SONCOZ SGD1 Audio DAC Review

[Veri]

On Amazon, it says in stock Feb 5 so with the Feb ETA Ben mentioned, likely the fixed one. @Ben1987 will there be a new model, version number where someone could confirm a unit was the fixed version ?

I'm trying to decide whether to spend the extra cash for this and wait or get the SMSL SU-8 (I'd like XLR out and have no DAC at all now).

Couple of pages back there's details of how to easily check if your unit is fixed based on some capacitors etc.

So yes it's not difficult at all to check, just unscrew some screws and look inside.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

I believe all units ordered will be fixed ones! Right, @Ben1987?

Yes! @Ben1987 answered in the affirmative twice in the ESS hump thread:

In fact, we have recalled all the machines with the hump problem. What you can buy now is a fixed machine. More supplies will be available at the end of February .

Yes, It is the latest version of the fix.

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Hey guys ! I didn't really follow the thread so far, but this one has been on my list of favorites since the beginning but of course I'd prefer it without the bump even though I'm not sure if it's audible ?
Someone can tell me that if I order tomorrow on Amazon Europe I'll get the version without the hump, thank you Fred.

Ditto. Yes, you will.

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@Ben1987 will there be a new model, version number where someone could confirm a unit was the fixed version ?

I do not know if there was a difference in the product labeling or serialization. However, what I can safely say is all bad units that were in inventory have been recalled. Now, in the case that you are buying on the used market, if there were any defective units for that brief period that were sold, the very few owners likely all have been contacted and have already received replacements. A forum post as early as December 31st shows an owner already with the new hardware revision in their possession. If you are still unsure about a used unit, you can always check this post snippet below from Ben:

Yes, It is the latest version of the fix.The best way to tell is to look at the capacitance, 2200 nF/220nF. Enjoy.

 

[WHO23]

Yes! @Ben1987 answered in the affirmative twice in the ESS hump thread:




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Ditto. Yes, you will.

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I do not know if there was a difference in the product labeling or serialization. However, what I can safely say is all bad units that were in inventory have been recalled. Now, in the case that you are buying on the used market, if there were any defective units for that brief period that were sold, the very few owners likely all have been contacted and have already received replacements. A forum post as early as December 31st shows an owner already with the new hardware revision in their possession. If you are still unsure about a used unit, you can always check this post snippet below from Ben:

I ordered my Soncoz SGD1 on 25th December 2019 through Aliexpress and it arrived on 2 Jan 2020. I opened it up and sure enough my unit has the new wima caps to fix the IMD hump. Great!

 

[Hifihedgehog]

Just a quick question: does 384 KHz playback work out of the box without drivers? I am currently using the generic Windows drivers and 384 KHz is silent whenever I attempt playback via USB-B or -C connection. 192 KHz and below works fine, though.

 

[frankrizzo1687]

So I ordered this from youyeetoo tech on Amazon on Monday (1/6) with the faster delivery choice and didn't expect it to get here until mid February, but it shipped and got here today, Friday (1/10). Great delivery speed and all, but there's some issues. First off, there is a big scratch and a couple small chips in the front center plastic piece. The knob is, to put it nicely, terrible. The decorative knob wobbles quite a bit and is poorly held onto the actual potentiometer, and the push has more travel than I would expect but isn't that bad. I opened up the unit to see the capacitors and they are the 220s and 2200s but the four sets of seven resistors are all definitely hand soldered, save for possibly the row closest to the rear of the unit. One thing that I noticed when I went to set the frequency and bit depth is that the channels are reversed, hooked up to a Monolith 887 through XLR correctly, left playing through right and vice-versa.

 

[frankrizzo1687]

Just a quick question: does 384 KHz playback work out of the box without drivers? I am currently using the generic Windows drivers and 384 KHz is silent whenever I attempt playback via USB-B or -C connection. 192 KHz and below works fine, though.

I can only get 32-bit/192k with the XMOS drivers from the Soncoz website, 32-bit/384k says that the device doesn't support that format. Thru USB-B.
Edit: Actually, after I rebooted my computer 32-bit/384k doesn't even show up in the list anymore.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

I can only get 32-bit/192k with the XMOS drivers from the Soncoz website, 32-bit/384k says that the device doesn't support that format. Thru USB-B.
Edit: Actually, after I rebooted my computer 32-bit/384k doesn't even show up in the list anymore.

Same. I just installed the drivers and the device is no longer visible or accessible.

 

[BYRTT]

I can only get 32-bit/192k with the XMOS drivers from the Soncoz website, 32-bit/384k says that the device doesn't support that format. Thru USB-B.
Edit: Actually, after I rebooted my computer 32-bit/384k doesn't even show up in the list anymore.

Same. I just installed the drivers and the device is no longer visible or accessible.

Maybe try v2.24 driver from Khadas tone board site and use ASIO from a player as Jriver of Foobar, tell it because VID/PID for Soncoz driver works the other way around and about what rates whatever Windows build really support is the question therefor suggest use player supporting ASIO for a test run.

 

[frankrizzo1687]

Does anyone else have the channels reversed like I do?

 

[Hifihedgehog]

Nope, all good here with channels. I got the driver to finally work. By the way, has anyone been able to Esptouch app on iOS to work? It just keeps failing over and over again and I would just like to pair my router to the Wi-Fi.

 

[Penguino]

@amirm, how does the finish pair with a THX 789 or 887? Would you be able to take a picture of them together (if you still have either)?

 

[amirm]

@amirm, how does the finish pair with a THX 789 or 887? Would you be able to take a picture of them together (if you still have either)?

It has a very different look so I don't think it pairs that well with either.

 

[Ben1987]

Just a quick question: does 384 KHz playback work out of the box without drivers?

When you install the driver from our website, the device name will become (xmos-audio). When playing music, please select the sound card of xmos-audio. 32-bit/384k is OK. I'm going to use la-qxd1 as a demonstration here, and SGD1 is the same .

Our custom driver is on the way. Thank you for your question.

 

[Ben1987]

Maybe try v2.24 driver from Khadas tone board site and use ASIO from a player as Jriver of Foobar

I don't recommend using old drivers .

 

[Ben1987]

By the way, has anyone been able to Esptouch app on iOS to work? It just keeps failing over and over again and I would just like to pair my router to the Wi-Fi.

Our own testing has been very successful, and we released a guideline later that may have something to do with servers and firewalls .

 

[Ben1987]

First off, there is a big scratch and a couple small chips in the front center plastic piece

Have you removed the protective film from the surface?

The knob is, to put it nicely, terrible. The decorative knob wobbles quite a bit and is poorly held onto the actual potentiometer, and the push has more travel than I would expect but isn't that bad

We will always strive to improve the user experience.

One thing that I noticed when I went to set the frequency and bit depth is that the channels are reversed

Does anyone else have the channels reversed like I do?

V22's XLR channels reversed RCA's is OK and we repair it in V23 version. We want to recall all the machines. You may not be in time for this. If you are willing, we will bear the cost of express delivery to replace our new machines after they are produced. By the end of February we will have produced our new machine. We are so sorry for your unpleasant experience and We will further improve our machine and service experience. Thank you for your question.

 

[Ben1987]

To share a statistical data, we are going to recall 15 machines in total, among which 6 have been repaired with the hump (you can contact us if you want to recall, it will not affect the use), the other 9 are still on the way back, for the machine with problems, we do not want to see it in the hands of the user.
Our black version of the machine is on the way, V23 version of the hardware fix previously involved in the problem.If it were not for the influence of Chinese lunar New Year, we could have finished the production more quickly.

Thanks again for you guys your advice and support and have a nice day！

 

[BYRTT]

...Our custom driver is on the way...

Wow that is serious business thanks ...

I don't recommend using old drivers .

... agree suggestion was mostly meant as a exercise to see if they could get that high rate running someway or the other.

 

[socksrolleddown]

To share a statistical data, we are going to recall 15 machines in total, among which 6 have been repaired with the hump (you can contact us if you want to recall, it will not affect the use), the other 9 are still on the way back, for the machine with problems, we do not want to see it in the hands of the user.
Our black version of the machine is on the way, V23 version of the hardware fix previously involved in the problem.If it were not for the influence of Chinese lunar New Year, we could have finished the production more quickly.
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Thanks again for you guys your advice and support and have a nice day！

@Ben1987 , thank you so much for listening to your users/customers and your openess and quick responses to faults , it is refreshing in a world where bad news is buried or spinned

 

[Misterwiggles]

I’m a lurker here and in the market for new DAC. Trust the assessments being made by knowledgeable folks on this thread. But wondering if some could do a short synopsis of why this DAC vs something like the Topping DX7 Pro? Is price the only advantage? FYI: I don’t need a headphone amp as my use case is for a living room setup feeding my amp. Appreciate a distillation. Topping seems like the safer route even though I don’t need the amp. Was looking at Matrix X but it seems fairly expensive. Thank you.