Has Anyone Auditioned an LKS MH-DA004 DAC?

Here’s some pics, also included one to show the size difference to a Chord 2Qute:

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/bf6c9fff-5fd3-4ab0-8831-0d024092ed6e/-/scale_crop/840x630/center/-/qua...

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/c72e0c79-6427-4473-9304-d1a78e16623a/-/scale_crop/840x630/center/-/qua...

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/b3e85edb-8a7a-4dd2-bd0e-ba9e7630eb0f/-/scale_crop/840x630/center/-/qua...

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/4b9c5765-4081-4f01-a939-520497f7dcdf/-/scale_crop/840x630/center/-/qua...

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/4f868914-c7da-4263-834b-ad875a68e805/-/scale_crop/840x630/center/-/qua...

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/e4fa7d40-4ceb-4de7-b2ff-6eb0cd3bfc9f/-/scale_crop/840x630/center/-/qua...

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/8b1f0e81-6705-44ae-a5e4-60f0823531a1/-/scale_crop/840x630/center/-/qua...

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/741d8c09-a9d1-4e35-990a-754ddc0b4c01/-/scale_crop/840x630/center/-/qua...

Thanks to everyone who gave their impressions. This is a pretty exciting dac. Right now I have an hd800s, zmf Auteur and Atticus and was running them out of a burson conductor sl 9018. A great dac and amp but I just upgraded to an hdv820 which blows the Burson away in every way.

I wonder if I can still make a big gain in sound quality adding this dac to my chain rather then using the built in dac of the hdv.

A few questions for those of you running this dac in your chains are any of you doing it in USB mode ? If so how does that compared to other input modes? 

I know one member mentioned in some ways it was better than dave but another member said it was behind the 2qute in at least dynamics. This makes me a bit confused as to where it genuinely stands among other totl dacs.

Are there any further thoughts how it compares to other high end dacs such as yggy 2 or qutest/Hugo ?

What's the deal with sbaf? Their thread over there on this dac is filled with nothing but hostility.

Thanks !

@smodtactical Great gear! I’m sure you get a lot of enjoyment there.

As for the LKS 004 besting your current set up, it’s hard to say without knowing your own sound preferences, the characteristics of your phones/speakers and what you hope to gain. I would venture to say you would get a performance upgrade using the LKS as an external DAC but the price vs performance ratio may not be worth it at this point?  And of course, the more revealing your gear, the more changes you'll notice. 

I currently run the LKS 004 using the USB input and it sounds great, absolutely no qualms from me vs the co axial route in my system. I’m using an Audioquest Cinnamon cable with a Curious cable on the way. I’m excited to see what this cable swap brings as there are a lot of positive reviews kicking around.

I’m sure you’ve looked at the 81 page thread about this DAC over on Head-Fi. I’ve read the whole thing and the one reviewer did mention the Chord Dave bested the LKS 004 in musicality and dynamics I believe. I can’t even afford to be in the same room as the Dave but it sounds like this DAC can hold its own, although I’m speculative of it besting some $10k + DACs. But stranger things have happened!

I did found the 2Qute to have a bouncier sound vs the LKS. Generally there will be some give and take with any gear swaps of course. But ultimate synergy is my goal.

I also read that thread on Super Best Audio Forum. Very arrogant and stand offish, turned me right off.

@hfaddict Thanks for the reply. I did read that thread and was impressed that the lks was considered to be in the same league than the Dave.

I'm also impressed by claims it beats yggy 1 ! And as a ds dac u wouldnt have to warm it up which is very appealing.

In terms of my setup I enjoy it immensely it just sounds fantastic but I wonder if I can sound even better with an external dac.

I may also buy a custom made tube amp so this dac will serve as a source that also.

@smodtactical

It is rare that a do-all component can excel at all of its functions over separate, well chosen components. A couple of the commercial reviews of the hdv820 suggest that its DAC section is outperformed by separate DACs which themselves have been said by users to have been outperformed by the LKS 004. I have tried in vain to obtain technical information about the DAC section of the hdv820 other than that it probably uses an ESS 9018.  They don't seem to give out a lot of information about what else is inside.

One of the problems in considering purchase of the LKS is that there are no domestic dealers and almost no opportunity to try one out at home or even to hear one. It is generally decided upon on the basis of a lot of reading and research. It may not be the very best, but it certainly seems to compete with the best--and has a huge price advantage

As for USB mode, I can report better performance after ripping CDs and playing through a laptop to the LKS than playing the CDs through an Oppo 105 and out to the LKS. Of course I can now rip SACDs and play them through the LKS as well. No comparison to playing the SACDs through the Oppo DAC which is far inferior.

Finally, I didn't know what sbaf is, but after reading the @hfaddict post I took a look. It seems the guys over there simply reject the whole class of delta-sigma DACs notwithstanding that some of the best DAC implementations on the planet do very well with them, and taking note of different tastes.  Much too much concentration on the chip rather than on the implementation and no talk at all of the music used for any comparisons.  Frankly, they seem like a bunch of jerks with a kind of political point of view, and who want to sound like they know more than they do.  It's their way or the "sound like crap" way!  Interesting, but very odd.