Audio GD Singularity 19 - New R2R DAC

GUstard The Bestest eva


Maybe he's out somewhere setting up SBGF

 

Replacing a random fuse in my GSX with a quarter made it way faster.

 

It's called bang for the buck.

 

Surely it will have a more overbuilt power supply for communist apartment block wiring than the Chord Dave: http://cdn.head-fi.org/8/83/500x1000px-LL-83945dd1_Chord-Dave_INSIDE.jpeg

 

audio-gd's factory burn-in is only for calibrating the voltage mid-point of the analog circuit section. Upon receiving, one still have to burn-in the inexpensive (cheap) Shenzhen company XOs at the digital input sections for approximately 50 hours to get the sound stabilized. The XOs are the only parts need burn-in.

I know because I bought my Ref5.32 used but still had to burn-in the Amanero USB input board XOs after had it installed by audio-gd as an upgrade.

 

AGD has a page buried in their website, showing pretty elaborate process of product development:

http://www.audio-gd.com/Baby-EN.htm

When I had my AGD M11, I used to wait for warm up before critical listening, don't think 582350 hours of burn-in changed anything (Amanero USB)

 

As @Marvey says, letting stuff warm up thoroughly is a standard part of how we/I evaluate DACs. I might give the thing an initial power-on listen, and make some brief notes, but this is generally to a) verify that it's working and b) to see if there actually is any change over time for a given unit (typically there's some, but it varies).

For the new cycle of "Life after Yggdrasil" I am considering doing a controlled test recording with a higher-end ADC both at initial switch-on and after the 47-72 warm-up period and comparing the results to see if there is any "reasonably" measurable delta (I say "reasonable" as I'm not going to to go to heroic levels for this, it's more a point of education/curiosity for me).

Now, when it comes to "burn in", especially when manufacturer's are quoting a need for hundreds of hours, my bull-shit meter gets quite twitchy. If this is a real thing, then, at least for audition/demo units, the manufacturer needs to take care of it and not ship me a unit that I can't do anything with for a week or two. And when it comes to selling these things, well, I view long burn-in requirements as a underhanded way of trying to get the purchaser to live with the unit for a) longer than their typical return period and/or b) to have them adapt to the sound of the unit in question (rather than it actually changing over time).

I've yet to hear a DAC that I didn't like at first-power up become something I did after any period of burn-in. It's not going to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It won't turn water into wine. It won't make an etched, grainy, half-assed data-sheet-chip-DAC into something that plays music.

 

Again, you claimed the 1st hand owner experience I shared making no sense, without reading clearly what I said and tried understanding the audio-gd Amanero input circuit.

There is 2 XOs on the Amanero digital input board. Unless the burn-in process is done with the USB input selected, AND with 44kHz and 48kHz signals feeding alternatively, these 2 XOs will not get burn-in.

Isn't it simple to understand? You think burning in a DAC with no audio input signal, will have an effect to the DDC circuit section not selected?

I have stated the XOs on the Amanero board are the only parts which still need burn-in right after receiving the DAC from audio-gd. You still believe it doesn't make sense?

You can send email asking audio-gd how they burn-in their DAC and DDC. I am sure they will reply the XOs need 50-100 hours to burn-in.

The fewer assumptions you make, the more objective you can be.

 

So basically you are saying if the USB input is not used there is no need for burn in.

Since music needs to be playing somehow and you're saying they don't use USB to burn in the 2 other clocks for SPDIF should come burnt in since they test for 100hrs.

 

Oh so XOs need an input signal to vibrate?

This is news.

 

Most (better) DDC nowadays will have the unused XOs turned off to avoid interference. I.e. have the XO responsible for 48kHz multiple signal turned off when playing 44kHz multiple signal, and vice versa. This is not new. Even some $30 XMOS DDC board purchased from taobao does that.

audio-gd goes so far in the pre-amps using relays to short the unused inputs, and have the LED display circuit switched off after timeout, you think they will leave the unselected DDC section switched on? (i.e. leaving the USB input board turned on while SPDIF is selected)

What they won't do is using USB signal replicator to feed USB signal burning in 50+ DAC in the same time in the factory.

Isn't it obvious?

 

I find there are more and more people in this community will "like" whatever Marv says, even in the (rare) occasions that he missed something important/obvious. I don't know, trying to please him to get a hand on the loaned unit?

I hope the community started out as "pirates" will keep tolerating "pirates". It's just 2 years this site was founded.

 

I'm sure the Singularity 19 will be given a fair hearing without prejudice.

It is exciting that we have a new R2R DAC to savour. I am very much looking forward to reading the listening impressions.

When I tested the NFB-1AMP, I was very impressed with the engineering and the build quality. I imagine the new DAC will be up to the same high standards.

I guess the big question is how the new DAC will be voiced. The NFB-1AMP was very coloured and dishonest to the source material. IIRC, @borrego , you stated that the "thick" sound is Audio GD's house sound. IMO, they should really change that to something more neutral. If the NFB-1AMP was neutral it would have been a no-brainer for me to keep, because it is otherwise brilliant. Let's hope that their new DAC is more neutral

 

Then you might be disappointed with the S19. Kingwa stated in his own Chinese forum that his final tuning done to the S19 analog section was to make it sounding "thick" like the DAC19 (http://bbs.audio-gd.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=2&id=30329&page=1&star=4#top)... He said the S19 was sounding "cleaner" to him before the tuning.

 

That's bad practice, as the XO needs time to reach stable temperature.

Disconnecting the XO from the circuit - but keeping it powered on - when not in use is a better way to go.

 

That's an interesting approach --- really curious what it may yield.

On the (controversial) topic of burn-in / warm-up, I will only add @atomicbob's comments that caught my attention the other day: