[Kordonrules]

Oh my. I received mine today. It sounds V E R Y good. I will continue to put it through its paces and report out more. I have owned the RS8, WM1AM2, P6 Pro, M8, etc. for reference background.

I wonder how it would compare to the Cayin C9?

 

[searchingtom]

very nice does the h7 resemble r2r's texture and "unprocessed" realism in a way? since it's a multibit (7bits) dac i was wondering

They are close. This is by far my favorite AKM DAC chip sound that I have heard and right now you would have to fight me to remove it It has close to an R2R unprocessed realism. Final call will come after more burn in (physical or mental ). Of course with a desktop R2R you can add tube amplifiers and DDC's etc. to chase the deepest organic sound that technology can currently produce.

I must say though (and understanding that I am under an inital "WOW" halo from this new H7 toy) that the gap between the H7 and my much more expensive desktop gear is close to being closed. Meaning that I have a lot of expense in the desktop gear that I probably am no longer getting a great value for Part of the game though, and can be a fun part of the game if you can look at it as learning/exploring and finding new beautiful musicality. Kind of like a painter with a new color or a poet writing in a more complex language.

 

[searchingtom]

I wonder how it would compare to the Cayin C9?

I have owned the C9 in the past and really loved it. I found it a necessary add on because of my music generes and sound profile preferences (rich mids for strings). So far with the H7 I would not feel that it would be needed as the H7 sounds quite rich on its own. Now, if you added the C9 to to H7 it might be something crazy rich But at this time I like the richness and I don't feel the need to add tubes and it keeps the chain simpler and easier to utilize.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

They are close. This is by far my favorite AKM DAC chip sound that I have heard and right now you would have to fight me to remove it It has close to an R2R unprocessed realism. Final call will come after more burn in (physical or mental ). Of course with a desktop R2R you can add tube amplifiers and DDC's etc. to chase the deepest organic sound that technology can currently produce.

I must say though (and understanding that I am under an inital "WOW" halo from this new H7 toy) that the gap between the H7 and my much more expensive desktop gear is close to being closed. Meaning that I have a lot of expense in the desktop gear that I probably am no longer getting a great value for Part of the game though, and can be a fun part of the game if you can look at it as learning/exploring and finding new beautiful musicality. Kind of like a painter with a new color or a poet writing in a more complex language.

that is pretty epic. I was wondering about multibit chips and r2r since the ones I heard were the best gear I've tried yet (ifi diablo, r2r2000), seeing akm get into the multibit realm (iirc they had 3 bits before so still multibit, but 7 bits puts it against something like the BB pcm1794) is very intruiging, I've a wm1am2 on it's way to me and if it isn't to my liking then it's either the hifiman hymalaya hm1000 (fpga + resistors, NOS, dual dac with 4 channels total so no need for differential) with local sd (functions the same way the H7 does)
or the h7

 

[Kordonrules]

Thank you for your time!

 

[Kordonrules]

I have owned the C9 in the past and really loved it. I found it a necessary add on because of my music generes and sound profile preferences (rich mids for strings). So far with the H7 I would not feel that it would be needed as the H7 sounds quite rich on its own. Now, if you added the C9 to to H7 it might be something crazy rich But at this time I like the richness and I don't feel the need to add tubes and it keeps the chain simpler and easier to utilize.

Have you experienced any of this H7 greatness via its Bluetooth by chance? I’m a hate cables guy.

 

[searchingtom]

Have you experienced any of this H7 greatness via its Bluetooth by chance? I’m a hate cables guy.

It was all LDAC bluetooth. Haven't tried the wired side yet as I don't plan to use it much that way.

 

[RIGATIO]

It was all LDAC bluetooth. Haven't tried the wired side yet as I don't plan to use it much that way.

Damn!

 

[Zmey69]

Damn!

yes... ) now imagine playing over the wire or sdcard, where he sounds even better. Of course, it sounds very very good on LDAC, but by wire or from a sdcard it's fantastic.

 

[Kordonrules]

Damn!

I’ll 2nd that! Damn!

 

[Kordonrules]

It was all LDAC bluetooth. Haven't tried the wired side yet as I don't plan to use it much that way.

I wonder how it would be with an iPhone, AAC?

 

[RIGATIO]

Im now using the Focal Radiance with M8 and it sounds fabulous. Slightly warm, bassy with great clarity and smooth detail. A definite step up from other dacs in musicality like Sabre or Burr Brown. The H7 seems to be my next toy but im now too addicted to the M8.

 

[McCol]

Some of these opinions are confirming what I wrote last month

The more I use the H7 the more I realise just what a great device Shanling have created
I've hardly used it wired, when I have there is an improvement over Bluetooth however I'm not really intending to ever use it wired so won't explore these differences.

I will try my C9 with the H7 but it would only be for the sake of getting an idea of synergy
My N8ii/C9 combo is still the best sound I've heard in my 20 years of those hobby/obsession!

Saying that we are talking about a £4300 combo compared to a £800 device so shouldn't expect miracles

 

[Kordonrules]

Some of these opinions are confirming what I wrote last month

The more I use the H7 the more I realise just what a great device Shanling have created
I've hardly used it wired, when I have there is an improvement over Bluetooth however I'm not really intending to ever use it wired so won't explore these differences.

I will try my C9 with the H7 but it would only be for the sake of getting an idea of synergy
My N8ii/C9 combo is still the best sound I've heard in my 20 years of those hobby/obsession!

Saying that we are talking about a £4300 combo compared to a £800 device so shouldn't expect miracles

Would you be able to connect to a TV and report if there’s any lip sync issues via Bluetooth?

 

[McCol]

Would you be able to connect to a TV and report if there’s any lip sync issues via Bluetooth?

Hi
I said I would do that didn't I? Sorry keep meaning to try it
I'll try tomorrow but i think there will be sync issues as my 2017/8 LG B7 Oled only supports SBC (from what I've read anyway)
I will try though