[Matez]

The USB will probably be a bit behind what one of the latests external devices that have a high-quality AES or S/PDIF output might be able to do, but we're at the stage of things that I sold my $1000+ converter because the USB in the DACs I have was as good, if not better.

I did the very same thing. I had Audiobyte's $800 FPGA based S/PDIF converter and recently got rid of it. Now it's only several DACs and some USB related iFi stuff. I tend to think that USB is getting better and better, which wasn't the case at all several years back.

 

[FredA]

DHL always amazes me: my r2r 7 is to be delivered today.

I will post some impressions soon.

 

[Benny-x]

Though I'm absolutely not a fan of DHL's Customs foolery, they really can deliver a package sometimes.

Great news, love to hear initial thoughts once you feel good with it

 

[DACLadder]

DHL always arrives in Los Angeles before departure due to crossing the international dateline and gaining a day. Then it is always one day later for delivery in the SF, CA area. When I see departure from Hong Kong I can expect delivery the next day (physically two days later).

I've had about six shipments from the Far East using DHL and they do a good job. The shipping boxes don't seem thrown around and marked up like with Fedex and UPS. UPS is adamant for filing customs tax reports with the IRS for item value so tend to avoid them.

 

[Astral Abyss]

DHL always amazes me: my r2r 7 is to be delivered today.

I will post some impressions soon.

Only amazement I've gotten from DHL is how badly they can mutilate a box and still keep it held together. Guess it just depends on your location.

 

[FredA]

Only amazement I've gotten from DHL is how badly they can mutilate a box and still keep it held together. Guess it just depends on your location.

My box should be fine.

 

[Astral Abyss]

My box should be fine.

Audio-gd packs their equipment well. Even trying their hardest, DHL was unable to damage the 3 pieces of gear I've ordered.

 

[Currawong]

Any preference between the Master 7 to the R2R 7 Currawong? Any comment would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The R2R 7 wont be as warm as the PCM1704-based DACs. An interesting thing I tried once was using HQ Player to use a closed-form filter to up-sample to the NOS1704, and the bass tightened up a lot. I'd need to set it up again, but I was thinking of comparing the in-built filter with various others, but so far I find the sound to be more coherent than with the 1704-based DACs.

 

[FredA]

Audio-gd packs their equipment well. Even trying their hardest, DHL was unable to damage the 3 pieces of gear I've ordered.

Yes, it was fine.

Too soon to seriously compare with the M7. I tried the Amanero, and it sounded as good or better than i2s, which indicates to me that the i2s was not the input used for breaking-in the dac.

So far, the sound is promising but strangely is not as loud as with my M7, and lacks bass impact. It need at least 80 hours so that the i2s input settles down, in my experience. Than i will turn turn the pll off.

I think so far that it is smoother than the M7, with better soundstage but it lacks some punch, especially in the bass. However it is very easy to listen to and warm enough for me. It has better resolution than the M7 as well.

At this stage, it is a little behind the M7. Definitely needs more break-in time.

 

[FredA]

Breaking-in this dac is a real roller coaster.

Last night, quite good. This morning, awfull (bad tonal balance), 4 hours later, it is good with much better bass. I begin to see the real potential. It should take a few days to stabilize hopefully.

 

[FredA]

Quick update after 48 hours with the r2r 7:

-great spacialization
-turntable smoothness
-very resolved wiithout treble emphasis
-punches hard, while remaining smooth
-awesome attacks and timbres
-r2r sound, no doubt
-lacking rawness perhaps at this stage (very small concern)
-no fatigue whatsoever
-a bit more forward than M7 with better depth.
-very coherent from bottom to top, painting a very realistic picture
-involving sound

Still has some burn-in to do before my final verdict (and a full review). But as things are going, it is indeed a significant (very?...) upgrade over the M7.

Have not tried with pll off off yet, but the bass is now slamming anyway, still missing (maybe) some sub-bass compared to M7.

If things stay as is or improve, i'd confirm Kingwa is a genius. Can't believe what he just pulled off. Thanks very much.

 

[DACLadder]

@FredA. Looks like it is settling down. Which input are you using or favoring?

 

[PeterCraig]

Sounds good so far. Following this thread closely

 

[FredA]

@FredA. Looks like it is settling down. Which input are you using or favoring?

I use rj45 i2s. I haven't had much time (30 minutes) with the Amanero. I expect i2s to best all other inputs because the F-1 uses Crysteks. Looking forward to trying with PLL off let's say within a couple of weeks, i expect another upgrade doing so. However, by doing so, i will loose reclocking on the other inputs as well, but i don't mind much.

 

[FredA]

Playing Wynton Marsalis Unforgivable Blackness, one of greatest jazz album ever, i am delighted. Such dynamics, accurates tones and slam. Clear reverberation can be heard. Really a big upgrade to the M7 playing this album. As good the M7 was, the r2r 7 is clearly better. It's so liquid.