Audio-GD Master-11

I've had a couple Audio-GD stacks. One of them was great, but I wanted more detail and balanced output (NOS-1704 + C-2 Class A). The other was excellent, but I longed for the NOS of the previous stack (Reference 5 + Roc).

I ultimately decided to pick up a Master 11.

And it's awesome!

I've listened to my reference tracks in stock 8x mode and I'm most of the way through listening to it in NOS.

NOS definitely has more authority but it also seems to have a little less detail. I'm thinking it'll be more fun to listen to this way, though. The cover's going back on in NOS mode.

First pic is in NOS mode and a closeup of the DSP.

 

Okay, I have a complaint...

I've never had this revealing of a setup.

I thought my Master 11 was faulty when listening to a couple of my reference classical files because I was hearing some clicking and squeaking I'd never heard before. I switched out of NOS to 8x oversampling again and it was still there.

This is going from my computer's USB DAC-UP port with the 5v power turned off -> Master 11 -> Balanced Sennheiser HD650s w/ the SBAF-Mod.

Then I got to work today and listened to the same tracks on an Emotiva Big Ego -> Project Ember II -> JVC HA-DX2000.

Damnit, those same sounds are on this setup also, they're just harder to hear as distinct sounds.

Now I understand the concept of "separation" and "resolving" much better than ever before. If you have crappy source music or if the recordings have things you didn't realize were there, you can hear them on a great setup, and sometimes that can actually be distracting!

I'm hearing shuffling, creaking of seats, plucks of strings, the squeak of a pedal, and other things that happen in real life on recordings.

The two oboe tracks from this album in particular (my APE version reveals it even more obviously) have lots of little ticky/clicky/squeaky sounds that I've never noticed so prominently until the M11 + HD650 combo: http://www.classicalm.com/en/disk/2...ical-Melodies-CD5---Largo---Music-for-reading

 

Great impressions. Could you comment more on the imaging of M11 in comparison with other DACs you have heard? For example, the Gungnir Multibit is very resolving but I have reservation about its strengths in imaging. To my ears, the Gungnir Multibit is not imaging as well as the AURALiC Vega. I am interested in the M11 but wonder how good its imaging capability. Thanks.

 

Better than any I've spent time with alone. That said, the best DAC I've spent time with that isn't Audio-GD is the Bifrost Multibit.

I can tell that different instruments are in different locations, I can perceive that the shuffling from seats is coming from behind the violinist rather than in front of or to the side of, that sort of thing.

There is considerable depth to some recordings in which I feel like I'm sitting amidst an orchestra and can imagine where every musician is sitting or within the audience at a prime location depending on the recording.

The short answer is that it's better than anything I've owned, but I haven't owned much in the realm of TOTL gear (I've heard a fair few, but I can't properly judge unless I'm sitting at home with it).

 

Hey there!

I've been considering a new DAC+AMP to pair with my HD650. My choices have narrowed down to a combo unit from Audio-GD or a tube amp like Ember II. If I got the Ember II I would use my existing Fiio E7 as a preamp.

I'm strongly considering the NFB-28 and seeing you have both experience with audio-GD and an Ember II I thought I'd ask:

-How would you compare the sound between a SS amp with a tube amp like the Ember II, with the HD650 specifically? I've read so many good things about both setups. The M1 is in a whole different price range but how do you think the NFB-11 or NFB-28 would compare?

-Have you ever done testing between balanced vs non balanced HD650? Is it a significant difference?

Thanks in advance for your time!

 

I love the HD650 out of both the Master 11 and Ember II. It was also great out of the Audio-GD C-2 and Roc.

That said, the DAC section is very different in the NFB-28. It's Sabre-based, so it's likely to be more neutral, less warm, and brighter than what I've heard from Audio-GD.

Do you have experience with Burr-Brown, Sabre, and Wolfson dacs? They each come with a particular character, and I tend not to like Sabre (though I've read that the Audio-GD implementation overcomes issues I have with their sound).

You might consider the NFB-10.33 if you want a warmer sound, or even the NFB-15 + Ember II.

My eventual work stack is likely going to be the 10.33 into the Ember II.

 

Oh, and balanced vs. unbalanced on the HD650. Nope, there's not a big difference between balanced and unbalanced on anything. Balanced is more balanced.

 

Cool info despite being just the line-in on my motherboard (still waiting on availability of the ESI Juli@ XTe:

20Hz - 20kHz is ruler flat using stock settings at 8x oversampling.

Even more special, 20Hz - 20kHz only loses 0.25 dB in NOS mode. That's pretty crazy! I often see several dB lost in NOS DACs by 20kHz.

The Audio-GD NOS-1704 I used to have, for example, was a few dB off from flat in the upper registers and sounded slightly soft.

I'm pretty surprised at the performance and can't wait to get a proper card to test this baby.

 

This is what awaits me each night (not pictured: recliner, self, modded + balanced HD650s on my ears).

I'm done looking for DACs and solid state Amps.

Next will be the hunt for an endgame tube amplifier to pair with it when the fancy strikes. Possibly the Torpedo III w/ Cinemags.

 

Asked if Kingwa could send me my test report, and he did!

 

The higher tier "Master" audio-gd product would go through a more stringent adjustment/testing process.

I am currently awaiting the delivery of a used Reference 5.32. I have the previous owner sending the DAC back to audio-gd for Amanero USB and BNC socket upgrade. What's interesting is the previous owner has actually done certain tune up to the Reference 5.32: (i) replacing the single R core transformer to a higher wattage one and higher output voltage so the all voltage regulator circuits can be supplied with higher voltage, (ii) replacing 2 fixed resistors of the digital circuit voltage regulator with variable resistors so the +/- voltage can be adjusted to exact matching (with the fixed resistors, there is 0.7V difference between +/- channel), (iii) replace the output buffer transistors from K246/J103 to very finely matched K170/J74, (iv) replace the output stage capacitor to Panasonic.

 

Grats! The Ref 5 is excellent. It is largely what prompted me to get a Master-11. I had a the first version of the Reference 5 and Roc as my previous stack. The 5.32 with Amanero will likely be pretty much as good as the M11.

 

Wouldn't the Ember II be a downgrade from the Master 11 amp?

Just curious.

 

If you're talking to me, yeah the Ember isn't as good as the Master-11. I had it for work.

I actually ended up getting a Project Sunrise III for work.

Sounds great! Still not as good as the M11, but incredible value.

 

Is the Master 11 really a combo of the Master 7 DAC & 9 amp?
Not a entirely new piece of equipment, just two separate DAC & amps combined?

 

Sorta. It's slightly less awesome than the two combined, in reality. Not enough that most of us would notice, but Kingwa does say that Master 7 + Master 9 is slightly better.

 

Thanks!

 

Improvements have been made!

I picked up an AC Infinity Airplate S9. The Master-11 is always fairly warm, and I don't like electronics staying hot if I can help it.

I asked them to send along 12x silicone rubber feet that they normally bundle with their Quiet USB Fans and they dropped them in for free.

Initially, I left it in the stock configuration but added 4 rubber feet and exhausted out the top. Unfortunately, the face plate is about half an inch wider than the M-11 and that made me sad.



So I pulled off the faceplate, rotated the grills, reversed the direction of all the fans, shuffled the USB cable out a different location, and added all 12 feet to the bottom of the fans.



Significant temperature reduction to the touch. It's about the same temperature as the room now all across the top. It has three fan speed settings and I chose the middle setting because it's almost inaudible even with everything else turned off in the room. Even at the max setting, it's way quieter than the computer a couple feet away.

 

Damn, that must run pretty hot if it needs that.

 

It doesn't, but I've always been obsessive about keeping electronics cool. It takes it from warm to the touch to cool.