Unfortunately, I still have to pull the unit out of the rack and pop the top to play with filters. I can't wait for R7HE-(2020)s to come on the used market and hopefully find a buyer for my M7S.
Has it only been 8 months since the Accusilicons XOs and V2 DAC hardware changed my life? Seems like eternity and If you sleep around here you may miss something important!
@DACLadder are the Accusilicon XO's and V2 Boards really that much better? I am trying to decide if it is worth the hassle to ship my R2R-7 away to get upgraded by Magna or Audio-GD. what can I expect with the newer clocks and DA boards compared to the old ones? The sound is already amazing to my ears as is with the DI-20, hard to imagine it better.
@darren700 Forum member @Chopin75 just had his R2R7 updated at Magna so can maybe give you a fresh perspective and the cost of upgrading. I can say the Accusilicons made three of my DACs sound much better. More precision. clean/ clear highs, and many other improvements in staging. The V2 DAC boards have less grain (Kingwa calls distortion) and better balance. Less grain adds more depth and transparency. The V2 DAC board also addressed many DSD playback issues. If you were going to do the work yourself I would first recommend the Accusilicons. The Accusilicons and V2 DAC boards together with the latest firmware have great synergy and cohesive sound.
Something to consider a while back Kingwa mentioned the R8 HE beats the regular R7 soundwise - “200%”! They are the same price basically and use the same V2 DAC hardware. So if anyone is eyeing a new R7 they should consider R8 HE as well.
@darren700 Forum member @Chopin75 just had his R2R7 updated at Magna so can maybe give you a fresh perspective and the cost of upgrading. I can say the Accusilicons made three of my DACs sound much better. More precision. clean/ clear highs, and many other improvements in staging. The V2 DAC boards have less grain (Kingwa calls distortion) and better balance. Less grain adds more depth and transparency. The V2 DAC board also addressed many DSD playback issues. If you were going to do the work yourself I would first recommend the Accusilicons. The Accusilicons and V2 DAC boards together with the latest firmware have great synergy and cohesive sound.
Something to consider a while back Kingwa mentioned the R8 HE beats the regular R7 soundwise - “200%”! They are the same price basically and use the same V2 DAC hardware. So if anyone is eyeing a new R7 they should consider R8 HE as well.
Thanks! sounds like the upgrade is well worth it. these upgrades are a well above my soldering skill level so I prefer to have professionals work on my beloved R2R-7 (ive only made RCA, XLR and Headphone cables)
I already sent Magna an email asking for a quote for a full upgrade, hopefully they are not too backlogged with other work.
The R8HE certainly is a hell of alot of DAC for that price. If I was buying new I would definitely consider it. Note I have the HE-350 so im not sure how much I would benefit from HE models, however I would imagine that internal re-generator still trumps using power cords between the HE-350 and DAC.
Thanks! sounds like the upgrade is well worth it. these upgrades are a well above my soldering skill level so I prefer to have professionals work on my beloved R2R-7 (ive only made RCA, XLR and Headphone cables)
I already sent Magna an email asking for a quote for a full upgrade, hopefully they are not too backlogged with other work.
The R8HE certainly is a hell of alot of DAC for that price. If I was buying new I would definitely consider it. Note I have the HE-350 so im not sure how much I would benefit from HE models, however I would imagine that internal re-generator still trumps using power cords between the HE-350 and DAC.
Yah, pretty much agree with @DACLadder regards the V2/clock upgrade. I find an immediate huge improvement on DSD. Likely from being able to use the TDA FW together with V2 that gets rid of noise but not just the lack of noise but entire DSD sound has improved, with less glare and more naturalistic. It now clearly beats PCM by good margin. PCM's improvement is dragging behind a bit, partly for me my AC mains is now quite noisy and it hits the PCM big time. I think PCM has improved with time as my R7 burns in but it is more temporamental. Some really good recordings shine nicely but poorer ones have not improved much. My R7 alsip has the complete Magna upgrade that includes some new silver wiring which may be making it less forgiving. You can discuss with magna to see what they have to offer. I have the Maganfied DaV2 board which is not that more expensive considering it is already $400, and may be worth the upgrade. You now have option of modifying to allow external clock input, not sure if it is worth the trouble if you don't intend to get or have a super nice external clock. Now I don't use external DI like Singxur etc but I use F1 internal board. I have no galvanic isolation so this may be reason why my system is susceptible to AC noise (which hits my PC hard). I know this because on weekends or late at night the sound improves dramatically.
Yah, pretty much agree with @DACLadder regards the V2/clock upgrade. I find an immediate huge improvement on DSD. Likely from being able to use the TDA FW together with V2 that gets rid of noise but not just the lack of noise but entire DSD sound has improved, with less glare and more naturalistic. It now clearly beats PCM by good margin. PCM's improvement is dragging behind a bit, partly for me my AC mains is now quite noisy and it hits the PCM big time. I think PCM has improved with time as my R7 burns in but it is more temporamental. Some really good recordings shine nicely but poorer ones have not improved much. My R7 alsip has the complete Magna upgrade that includes some new silver wiring which may be making it less forgiving. You can discuss with magna to see what they have to offer. I have the Maganfied DaV2 board which is not that more expensive considering it is already $400, and may be worth the upgrade. You now have option of modifying to allow external clock input, not sure if it is worth the trouble if you don't intend to get or have a super nice external clock. Now I don't use external DI like Singxur etc but I use F1 internal board. I have no galvanic isolation so this may be reason why my system is susceptible to AC noise (which hits my PC hard). I know this because on weekends or late at night the sound improves dramatically.
Thanks for the info. I will probably get the full upgrade including the clock input to be future proof. I am thinking of getting the magnafied upgrade but not sure about the silver wire part. I may skip the silver wire. I do have full galvanic isolation and a HE-350 so I should be all set for PCM.
I agree. You just have to decide when it's good enough. With Kingwa's gears You get high value performance for the money, whenever You "climb on the circus". It is a ride, and I have been on since 2009/2010. No regrets, just stimulating evolution and partial upgrades over time. I don't mind to do the changes myself.... So You can say future proof if You accept these terms to play along.
/Jan
Once the hw is optimized, the code is all that matters. And in the DI's case, to hw is really excellent. So the sw part is what can do the biggest difference in the future.
You are both right, of course. Optimized for this specific setup - Yes. .The time to come will probably lead to the adding a memory buffer allowing recalculating and maybe some format converting and resampling. Who knows what pathes Kingwa will take.. A new land winning in one area will usually benefits the whole product line... So Yes, You are both right and I am glad for it.
/Jan
Good question, Not sure, I was estimating that it would unlikely to sell more than $1800 if you have old clock and V1. It takes $500-600 to upgrade to R7. R72020 is about $2600. So if you add depreciation, people may only buy if it is about $1500 or less so they can ship it for upgrade or more likely do their own upgrade which would be cheaper. So they would at least save $400-500 compare with new one. This is my guess.
I guess you would be lucky to even get $1000 for first gen r2r7.
The second hand market for flagship audio-gd products are not as good as their mid and entry level ones. The ones who can spend that much will likely have a budget for the latest version too. And they will always swing for the latest and greatest.
Lets be honest, it does not have McIntosh or Accuphase level of brand charisma.
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