[Zenvota]

And still waiting for an upgrade on my AC isolation conditioner that may do the trick to improve the PC sound

What conditioner? What all is being plugged into it as well?

 

[Zenvota]

Hello guys,
I would like to tell you my experience as I think some will find it useful.
I have the R8 DAC (with V3A firmware) connected vía ACSS to the Audio-gd Master 1 preamp.
My Power amp and speakers are quite good and revealing, so every change I make on my system is easily detected.
I listen to all of my music streaming Tidal with my Windows 10 Notebook.
First Ive connected the Wyred4sound USB Reclocker (RUR) alone, between the Notebook and the Amanero port (isolated) of the R8. The RUR proved to be a marked improvement over the USB cable alone.
Then I add a Linear Power Supply to the RUR, honestly with out any expectactions whatsoever. Well, I was wrong, the LPS made another good difference in sound quality.
Then I add the Gustard U16 to the chain, with a cheap chinese 2.1 protocol HDMI cable (0.5m).
Well, right out of the box the U16 easily proved to better the RUR with LPS. But, after about 20 hs of use, the improvement is outstanding. I cannot believe the sound I get from my system, eventhough I still use the U16 with a cheap power cable, wich I will upgrade soon of course.
Eventhough, with the R8 on PCM format, the U16 seems to work flawlessly only at 88.2 kHz, and Ive tried two different firmwares, the improvement it brings to the R8 is TOTALLY worthwile!!
I cannot recomend it enough.

Note: to get 88.2 kHz with Redbook on Tidal, I use Audinirvana + (also a nice upgrade in sound, but not big) upsampling x2.

Did you try the RUR before the U16? I dont believe the U16 has a hub chip so its beneficial. Also, getting the usb to i2s stage isolated from the laptop is great too, either with an intona/rur or an iso regen.

 

[Chopin75]

What conditioner? What all is being plugged into it as well?

Conditioner from Decware:

http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZLC.html

This should improve things a lot. There are 6 plugs so all the basic components like DAC, CD player, PC, power amp, preamp can be plugged into it.

 

[Zenvota]

Conditioner from Decware:

http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZLC.html

This should improve things a lot. There are 6 plugs so all the basic components like DAC, CD player, PC, power amp, preamp can be plugged into it.

Nice unit! i still think you should isolate from the pc... but that would mean needing a second conditioner for the pc Xd Whats powering the pc?

 

[Chopin75]

My HDplex has its own LPS (the famous HDPLEX LPS) which should be plugged into the same Decware conditioner to avoid ground loop. I took my iFiGalvanic out now because it makes the sound worse! This is most obvious on excellent DXD recordings. It is masking some sound, making it dull. I am enjoying the raw transparency without any devices between the DAC and the PC. It appears once you use a silent PC and LPS the USB conditioners are not that important anymore. Plus I have the Pinkfaun USB bridge from the PC so it has a TOCO clock already. So I think the weakest link is now the AC dirty current. I have a cheap isolator right now but I think it is inadequate.

 

[Zenvota]

My HDplex has its own LPS (the famous HDPLEX LPS) which should be plugged into the same Decware conditioner to avoid ground loop. I took my iFiGalvanic out now because it makes the sound worse! This is most obvious on excellent DXD recordings. It is masking some sound, making it dull. I am enjoying the raw transparency without any devices between the DAC and the PC. It appears once you use a silent PC and LPS the USB conditioners are not that important anymore. Plus I have the Pinkfaun USB bridge from the PC so it has a TOCO clock already. So I think the weakest link is now the AC dirty current. I have a cheap isolator right now but I think it is inadequate.

o interesting, the optimized pc with a lps and the pinkfaun is a neat chain. So you're using the amanero board that has the isolator, does the isolator have the builtin psu or is it usb powered? Nice setup I like it.

 

[PLGA]

Did you try the RUR before the U16? I dont believe the U16 has a hub chip so its beneficial. Also, getting the usb to i2s stage isolated from the laptop is great too, either with an intona/rur or an iso regen.

Yes, of course. Thats the way I connected the U16, with the RUR feeding it. I haven't tried with out the RUR, as I've read that it benefits from a clean source.

 

[Chopin75]

o interesting, the optimized pc with a lps and the pinkfaun is a neat chain. So you're using the amanero board that has the isolator, does the isolator have the builtin psu or is it usb powered? Nice setup I like it.

Good point, I do use the F1 internal USB board, which basically is XMOS, same as the old Singer -SU. It has a better clock than Amanero (Crystec?) and is internally and separately supplied by the R2R DAC's own linear supply, just like they do with the amanero, explained on Kingwa's site. But note I don't think these USB---> I2S bridges (internal or external) have galvanic isolation. They recheck the signal while converting signal to I2S and I don't think there is reclocking after converted to I2S, as that is done bu the DAC itself.(though correct me if I am wrong). So yah, no galvanic isolation on my system and that still can sound quite amazing. Think about it, if the computer or AC noise or other interference is really low , you don't need galvanic isolation. CD player still sounds superb feeding into my DAC, without galvanic isolation (unless you use toslink optical which will give galvanic isolation). The clock becomes most important then, to reduce the remaining jitter, so back in the golden age of CD players, they make these crazy expensive clocks! I think the next upgrade for me would be to upgrade the Pinkfaun USB clock which can be done as per Pinkfaun website! Or use a I2S bridge but unfortunately that only can do low res (24/192 or lower, and no DSD)

 

[Chopin75]

Wow, listening to NOS1 again now + dither. It is simply an amazing change from NOS2! There is this analogue quality approaching that of CD player and DSD or even vinyl! I have already noted its analogue, liquid smooth quality before but it has sounded a bit less clean or focused with lower res < 24/192 so I have used it mainly for DXD (24/352). I was meant to upsample to DXD using NOS1 but I don't feel I need to! The 24/96 now sounds excellent already! I suspect due to NOS1 having less filters it is more picky of the sources, so now with my upgrade to HDplex PC, the sound becomes transformative! I am be prematurely too excited, and I am only listening to lower volume due to being late at night (I don't use headphones). Will report back later with more listening.
Oh, and still using V2 Smooth, got to get the V3 soon as I heard the NOS are even better

 

[Toni-Mang]

The u16 has arrived...still yet unsure about the result (there might be an advantage in bass), but i will try to move the r8 usb in to a second i2s input. Has someone done this before? The i2s card is available and plug and play i guess. It should only be a question of the mechanical fit, or?

 

[PLGA]

The u16 has arrived...still yet unsure about the result (there might be an advantage in bass), but i will try to move the r8 usb in to a second i2s input. Has someone done this before? The i2s card is available and plug and play i guess. It should only be a question of the mechanical fit, or?

Hello Toni
I was just about to post how is my U16 performing today.

I don't know exacly what are you asking, but if you are about to open the R8 to do some internal connections or modifications, I would wait if i were you. Let me tell you my experience.

I have the U16 connected to my R8 DAC via I2S with a cheap chineses 2.1 protocol HDMI cable (0.5 m long).

I haven't tried any of the Singxers USB to I2S converters, as other users here, but, before the U16, I was listening music using the R8 with its USB Isolated Amanero board, fed by a Wyred4Sound USB Reclocker, wich was powered by a Hi Fi Swagman Linear Power Supply (LPS).

Well, right out of the box the U16 with I2S sounded better, in every aspect (imaging, bass, dinamics, noise, etc), than the previous setting. But, yesterday night, after about 30 hours of use, the U16 is showing something I've never heard before. It´s sounding marvelous! I cannot describe the sound. It´s incredible... almost too much information to my ears and brain. Just, perfect. I'm rediscovering my music.

If I were you, I would wait for the U16 to run minimun 30/40 hs to judge it. I also didn't find it incredible at the beginning, but now... WOW

I hope it helps,

 

[Toni-Mang]

Hello, thank you very much for your feedback. I will follow your advice. What i need is a second i2s input for the r8. One is blocked with the ps audio pwt which is hard to beat and my prior source to the laptop. So yes, I plan to open the r8, take out the amareno board and fiddle in the second i2s card...the u16 is new and i read about burn in time (hard to belive for a ddc). I have also ordered an aqvox usb device, because tolslink seems not to be the best sollution imho after some tests...
Indeed, the r8 in O8 is very smooth, warm and simultaneously resolving....a really great dac!

 

[FredA]

The u16 has arrived...still yet unsure about the result (there might be an advantage in bass), but i will try to move the r8 usb in to a second i2s input. Has someone done this before? The i2s card is available and plug and play i guess. It should only be a question of the mechanical fit, or?

Should be possible but the hole is not big enough. Could be enlarged.

Kingwa is now offering a new tube pre and also spent some spare time designing a tda1541 dac (not for sale). See the pics, we are talking serious hobbies:

http://www.audio-gd.com/TDA1541S2/TDA1541EN.htm

Still happy with the u16/r-7 combo, just great.

 

[FredA]

Heads up @Whitigir @DACLadder : Kingwa is now offering Accusilicon oscillators. I understand, could be wrong, that they can be installed in a newly ordered dac or ordered separately.

 

[mivarpet]

Heads up @Whitigir @DACLadder : Kingwa is now offering Accusilicon oscillators. I understand, could be wrong, that they can be installed in a newly ordered dac or ordered separately.

I ordered mine last night

The crystals are soldered in, so some careful desoldering is required.