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

[FredA]

The combination that I mentioned was R7 HE (Mk2) + HE9. Is it not the set up you personally had until you replaced HE9 with HE9 Mk2? Going through the thread I was under the impression that this set up is the most common amongst Audio GD aficionados . It is only logical to assume that people who own an amp with a headphone section are likely to use some sort of headphones with it.. I'm not to open a debate which set of headphones is the best with Audio GD equipment, I just asked people to share personal experience as to which set of headphones they consider a good match.. So, if nobody else bothers to reply, may I ask what headphones you personally use most with you system?

Thanks

I have used the he-560, too dry for me. I then used the Monoprice m570. They were a better match. Now i use the music masters E1000s. Great combination. It is sort of a LCD3 clone. Not cheap. I got them on AliExpress.

 

[Currawong]

However, I cannot comment about Arya as I have no direct experience to share but I am definitely sure HE9 has enough power to drive it. Whether you like it or not will depend on your music taste also.

I have the Arya Stealth here. They drive fine, and are actually a nice match with the R2R-11 M2. Going from that to the R-27HE is a noticeable step up. Given that HiFiMan are also fans of R2R DACs, the synergy is no surprise.

 

[slazhx]

Given that HiFiMan are also fans of R2R DACs, the synergy is no surprise.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[AudioAlex]

I have the Arya Stealth here. They drive fine, and are actually a nice match with the R2R-11 M2. Going from that to the R-27HE is a noticeable step up. Given that HiFiMan are also fans of R2R DACs, the synergy is no surprise.

Many thanks! Appreciate your input.
I guess my current setup (DI20HE(3.32) -> R28) is a bit inferior to R-27HE, but I really enjoy how it all sounds (especially after I added Wireworld Chroma7 I2s 0.5m to the system) . DI20HE brought my R28 up to a whole new level.. In fact, I never imagined it could sound THAT GOOD. So I hope the Arya, which I have already ordered, will be a good match.

 

[PeterCraig]

Many thanks! Appreciate your input.
I guess my current setup (DI20HE(3.32) -> R28) is a bit inferior to R-27HE, but I really enjoy how it all sounds (especially after I added Wireworld Chroma7 I2s 0.5m to the system) . DI20HE brought my R28 up to a whole new level.. In fact, I never imagined it could sound THAT GOOD. So I hope the Arya, which I have already ordered, will be a good match.

I am using the Arya with the M19. And my setup Morion with DI20HE feeding a 10 year old Master 7 is pretty satisfying. I don't have the need to upgrade anything right now. Except for next week I'm getting Fred's HE9.

I'm not expecting a spectacular upgrade but you never know. Seems everything I add to my system the last few years has been spectacular.

Yes and the R7HE will be coming one day. It has to be HE for me. It just makes so much sense to have your own separate power regenerator in each piece of equipment.

 

[vgmbpty]

Have you guys connected an external clock to the DI20HE? Is there any 50 Ohm cable you would recommend?

 

[slazhx]

Have you guys connected an external clock to the DI20HE? Is there any 50 Ohm cable you would recommend?

Hi, I'm quite a new active member on this thread also. There are many folks having an external clock to AGD DAC and DDC. You can either search within this thread and also DI-20 thread.

As far as I learn from these threads, cables will depend on the external clock you use to match sonically and in terms of price/performance ratio. Fred has a TOTL clock by AfterDark and he recommended Red BNC cable. I also use that with my Mutec Ref10 and the result is quite good.

I believe @PeterCraig is having Morion clock and he can comment his matching cable to you if you own Morion.

You might want to recheck the length needed with some bending allowance. It is sonically prone to bending.

Hope this helps. Just my two cents ...

 

[FredA]

Have you guys connected an external clock to the DI20HE? Is there any 50 Ohm cable you would recommend?

Get an rg-402 on ebay(20$). Or the red cable on Afterdark (a bit better, but close to 100$).

 

[mivarpet]

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.

Make that 11 people you know. Mine arrived today and it’s a fantastic cable for the price. It has easily bettered the Supra silver HDMI cable I was using, which in turn was better than the Belden HDMI cable. Detail has improved, grain and noise reduced.
Many thanks Fred for the recommendation.

 

[FredA]

Make that 11 people you know. Mine arrived today and it’s a fantastic cable for the price. It has easily bettered the Supra silver HDMI cable I was using, which in turn was better than the Belden HDMI cable. Detail has improved, grain and noise reduced.
Many thanks Fred for the recommendation.

This one is an easy one. 10min after getting it, i knew my other cables would not be used anymore. The Belden, the afterdark 4k. It even beats the Audiolund silver cable i paid 4x the price....

 

[mivarpet]

I noticed they also sell the individual cable strands used in the HDMI cable as bulk cable. It‘s relatively cheap so I’m going to buy some to see how it sounds as an ACSS cable. I’ll report back when it’s done.

 

[Raul77]

@FredA
I ask you to help me make my system, which is 80% assembled according to your advice (for which I am very grateful to you), become even better))
I have a Morion watch from Queen. Now I'm considering the option After dark. I've read your feedback that this replacement sounds like a big step forward. But I'm a little confused about the model. Please look at the links. Or maybe even another model, and it makes sense to buy more expensive?

https://www.adark.co/collections/pr...udiophilestyle-edition?variant=32208685367414

https://www.adark.co/collections/pr...e-integrals-integrated?variant=32217593413750

 

[slazhx]

@FredA
I ask you to help me make my system, which is 80% assembled according to your advice (for which I am very grateful to you), become even better))
I have a Morion watch from Queen. Now I'm considering the option After dark. I've read your feedback that this replacement sounds like a big step forward. But I'm a little confused about the model. Please look at the links. Or maybe even another model, and it makes sense to buy more expensive?

https://www.adark.co/collections/pr...udiophilestyle-edition?variant=32208685367414

https://www.adark.co/collections/pr...e-integrals-integrated?variant=32217593413750

The difference between two links you provided is number of the clock output. One has single and another has three outputs which is more expensive. So, it depends on number of output needed. Feeding to your dac will have more obvious result than other components. If you have more budget, feeding to DAC, DDC and Streamer will ultimately give you better result.

Each model has different level of clock quality. According to what I asked Adrian, owner of Afterdark, he said R7 or higher AGD model would better fit with at least Emperor Giesemann sub-model. EVA would ve the top notch. Fred is having this model afaik.

He will surely read this and give you more input. Hope this helps.

 

[FredA]

@FredA
I ask you to help me make my system, which is 80% assembled according to your advice (for which I am very grateful to you), become even better))
I have a Morion watch from Queen. Now I'm considering the option After dark. I've read your feedback that this replacement sounds like a big step forward. But I'm a little confused about the model. Please look at the links. Or maybe even another model, and it makes sense to buy more expensive?

https://www.adark.co/collections/pr...udiophilestyle-edition?variant=32208685367414

https://www.adark.co/collections/pr...e-integrals-integrated?variant=32217593413750

The Eva is really better than the Morion. A good middle point would be the c18, given the price and the feedback (little) on it. The best out there are the top Cybershafts, based on a forum doing shootouts, which Afterdark also sells. Mutec has also excellent units. Clocking the di20he has just a small effect with Kingwa's latest dac fw.

My last move was a speaker cable upgrade. IMO, it brought as much as the Eva did. My previous cables were from the 2000s. Things have evolved, with aircores appearing and wire quality improving , so the latest designs are better.

 

[Raul77]

thanks for the tips! As for the acoustics, I recently also changed all the wires inside and on the crossover board, and also glued the walls of the housing with bitumen. The effect was very good! I used the same wires as from the amplifier to the acoustics, which I also bought on the advice of @FredA