• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Audio-gd Master 7 Singularity Review (DAC)

garbulky

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Messages
1,510
Likes
827
Vestige of the dark days of audio when everything was inside a black box and you had no idea what was inside. You only had to go with what the manufacturer said or what your imagination thought. This company has been hiding in the shadows for far too long.
They (almost) always publish pictures of the inside of their box.
 

BostonJack

Active Member
Editor
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
288
Likes
350
Location
Boston area, Cambridge, MA
I think you guys are being too hard on this unit. For only $2500 you get a new-fangled digital player that outperforms most vinyl systems.
Agreed. If you could transport this back in time to the early 1950's and connect it to a Univac you would have a mind-blowing computer audio experience. What is the simplest DAC you could build with discretes? Maybe an 8-bit design? has anyone done a tube-switched DAC?

Let's steam punk this whole thing.
 

ElNino

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Messages
557
Likes
722
Can't seem to find reviews of this DAC...I found 1 non-english video. Maybe not many people bought it.

Currawong's florid review of this is still up on Head-Fi. (It'll probably be under "Master 7" not "Singularity", but there's no real difference; you'll notice that this "Singularity" measured by Amir has two different/inconsistent PCBs, the left channel marked "Reference 7" and the right channel marked "Master 7"... Kingwa just kept inventing new names and reusing old boards in oddball combinations, sometimes in the same unit like this one.)
 

ReaderZ

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Apr 14, 2020
Messages
618
Likes
414
Maybe it's time to stop wasting your time and effort with Audio-gd, I am not saying never give them a chance again, but 2 year cool down period would not be a bad idea.
 

sarumbear

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 15, 2020
Messages
7,604
Likes
7,313
Location
UK
... you'll notice that this "Singularity" measured by Amir has two different/inconsistent PCBs, the left channel marked "Reference 7" and the right channel marked "Master 7"...
That is really strange indeed. What manufacturer does that, even if the boards are the same? Surely you would cover that with a sticker showing the correct name. How can you manage replacement boards for repairs?

Bonkers!
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,384
Location
Seattle Area
Maybe it's time to stop wasting your time and effort with Audio-gd, I am not saying never give them a chance again, but 2 year cool down period would not be a bad idea.
That's about how long it has been since I tested one of their products. :)
 

sarumbear

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 15, 2020
Messages
7,604
Likes
7,313
Location
UK
Maybe it's time to stop wasting your time and effort with Audio-gd, I am not saying never give them a chance again, but 2 year cool down period would not be a bad idea.
Noooo! This is the most jolly thread and a very rare one that we are all in agreement.

@amirm please have more of their devices for review. :cool::)
 

Tks

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
3,221
Likes
5,494
Noooo! This is the most jolly thread and a very rare one that we are all in agreement.

@amirm please have more of their devices for review. :cool::)

No one send anymore devices until every DAC buyer on the planet understands this company needs to either disappear, or pay JohnYang to drive over there and personally slap every engineer and executive, and then show them how its done.
 

Labjr

Major Contributor
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Messages
1,051
Likes
949
Looks like Audio-GD is using Amanero USB modules in their DACs? They haven't figured out to design their own USB interface? You can buy a top performing DAC for a few dollars more than that module sells for.
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,384
Location
Seattle Area
Looks like Audio-GD is using Amanero USB modules in their DACs?
That's correct. And they charge extra for them from what I recall. Agree that in this day and age, this should not be a bolt on solution.
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,384
Location
Seattle Area
After burn in, warranty expired?
Noting is a more horrific thought than packing and shipping this massive box back to China and waiting for it get fixed and come back.

Let's remember that this company doesn't even have an ecommerce system. You have to email them and send the money in advance using paypal! You really have to be desperate for one of their products to go through all this.
 

AudioSceptic

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
2,691
Likes
2,534
Location
Northampton, UK
No one send anymore devices until every DAC buyer on the planet understands this company needs to either disappear, or pay JohnYang to drive over there and personally slap every engineer and executive, and then show them how its done.
If you looked at the review I linked to, you'll see that they can make good DACs; it's just that they often choose not too!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tks

sarumbear

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 15, 2020
Messages
7,604
Likes
7,313
Location
UK
If you looked at the review I linked to, you'll see that they can make good DACs; it's just that they often choose not too!
That review is about a product that costs almost at $1000 after shipment. Were the specs better than a $250 device?
 

Xulonn

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 27, 2018
Messages
1,828
Likes
6,311
Location
Boquete, Chiriqui, Panama
It seems that Audio gd can produce well measuring gear. <https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/dac/audio-gd-as-1-dac-review/> Analysis by David Rich, no less.

Would love to see this one verified by ASR review!

Me too. Is the AS-1 a "modern" DAC? (Might be - it uses "Two ESS Sabre ES9028Pro Chips in Mono mode, Managed by an FPGA" and even has countersunk flat-head screws to attach the top rather than "old-fashioned" protruding round-head screws that the Singularity model uses (which ASR member "@Addicted to music" might appreciate).

The HomeTheaterHiFi.com review and measurements looks better than I would expect for an Audio-GD product based on @amirm reviews of the company's other products.


AGD-AS1.jpg
 

Veri

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
9,596
Likes
12,036
Looks like Audio-GD is using Amanero USB modules in their DACs? They haven't figured out to design their own USB interface? You can buy a top performing DAC for a few dollars more than that module sells for.
? Most use XMOS modules, in-house firmware but pretty much always licensed(outsourced) software. I don't see why Amanero is that much different, but yes it's more used with smaller brands. That doesn't need to be a bottleneck per sé though.

Although it needs to be said that most amanero boards are fake. They need to be sourced from Italy direct.. or what is used will be some knock-off of unknown origin and of unknown quality.
 
Top Bottom