LAIV Harmony

@sns Cheers and interesting re your fish line suspension, pretty novel, cool to hear it works well for you. What is your 'optimised USB implementation' BTW, sorry if I missed it?

On the subject of USB implementation in the LAiV this just dropped review is rather positive, indeed the whole review is very positive. The class of his review system is top notch. 

https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/spdif-dac-reviews/laiv-harmony-dac/

Conclusion

The beautifully sculpted Harmony DAC has a hugely revealing nature, but it is timbrally realistic, natural, and much like a chameleon. Combine it with a super-accurate and neutral source, and the DAC’s analytical quality will relay this in all its precision. Conversely, when combined with an organic and liquid-sounding source, the DAC will also relay the music in all its lushness and sweetness without overlaying any character of its own.

This is what I think a high-performance DAC should be like: not a component to EQ your system with but an open window onto your source. Such excellent performance usually comes with a much heftier price tag, and it is a miracle that the Harmony DAC achieves this at such a reasonable price point.

And re USB in particular

The Oladra/Harmony DAC combo takes a huge leap in solidity and control when switching from coaxial to USB. The Vermouth Reference USB cable is still a favorite for its even-handedness and ability to work well with virtually any source and DAC, but it is not the most robust or expressive cable I have. Nevertheless, with this cable, the DAC provides excellent clarity and transparency, combined with good articulation and toe-tapping PRaT, topped off with beguiling fluidity, refinement, and air. This result speaks clearly to the quality of the USB interfaces on both ends.

@kereru Sonore OpticalModule>OpticalRendu>Audioquest Diamond usb. AfterDark optical cable, OM to Teradak LPS, OR to Uptone JS-2, Mundorf silver/gold DC cables.

I'm ok with usb for now, at some point I'll get around to I2S, not in any hurry.

@sns your USB implementation looks pretty sweet, some nice gear there, I wouldn't be in any hurry either. By contrast I need to up my cable and PS game a little and agree the U18 whilst solid is far from the last word in I2S, the Audio-Gd DDCs with regenerated power on the order hand, they're pretty special. 

@kereru Forgot about Audio-gd, the DI-24SE very interesting, and price point very nice.

I picked up a Denafrips Hermes DDC about two weeks ago and it's working quite well with the Laiv Harmony.  The Hermes now receives a coax input from a TEAC 701T CD transport and a usb input from a Bluesound Node 130.  The Harmony receives an I2S input from the Hermes.  Previously the Harmony received coax from the transport and usb from the node.  The improvement in CD sound is primarily spatial, with a slightly deeper and wider soundstage, and also better bass extension and definition.  Without resorting to a lot of "reviewer speak", I think CDs with the Hermes in place just sound more enjoyable.  The really big bump up in audio performance comes with streaming from the Bluesound Node: everything sounds better from this very modest streamer with the Hermes in the signal path.  Bass is deep, full, and tight; soundstage is precise with lots of air around the musical sources; and the overall presentation is very natural and smooth.  I'm very happy with the Hermes and the Harmony is too.