I meant at least 352/384 for PCM or at least DSD256 or 512 to bring the system really further in terms of SQ

 

[XavierP56]

Sure but OS8 does that in R7HE
Roon can do it up to 192khz and R7HE can reach up to 384khz also

 

[FredA]

I'm sorry, I had no intention to create hard feelings.

After you recommended the AVPlay cable I intended to buy it. But, I can't log into Aliexpress, it takes 5-10 minutes for their signon verification email to arrive and then the site doesn't accept the number. Anyway, I also didn't realize that maybe you specified which variant of the cable when you ordered until it was too late. Originally, I thought you were talking about an off the shelf HDMI cable. So I was surprised to see that it's not the case. I didn't realize that the Aliexpress seller also has variations since I didn't look further at the listing when I couldn't log on...

Plan B was to find a Wireworld Chroma 7 but I have not found one of the right length in the EU.

No problem. I am not always right or dome sort of guru.

 

[PhMZ4]

Sure but OS8 does that in R7HE
Roon can do it up to 192khz and R7HE can reach up to 384khz also

@XavierP56 indeed, but sampling rate is not the only kpi playing a key role in upsampling, the filter algorithm and its number of taps make a huge difference, as the average taps in our DAC will be in few 10k area, where HQP can easily make million tap filters achieving a filtering, phase linearity and noise shaping quality just playing in another league… the result is not subtle, it is a major SQ improvement

 

[gimmeheadroom]

No problem. I am not always right or dome sort of guru.

Ok, nobody is. But that has nothing to do with this discussion. Sorry for the way it turned out.

Anyway, after spending way too long trying to find a cable in the EU to save on random fees when importing anything, I was able to find a Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 for a very good price in Slovakia. Hopefully will ship tomorrow. It should be like the Chroma 7 except it is Silver-plated Oxygen-Free Copper instead of plain OFC.

 

[Currawong]

Here is a weird question: how does R27HE sound compared to Cayin RU6 in terms of sound signature? Recently I find myself enjoying Cayin more than R28 especially with Shure 1540.. they just sound perfect together.. I can't achieve the same level of enjoyment from my R28 no matter what I do.. And the small R2R dongle costs only a fraction of R28's price..

Even in NOS Mode? To me, the new R2R-11 is more like a super RU6. The R27HE, at least in OS mode, doesn‘t sound like either of those. NOS mode might be a bit closer, but I’ve not compared directly.

 

[Jackula]

Plan B was to find a Wireworld Chroma 7 but I have not found one of the right length in the EU.

I found that length didn't matter anymore after Kingwa introduced the latest HDMI boards with the 2021 model. Now all my 0.3m, 0.5m, 1m and 1.5m cables sound like 0m cables.

You can't go wrong with Ultraviolet 7 if you're running internal clock, probably my favourite before the Afterdark external clock.