I have not heard that the DAC1 measures any better than the Lavry. Is that the case?

Have you ever measured the H/K. I don't sense any hash in the DA10.

Here is an interesting test you can try.

http://www.klippel.de/aura/instructions.html

I'd be interested to hear your results.

Cheers

Thomas

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Hmm.. I'm getting a 404 error when I press start. Looks like they took it offline.

I need to bring my DA10 home and run through more thorough testing. I think you're right.

My impressions with the Lavry is that its treble is rolled-off and smoothed over, almost like the HD650. For brighter cans and sources, this DAC might be preferable for me, but I personally like the highest high, and for some absurd reason, I don't hear HF distortion on my DAC1 unless the recording was made that way. I guess Stereophile, which calls the DAC1 "grain-free," 6moons, which doesn't hear a distorted treble, and countless others need to have their ears cleaned. We should book an oppointment together.

Lavry DA10 is not out of favor here....the Sound of Music is clear and present. Maybe others need to start listening to the Sound of Music to enjoy this DAC. as opposed to the sound of equipment. The Lavry is very musical in its presentation.

Maybe there are other DACs as good or better but the price is right and the features are great. The delta between this DAC and others of higher price in the presentation of the sound of music is not enough to move me to change my setup. I am very satisfied.

I don't know about everyone else, but I always blindly follow what Stereophile and 6moons say. It's the cool thing to do.

If I had to start all over again...I would absolutely choose Lavry DAC. It's one of the best value I auditioned. I would be even happy with built-in headphone amp. It's pretty high quality amp.

I conducted a very thorough comparison of my newer DAC1 (the new ones sound better than the old ones, by the way...I've tested that too) with a Lavry DA10 and found only slight differences, but all in the Lavry's favor (more clarity in the highs and lows, a bit more punch, and just a general sense of instruments sounding right). I attribute most of these differences to 1) the DAC1's re-sampling of all incoming signals to 110K, which is always going to compromise the signal somewhat, and 2) the Lavry's CrystalLock feature, because I assume my computer-as-transport system is generating a fair amount of jitter. My tests were done using an SFT Dynamight amp (the best I've ever heard, including in a direct comparison to a $10K Singlepower SDS) and Qualia 010 headphones w/ Black Dragon cables (the most revealing headphones I've ever heard, by a large margin).

The DAC1 is a great DAC, no question. The Lavry seemed better to my ears (my wife preferred it as well, in a blind test).

I'm interested in a fuse upgrade for it after having some luck with a fuse swap in my amp. Does anyone know which of the fuses here is appropriate for the Lavry DA10?

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Yeah, I've never actually heard the DAC1 for myself; I've just merely "blindly" followed some reviews.

Maybe I should blindly follow the reviews of completely anonymous posters with questionable credibility on online forums.

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You're running an Empiricle Off-Ramp and you're worried about jitter? Jeez.... I must be in reaaaaly bad shape then.

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I agree. I much prefer the volume control in the Grace M902. Too bad it doesn't have a better dac section.

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The Lavry measures perfectly flat it has no rolled off highs.

It does not have the weird sound signature of the DAC1 in the high frequencies which seems to be mostly an artefact of the resampling chip.

Cheers

Thomas

Scrith - Nice to hear that the newer DAC1s are improved. Perhaps they are listening to the complaints.

Thomas - Never measured the DA10, but regarding the DAC1... that is pretty much what I heard as well. Quote:



I was trying to draw to attention the fact that your 'creditable sources' are not so creditable. I haven't the faintest idea if you heard the DAC1 before you bought it. I certainly hope so, but regardless you are happy and that is all that matters in the end. Quote:



Now, that would be stupid.

Yes, all of those reviewers are paid off, are simply lying, or are clueless. Anonymous head-fi members' opinions are truth.

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So does that "weird" sound show up on measurements, or is it just your opinion, just like it is merely my opinion that I hear roll-offs in the highest frequencies on the Lavry? Notice that I never claimed that it IS rolled-off, only that I HEAR it.

What I find ironic is that some here can factually, without scientific prood, claim that the DAC1 has a distorted or "weird" sound, but when another person, like me, OPINE - i.e. not basing my impression on anything other than my own ears and opinion - that I hear smeared and rolled-off treble on the Lavry, I'm the one who needs to be corrected or checked. Strange

Purely my opinion. I guess I was just reacting to your choice of words. Rolled-off highs to me describes something very measurable.

Weird sound signature was my attempt to describe something that I obviously can't measure.


You are absolutely entitled to your opinions but by publishing them here it should not come as a surprise to you that people react to them.

Frankly this discussion probably has helped clarify a lot things about both the Lavry and the DAC1 to other readers.

Cheers

Thomas