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This new version of the R-8HE, the MK3 version, has received many technical improvements and has been extensively tested and measured to provide a sound reproduction of great musicality. The power supply is stabilized by a discrete servomotor, offering performances comparable to those of batteries and efficiently powering the digital/analog conversion sections. The analog circuits are always powered by pure Class A power supplies to ensure the best possible sound reproduction.
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This Audio-GD R-8HE, with its extremely careful design, takes up the key elements of its predecessor, the R-7HE, whose audio quality it inherits, while seeing its performance revised upwards and its price reduced. In the R-8HE, there are 4 Ladder DAC modules, this time in version 2, as well as the regenerative power supply. These two elements, at the heart of the device, allow it to offer great transparency, high dynamics and incredible sound richness, with a reproduction close to what can be offered by analog.
The R-8HE also includes surface components, making it possible to reduce the price of the device without degrading its audio quality, and therefore making it more accessible to buy a DAC with a regenerative power supply.
In addition, the R-8HE has completely separate power supplies. The digital circuit and the analog left and right channels each have a transformer. The signal circuit and transformers are separated by 5mm thick Aluminium plates, ensuring a high level of insulation. This improves SNR, isolates harmonic interference and reduces noise. The left and right channels are placed completely symmetrically so as to maintain the distance travelled by the cables equal on each side. The R2R DA conversion modules are placed between two Aluminium plates to avoid RF interference.
This new version of the R-8HE, the MK3 version, has received many technical improvements and has been extensively tested and measured to provide a sound reproduction of great musicality. The power supply is stabilized by a discrete servomotor, offering performances comparable to those of batteries and efficiently powering the digital/analog conversion sections. The analog circuits are always powered by pure Class A power supplies to ensure the best possible sound reproduction.
Improvements and new features of the MK3 version :
Like many Audio-GD products, the R-8HE includes an Amanero USB interface, supporting PCM resolutions up to 32bit 384kHz and up to DSD 512. The device has 5 inputs: Coaxial, Optical, HDMI I2S, USB and XLR. Each input has interfaces adapted to provide the highest sound quality. On the output side, the R-8HE offers XLR, RCA and ACSS.
The R-8HE, like its big brother, is a DAC R2R, a design that has become popular thanks to its undeniable sound qualities, especially when integrated into high-end products. While there are several methods for designing a DAC R2R that impact both performance and design complexity, Audio-GD continues to choose the highest quality as usual.
The design chosen by the brand switches ultra-low tolerance resistors in parallel and an ultra-fast FPGA chip controls and corrects the Ladder R2R. This design corrects each bit to achieve incredible performance. In addition, with this parallel structure, a single clock cycle allows all data to be processed, where a series connection would require 8 to 24. Audio-GD also corrects imperfections in basic R2R assemblies, i. e. those caused by resistance tolerance, through the use of the integrated FPGA.
Main advantages of the DAC R2R Ladder discrete:
The regenerative power supply is an electrical generator directly integrated into the device and avoids any noise from the main power supply and thus provides an ultra-low noise AC signal to power the device. It regenerates the main power supply and blocks the noise of the electrical signal to obtain the most neutral sound.
First, a transformer converts the main voltage. The DC conversion is carried out by Class A power supplies. A discrete symmetrical regenerative wave generator produces an ultra-low distortion wave at 50Hz.
Symmetrical amplifiers, with powerful output stages, drive regenerative transformers to produce extremely clean alternating current. This totally clean signal is then routed to separate Class A power supplies for the left and right channels.
The Class A DC power supply with an input impedance will avoid any noise and allow the amplification stages to have a low output impedance.
In addition, the 4 R-Core transformers provide 225W of power to the system and Nover capacitors with a capacity of more than 60000µF are used to ensure a fluid current.
An FPGA chip is a programmable component that is now regularly found in high-end DACs. It allows total control of the internal hardware via a complex software layer. A huge advantage of using an FPGA is that its software layer can be easily updated to add new features or improve the overall performance of the device. This allows the device to be upgraded without necessarily having to replace components. It is both a high-performance and flexible solution.
In R-8HE, in this case, the FPGA is responsible for :
After the digital-to-analog conversion by the dedicated R2R modules, the analog signal is transported to the discrete symmetrical stages using paired discrete transistors. The analog sections have no surface components, only discrete components. The output buffers are asymmetric FETs. Two parallel stages provide very low impedance and all output stages have a pure Class A design so that there is no non-feedback. From a sound point of view, this translates into an absolutely disconcerting neutrality. Four AOPs work like a DC Servo, so that no coupling capacitors are required and the DC output is automatically polarized. The output stage also has ACSS outputs for even greater detail and definition. Finally, the circuit does not integrate any relays or switches after the digital/analog conversion modules, in order to maintain the purest possible reproduction.
Audio-GD has its own technological signature, called ACSS for Audio-GD Current System Signal. Thanks to the firm's expertise and know-how, this technology offers a less colourful, more detailed sound, and an unparalleled neutrality. Each of the brand's technical engineers is, in addition to being experienced, a Hi-Fi and audio enthusiast like you and us.
As with all its latest products, and unlike previous generations, the adjustment of filters and modes is done simply by using the buttons and the screen on the front of the device, where it used to be necessary to open it. In the same perspective of simplifying the use of the R-8HE, Audio-GD integrates a Micro USB port on the back of the device allowing easy firmware updates.
Oversampling Filters | |
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Mode 0 | Mode NOS |
Mode 2 | 2x Oversampling |
Mode 3 | 4x Oversampling |
Mode 4 | 8x Oversampling |
NOS Filters | |
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Mode 1 | Easiest data processing |
Mode 2 | FIFO data |
Mode 3 | Fastest data processing |
Specifications | |
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Product type | R2R DAC |
Inputs | 1x USB-B 1x I2S LVDS HDMI 1x Optical 1x Coaxial |
Outputs | 1x XLR 1x RCA 1x ACSS |
SNR | > 120dB |
Output impedance | < 5Ω (XLR, RCA) |
Output level | RCA : 2.5V XLR : 5V ACSS : 2+2MA |
Réponse en fréquence | 20Hz-20kHz |
THD | < 0.01% |
Input sensitivity | Coaxial, 75Ω : 0.5Vp-p Optical: 19dBm HDMI : 3.3V |
Supported OS | Windows, OSX, Linux, ISO |
Supported sampling rate | USB / I2S : PCM up to 32bit 384kHz, Native DSD up to DSD512 Coaxial : PCM up to 24bit 192kHz Optical : PCM up to 24bit 96kHz |
General | |
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Supply voltage | 220-240VAC 50/60Hz |
Consumption | 48W |
Weight | Approx. 12kg |
Dimensions (LxPxH) | 430*445*80mm |
Case material | Aluminium |
Package | 1x Audio-GD R-8HE MK3 1x Power cable 1x USB Cable |
Input | XLR |
Input | Optical |
Input | BNC |
Input | USB |
Input | SPDIF |
Input | I2S via HDMI |
Output | RCA |
Output | ACSS |
Output | XLR |
DAC / ADC Chip | R2R LADDER DAC |
Max sampling rate | DSD512 |
Max sampling rate | 384kHz |
Color | Black |
Networking | No |
Remote Control | No |