[Jackula]

Is the Yggy high fidelity? Because I owned one and was NOT pleased. Yes- the detail was great- but it was dry, sterile, kind of metallic. If high fidelity- accuracy without coloration sounds like a yggy- than it is not for me. I am looking a smoother, fuller, rounder, more analogue sound. I once tried a Mojo Audio Mystique V3 and this was just right- but I don't want to pay $7,000.

No I don't consider the Yggy high fidelity, I actually found it a bit warm (same opinion as the guy from head mania?) I guess we can all have different perceptions of musical DACs, it's an endless rabbit hole.

I can't call the R7HE round, but it is certainly more analogue. If you like round and smooth, I think the TotalDAC Core will be a very good option.

Not trying to offend owners of the R7 here, just trying to give objective purchasing advice. The R7HE is the epitome of "real". And real life isn't smooth and rounded.

 

[DACLadder]

We like objectivity and keeping it real. I owned an Iggy ver 1 and also thought the sound was flat and dry. The Yggy has many fans but I like my music dynamic and detailed. Did not work out for me. The MSB Analog DAC was the same in many ways but had more detail than the Yggy. With all its faults I enjoyed the old Master 7 more. It was very musical by comparison.

Kingwa's goals of the past several years is to make more transparent DACs especially his R2R models. And he keeps finding ways to improve the enjoyment every few months with firmware upgrades and hardware mods including the oldest PCM1704 models. It is tedious keeping up on the changes but is worth it and very interesting. And I would like to listen to other DACs but I have champagne tastes and a beer budget. So keep us informed!

The next hardware mod could be a Singularity 2020 board with ext. clock input. The cycle never ends!

 

[remoss]

Nice review. Too bad you don't comment on the di-he with the external clock. Surprising results. nonetheless, i would have expected the di20-he too easily beat the su-1 as it does beat the u16.

It was perhaps a bit unfair to listen to the DI20HE without an external clock, while the SU1 had the SOtM clock print built in.
But I didn't have an external clock print for the DI20HE so I had to do it with it.

 

[gk2013]

It was perhaps a bit unfair to listen to the DI20HE without an external clock, while the SU1 had the SOtM clock print built in.
But I didn't have an external clock print for the DI20HE so I had to do it with it.

I don't thin its unfair the "SU1 with SOtM's sCLK-EX Clock Board" and a good power supply is approx. 1.5x the price of a DI-20HE. (assuming you have this modification SOtM SCLK-EX2MC Modification for Singxer - SU1 )
The SOtM Clock board could also be used with external master clock input which was not supplied either.

Agree with Fred, the standard SU1 can't be compared with the DI-20HE.

 

[JaMo]

Review of the DI20HE, in Dutch though so use Google translate: https://www.audioenzo.nl/audio-gd-di20he/

I like Your writing but must ask if the DI20HE You reviewed have had a thorough burn in. My DI20HE is one of the very first delivered and it is now at first it sings (~470h constant on and playing music). I should appreciate Your approach a second time with a fully burned in unit. Thanks for Your work with the reviewings.

Another thing. This is a bit OT. -Can You please put a copy of Your post into the DI20-thread? https://www.head-fi.org/threads/audio-gd-di-20.918123/
/Jan

 

[FredA]

I don't thin its unfair the "SU1 with SOtM's sCLK-EX Clock Board" and a good power supply is approx. 1.5x the price of a DI-20HE. (assuming you have this modification SOtM SCLK-EX2MC Modification for Singxer - SU1 )
The SOtM Clock board could also be used with external master clock input which was not supplied either.

Agree with Fred, the standard SU1 can't be compared with the DI-20HE.

And as Jan said, you need a fully burned-in unit. As i have a fully burned external xo, i can get a fairly good idea of what the di20-he is capable when a peak in the burn-in cycle is reached. What i hear then is beyond any expectation i had, just splendid sound. The di-he performs at a level that makes you wonder if something, at any price, can beat it. My ocxo setup only cost 250usd including a dc cable.

 

[remoss]

I like Your writing but must ask if the DI20HE You reviewed have had a thorough burn in. My DI20HE is one of the very first delivered and it is now at first it sings (~470h constant on and playing music). I should appreciate Your approach a second time with a fully burned in unit. Thanks for Your work with the reviewings.
/Jan

It has been burned in for around 250 hours. I am familiar with the burn-in phenomenon and can safely say that the differences with the SU1 / sCLK-EX combination are too large to be caught up by further burn-in.

 

[remoss]

I don't thin its unfair the "SU1 with SOtM's sCLK-EX Clock Board" and a good power supply is approx. 1.5x the price of a DI-20HE. (assuming you have this modification SOtM SCLK-EX2MC Modification for Singxer - SU1 )

You assumed that right. In addition, it was not a standard SU1 but a Magnafied edition. So another € 200 in modifications and fed by a SOtM sPS500 power supply.

 

[JaMo]

I hear You. My point is still valid. From my experience. At 250h the DI20HE was sublime, a bit recessed, sound stage was shrinked. If this state had been the matured product, I had instantly sent it back. No, the DI20HE started to reveal its guts and its magic after ~420h. I think it's a bit unfair to review it during the "Volvo-period" when the thing is fully matured, a sophisticated 450hp Jaguar ...to use a car analogy.

 

[FredA]

Indeed, Volvo is nice but won't have much of a wow effect. My di20-he has 120 hours and the internal clocks are nowhere near the external ocxo.

 

[Chopin75]

The review of DI is not exactly negative. From the way he describes, it appears to be more polite and forgiving than the SU, which seems to be hyper detail/bright and maybe more analytical and that is not the house sound of Audio-gd. But I agree there likely to be more burn-in period, and especially there is a regenerator inside which I presume may also require more burn-in. With time, I think the detail and sound stage would open up a lot more. I would be interested to hear the difference between a DI regular vs DIHE in the near future.

 

[JaMo]

The review of DI is not exactly negative. From the way he describes, it appears to be more polite and forgiving than the SU,

That's true but I still think it is unfair to review a Jaguar in "LimPo" mode.

("LimPo" mode = Limited Power mode = A protective programming to protect the engine when a faulty sensor gives strange values. All to let the car slowly get to a car workshop)

 

[FredA]

That's true but I still think it is unfair to review a Jaguar in "LimPo" mode.

("LimPo" mode = Limited Power mode = A protective programming to protect the engine when a faulty sensor gives strange values. All to let the car slowly get to a car workshop)

Plus the internal acccusilicon XOs need 600.hours according to Kingwa.

 

[Chopin75]

BTW, the HE versions of Audio-gd are likely truly remarkable from a practical point in that AC mains probably contribute most to sound degradation. My home likely has more AC noise than before as it is in the city where as before I was in a rural area despite now I am in a house but before was in apt. I have been manipulating the AC mains source by using different combination of transformers, filters and power regenerator and the sound is changed so much just doing this. Currently my power regenerator is having some battery issue. To be fixed by manufacturer.
I wish Kingwa will resurrect his HE regenerator for those not having HE versions of their Audio-Gd gear and it would likely benefit the streamer/server significantly as well.

 

[ToddRaymond]

I too would love the opportunity to buy an HE-350. Even if it doesn't quite perform to the level of having individual HE components, it's a bit more economical and flexible. It costs about $1000 USD more (give or take) per unit for the HE-version of the same product, whereas it was, what, $1580 for the 350? Four components could benefit from it, and there's less concern with leaving it on all the time, versus the other HE units (though I realize the most recent versions can be left on all the time, provided the ambient temperature in your room/home isn't too high).

By the way, earlier this year, Kingwa mentioned the possibility of producing a run of HE-350s, provided a 'group-buy' scenario materialized, but not enough people had expressed interest (I think he said he needed 50 units for it to be viable, but I could be mistake).