[Luckbad]

  A little OT but illustrates what one of the top DAC designers deem important:
 
The totl new R2R Total DAC six d1 tube - $15,000 of DAC greatness!! No i2s, no DSD.  So if the one of best DAC designers, whose attention to detail is possibly unrivaled (300 precision matched .01% Vishay individual resistors for the DAC ladder), deems i2s not important fro the best sound quality, nor DSD, well...how could i argue?
 
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/totaldac3/1.html

 
It does have BNC and AES though.

 

[rb2013]

   
It does have BNC and AES though.

Yes it does...and USB and SPDIF...

 

[sbgk]

  Review Update F-1:
 
OK well past 200 hrs and the SQ has evened out on my F-1, at an extrodinarly high level.  Everything I said before...Now even greater air, transparency and vibrancy with the Curious 200mm USB link between the Recovery and iPurifier2.
 
There should be a whole host of folks getting theirs soon - so what to look for:  Straight out of the box (mylar envelope) very detailed, deeper bass, clarity and focused sound staging.  Excellent tone as well - but that will get better with burnin.  Any slight edge or graininess (depends on album) will be gone at 100hrs - by 200hrs just creamy smooth and musical.  You are all in for a real audio treat.  As I said before to get the most out of the F-1 will require better power then the PC USB can provide and data/ground cleaning.
 
I think I'm going to just sit back and enjoy this for a while - many albums to re-listen to through this new 'lens'.  Virtually every one with new details revealed.
 
Just great.
 
Once the additional boards arrive will be begin the modding - 1st will be the simple RCA SPDIF upgrade.
 
 
Cheers!

 

does the sq still get affected by changes you make in foobar 2000 eg memory play or buffer size ?

 

[rb2013]

  does the sq still get affected by changes you make in foobar 2000 eg memory play or buffer size ?

Not that I have found - and this is what really threw me - on the F-1 running JPlay 6.2 had little SQ effect (WIN10) - with the X-1 on a WIN7 machine it did.
 
So far the 'ASIO: XMOS USB Audio 2.0 ST 3086'  sounds the best (3449ms , dither)

 

[rb2013]

I thought I would re-post this here - from another thread:
 

 
@bimmer100 modded my Breeze DU-U8, which I lent him partially so he could review it and we agreed that he should mod it while he had it there. It sounds SO good. The Crystek 957s seem to improved the soundstage and bass the most. The soundstage is obviously wider with a bit better imaging than before. That bass though! It seems to dig deeper with more punch (i.e., better dynamics) while still being tighter and more detailed than before. The highs are also clearer and more detailed, while still retaining the laid-back, non-fatiguing nature of the stock Breeze. Keep in mind my impressions are with the stock power cord, as my Graphene Extreme PC is currently being shipped back to me from my parent's house. But ~$100 for the clocks and dip14 sockets/boards seems definitely worthwhile to me, if you have the DIY skills.
 
If we're going off @rb2013s scale with the stock Breeze with GE power cord is 108 (98 without) and the stock U12 is 72, I'd place the Breeze with new clocks at 120-125 and, assuming the GE cable has the same effect as before (+10 points), you get a total score of 130-135. Maybe my numbers are inaccurate—there's a lot of interpolation off his scale, and I don't really understand what the numbers mean. But the point is that for $220, you can get an amazing DDC.

Great to hear the Breeze responded well to the better Cyrstek clocks.  It certainly is a great unit. 
 
The point rating is just a relative scale - 100 just being approx the stock Breeze with the Talema transformer.  I agree made significantly better by the Cerious Tech Graphene Extreme power cord (what happened to that guy?- he disappeared after I made him so popular.  Even had a audio reviewer contact me about reviewing his cables - as he could not reach him).
 
Anyway - this new class of USB DDCs based on the lastest XMOS 1000MIPS XU208 chip have just catapulted over the Breeze, Pro3a and the PUC 2 lite.
 
I would say the Singxer F-1 using Crystek CCHD 575 audio clocks, NDK SD clock for USB - is in a whole other league.  I just finished burnin at 200 hrs and would put it at 150-155.  With the improvements I have made in my data and ps chains - now the package at 170ish. It's that good.  The Singxer X-1 based on the 1000MIPS XU208 as well but with NDK SD audio and USB clocks at 140-145.  The F-1 is king right now - it uses very advanced FPGA USB isolation, multiple ultra low noise ADI LDO regulators, etc...
 
Here is the thread I started to track these amazing devices:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/803111/xmos-xu208-usb-bridges-the-latest-gen-has-arrived
 
Cheers!

 
 
PS There is much to go with USB and SPDIF as far as SQ improvements go.  Although I may have pushed the edge of the envelope as far as possible now. I use my old $30K analog system as a reference - this has surpassed it!  At a fraction of the total cost.
 
Three cheers for PC Audio!!!  And my old analog turntable could never have 3TB of music - 30 different playlists - mixing SACD, Redbook WAV, Digitalized LP's (at 32/176K), DVD-A's - all in one playlist!

 

[hugoboss]

i think what make f1 so different with x1 or q1 is the fpga chip xilinx
that is the key of the outstanding f1.
xilink fpga chip.
 
nowdays if iam not wrong intel is planning to buy xilinx company but in the end intel buying xilinx competitor "altera" with huge 16 billion. also in 2016 to begin selling products with a Xeon chip and an Altera FPGA in a single package.
 
i just wonder why intel not buying xilinx and integrated that fpga technology inside intel procesor so pc computer will enter the era for super low jitter with the new intel procesor
qualcom is the one who in rumor will buy xilinx. wonder if xilinx become qualcom part.
what will happen in the future smartphone with qualcom chip maybe we can see some xilinx fpga chip in smartphone at future.

 

[rb2013]

  i think what make f1 so different with x1 or q1 is the fpga chip xilinx
that is the key of the outstanding f1.
xilink fpga chip.
 
nowdays if iam not wrong intel is planning to buy xilinx company but in the end intel buying xilinx competitor "altera" with huge 16 billion. also in 2016 to begin selling products with a Xeon chip and an Altera FPGA in a single package.
 
i just wonder why intel not buying xilinx and integrated that fpga technology inside intel procesor so pc computer will enter the era for super low jitter with the new intel procesor
qualcom is the one who in rumor will buy xilinx. wonder if xilinx become qualcom part.
what will happen in the future smartphone with qualcom chip maybe we can see some xilinx fpga chip in smartphone at future.

I believe you are right the USB isolation scheme using the FPGA is benefical to the F-1's SQ.  But they were not the first to think of this - Tanly had it as well with their XMOS U8 DDC and of course with even better components the Berkeley Alpha USB.  But after listening to the X-1 (without this circuit), it is better then any DDC I have heard yet!  Only the F-1 beats it - so far.
 
So I do believe the XMOS 1000MIPS XU208 is a factor here.
 
I'll know more when the DIYinHK DXIO Pro4a arrives - I liked the Pro3a very much - it was beaten only by the PUC2 Lite - in my DDC shootout rankings.  The upgraded Pro4a will use the XU208 and have NDK SD clocks - also DIYinHK ultra low 1uv regulators.
 
FPGA chips are very flexible and can be used for a whole host of functions.  Some companies even use them as R2R multi-bit DACs (Chord) to great effect.  The programming is the trick.
 
Fun stuff!

 

[abartels]

  A little OT but illustrates what one of the top DAC designers deem important:
 
The totl new R2R Total DAC six d1 tube - $15,000 of DAC greatness!! No i2s, no DSD.  So if the one of best DAC designers, whose attention to detail is possibly unrivaled (300 precision matched .01% Vishay individual resistors for the DAC ladder), deems i2s not important fro the best sound quality, nor DSD, well...how could i argue?
 
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/totaldac3/1.html

 
That's because this design does not talk I2S, so why would he use it then? I too am not DSD convinced, but maybe will in the near future...

 

[ccschua]

I feel that my system has changed dac with the singxer x-1.

It seems to inprove with more hours burnt.

 

[rb2013]

   
That's because this design does not talk I2S, so why would he use it then? I too am not DSD convinced, but maybe will in the near future...

Well I think the designer of a $15000 sota DAC would use a different design if i2s was so good versus AES, BNC,SPDIF, USB - don't you think?
 
But Srajan mentions two other totl DACs in the review.  Currently his favorites:
 
The $6K Aqua HiFi La Scala MKII - also R2R using the excellent PCM1704UK chips (same as my modded DAC60 - more info here
http://www.head-fi.org/t/740362/lite-dac60-pcm1704-r2r-tubed-dac-mod-project):
 
Although it is an R2R DAC design it does have i2s.  But he runs it by SPDIF coax:

 
OT but relating back to the F-1 - SPDIF coax/bnc/aes is still the std.

 

[rb2013]

I feel that my system has changed dac with the singxer x-1.

It seems to inprove with more hours burnt.

Great to hear!  I want to say - it was your mention of the DXIO Pro3a that motivated me to get one, many months ago - thanks!

 

[Nycalex]

please excuse my curiosity, but what exactly does this device do?

 

[rb2013]

  please excuse my curiosity, but what exactly does this device do?

Magic!

 
No seriously it connects your PC to your DAC - using the latest technology.

 

[rb2013]

Here is another new totl DAC - this one not R2R, but based on the ESS9018S:
 
The Fore Audio DAISy1 - $6000 - no i2s...just sayn'  One of 6Moons top picks for sota DACs. 

 
 
 
 
Did I mention the $2400 Schiit YGGDRASIL DAC - no i2s.
Yggdrasil
 
The bottom line is don't get hung up on i2s - the F-1 can do it if you want.  But it's not required for great sound, as some would have you believe...unless you have all those 784k and 512DSD files you just have to hear in native.

 

[abartels]

wonder what kind of USB input circuitry all those marvelous totl dac's have, would they convert to spdif?