[Wynnytsky]

got mine @4:32pm yesterday
I've read someone describing a DAC as having "swing", and those first notes immediately reminded me of that.
The depth/weight/tone I'm hearing now is what I'd expect to follow weeks of break-in, so I'm guessing it's going to get worse before it gets better?
I tried the USB for a moment, and yes the treble has much to go if it's ever going to catch up with the Tanly via I2S.

On the Gustard X20's I2S input, the L/R channels would flip, but I think it only did this on either DSD or PCM.
On this DAC the I2S behaves the same for PCM and and DSD. Unfortunately my Tanly interface has it wired the other way (and who knows what "right" is). No biggie because I can flip channels with wires or in JRiver.
Next I want to confirm the absolute phase isn't being flipped on I2S (because that's what my ears tell me).
For that I have to start listening on USB, then enable each software function/filter one at a time, then repeat the process with I2S.

what a treat this thing is
to be continued...

 

[FredA]

got mine @4:32pm yesterday
I've read someone describing a DAC as having "swing", and those first notes immediately reminded me of that.
The depth/weight/tone I'm hearing now is what I'd expect to follow weeks of break-in, so I'm guessing it's going to get worse before it gets better?
I tried the USB for a moment, and yes the treble has much to go if it's ever going to catch up with the Tanly via I2S.

On the Gustard X20's I2S input, the L/R channels would flip, but I think it only did this on either DSD or PCM.
On this DAC the I2S behaves the same for PCM and and DSD. Unfortunately my Tanly interface has it wired the other way (and who knows what "right" is). No biggie because I can flip channels with wires or in JRiver.
Next I want to confirm the absolute phase isn't being flipped on I2S (because that's what my ears tell me).
For that I have to start listening on USB, then enable each software function/filter one at a time, then repeat the process with I2S.

what a treat this thing is
to be continued...

The first impressons were good also for mine. After that, it's a roller coaster with diminishing amplitude between the lows and the highs, culminating to a breakthrough moment at 550 hours. That is when you become addicted and start thinking that it's perfect.

 

[DACLadder]

Interesting.... Looking at the R2R 7 and R2R 7HE chassis the digital and analog boards are different size. The HE power supplies occupy almost 50% of the available chassis depth while the regular supplies maybe 33%. Same with S7 versus S7 HE. This means there are two different digital and analog board designs to accommodate each design in the standard chassis. So doesn't appear to be an upgrade path for regular DACs to the internal HE power supplies. Unless you buy new everything of course. .

 

[davidnow]

Hi, i own a Master 7 (last firmware) and wonder if I will go for the R2R 7. It's not that I am not happy with the M7, but you know, always looking for something better...
I just want to thank you for this thread and for your objective opinions. Very interesting and very useful. Thanks
David

 

[FredA]

Interesting.... Looking at the R2R 7 and R2R 7HE chassis the digital and analog boards are different size. The HE power supplies occupy almost 50% of the available chassis depth while the regular supplies maybe 33%. Same with S7 versus S7 HE. This means there are two different digital and analog board designs to accommodate each design in the standard chassis. So doesn't appear to be an upgrade path for regular DACs to the internal HE power supplies. Unless you buy new everything of course. .

Not sure about this. The he version is deeper to accomodate the regenerative supply. So i would assume it utilizes the same boards.

 

[Matez]

When I'm ready. There's some other stuff that has to get done first, but I also want to do a DAC-off with good speaker system.

No pressure, not at all

Apologies for derailing this thread, but out of curiosity, what speaker system you consider as good?

 

[DACLadder]

Not sure about this. The he version is deeper to accomodate the regenerative supply. So i would assume it utilizes the same boards.

Yes, the HE chassis is 20mm deeper. But the regular chassis digital and analog boards have extra sets of heatsinks near the power supplies that are not present on the HE versions. They physically look different. Most likely the active circuit side downstream of the boards' heatsinks and LDOs are identical. I'm just making an observation as Kingwa has to maintain two sets of boards to accomodate each type.

 

[remoss]

Magna Hifi here in the Netherlands has the R2R7 HE in house (yes early adopter) and just an hour ago he measured the depth of the chassis for me, it's 500mm, so the AG website is very wrong!

 

[DACLadder]

Magna Hifi here in the Netherlands has the R2R7 HE in house (yes early adopter) and just an hour ago he measured the depth of the chassis for me, it's 500mm, so the AG website is very wrong!

Wow! So are the digital and analog boards the same or different between the two models?

 

[remoss]

I don't know, the earliest time i could tell is after half September or so due to holidays.

Review update after a few weeks burning in: https://www.audioenzo.nl/audio-gd-r2r-7-ingespeeld/

 

[Currawong]

No pressure, not at all

Apologies for derailing this thread, but out of curiosity, what speaker system you consider as good?

A friend of a friend has a system with Maggies, so hopefully that at some stage.

 

[darren700]

This is a big and heavy piece of equipement, perhaps the only drawback. I would not have room for it as it is unfortunately. I remember asking the same question you did to Kingwa, he gave me the same exact answer.

Luckily I have plenty of room on-top of my entertainment unit for it to go behind my TV, however keeping all the power cables away from the interconnects will be difficult.

I was going to say... getting a separate power regenerator for your whole system would be the better option for sure.

Yes I didn't think of that initially, definitely makes more sense to have the pre-amp and CD player fed regen power along with the DAC. Too bad Kingwa doesnt make a larger regen that can supply power amps also.... but I imagine it would be even more massive than the HE350 already is.

 

[Matez]

A friend of a friend has a system with Maggies, so hopefully that at some stage.

Since you review stuff, this makes sense.

 

[barbas]

I don't know, the earliest time i could tell is after half September or so due to holidays.

Review update after a few weeks burning in: https://www.audioenzo.nl/audio-gd-r2r-7-ingespeeld/

Hi Remoss, is that review yours? If so, can you please emphasis the differences you're finding now (after long burn-in) with the Holo Spring L3? Are you still in OS mode? Have you tried different NOS modes?
Thanks!

 

[FredA]

Hi Remoss, is that review yours? If so, can you please emphasis the differences you're finding now (after long burn-in) with the Holo Spring L3? Are you still in OS mode? Have you tried different NOS modes?
Thanks!

Google translated the review and this pretty much confirms my observations. This r2r 7 plays music with an unexpectable finesse and improves a lot over the first weeks.

As for me, after owning and enjoying the M7 for 4 years thinking it was almost perfect, I dont't see much that could be improved with the r2r 7. It's this good. Best treble you can imagine, rich medium, defined bass going very low, and great soundstaging, very lively. Just a great music machine, for those who are in this game because they love music.

One thing i like to say is: the source is fundamental, however good the rest of the chain is, if the source is not up to the task, you end up disappointed. You can't make up for an ordinary source, that's as simple as that. You can fixed what was broken unless it's just a tonal balance issue.