• 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!

Review and Measurements of Audio-gd R2R11 DAC & Amp

Frank Dernie

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Messages
6,445
Likes
15,781
Location
Oxfordshire
I listen to my fair share of classical though it's not my main listening - probably about 20-30%. I guess it never occurred to me that people would find it an issue. Maybe if I had more of a background. I certainly don't know the different parts of a symphony or things like that.
Try listening to the fabulous Glenn Gould Goldberg Variations, Sony SMK52619. It is played as one continuous piece but has 32 track markers, each giving a stop go without gapless playback, 11 of the variations are less than 1 minute long.
It is a favourite piece of mine and totally frustrating to listen to if the play isn't gapless, in fact I can't listen that way.
Mind you, until there were file playing bits of uselessware I was unaware of how angry I would be :)
I enjoyed the CD for years without it occurring to me somebody would make such a cock up...
 

Jimster480

Major Contributor
Joined
Jan 26, 2018
Messages
2,880
Likes
2,033
Location
Tampa Bay
Hello guys, I‘m new here. I‘m a technician and always believed measurements more than my friends or personal ears.
I‘m glad that I didn‘t know this forum before I decided to purchase my first Audio-GD NFB1 Preamp. I own a high quality technical perfect german Pre-Power amp and CD set for almost 20 yrs now and I thought I was always very happy.

Since my new Audio-GD NFB1 I discovered what music reproduction can mean in my own 4 walls.

Almost real live feeling without any fatigue no matter which level. Is it distorted? I don‘t care! Is the frequency response wrong? Doesn‘t sound so. Do the components have malfunctions so far? Nope. I own an R2R1 ladder DAC also meanwhile.

my conclusion so far: all my technical correct components I owned so far kept me years from enjoying the music at its best!
I think by "at its best" you mean "the way you like it". Admitting you like distortion and poorly reproduced audio (especially considering the bottom-chart performance of the items you have purchased) is fine. But claiming it to be "the best" is a whole other story.

Don't make outlandish claims that are simply not true.
Enjoy your music the way you like; it is your right :)
 

headwhacker

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 25, 2018
Messages
165
Likes
224
Congratulations - it's not easy to admit that you like distortion rather than accuracy, and that you prefer to have a "fixed flavor" of distortion locked into an electronic component like an amplifier as opposed to "variable flavors" that can be adjusted to your mood. However, your description of you reaction would be better described "music as I like it" rather than "music at its best", because although it may be "best" for you, science tells us that it would likely not be the sonic signature most preferred by others.

If you hang out at ASR for a while, you will notice that the hard-core objectivists here tend to prefer accuracy in the source to amplifier section of music playback and use DSP, speaker selection placement, and room treatment to tailor the sound to their desires rather than be locked in to one distortion profile. OTOH, If I have understood conversations here correctly, the Toole/Harman scientific testing found that most people seem to prefer an "accurate" sonic signature when listening to recorded music.

Transparent DAC/Amp allows you more flexibility to add flavors to the music as you like it by doing it via EQ/DSP through software. That is why the argument against it do not make sense nor hold any ounce of weight in any arguments IMO.

Why would you go try as many amps/DAC to look for the flavor/s than a transparent chain and add flavor via DSP/EQ. It is quicker and fun playing with DSP to get the exact amount of flavor you want instead of blindly rolling through hundreds of amps/dac and waste time.

People usually don't do level matching when comparing gears so any subjective impressions you read online are most likely misleading.
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 23716

Guest
I was more or less convinced to get this product, until I stumbled upon this measurement. The whole "audiophile" world is rather new to me, I would even go as far to say that I didn't even dip my toes in it.

What I find difficult to understand is, if this device performs so bad in an objective measurement, why are so many people all over the web happy about it? Not that I question the OPs ability to test products, by far. It just doesn't somehow compute. From the reaction of @headwhacker I understand that you want your chain to be as transparent as possible which makes sense to reproduce the true nature or a recording from an artist and mastering engineer.

However so many decisions are made before the music comes to us. Which equipment was used, what did the mastering and mixing engineer do to the track, the equipment used to press the CD, etc. So what is the true value of us choosing transparent equipment, without coloration, while we will never reproduce it exactly. I guess that after # time, even the artist or mastering engineer would change certain aspects of the song. I heard someone say that music is created and mastered for the specific time and what is popular. So playing 80s songs on gear produced in 2020, is already altering the music in some way. Besides, they want their music to sound as good as possible on as much audio gear as possible: headphones, inside cars, small hifi setups, high-end gear, etc. so they create their records to be middle ground.

On top of that, I'd assume that if you did a measurement between vinyl and CD, everyone would argue because digital can capture much more detail and latitude, that CDs are far superior to vinyl. Still, here we are at the end of 2020, where people still buy vinyl and prefer the sound of it over its flaws.

So to summarize, I thought I'd buy this DAC/AMP, but now I'm confused. My IT background tells me to pick the most analytical correct combination. I read good things about the products from Topping, and it would steer me away from anything Audio-gd related. But on the other hand, I just want the music to sound good. I'm not sure I'm 100% after the how the artist intended it. Because if people describe this amp/dac as "smooth, warm and easy listening" does that directly mean that if you have a so called transparent or analytical/clean signal path, it's boring or exhausting to listen to?

It's so difficult to choose. In the ~500 euro price point, there are (too) many options. If in the past you had the opinion of one or two magazine journalists, you now have the opinion of thousands and since audio is such a personal thing, what do you base your decision on?

To finalize, isn't the best setup your first setup? Until you hear familiar music on a different setup, and you think by yourself "*** this sounds great, way better than my setup!" So you rotate your speakers for instance, and all of the sudden, your new setup is the best setup for you. Until you discover that the more transparent DAC of a friend brings out details you missed before, and you update again?

Current setup for reference
- Living room setup: Marantz AV7701 + MM7055
- Headphones: Sennheiser HD598, connected straight to computer or Macbook Pro

I think it sounds good as it is, but since some say a dedicated DAC/AMP brings out more details, I started to look around and got into this bottomless pit so it seems :facepalm:
 

andreasmaaan

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Messages
6,652
Likes
9,399
I was more or less convinced to get this product, until I stumbled upon this measurement. The whole "audiophile" world is rather new to me, I would even go as far to say that I didn't even dip my toes in it.

What I find difficult to understand is, if this device performs so bad in an objective measurement, why are so many people all over the web happy about it? Not that I question the OPs ability to test products, by far. It just doesn't somehow compute. From the reaction of @headwhacker I understand that you want your chain to be as transparent as possible which makes sense to reproduce the true nature or a recording from an artist and mastering engineer.

However so many decisions are made before the music comes to us. Which equipment was used, what did the mastering and mixing engineer do to the track, the equipment used to press the CD, etc. So what is the true value of us choosing transparent equipment, without coloration, while we will never reproduce it exactly. I guess that after # time, even the artist or mastering engineer would change certain aspects of the song. I heard someone say that music is created and mastered for the specific time and what is popular. So playing 80s songs on gear produced in 2020, is already altering the music in some way. Besides, they want their music to sound as good as possible on as much audio gear as possible: headphones, inside cars, small hifi setups, high-end gear, etc. so they create their records to be middle ground.

On top of that, I'd assume that if you did a measurement between vinyl and CD, everyone would argue because digital can capture much more detail and latitude, that CDs are far superior to vinyl. Still, here we are at the end of 2020, where people still buy vinyl and prefer the sound of it over its flaws.

So to summarize, I thought I'd buy this DAC/AMP, but now I'm confused. My IT background tells me to pick the most analytical correct combination. I read good things about the products from Topping, and it would steer me away from anything Audio-gd related. But on the other hand, I just want the music to sound good. I'm not sure I'm 100% after the how the artist intended it. Because if people describe this amp/dac as "smooth, warm and easy listening" does that directly mean that if you have a so called transparent or analytical/clean signal path, it's boring or exhausting to listen to?

It's so difficult to choose. In the ~500 euro price point, there are (too) many options. If in the past you had the opinion of one or two magazine journalists, you now have the opinion of thousands and since audio is such a personal thing, what do you base your decision on?

To finalize, isn't the best setup your first setup? Until you hear familiar music on a different setup, and you think by yourself "*** this sounds great, way better than my setup!" So you rotate your speakers for instance, and all of the sudden, your new setup is the best setup for you. Until you discover that the more transparent DAC of a friend brings out details you missed before, and you update again?

Current setup for reference
- Living room setup: Marantz AV7701 + MM7055
- Headphones: Sennheiser HD598
, connected straight to computer or Macbook Pro

I think it sounds good as it is, but since some say a dedicated DAC/AMP brings out more details, I started to look around and got into this bottomless pit so it seems :facepalm:

My advice would be that, if you want to add nice-sounding distortion to the signal, there are much better, cheaper and more customisable ways to do it than with this unit.

For example, if your source is a computer, you could route your audio through a DSP plugin that is designed to emulate vintage tube, tape, or vinyl gear. Then you could just use a $10 or $100 (depending on desired features) DAC that won't do anything to audibly mess up the signal itself.

The advantages would be:
  • reduced cost (many of these DSP plugins are free)
  • ability to customise the distortion to taste
  • ability to switch off the distortion when desired
  • "nicer" distortion (i.e. harmonic distortion, saturation, etc. that has a nice envelope that can give music the kind of tube/vinyl/tape sound that I think people who knowingly buy this DAC are trying to achieve)
The disadvantage would be some extra set-up time (but it could be fun) :)
 

Veri

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
9,596
Likes
12,036
I was more or less convinced to get this product, until I stumbled upon this measurement. The whole "audiophile" world is rather new to me, I would even go as far to say that I didn't even dip my toes in it.

What I find difficult to understand is, if this device performs so bad in an objective measurement, why are so many people all over the web happy about it? Not that I question the OPs ability to test products, by far. It just doesn't somehow compute. From the reaction of @headwhacker I understand that you want your chain to be as transparent as possible which makes sense to reproduce the true nature or a recording from an artist and mastering engineer.
From the measurements, the R2R11 seems to produce >= 1% distortion. Thats objectively a lot, but unless you are a trained listener, or doing intense comparisons, chances are the distortion of your speaker/headphone/earphone transducer are in the same ballpark...
I'd say chances of the R2R11 lousy performance bordering on audible problems are very real, but even then for casual listening you might not notice, or care. However, there is one real concern about Audio-gd and that is the build quality. Sure, most people won't run into issues, but then there's this guy: NFB-15 tried to burn my house down. Is that something you'd want to buy? I sure wouldn't.
 

Frank Dernie

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Messages
6,445
Likes
15,781
Location
Oxfordshire
I was more or less convinced to get this product, until I stumbled upon this measurement. The whole "audiophile" world is rather new to me, I would even go as far to say that I didn't even dip my toes in it.

What I find difficult to understand is, if this device performs so bad in an objective measurement, why are so many people all over the web happy about it? Not that I question the OPs ability to test products, by far. It just doesn't somehow compute. From the reaction of @headwhacker I understand that you want your chain to be as transparent as possible which makes sense to reproduce the true nature or a recording from an artist and mastering engineer.

However so many decisions are made before the music comes to us. Which equipment was used, what did the mastering and mixing engineer do to the track, the equipment used to press the CD, etc. So what is the true value of us choosing transparent equipment, without coloration, while we will never reproduce it exactly. I guess that after # time, even the artist or mastering engineer would change certain aspects of the song. I heard someone say that music is created and mastered for the specific time and what is popular. So playing 80s songs on gear produced in 2020, is already altering the music in some way. Besides, they want their music to sound as good as possible on as much audio gear as possible: headphones, inside cars, small hifi setups, high-end gear, etc. so they create their records to be middle ground.

On top of that, I'd assume that if you did a measurement between vinyl and CD, everyone would argue because digital can capture much more detail and latitude, that CDs are far superior to vinyl. Still, here we are at the end of 2020, where people still buy vinyl and prefer the sound of it over its flaws.

So to summarize, I thought I'd buy this DAC/AMP, but now I'm confused. My IT background tells me to pick the most analytical correct combination. I read good things about the products from Topping, and it would steer me away from anything Audio-gd related. But on the other hand, I just want the music to sound good. I'm not sure I'm 100% after the how the artist intended it. Because if people describe this amp/dac as "smooth, warm and easy listening" does that directly mean that if you have a so called transparent or analytical/clean signal path, it's boring or exhausting to listen to?

It's so difficult to choose. In the ~500 euro price point, there are (too) many options. If in the past you had the opinion of one or two magazine journalists, you now have the opinion of thousands and since audio is such a personal thing, what do you base your decision on?

To finalize, isn't the best setup your first setup? Until you hear familiar music on a different setup, and you think by yourself "*** this sounds great, way better than my setup!" So you rotate your speakers for instance, and all of the sudden, your new setup is the best setup for you. Until you discover that the more transparent DAC of a friend brings out details you missed before, and you update again?

Current setup for reference
- Living room setup: Marantz AV7701 + MM7055
- Headphones: Sennheiser HD598
, connected straight to computer or Macbook Pro

I think it sounds good as it is, but since some say a dedicated DAC/AMP brings out more details, I started to look around and got into this bottomless pit so it seems :facepalm:
I recommend doing a simple test on yourself to see which of the claims people make are sensible and what the likely threshold of audibility is for you personally.
For me, for example I can just barely hear music if I turn it down 60dB from my normal listening level so the likelihood of me hearing a signal 60dB quieter than the music I am listening to (ie distortion at that level) is zero IMO. I also notice peaks about 20dB over my normal listening level, so I also estimate that if noise is at -80dB I won't notice that either.
This means that for me, and I suspect a lot of other people but best to do it for yourself, anything with a SINAD of better than -80dB will sound transparent, which is most electronics including your current system. Maybe you need more though.
I think the hifi world is full of people encouraged by magazines etc to believe the more expensive the better the sound and they hear stuff that isn't there often because they feel they should.
For me speakers and their position in the room makes a big difference, for the rest I need to like the look and ergonomics of the kit and it needs to have the functions I want.
Talk of needing 120dB of dynamic range is only applicable for a noise dose meter with no gain control IMO. If you have just heard a noise of 120dB it will be hours/days/weeks before your ears have recovered enough to hear 0dB, even if you could find anywhere that quiet!
 

Killingbeans

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 23, 2018
Messages
4,089
Likes
7,552
Location
Bjerringbro, Denmark.
What I find difficult to understand is, if this device performs so bad in an objective measurement, why are so many people all over the web happy about it?

My two cents:

Many people in the hobby like to think of their hearing as something extraordinaire capable of detecting things science can only dream of ever understanding, when in reality there's not a snowball's chance in hell of them hearing anything 60db or more blow actual music. Meaning that while this DAC is a poor example of engineering, it probably "sounds" exactly like 99% of all other DACs.

The reason why people think it sounds better could be a number of psychological factors. Hype, marketing, placebo/cognitive bias and so on.

There's also a tendency in the hobby to see anything messing with the intended signal as "better" as long as it doesn't give you a headache from long term exposure and/or somebody with audiophile street cred praises it with poetry. If this DAC has a sound signature or "color", that might also be an explanation.

From the reaction of @headwhackerI heard someone say that music is created and mastered for the specific time and what is popular. So playing 80s songs on gear produced in 2020, is already altering the music in some way. Besides, they want their music to sound as good as possible on as much audio gear as possible: headphones, inside cars, small hifi setups, high-end gear, etc. so they create their records to be middle ground.

Exactly. Most fun music is not designed for the audiophile world. It's one of the big pitfalls of the hobby. Starting to use music as a tool for listening to gear :confused:

From the reaction of @headwhackerOn top of that, I'd assume that if you did a measurement between vinyl and CD, everyone would argue because digital can capture much more detail and latitude, that CDs are far superior to vinyl. Still, here we are at the end of 2020, where people still buy vinyl and prefer the sound of it over its flaws.

Nostalgia, hipsters, nice big cover art and the love for a tactile experience.

So to summarize, I thought I'd buy this DAC/AMP, but now I'm confused. My IT background tells me to pick the most analytical correct combination. I read good things about the products from Topping, and it would steer me away from anything Audio-gd related.

Audio-GD is known as a company that designs their products with a snake-oil/myth checklist. They probably sound fine, but people who know about electronics can tell you that just about all of the typologies and components they brag about using does nothing at best. That's the main reason why I personally wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

But on the other hand, I just want the music to sound good. I'm not sure I'm 100% after the how the artist intended it. Because if people describe this amp/dac as "smooth, warm and easy listening" does that directly mean that if you have a so called transparent or analytical/clean signal path, it's boring or exhausting to listen to?

Probably depends 100% on the recording. I have a feeling that what people want when they hunt for that "warm and smooth" gear is to mask the crappiness of bad recording and sacrificing the good ones in the process.

It's so difficult to choose. In the ~500 euro price point, there are (too) many options. If in the past you had the opinion of one or two magazine journalists, you now have the opinion of thousands and since audio is such a personal thing, what do you base your decision on?

In terms of DACs I've boiled it down to: Features, ease of use, looks and build quality. Good engineering doesn't hurt either.

To finalize, isn't the best setup your first setup? Until you hear familiar music on a different setup, and you think by yourself "*** this sounds great, way better than my setup!" So you rotate your speakers for instance, and all of the sudden, your new setup is the best setup for you. Until you discover that the more transparent DAC of a friend brings out details you missed before, and you update again?

It's a hobby. Most people will aways find an excuse to "upgrade" :D

I think it sounds good as it is, but since some say a dedicated DAC/AMP brings out more details, I started to look around and got into this bottomless pit so it seems :facepalm:

Just keep it as it is. Unless you'd like something new to spend lots of time and money on for no other reason.

Like Frank Dernie says above, if you want real improvement, forcus on the speakers and the room.
 
Last edited:

raif71

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 7, 2019
Messages
2,333
Likes
2,535
I just bought a used audio-gd r11 and I'm liking what I hear. The amp has decent power for an dac/amp combo. Using a senn hd600 currently.
 

bunkbail

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
520
Likes
662
I just bought a used audio-gd r11 and I'm liking what I hear. The amp has decent power for an dac/amp combo. Using a senn hd600 currently.
What made you buy one? Btw you should've asked me I've been trying to get rid of mine XD
 

raif71

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 7, 2019
Messages
2,333
Likes
2,535
Ha-ha...I was at Carousell Malaysia and saw someone selling one to get a Denafrips Ares II... Now, I'm stoked for the Ares. Really, I'm hearing more layers (could be new toy syndrome) from the DAC or the amp... will try an external amp to see how it goes. Usually my hd600 does not sound this good. :)
 

bunkbail

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
520
Likes
662
I'm hearing more layers
That's what I've been experiencing out of the R2R-11 as well, but play any remotely dynamic/complex music, you'll be greeted with dull and unexciting sound as if the details were drowned out by something. Acoustics and instrumentals sound blissful with it though.
 

raif71

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 7, 2019
Messages
2,333
Likes
2,535
That's what I've been experiencing out of the R2R-11 as well, but play any remotely dynamic/complex music, you'll be greeted with dull and unexciting sound as if the details were drowned out by something. Acoustics and instrumentals sound blissful with it though.
Yeah, I guess there is no one gear solution to all kinds of music. I just want to try an R2R DAC just to hear what the fuss is all about. So, if you get rid of the r11, what do you plan on getting?
 

bunkbail

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
520
Likes
662
Yeah, I guess there is no one gear solution to all kinds of music. I just want to try an R2R DAC just to hear what the fuss is all about. So, if you get rid of the r11, what do you plan on getting?
I just have too many DACs, amps, headphones and speakers right now, I want to get rid of them all haha. I don't know why lately I just content with only using my lowly $5 VE monk plus earbuds and $10 MDR-ZX110 headphones. Must be the ASR effect :rolleyes:.
 

raif71

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 7, 2019
Messages
2,333
Likes
2,535
I just have too many DACs, amps, headphones and speakers right now, I want to get rid of them all haha. I don't know why lately I just content with only using my lowly $5 VE monk plus earbuds and $10 MDR-ZX110 headphones. Must be the ASR effect :rolleyes:.
I just bought the ve monk plus too but for my wife and children. I don't find them quite as good as my kz zs10 pro... My wife is happy with it though. You can pm me the list of stuff you want to get rid off. Maybe I can relieve you of your burden :)
 
Last edited:

Ozu

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2021
Messages
6
Likes
1
That's a fact. Or better said, audiophiles have non-critical ears despite boasting otherwise, which allows them to listen through the distortion unbothered.

What we do here is to reveal the truth about what is designed and engineered poorly. There are always alternatives without any cost penalty that are designed exceptionally well. All else being equal, there is no reason to support people who sell poorly designed gear on the basis that the listeners can't hear the flaws but religiously follows voodoo audio marketing.

When going to a restaurant, I feel better if I knew an inspector had gone in there to make sure hygiene is followed to the letter. I may not get sick if they don't wash their dishes. But I sure as heck feel better if they do.

It is an odd thing but I find there is a group of people in both subjectivist and objectivist camp. The former doesn't want to know that the equipment they pay dearly for, has poor measured performance compared to something much cheaper. The latter worries that their argument that no one can hear audio impairments is in peril. Both are wrong. We are always better off if we have more information. We seek out car reviews. Why not for audio? We seek out audio science that researches value of nutrition. Why not audio?

All of this is beside the point: I created this forum and site with one mission: with clear direction due north. And that is what we can prove. Not what we can speculate. Not what science we invent. But what we can demonstrate to be part or all of the truth. Objective measurements are one aspect of that. Just as important is discussion of audio science. And design of equipment. It is through this trio of information that you wind up with informed opinion about gear and audio science.

If we want to put or head in the sand and say it is all the same, then this is not the forum for you.

Sorry to quote an old post :
With all the respect to people who knows clearly much more than me in this science, my background is from art and linguistics and now I am thinking on perception and phenomenology. And I ask myself few questions, first of all, yes we may argue about the value of nutrition as you mentioned but in this case, what about the flavour? I mean our perception is quite variable, I do like for instance x vegetable and, as a scientist you tell me what are the benefits of vitamin y in that x veg. But the flavour is remain quite distinctif and variable to perceptions and one can not accuse me to like that veg. x even if it has a bitter flavour.
And the second thing, as an artist, I do create so to say ugly stuff, if you mesure it with an oil exemple of Van Gogh, I could not call my work as an art. So, if companies like audio gd prefer to create this ugliness with their components, can we really accuse them to be poor designed?
I haven't been listened this unit and I am quite new here, so my questions are really based on human perception as it is a science quite related to sound...
 
Last edited:

BDWoody

Chief Cat Herder
Moderator
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
6,949
Likes
22,628
Location
Mid-Atlantic, USA. (Maryland)
And the second thing, as an artist, I do create so to say ugly stuff, if you mesure it with an oil exemple of Van Gogh, I could not call my work as an art.

Welcome!

I would put this as more comparable to the music, not the components. Artists make the music (some maybe not so musical, as you say), and engineers make the boxes that let us hear whatever that music may be, hopefully without adding or deleting anything that interferes.

As an artist, would you want me exhibiting your art in bad lighting, or a little bit off center, or with a colored tint to the glass to really make it special?
Wouldn't you prefer that it is behind very clear glass without glare or reflections, with properly balanced lighting, etc.?

All these devices are supposed to do is create a path that lets me hear as close to what went in as possible.

I can adjust with tone controls if I want, but baked in seasoning can't be unbaked.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ozu

Ozu

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2021
Messages
6
Likes
1
I can adjust with tone controls if I want, but baked in seasoning can't be unbaked.

It reminded me one of the Duchamp's works, Broken Glass. As it was broken while the workers carry it to the art center, Duchamp was quite satisfied with the result. Anyways, I do mostly agree with you and thanks for your aspect.
Hopefully I will try out one day the agd r2r 11 and decide if the broken glass is better or not :)

With all my respect to all,
Ozu
 

raif71

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 7, 2019
Messages
2,333
Likes
2,535
Dear @Ozu and @BDWoody , if you would take a look at my recent AB testing of the Audio-gd R2R11 (just the DAC) with another DAC, Topping D10s, I couldn't find anything different in the sound that each DAC produced when they are volume matched which goes to show that despite the ugliness of R2R11 measurements, audio wise they are similar. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...et-another-a-b-test-of-dacs.19769/post-668743 . Having said that when the R2R11 is operating at max potential ie DAC in variable mode and DAC volume max, I find that the L30 amp need not be at more than 0db gain when listening to slow classical music hence increasing the headroom of the L30 coz of the phenomenal rca voltage out of the R2R11, in the specs https://magnahifi.com/audio-gd-r2r1...dder-dac-pcm-dxd-dsd-pre-headphone-amplifier/, under Output Level stated at 5V max (dac variable mode)
 
Top Bottom