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Best dac under $2500 - comparing build quality and technologies

I have been in the  Audio field for over 4 decades and have owned some pretty exclusive audio gear 
I was listening to a 3 years old R2R dac the R7 from AudioGD a 20 year old company which won several awards  which is not known much in the U.S yet  ,This New R8-MK2 is better still.
it is  very well built using 3 R core transformers rarely seen unless spending $$. Their latest and best value is the New R8 mk2 dac. This dac just came out late April 2021 ,over a year went into the redesign the Owner stated this unit has several advancements vs previous designs , and runs much cooler for less money then  the previous R7 but better ,their is also a mk2 R7 also as well as a Flagship R7 HE with power regeneration,which I wanted but could not afford .The dynamics and realism is what sets this apart it’s massive power supplies and over 130k uf 
of capacitance is more then most amps has a lot to do with it I will be getting my dac next week and put side by side with  very well know competitors  it was noticeable better  in several areas , and it has 7 sonic adjustments all FPGA based 
4- non over sampling ,including a vinyl mode, and 3 over sampling  other dacs just a minor OS option 
you literally can Taylor the sound to your audio system .it weighs 26 lbs ,Underwood Wally is now the U.S distributor and service center  . I will give a full rundown once I have logged a week or two on it ,2 R- core transformers go to the pure class A  analog output section, the 3 rd transformer -digital is now fully servo controlled and runs much cooler and much better specifications . Check out link below.
http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/R8mk2/R8mk2EN.htm
audioman58

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audioman58 OP
4,382 posts
 
we Directly compared the Denafrips Pontus at the audio get together it was very refined a bit laid back  the pontus  very similar to the Holo springs 2. I  owned the latest Schiit Yggsdrasil last year and bought the latest board very neutral very good dynamics too cool for my taste, but none of these others have the prat and shear scale of dynamics and musical density ,and it has 7 real user adjustments FPGA in its programming 
4 non oversampling ,one vinyl ,and 3 over sampling .a very hard dac to say 
what it sounds like you can literally Taylor to your audio taste. The 3 R core transformers 2 - in pure class A for the analog output stage , and 1 for the Digital with 130,000 uf in capacitance which is more then most amps,gives it a big advantage to most dacs out there ,most certainly in its price class under$2500
And uses with the latest servo technologies so runs much cooler,with lower distortion levels. It is a very large dac and  at 26 lbs it requires a whole shelf.
Not much more to add ,just read all past R7 reviews and that is a good starting point . I will say their New top  R7 mk2 is noticeable better still I was told and  their flagship    R7 HE MK2 looks fantastic and has power regeneration built in and output to a master clock option. I will give it a good workout for a  week or two then give a honest mini  review .
audioman58's avatar
audioman58 OP
4,382 posts
 
Several That have already compared the New R8 mk2 have this very favorable to anything in the $2500 and under price class over in Europe  over there Magna audio is very well established .I exchanged several emails with the owner Kingwa 
at Audio GD he was very good to relate the whole 2020 year went into these MK2 models and a bunch of very instrumental upgrades . Will see if good as others say ,I will report back if it’s a keeper .I have sold a bunch of dacs over the last 2  years all very well known from $3k and under.
audioman58's avatar
audioman58 OP
4,382 posts
 
MK2 VERSION

This MK2 version of the R-8 has undergone a long period of testing, measuring, listening and adjusting at all levels of the circuit. It uses a stabilized power supply using discrete servos for battery-like performance. The converter stage uses this stabilized power supply, where analog circuits use a pure Class A power supply.

  • Discrete in-house developed 3rd generation R2R discrete ladder technology
  • 4 independent hardware DSD decoders and 8 independent R2R PCM decoders
  • Balanced two-channel push-pull design
  • Ultra low noise Power Supply design (battery performance)
  • Special “vinyl” sound characteristic available
  • USB and HDMI inputs have independent isolators and linear power supplies
  • USB designed with bidirectional isolator that sends the I2S signal to the FPGA and receives the return master clock signal. (single clock approach)
  • Sample rate on display of the input source
  • Two Accusilicon clocks working at 90Mhz and 98MHz master clock implementation.
  • DSD signals use an asynchronous clock for greater accuracy.
  • A port for updating the firmware is available on the back of the device.

R8 is characterized by its coherent, transparent and neutral sound. Rich in detail; high resolution; strong authority and wide stereo image. You’ll forget that you’re listening to a digital source.


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