Yamaha RX-A8A (Japanese website)

[xcomp666]

Bad news guys!
I just got this update 30 min ago from my Canadian dealer.

"Expected shipping date from Yamaha Canada to dealers:

RX-A4A – Oct 19

RX-A6A – Dec 3

RX-A8A – Oct 19"


Looks like the A6A model is very popular nowadays. I'm seriously considering changing my pre-order to an A8A ( My wife going to kill me!!! )

 

[EB1000]

SINAD for the A6A @2V pure direct is close to 98dB (approximated as only THD+N % is shown graphically:

https://yt3.ggpht.com/aUc2oN80Diw1kMj20QnWfEVkPo6GNz74dM6CdkNOzkHnPjhoGmnm5LLrhYFvx3IjKZGmpOuuw3VGWQ=s1350-nd

This is a unit sent to Gene by Yamaha (he didn't ask for it, according to him). I hope Amir gets his hands on one of these...

 

[stlcards]

SINAD for the A6A @2V pure direct is close to 98dB (approximated as only THD+N % is shown graphically:

https://yt3.ggpht.com/aUc2oN80Diw1kMj20QnWfEVkPo6GNz74dM6CdkNOzkHnPjhoGmnm5LLrhYFvx3IjKZGmpOuuw3VGWQ=s1350-nd

This is a unit sent to Gene by Yamaha (he didn't ask for it, according to him). I hope Amir gets his hands on one of these...

Is that good or bad?

 

[EB1000]

98dB is good, but some of the other channels have SINAD of 65dB (terrible)

 

[stlcards]

98dB is good, but some of the other channels have SINAD of 65dB (terrible)

I just got the A6A and have till 10/20 to return it hope Gene has that full review before that.
I to hope Amir gets one.

 

[EB1000]

These are HDMI to single-ended pre-out results. The significant channel to channer variation is worrisome, especially for a cherry picked/modded manufacturer sample unit...

 

[GXAlan]

98dB is good, but some of the other channels have SINAD of 65dB (terrible)

Any idea if that is just a subwoofer channel? In a way they do know that SINAD only gets looked at closely (by Amir) in stereo. As ASR grows in popularity (and we have already seen how Denon and Marantz have benefited from ASR), I can imagine audio companies focusing on optimizing for Amir’s standardized tests the way car manufacturers may tweak for EPA or European fuel economy tests.

Even Gene is only testing 8 channels as opposed to all 10.

The A6A uses
ES9026PRO x1
ES9007S x1

I assume the 9007 slots betweeen the 9008 and 9006 which you’d expect to be much better than the 65 dB for SINAD.

 

[peng]

Any idea if that is just a subwoofer channel? In a way they do know that SINAD only gets looked at closely (by Amir) in stereo. As ASR grows in popularity (and we have already seen how Denon and Marantz have benefited from ASR), I can imagine audio companies focusing on optimizing for Amir’s standardized tests the way car manufacturers may tweak for EPA or European fuel economy tests.

Even Gene is only testing 8 channels as opposed to all 10.

The A6A uses
ES9026PRO x1
ES9007S x1

I assume the 9007 slots betweeen the 9008 and 9006 which you’d expect to be much better than the 65 dB for SINAD.

I cannot find the data sheet for the 9007 no matter how hard I tried, it is not even listed on the ESS Technology website. Could that be a special part number created for Yamaha? If it is, then it is probably same as the 9006, just a different number.

 

[peng]

Is that good or bad?

Looks to me the best channel might be close to 98 dB, otherwise about 96.5 dB that's till quite good. I didn't see that graph on Audiioholics.com, was it Yamaha's own measurements?

 

[GXAlan]

I cannot find the data sheet for the 9007 no matter how hard I tried, it is not even listed on the ESS Technology website. Could that be a special part number created for Yamaha? If it is, then it is probably same as the 9006, just a different number.

I assume so. The 9006 data sheet shows that 9008 is the number assigned to the higher grade of the 9006. This makes me speculate that it’s somewhere in between

 

[peng]

I assume so. The 9006 data sheet shows that 9008 is the number assigned to the higher grade of the 9006. This makes me speculate that it’s somewhere in between

I understand your logic, but the 90X8 has been ESS's flagship/reference DAC chips over the years and currently the 8 channel DAC chip with the next best SINAD and DNR is the 9026Pro that is only used in the flagship Yamaha AVRs and AV preamp/processors.

ES9008: DNR 128 dB, 134 dB Mono mode, SINAD 118 dB

ES9026Pro: DNR 124 dB, SINAD 110 dB

It just puzzles me that ESS doesn't list the ES9007 anywhere, and it seems to me Yamaha is the only manufacturer currently using the ES9007, wonder where do they buy it from.

I did manage to find the ES9007 mentioned (along with the 9006 and 9008) very briefly in a technical paper published in 2007 so the ES9007 was already out 14 years ago. So may be you are right that it "was" the one in between at one time and then discontinued, but then how come only Yamaha is using it, or still using it, when it has never been listed or sold by any place found on the internet??

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/wyred4/sabre.pdf

This technical paper was prepared for general distribution December 2007. The Sabre DAC is available from ESS Technology as part numbers ES9006, ES9007 and ES9008. Contact ESS Technology, Inc., 48401 Fremont Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538. Phone: 510-492-1088, FAX: 510-492-1098.

Being a curious person, I would love to see the specs of the ES9007, but until then, it seems obvious that it won't be as good as the ES9026Pro, and the 9026Pro is not as good as the 9008 (in terms of the SINAD and DNR specs).

 

[tparm]

I understand your logic, but the 90X8 has been ESS's flagship/reference DAC chips over the years and currently the 8 channel DAC chip with the next best SINAD and DNR is the 9026Pro that is only used in the flagship Yamaha AVRs and AV preamp/processors.

ES9008: DNR 128 dB, 134 dB Mono mode, SINAD 118 dB

ES9026Pro: DNR 124 dB, SINAD 110 dB

It just puzzles me that ESS doesn't list the ES9007 anywhere, and it seems to me Yamaha is the only manufacturer currently using the ES9007, wonder where do they buy it from.

I did manage to find the ES9007 mentioned (along with the 9006 and 9008) very briefly in a technical paper published in 2007 so the ES9007 was already out 14 years ago. So may be you are right that it "was" the one in between at one time and then discontinued, but then how come only Yamaha is using it, or still using it, when it has never been listed or sold by any place found on the internet??

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/wyred4/sabre.pdf

Being a curious person, I would love to see the specs of the ES9007, but until then, it seems obvious that it won't be as good as the ES9026Pro, and the 9026Pro is not as good as the 9008 (in terms of the SINAD and DNR specs).

I noticed the A8 uses dual 9026Pros where the lower models use a single + 9007. Theoretically using DACs in mono mode for stereo would provide better performance? That would be considered differential using balanced connection, right? Emotiva boasts using one 4490 per channel, not sure how much impact it has on sound quality.

 

[peng]

I noticed the A8 uses dual 9026Pros where the lower models use a single + 9007. Theoretically using DACs in mono mode for stereo would provide better performance? That would be considered differential using balanced connection, right? Emotiva boasts using one 4490 per channel, not sure how much impact it has on sound quality.

The A8A has to use 2 pieces of the 9026pro that is an 8 chanel DAC. So to do 13 or 15 channels you need two. One 9007 is only good for 8 channels.

 

[xcomp666]

Anyway, I pre-ordered an A6A (my first option) and a A8A ( in case of A6A delayed for too long). If the A6A model numbers weren’t good enough, maybe I will stick the A8A. Man… weird times. It’s So hard get any product on launch date.

 

[2x4]

I just picked up an A8A and getting everything hooked up. I noticed that my Apple TV will pass hdr to my television if hooked up directly, but if I pass the signal through the receiver, 4k sd is the best it will do. Is this something that will be fixed by the coming firmware upgrade?

 

[xcomp666]

I just picked up an A8A and getting everything hooked up. I noticed that my Apple TV will pass hdr to my television if hooked up directly, but if I pass the signal through the receiver, 4k sd is the best it will do. Is this something that will be fixed by the coming firmware upgrade?

An big firmware update supposedly to be released at the end of October..

 

[2x4]

Cool. I’ll wait and see if that fixes it.

 

[stlcards]

Gene from Audioholics had this to say about results from his testing so far, A6A.

This thing is a hot mess RN in how it handles digital fullscale and also the amp distortion. I'm biding my time publishing configuration set up tips for fellow owners until I can get some answers from Japan as to if they are working on fixes to what I've found. I'm not thrilled RN as you could imagine.

 

[ozric]

Gene from Audioholics had this to say about results from his testing so far, A6A.

This thing is a hot mess RN in how it handles digital fullscale and also the amp distortion. I'm biding my time publishing configuration set up tips for fellow owners until I can get some answers from Japan as to if they are working on fixes to what I've found. I'm not thrilled RN as you could imagine.

A company the size of Yamaha already knew about these issues before they sent him the receiver, they are certainly capable of performing the same Audio Precision tests as a guy on YouTube. It's a shame, I remember the pre HDMI Yamaha receivers I've had, they worked perfectly, and still do.

Especially troubling since Yamaha has been making the rounds bragging on their new platform...

 

[EB1000]

The A6A seem to score 66 to 80dB of SINAD. That's just utter crap for such a high-end AVR.