[Pharmaboy]

Hi Nayyte. If I recall correctly, your R1-NOS is still fairly new, isn't it? While I don't own one, I have read they take many hours to settle in and reveal their true sound. How many hours would you say the DAC has played? Just making sure it's fully burned in before you decide it's not right for you (but if you do decide that, I may want to buy it from you!).

This is a very rational suggestion IMHO.

I've never heard the R1, but I owned the DAC-19 & NOS-19 DACs that came before it. In the Head-Fi thread for these DACs, a number of users stated up to 500 hours of burn-in was requiree before the sound stabilized. I thought that must be insane. It had to be wrong.

Well, they were absolutely right. The sound was all over the place for a good 400 hours. The variability slowly calmed down over the next 100 hours. By 500 hours' burn-in/use, the sound was stable (and very good IMO) for both units, and never changed thereafter.

This may have something to do with the elaborate, multi-component power supplies Audio GD typically uses. If you open up the relatively large case of the R1 (none of these DACs are exactly compact), you'll see it's stuffed with multiple circuit boards and components Just a guess on my part, but something has to explain these really long/totally legit burn-in times required by Audio GD DACs.

 

[LXMc]

This is a very rational suggestion IMHO.

I've never heard the R1, but I owned the DAC-19 & NOS-19 DACs that came before it. In the Head-Fi thread for these DACs, a number of users stated up to 500 hours of burn-in was requiree before the sound stabilized. I thought that must be insane. It had to be wrong.

Well, they were absolutely right. The sound was all over the place for a good 400 hours. The variability slowly calmed down over the next 100 hours. By 500 hours' burn-in/use, the sound was stable (and very good IMO) for both units, and never changed thereafter.

This may have something to do with the elaborate, multi-component power supplies Audio GD typically uses. If you open up the relatively large case of the R1 (none of these DACs are exactly compact), you'll see it's stuffed with multiple circuit boards and components Just a guess on my part, but something has to explain these really long/totally legit burn-in times required by Audio GD DACs.

Maybe they just manufacturer it with little bits of solid solder resting on the board and the amp has to melt them all down on its own

 

[Nayyte]

Hi Nayyte. If I recall correctly, your R1-NOS is still fairly new, isn't it? While I don't own one, I have read they take many hours to settle in and reveal their true sound. How many hours would you say the DAC has played? Just making sure it's fully burned in before you decide it's not right for you (but if you do decide that, I may want to buy it from you!).

Yeah I haven't noticed any change in the sound truly and I've had it for a bit over a month. I've definitely not put more than 100 hours in yet. This burn in game is lengthy!

I still love the DAC for sure. The sound is at least twice as good as the akm in my questyle. I do feel like it requires careful amp matching to get the proper soundstage and tonality. I'm currently running my RH-5 as a pre to my little near field Adam monitors and the result is insanely refined. Super immersive and detailed with insane separation. That would be my best combo yet. But oddly enough listening to my auteur OG through the RH-5 and also my PS audio GCHA, the sound is not as forward and feels bottlenecked. My Auteur's sounded best (so far) with my CMA400i in line out running to the GCHA. This really felt like the drivers were moving to their full potential. Current model amplification sorcery? That chain gave them a full soundstage and great tonality with nothing holding back. Listening to the R-1 nos through the GCHA gave my HD600's a great neutral response with bass impact that I could only dream of from the 600. But the same chain with the Auteur gave a dry and dull tonality, really reflecting the amp more than the headphones capabilities.

I still have a lot to sort out power wise. The RH-5 is going strait in to the wall and everything else is plugged into a Furman power strip conditioner. I have a feeling that the Auteur is going to require a PCM DAC with seriously overbuild circuitry and clean power in, the works. I also feel like the Auteur might need a warm source to stretch it's legs.

 

[Nayyte]

About to listen to my crack for the first time

 

[jonathan c]

About to listen to my crack for the first time

It looks cracking !!

 

[jonathan c]

I still have a lot to sort out power wise. The RH-5 is going strait in to the wall and everything else is plugged into a Furman power strip conditioner**. I have a feeling that the Auteur is going to require a PCM DAC with seriously overbuild circuitry and clean power in, the works. I also feel like the Auteur might need a warm source to stretch it's legs.

** including the DAC? That may be a source of the “smoothing of the edges”. My Auteur OGs, black limba & stabilised takwin, are very detailed without etch via Mojo Audio Mystique DAC (nos, r2r) + a variety of headphone amplifiers. [Note: I have a dedicated circuit / line for audio with no power conditioning.]

 

[Nayyte]

** including the DAC? That may be a source of the “smoothing of the edges”. My Auteur OGs, black limba & stabilised takwin, are very detailed without etch via Mojo Audio Mystique DAC (nos, r2r) + a variety of headphone amplifiers. [Note: I have a dedicated circuit / line for audio with no power conditioning.]

Yeah it could be, but the issue of smoothing out the edges is way more apparent than something that could be caused by the power I think, more like a issue that fits in more with the design of the DAC. I want to have a more dedicated chain when it comes to power (I thought the Furman was all I needed). Didn't think my power source would ever adjust the sound so much but here we are.

 

[Nayyte]

About an hour of time with the OG Auteur and the basic bottlehead crack. SHE LOUD.
Listening about 40 degrees from 0 on the knob and my spotify volume is at half. If I put it at full then its too loud. If I then adjust it on the crack then I have channel imbalance. I have about 35 degrees of knob between channel imbalance and audible hum. I'm right in the middle and I have to adjust on the PC to get the volume listenable. This is OK but idk if line level signal to my DAC would be even possible.

Stock tubes first! The sound is definitely doing great things to the Auteur OG, but its way too punchy for me. Detail and tonality are good and the soundstage is small but defined. Transitions from fast to slow and quiet to loud parts of the songs is not ideal. There isn't much grip here and the parts of the music that should evoke emotion and suspense sound molded together. Not great. Too much mid bass I think and low regions are too forward as well. Background singers are louder than I expected but they didn't have room to breathe.

I bought upgraded tubes for a reason!

I have a Raytheon 5814A Black Plate 2-mica 1950-52 thanks to @tholt
And a RCA 6AS7 Black Plate 1950's

here we go.

 

[jonathan c]

About an hour of time with the OG Auteur and the basic bottlehead crack. SHE LOUD.
Listening about 40 degrees from 0 on the knob and my spotify volume is at half. If I put it at full then its too loud. If I then adjust it on the crack then I have channel imbalance. I have about 35 degrees of knob between channel imbalance and audible hum. I'm right in the middle and I have to adjust on the PC to get the volume listenable. This is OK but idk if line level signal to my DAC would be even possible.

Stock tubes first! The sound is definitely doing great things to the Auteur OG, but its way too punchy for me. Detail and tonality are good and the soundstage is small but defined. Transitions from fast to slow and quiet to loud parts of the songs is not ideal. There isn't much grip here and the parts of the music that should evoke emotion and suspense sound molded together. Not great. Too much mid bass I think and low regions are too forward as well. Background singers are louder than I expected but they didn't have room to breathe.

I bought upgraded tubes for a reason!

I have a Raytheon 5814A Black Plate 2-mica 1950-52 thanks to @tholt
And a RCA 6AS7 Black Plate 1950's

here we go.

It will take quite a bit more than one hour for your BHC to ‘settle in’ / ‘come on song’. You just finished building it! All the circuit components - from capacitor to transformer - have to break in electrically and operationally … let alone tube break-in and stabilisation. Patience …

 

[Nayyte]

I swapped in the RCA 6AS7G black plate and turned it on. With nothing playing and the volume at zero, I was like "is there something playing?" tube noise.
Never heard a sound like this before. It didn't sound good so I turned it off. I plugged in out and in again and this time it was quieter but still like 30db honestly. Low pitches whining and another sound almost like a wind chime lol. Did I get a bad tube or is this just part of the NOS tube burn in?

 

[Nayyte]

It will take quite a bit more than one hour for your BHC to ‘settle in’ / ‘come on song’. You just finished building it! All the circuit components - from capacitor to transformer - have to break in electrically and operationally … let alone tube break-in and stabilisation. Patience …

This is nerve racking cause I don't want it to explode lol

 

[David222]

It’s the HeadFi Discovery channel afternoon programming. No snickering! This is a great combination! [The Grado RA-1 ‘silent’ DC power from twin 9-volt batteries plays directly to Atrium’s strengths in dynamics, layering, and soundstage.]

Ha! Just seeing this ... I bet you had to change the batteries after this pairing

 

[jonathan c]

Ha! Just seeing this ... I bet you had to change the batteries after this pairing

Actually, Atrium is fairly efficient even with its nominal 300-ohm impedance. Now, had it been the AKG K-1000 …. RA-1 ==> !!

 

[David222]

Actually, Atrium is fairly efficient even with its nominal 300-ohm impedance. Now, had it been the AKG K-1000 …. RA-1 ==> !!

So says the guy with rechargable batteries

 

[jonathan c]

This is nerve racking cause I don't want it to explode lol

…. If OTL tube headphone amplifiers are ‘nerve racking’, perhaps it’s AAA THX 789 time … little suspense, little music .