Audio-GD Singularity 19 DAC - Comprehensive Review and Impressions

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Hands, Mar 23, 2017.

  1. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    I think a lot of people wonder, rather than have a particular axe to grind- it's such an outlier right now.
     
  2. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    I'd be willing to listen to another unit. If going down that path, however, I'd like to see it done with one that was bought in regular channels (as was the SBAF unit) as well as having Audio-GD take a look at the unit we received.

    This is not to say that I want to hear another one of these things - but I'm willing to do it.

    If it does the @Marvey -> @Hands -> Me sequence again, I would suggest we keep our respective impressions to ourselves until we've all finished our listening tests. That would help with our respective calibration and, if the results are similarly poor, make that finding even more robust.

    At best, though, even in the event of a staggering turn around in it's performance I'm only going to post an update - people deserve to know that, for whatever reason, even if there's massive unit-to-unit variation, or it's a result of a fault (which I still find unlikely), there remains the possibility of getting an absolute turd irrespective of Audio-GD's claims of 100 hours of burn-in and test.
     
  3. landroni

    landroni Friend

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    My downfall was the Cozoy Astrapi. The Cozoy / Shozy guys really do excel creating hype around their products, from the Alien to the Zero. And heAD-fi is a perfect hunting ground for them.

    I do feel like I got off easy, though, and didn't get to spend cash on anything ludicrous like iBasso DX100 or Astell&Kern, well, anything. I'm now thoroughly enjoying a lowly setup including Modi Multibit & PortaPros (via USB, no less), and leisurely perusing the experience of the SBAF crowd for my upcoming upgrades...
     
  4. landroni

    landroni Friend

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    I'm wondering who Ancipital is (sounds SBAFy to me), but I'll give them a brownie point for this:
    [​IMG]

    (Putting this here as I expect more MOABs are on the way...)
     
  5. Huhnkopf

    Huhnkopf Friend

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    Ancipital is a good cat
     
  6. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Wow. I'd never even seen that one- so it sucked balls? Shame, the industrial design appears to be on-point, at least- unlike the Singularity 19, which is pure AGD charmless blockaboots.

    (Also, one thing I have been meaning to ask you since forever.. what is that bit of gear in your avatar picture?)
     
  7. landroni

    landroni Friend

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    I wouldn't know how to put these things into words, but what I do know is that with Cozoy Astrapi and Grado SR225i I was getting tired very soon (less than 1h), which basically made me stop listening to music for several months and prompted me to sell the Astrapi (and the Grados, once I realized they were all about abnormal treble), leaving me with no DAC to speak of. Things are quite a bit different now with Modi Multibit & PortaPros: I'm quite happy with my chain right now, and it doesn't get me any more tired when working. Either way, really looking forward to how much better things could get with an HD650 and a suitable amp.

    As for Cozoy/Shozy, while the industrial design really is good, that and the slick packaging makes you wonder how much you pay for branding / design and how much for the components responsible for the sound. Having also interacted with their rep, I can say that they practice the hard sell, as in: "Listen to the Astrapi, and then think about what you heard --- sounds awesome, right, right?". Add in the ridiculous volume control on the Astrapi, which has serious gain and with no analogue knob, so with efficient cans you're basically left with perhaps 1-2 steps between "can't hear anything" to "stop or you'll damage hearing" on your computer's volume control. So yeah, I'm off of their train.

    Hehe, that's a FiiO E12DIY with NE5532 opamp. It was at one point the best gear I had, but not any more. I still think it's decent-ish, but I'm curious what a real decent amp would do for me. All in due time. (And it's high time I changed the avatar, btw.)
     
  8. Koth Ganesh

    Koth Ganesh Friend

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    I thought as much. The Adcom and the Aniso HP gave you away (your gear at the bottom).......
     
  9. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    I don't think anyone in the UK, at least when the show in which that was aired, has ever been able to erase them from their memory!
     
  10. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Oh dear, I really didn't think anyone would be able to de-reference that! I was relying on the general sense of blocky gracelessness evoked, but still..

    "They're in fashion TODAY!"

    etc.
     
  11. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    @Marvey or @Hands what was the default configuration of the S19 from the factory? Was it setup in OS mode or NOS?

    Based on some of the comments I've seen I'm not sure that those currently actively praising it even realize what mode they have it configured for ... which makes their thoughts even more amusing.
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's OS, if the documentation is correct.
     
  13. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    To those that say that a good laugh is not accepted in SBAF:

    [​IMG]

    I think that's the answer, lack of 3 months of burning.
     
  14. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    Buy some and burn them in for your grandchildren.
     
  15. DigitalMaven

    DigitalMaven Acquaintance

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    If the unit takes three months to burn in then the manufacturer should increase the return period for up to six months...not that I actually believe this will help solve the problem. I tend to believe that inferior parts have more to do with it...maybe the Chinese don't have easy access to the parts they need in this type of design so are trying to do a me-too dac that they're failing miserably in trying to do...
     
  16. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    No easy access to parts? Sorry but if there's a reason for using garbage parts that's not it.
     
  17. DigitalMaven

    DigitalMaven Acquaintance

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    Torq mentioned that they might be using poor parts...for whatever reason they chose to do this. I don't have an answer for this but maybe greed and profit.
     
  18. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    We know they're not using the best parts available, simply on the basis of what they say on their web-site. And at that price point, that's completely defensible. Provided they're using parts that meet their claims, that's fine - it'll just mean the design needs to account for whatever parts they are using.

    A lot of large scale electronic manufacturing is generally best done in China as it's typically very easy to get all of the necessary components from comparatively local suppliers. It reduces costs and increases the reliability and predictability of your supply chain. Whether that applies equally to smaller companies like Audio-GD is a matter for debate.

    What @Marvey, and I, were suggesting that it's possible they could have gotten a batch of parts that weren't to spec. This could be down to "quality fade" (a major issue with finished goods manufactured in China, but it still comes up with components) and/or various suppliers being deliberately unscrupulous and re-marking product, or flat out supplying counterfeit parts, is also both a possibility. Or they could just be the right part, and at the edges of their tolerance specification.

    Regardless, this is a manufacturer and/or design problem, particularly in light of these statements on the main Audio-GD page:

    And in the specific case of the Singularity 19:

    If they got bad parts, and all this testing doesn't find them then they're not testing the right things (or not doing anything with the results). That's on them. If they're claiming to test, but aren't, and as a result can't catch such issues? That's on them. If they're auditioning every unit and this is an acceptable sample? That's on them.

    Without comparison to other, field-sourced, units it's speculation as to whether there's an actual issue or if it's just a lousy-sounding DAC. It would be the first device, of any kind, that I have encountered that goes through that much per-unit testing and burn-in and then still experiences a failure that a) didn't outright kill the unit and b) just makes it sound/perform poorly, while still managing to be fully functional.

    Nothing about the sound suggests it's "broken", just that it's very nasty.
     
  19. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    Exactly, the fact that they burn 100 h and are satisfied with the result is the reason it suggests a major f-up @DigitalMaven . Their own policy is what actually takes away the possibility of it just being a "dud".
     
  20. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    Might I observe from the discussion this forum is bending over backwards to give the Audio-gd S19 more consideration than Stereophile afforded the Yggdrasil.
     

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