Kinki Studio x Vinshine Audio Tai Hang power enhancer
Volumio Rivo+ with Lineo 5 power supply
Denafrips Gaia DDC
Pathos InControl Preamplifier mk1
Atma-sphere s-30 poweramp
Caladan open baffle speakers
Feliks Envy headphone amp.
With these units plus Tubulus Concentus, Cardas Clear interconnects and Shunyata power cords, I felt I had push the limits of what the Denafrips could deliver. The sound was wonderful, spacious and very natural sounding. But there was always that itch that the Pontus 15th was the weakest link in my system and what could a better sounding dac deliver? I suppose it was more curiosity as I was pretty happy with what I had but I thought I'd dive in one last time and see what the Lampizator could offer.
Finally I set up the new Baltic 5. It came with Shu Guang 5u4g, two 12Au7 Ray tubes and two Psvane Art 6sn7's. Off the bat the sound was...okay. The most noticeable difference was the bass. It was like there was a new bass "shelf" unlocked in the music. But to be honest it was not a massive night and day difference from the Pontus 15th so I got to tube rolling...
I replaced the 12au7's with two Telefunken 802s tubes and changed the Shu Guang with Psvane Acme 274b tube and played around with various 6sn7 tubes I had lying around.
Much better but once I changed the Psvane 274b with a Takatsuki TA − 274b rectifier and used Ken Rad 6F8G tubes with adapters the system came alive like never before.
I also must note that I'm pretty much using tubes in 3 stages of my system. The Incontrol preamp is a two stage solid/tube preamp and the Atma-Sphere S-30 power amp uses a lot of tubes. So now with the Baltic 5 I'm listening to distortion on top of distortion on top of distortion so I had to find the right tube combinations, oh what fun but who doesn't like a challenge? This also means that my system will differ in sound to others.
I used the Spdif connection (I wish I could use the L2S connection from the GAIA but haven't figured that out yet.) I found the AES connection on the Baltic to be a bit softer and the Spdif was a little more crisper.
So back to the sound.
Quite amazing actually, I immediately noticed the bass, there's like a new level introduced which wasn't present before. Deep soundstage, goes back further almost like I'm amongst an orchestra. The little details it delivers are very lifelike such as the pluck from a guitar or violin staccato has a nice reverb/fall off. There is a superb amount of "air" around each note and the dynamic range is nice and large, When a track goes from only a few instruments to a full orchestra it really sounds bombastic. Music is really layered and the soundstage is tall, wide and goes far back beyond speakers. You can really pinpoint where the musicians are dotted around the room. It's very impressive indeed.
I went back to the Pontus 15th to double check the differences and see if I was purchased biased.
There was less separation. Smaller soundstage. The music wasn't so much as veiled I would say, more like 1/3 or the musicians took a sick day. Still natural organic sounding but less dynamic range and there's a limit to how tall the sound is. The lampizator is just much more "bigger" sounding.
Comparing the Denafrips Pontus 15th:
Playing Andre Previn's Trio Jazz-iKng Size! on the Lampizator I immediately noticed he strum of the bass would hit harder and roll off nicely giving a more realistic impression.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Jader Bignamini- Blues Symphony. III. Reconstruction Rag. This is a superb track and great test of any system as there are multiple instruments playing all around the soundstage. The Pontus handles it well but the crescendo towards the end gets slightly muddy. The Baltic 5 plays this track wonderfully, the soundstage is massive, tall and wide with excellent clarity to every instrument. When there's a crescendo I can still make out all the instruments clearly. Wow!
Playing Sphinx Virtuosi- Songs for Our Times on the Pontus 15th it's not as deep, slightly more veiled overall. Less sub bass, less dynamic range. doesn't punch as hard. Softer violins. The Baltic 5 plays the music like the violinists are in the room, the soundstage is much higher, goes wider and behind the speakers.
Miles Davis- Miles Runs the Voodoo Down, instruments are more separated and clearer. You've got instruments placed across the whole width and depth of the soundstage all individually detailed and individually placed around the room. Incredibly funky.
It still sounds darn good on the Pontus 15th, just not as dynamic and it's like the soundstage has a more narrower depth.
Geese-Trinidad, Nice separation and detailed but compared to the Baltic 5 it's like all the musicians are standing in the same line across the room whereas the Baltic presents the musicians in multiple depths and locations.
Red Snapper- The Warp and the Weft, this track has some thumping double bass and it sounds very layered.
These New Puritans- 11-5, this track is another great song for soundstage freaks, again the Baltic 5 handles each instrument with great accuracy.
The sum of small parts.
So inconclusion, how much difference can a dac make? Even though the Baltic is over twice the price, the Pontus holds it's position very well but inevitably can't match up to the Lampizator Baltic 5. The elements here make a big difference. A wider, taller, deeper soundstage, slightly more clarity, air/separation around each instrument and a fuller bass makes me a very happy listener.
The only problem I'm facing now is that since I work from home my day is much longer 'cause I keep stopping to appreciate the music!
