Audio GD - bad rap in the past -new breed !!

[amirm]

The one that is promised is "Audio Gd Master 7 S - DAC PCM1704UK R-2R." Is this going to do?

 

[Veri]

The one that is promised is "Audio Gd Master 7 S - DAC PCM1704UK R-2R." Is this going to do?

Looks like it is a recent model. 2750 USD
http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/M721/M721EN.htm

 

[Lupin]

In total 130W power to supply all digital parts and the left and right analog boards

130W for a DAC...

 

[brandall10]

It's a shame, all the ingredients are there, they are just put together all wrong. Imagine what could be with all those components and an actual competent design...

The difference is designing with instrumentation vs. by ear/gut (with some instrumentation, just not the right kind) - the latter is a shot in the dark and susceptible to all sorts of audiophile bias issues that may create superfluous elements in the design.

Look at a company like Schitt. Just a few years back, their top of the line DACs measured like their namesake. Now? Their entry levels designs are instrument grade. Their main designer in an industry veteran doing this for decades.

I don't believe there isn't any malfeasance at play, and in fact, it's probably a lot more effort to do this stuff subjectively because you're probably second guessing every single change you make along the way if it's an audible improvement or not.

 

[Lupin]

I don't believe there isn't any malfeasance at play.

Everyone knows that Kingwa is doing things "by ear" and that it is his thing and will probably never change. That's why I'm interested in Amir testing new(er) Audio-GD gear but at the same time we already know that the measurements are not going to look pretty.

That's Kingwa's choice and all fine.
Where it get a bit "shady" in my opinion is that Audio-GD does talk about measurements and publishing measurement results on their product pages which can not be reproduced by Amir or anyone else. They presenting it better then it really is, or at least going out of their way to make it look better. Why?? Audio-GD is doing things "by ear" own up to that and don't convolute that statement with "odd" measurements.

Why does Audio-GD feel the need to publish those graphs and talk about how and what it measures when their whole idea is doing things "by ear".. My guess is that the pressure of delivering gear that measures well is increasing.

 

[Veri]

Everyone knows that Kingwa is doing things "by ear" and that it is his thing and will probably never change. That's why I'm interested in Amir testing new(er) Audio-GD gear but at the same time we already know that the measurements are not going to look pretty.

That's Kingwa's choice and all fine.
Where it get a bit "shady" in my opinion is that Audio-GD does talk about measurements and publishing measurement results on their product pages which can not be reproduced by Amir or anyone else.

Indeed. One way to go so far down the rabbit hole, it's another to present fake measurements which can't possibly be from the device in question. That's fraud.

 

[Katji]

,and Dual Femto clocks take a minimum of 500 hours to get 95+% and
Another 500 hours to get that last few % .

What changes happen in a femto clock over time, that improves its accuracy? (Assuming that the 95% refers to accuracy.)

 

[sq225917]

After a short while they reach temperature equilibrium. By ear I'd say that's about 5 minutes or less for my current dac.

 

[VintageFlanker]

What changes happen in a femto clock over time, that improves its accuracy? (Assuming that the 95% refers to accuracy.)

It takes a minimum of 500 hours to reach 95% of nonsense. Then, another 500 hours to get the last 5%.

After 1000 hours, you're able to post a thread 100% nonsensical.

 

[617]

130W for a DAC...

Inside the dac:

 

[Jim Matthews]

Inside the dac:
View attachment 138945

Now we know what you're up to in the bowels of MIT.

 

[617]

Now we know what you're up to in the bowels of MIT.

I wouldn't be surprised if audio gd tested their products on animals

 

[Chrispy]

Never heard of Audio-gd before, and now don't see any reason to even think about them in the future, thanks for the "warning"

 

[Lupin]

Never heard of Audio-gd before, and now don't see any reason to even think about them in the future, thanks for the "warning"

Audio-GD products measure very poorly but that doesn't automatically mean that you can't like what you hear.

 

[Honken]

Audio-GD products measure very poorly but that doesn't automatically mean that you can't like what you hear.

The converse is true as well, what is your point?

Personally, comparing my subjective impressions of various DACs to the measurements made me realize how poor and unreliable my hearing is. While I haven't heard any DAC by Audio GD, I'm almost certain that when blind it would sound... like a DAC.

I'm looking forward to the test of the Master 7 S.

 

[Chrispy]

Audio-GD products measure very poorly but that doesn't automatically mean that you can't like what you hear.

Why would I bother "listening" to their products? They're far too expensive for what they are from what I see.

 

[Lupin]

Why would I bother "listening" to their products? They're far too expensive for what they are from what I see.

Until very recently you didn't even know Audio-GD existed and now you don't even need to bother... Sorry but that sounds to me like just another person jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[charleski]

I don't believe there isn't any malfeasance at play, and in fact, it's probably a lot more effort to do this stuff subjectively because you're probably second guessing every single change you make along the way if it's an audible improvement or not.

I think the main issue for all these companies is that they have to find some way to differentiate their product in what is quite a small marketplace. A company is only going to be successful if it finds some sort of story to sell to consumers along with the product. The ‘high-end’ subjective mythos that was invented in the late ‘70s has now pervaded every section of the industry and the consumer communities that are associated with it. So it’s not surprising that there are small enterprises run by people who have genuinely bought into that mythos and are catering to consumers who are infected by the same meme.

Digital systems are good enough that you have to stuff them up pretty badly for the difference to be readily audible (that’s the principal reason why digital audio is so good), so there’s a lot of leeway for designers to screw up the system in the name of doing things ‘by ear’. They just have to make sure they provide what the consumers really want: impressive chassis, antique technologies, uselessly over-engineered power supplies and, most importantly, a high price tag to make them aspirational objects.

 

[Chrispy]

Until very recently you didn't even know Audio-GD existed and now you don't even need to bother... Sorry but that sounds to me like just another person jumping on the bandwagon.

What bandwagon? What makes this product mentioned in this thread worthy of the time/effort to "audition" it?

 

[brandall10]

What bandwagon? What makes this product mentioned in this thread worthy of the time/effort to "audition" it?

Absolutely nothing. From my impressions as a long-time member of head-fi, this is a fairly popular company known to provide great bang for the buck, hence these kinds of reactions.