Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

I can attest to the LH build quality and Sonics, that’s for sure.

I believe Dave is correct in LH’s Kickstarter delivery. I think they have caught up on most if not all at this time. They are slow slow slow. They are focusing on their relationship with Tesla from what I understand; not right or justifiable, but they made their bed and now have to lie in it.

But man can they make a top shelf DAC!!!

See you in a few hours Dave. Hopefully with the Baetis in tow. Dave’s bringing over some Uber usb cables as well: Enklein and the LH usb cable. I can’t wait to hear them!

the output stage runs in pure Class A  it actually gets hot, so they are running some actual juice through it

So is the output stage of the Overdrive SX, as well as the other stages.  I expect my output stage is more linear than DaVinci.

They are focusing on their relationship with Tesla from what I understand; not right or justifiable, but they made their bed and now have to lie in it.

What is their relationship with Tesla?  I am an owner and stockholder.

Should existing, operating companies use kickstarter? Maybe startups...

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

UPDATE!!!

Thanks to Dave, The Audio Doctor, for stopping by and bringing all those fun toys. See the YouTube video for images and Dave explaining the gear.

What he brought :
-Baetis music server (I’ll let Dave post about the nuances of the external power supply system used) - from what I understand a pretty standard example of the Baetis. Supposedly there is a higher current power supply available.
-Enklein David power cord
-Enklein usb cord
-Light Harmonic Lightspeed 20G usb cable

I’ll start with the usb cables (and will post the Baetis to MP64 comparison in another post). The Enklein cable has about 200 hours on it while the LH 20G was almost new. The Enklein is beautifully built with very heavy usb connectors and stalks that are very stiff but appear strong and resistant to bending and damage. If you need a tight turn off of the unit, these are not the cables for you. They are wrapped in a golden yellow woven material that is attractive and strong. The cable is expensive for a usb cable and looks expensive. The LH 20G is two smaller cables coming off of the usb connector which is strong and simply implemented with heat wrap connecting the plug to the wires. It is very flexible and looks resistant to damage over time. There is a black box in the middle of the double cable run. Instead of trying to explain it, here is LH’s web page on the cables text:
“With our new LightSpeed 20G USB Cable we enhance two key things: (1) Completely bypass the USB sending device’s noisy 5V power supply with an ultra low noise 5V battery based power supply (2) Regenerate and re-clock the USB high speed data stream with our “Regenerate and Revive” circuitry that exceeds the USB 3.0 standard.”

The box is powered and has a battery that recharges with a micro usb plus and charger. I have no idea how long the charge lasts but I would Imagine quite a while.....

We first listened to my “stock” system using my tried and true Wireworld Platinum Starlight usb cable (most recent model) between my Memory Player 64, which now has just over 1000 hours on it, and the LH Davinci DAC. The Wireworld usb cable probably has 5-7k hours on it! The sound was familiar and wonderful. Soundstage was wide, deep and with very nice image specificity. Ok, a quick swap of the usb cables to the Enklein and Dave and I “dropped the digital needle” on the same three tracks. Wow! Did we change cables or components?!? The texture of vocals became more layered, subtlety of tone was better, dynamics improved and the soundstage became deeper and about 6-10” taller. I would say it took a step towards realism. I was expecting an improvement as Enklein makes some seriously good cables, but I wasn’t expecting THIS big a difference! I’m already picturing the Enklein in my system for a long time, when we hit the stop button and swap out the Enklein for the LH 20G. We hit play starting at the top track, and almost instantly Dave and I look at each other in astonishment! The vocals jumped a foot higher, to normal human height. The bass became more taught and extended, the entire drum set suddenly appeared IN my room. The upright bass wasn’t just better, it was there! It was natural and just flowed easily without effort, yet displayed dynamics that I had not heard before. If the Enklein was wow, the LH 20G was Holy $&!? !!!

Now I don’t know, and strongly assume there is, a designed synergy between the LH 20G and the LH Davinci 2 DAC. And the Enklein was exceptional, and may sound best with other dacs. But with my system the LH 20G was mouth dropingly amazing! It sounded like a massive component upgrade.

I can’t wait for the guys to come over and hear the system and see their reaction.

Dave was kind enough to leave the 20G with me to burn in a bit more before I make a purchase decision. But I don’t think it will be leaving my system, ever!

Thanks Mr. Audio Doctor!!

For those that want to upgrade your DAC, upgrade your usb cable first! It may be just the upgrade your looking for.
——

See the next post for a comparison between the Baetis and Memory Player.

You couldn’t get any worse source music than iTunes. Plus you are limited by using a Mac mini with amarra. Plus having a Mac in an audio room is the worse. I had this setup a few years ago and replaced it with an Auralic Aries and SQ was much better. Even with the Aries I used a AQ Diamond USB cable to an external dac. USB sucks!
I sold that setup and went with the PS Audio directstream with the bridge 2 and SQ is fantastic.
i moved the Mac mini into the basement with 24TB of raid disk using OS X server for all my music and communicated to the DS using 1G Ethernet 

Cable addendum:

I don't know how many of you have played with power cords. But they make a bigger difference than one would think. I am a HUGE Shunyata fan and currently have a full loom of Shunyata Sigma NR power cables throughout my system and they are excellent. I have heard many (not close to all) power cords in the $100-$4000 price range and I am continuously impressed with, and have learned to rely on, the performance of Shunyata power cables and conditioners.

That said, the power cable that the Audio Doctor has brought over several times to my room (I think he’s taunting me) is the Enklein DAVID power cable. Enklein cables are hand built, masterfully crafted pieces of audiophile jewelry, like my Crystal Cable Absolute Dream speaker wire. At $8,800- a cable they are nigh unreachable but the improvement on any component you power them with is astounding.

Going from my already expensive Sigma NR to the DAVID yields a denser and more extended low frequency with a slight refinement of the overall presentation as if the music is being served on a silver platter instead of a wood cutting board. There is more presence in the upper registers that doesn’t cause brightness, but adds clarity and resolution without being offensive or overstated; it’s more a sense of correctness than added accuracy. The overall construction of the presentation just seams more masterfully recreated, if that makes sense. And that’s only using ONE DAVID on the server!!!! I would need 6!!!! But just thinking about those results gets me a bit hot and bothered.... ;)

Dave took his Enklein DAVID home with him and will continue taunting me with them with every visit I am sure. I now know that sense of remorse reviewers feel when they need to send back equipment that makes an incontrovertible improvement in their system but is just beyond their reach.