Audio GD R8 MK2 DAC

Don’t read threads from idiots , most on Audio science are in the under $1 k dac club , which therearea few stars like the Aries 2 dac, Schiit has a couple ,even topping , audio gd is pretty decent but waaay behind the times in trying to change a filter or other th7ngs the internal parts quality is below average been there done That ,being in Audio-a Loong time  power cords for sure can make a noticeable improvement, measurements don’t tell all , and everythung needs some type of breakin , dielectric ,and metals have to settle in, as well as capacitors 

bare-minimum for any quality dac  $3-400 hours runin time.

I have seen a few things that are useful from Audio Science forum. However, I have noticed that they are very firmly in the mentality that is common from traditional engineers: "if you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist". They put a huge emphasis on distortion measurements, which we over here at Audiogon know does not actually tell you if a product sounds good.

I have seen a thread at Audio Science where the OP started a discussion on a particular piece of equipment and his initial thoughts on sound quality. He then went on to discuss how he wanted to see what the piece sounded like after burn in and different power cords. Immediately, there were at least 5 different forum members posting and telling him he was basically a complete idiot (i.e. "there is no burn in" and "power cords make 0 difference"). And then very soon after, they closed down the thread to prevent any more "controversial" posts!  It was unfortunate, because I was actually interested in hearing the OP’s impressions. I can’t remember the actual item or I would post the thread here.

I’ve purchased several items from Walter over the years, including as recently as a month ago.  I’ve been very happy with his speed and service, and with the quality of the gear, each time. 

I would not buy anything from underwood. His speaker are not very good but mysteriously get good reviews. Something does not smell right!!!!!!!

I will saythe  new AudioGD lineup is drastically improved.
The dacs  run at least1/3 rd cooler for the digital section is servo controlled.
land units that did have higher heat these filers they were stacking them with minimal ventilation ,there’s 2 sides to every story.
I just bought the R8 MK2 dac .I have had the experience of hearing many dacs 
this dac I feel is most musical of any dac under$2500 vs several well respected dacs like Schitt Yggsdrasil, holosprings 2 Denafrips pontus and on par with the
venus ,none are as good in the Bass or dynamics .just compare power supplies 
and capacitance for example.

Forget I mentioned AudioGD I spoke with several in Europe and here in NY and because of the great heat they create being in class Heat digital boards shorted out and they blamed the owners 
for not venting the case ,onl6 1 month old in som3 cases when in fact in most cases totally unfounded even in their top designs wanting to charge  over $1k to fix plus shipping No Thanks I will  keep reading reviews .

My friend is a master Audio technician  and he says the vast diy community 
on the Audio science forum no Little to nothing about digital and the vast 
methods of testing ,at different  band  frequencies ,filtering , pink noise ,white noise ,he said don’t waste your time ,AudioGT especially with their FPGA for regulating the ladder dacs is the most accurate way of doing this 
And servos , and precision Rcore transformers are more quiet and less electrical fields then torroidal transformers . I heard The  exceptional Audio GD R7 HE MK2
with the 3 Rcore transformers plusPower regeration .the unit took a couple months to fully settle in but at   Under $4k. It competes very well against 
even the Holo May KTE dac, and I heard it head to head with theDenafrips 
terminator and the Audio GD flagship I thought was  more depth of image  and for sure  best dynamics I have heard I from a dac ,especially anything in this price. class,, and their lower priced gear are solid Engineering ,just compare 
power supplies with the competition  for example .

ASR seems a little quirky at times. They juke the input voltages on certain equipment to obtain better SNR readings. Not certain that holding ASR in high regard or as the reference would be beneficial for you as a consumer in the long run.