[aamefford]

Hmm, I would argue that the Carbon is just showing the HD 650's true nature... that of sounding vaginal unless you shove a cattle prod (i.e. a lot of power) up it's ***.

Wow Warren. You are making me miss my departed HD650 again.

 

[AxelCloris]

  Was glad to hear (from Stillhart's review; also mentioned by DecentLevi) that the LC has a touch of tube-like sound but is there any such thing as a tube DAC?
 
Plenty of tube amps out there but it sounds like the LC will be my main amp so I'll need another way to get more tube sound.

 
The Aune T1 is the first tube DAC that comes to mind. I know there are others.

 

[warrenpchi]

  Hmm, I would argue that the Carbon is just showing the HD 650's true nature... that of sounding vaginal unless you shove a cattle prod (i.e. a lot of power) up it's ***.

Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Now that is an  audiophile description I had not heard before. 
 
 
Originally Posted by aamefford /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Wow Warren. You are making me miss my departed HD650 again.

 
From:  http://headphone.guru/the-violectric-hpa-v220/
 
"At this time, I’d like to acquaint you with my personal contribution to our audiophile lexicon: Vaginal. I coined this, rather inadvertently, when I first heard the Sennheiser HD 650. It was warm, dark, wet, intimate and suffocating. It was, well, vaginal. Hey buddy, if you can come up with a more all-encompassing term for this sensation; feel free to let me know – I’m all ears.
 
The V220 dutifully lent its own warmth to the pairing. It then proceeded to evoke the HD 650’s innate vaginal qualities to a degree I have yet to experience anywhere else. Track after track, I was punished with a brutally warm and dark listening experience. The Beautiful South’s Sound of North America came through with severely rolled-off highs, splashy and indistinct upper mids, all wrapped in an oppressive warmth. Vaginal. Beck’s Morning Phase was reminiscent of an AM radio’s signature but with more pronounced bass. Again, vaginal. The Main Title from Apollo 13’s OST relented a bit with some very nice horns, but then pulled a Mr. Hyde with heavily veiled strings and a nearly total lack of air. Very vaginal. And The Trashcan Sinatras’s Should I Pray and Sarah Jarosz’s Ring Them Bells fared no better. Vaginal and vaginal.
 
On one track, Oliver Shanti’s “Onòn Mweng” (Rainbird), the HD 650 suddenly underwent a religious conversion – trading in its veil for a full burqa. It was muffled as all heck, and the staging became incredibly tight. In doing so, it went well beyond being just vaginal, and became virginal as well. I was not amused.
 
I’ve come to accept it by now: my time with the V220 and HD 650 was an hour of my life that I will never get back. I will have to live with that fact. But it is my hope that my experiences above will spare you the regret that I now feel. I’m getting better, day-by-day. The flashbacks are fewer and far between now. I remain hopeful of a full recovery."

 

[aamefford]

Wow. I hope you do make full recovery. Just to clarify then - you were not enamored with the HD650 / V220 pairing?

 

[warrenpchi]

Wow. I hope you do make full recovery. Just to clarify then - you were not enamored with the HD650 / V220 pairing?

Lol, no.  I have heard the HD 650 sound very different, marvelous in fact.  But that wasn't with the V220 I'm afraid.

 

[Stillhart]

   
Found the correct specs. Thanks. Single-ended though.
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/DAC1911/DAC19EN.htm
 
I have no doubt it sounds great but do you think its worth it to buy another SE dac?
 
I'm also keeping an eye out for Stoner Acoustics' EGD and the next Gungnir (current one is same $750 price as the DAC-19).
 
Price isn't the biggest issue as I shouldn't being buying anything right now but therapeutic music is priceless and, if I'm gonna buy something, may as well get the best, most capable one I can.
 

 
In my honest opinion, yes I think it's worth it despite being SE.  I've been saying for a while in this thread and in the associated DAC thread that I think a good sounding SE DAC is going to work better than a just-okay balanced DAC.  The phase splitter in the LC makes it even more of a moot point IMO.  The DAC-19 sounds good and it's worth the money if you want that kind of sound.
 

  Was glad to hear (from Stillhart's review; also mentioned by DecentLevi) that the LC has a touch of tube-like sound but is there any such thing as a tube DAC?
 
Plenty of tube amps out there but it sounds like the LC will be my main amp so I'll need another way to get more tube sound.
 

 
Yeah, there a few.  The Aune T1 as mentioned.  I believe Maverick Audio also makes one.  I think all the MDHT ones are tube DACs.  
 

 
Lol, no.  I have heard the HD 650 sound very different, marvelous in fact.  But that wasn't with the V220 I'm afraid.

 
I wonder what the V in V220 stands for...  

 

 

[doctorjazz]

Have a tubed R2R DAC, Mojo Mystique, a bit more expensive than most are looking at...
Love the sound of it, but it doesn't pay well with my Peachtree GrandPre, have to get it checked out.

 

[DigitalFreak]

@Stillhart
 
Congrats bud, your quicky review made the head-fi front page
 

 

[gr8soundz]

 
The Aune T1 is the first tube DAC that comes to mind. I know there are others.

 
Yeah, there a few.  The Aune T1 as mentioned.  I believe Maverick Audio also makes one.  I think all the MDHT ones are tube DACs.  

 
Thanks!
 
Never heard of Maverick Audio but checking them out.
 
U guys are right; there are quite a few out there. Gave up searching after the few I found only used tubes on the headphone out, not the dac section. Can't tell if the Aune T1 does that. Checking out the dac only ones now.
 

 

[lukeap69]

   
Thanks!
 
Never heard of Maverick Audio but checking them out.
 
U guys are right; there are quite a few out there. Gave up searching after the few I found only used tubes on the headphone out, not the dac section. Can't tell if the Aune T1 does that. Checking out the dac only ones now.
 

Before I've purchased my DAC-19, I have been looking at other DACs, some are tube (/buffer) like MHDT's, Monarchy Audio NM-24, Lite DACs, etc. Quite a few out there but can get pricey though even the entry level. Happy hunting!​

 

[aamefford]

Some talk of the Dac-19 in the last few posts. I'll just note that I bought one with some skepticism, and very quickly became a fan. Of note, it plays nice with the iPhone and cck.

Anyway, the dac-19 is the smallish, (trans)portable balanced Dac under $600 that I was looking for. To pair with my LC... (Tongue firmly in cheek)..

 

[adobotj]

  Try to search Teradak Chameleon.​ Darko has a review of it and IIRC it is available via ebay.

Hi Luke. Thanks for this suggestion. I will look into this!
 

An R2R Dac is a more complicated/expensive to make, so all the DACs will cost more. I got mine under $500 because I found an old one on eBay, but then I had to find a coax output to feed the DAC with music.

There's a whole separate thread for discussing DACs to try with the LC, but basically a good one will sound good with the LC. Amps that aren't garbage tend to sound much more similar than comparing headphones, so basically aim to find the headphone with the sound you like, and upgrades to the rest of the chain will make that sound slightly better.

Hmm... this is an interesting approach you suggested. Never thought of it to go about this way, from headphones back to source. I have HD800, LCD2F and non F, Hifimans and Mrspeakers waiting for the LC

 Hopefully the LC would bring more life to those cans and ultimately find a dac that will complement all, if not most of my headphones. Thank you!
 

   
Well to be clear, I actually don't like the Sabre sound much anymore.  I think it has its place with some types of music (notably very synthetic electronica and dance music), but overall I don't much like it.  I'd rather have a TI or AK or Wolfson based chip if I'm going Delta-Sigma.  My point was just that the worst things about the Sabre chip (the over-pronounced highs, the too analytical mids and the just okay bass) seem to be countered by the Cavalli house sound.  So it makes the Sabre sound less bad.  But starting with something that isn't as bad sounding to begin with is even better, you know?
 
 
Currently, the only way to get a cheap R2R DAC (that's not running the Philips chip, which I've heard isn't very good) is to buy vintage off eBay or buy on the classifieds here from someone who did that already.  There are Thetas for under $400, Adcoms for under $200, etc.  You just have to really be on top of it, like any good eBay hunt.  Otherwise, the cheapest new one you can get currently is the Audio-GD DAC-19 for about $850.  It's very good as a few of us in this thread can attest.
 
For non R2R DAC's under $500... you might check out this thread:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/763905/finding-a-dac-for-the-cavalli-liquid-carbon-only-four-months-to-go

Thanks for the clarifications Stillhart. All of my DACs (DAP and DAC/AMP) are D-S. I was curious about the R2R but only really looked into it because of your preference to it. Now having read quite a bunch of articles on R2R i find it very interesting and wanting to try one out. Learning something new every time here. I will also look into those DACs that you mentioned. If i can't afford it then i will just make do of what i have at the moment or even just try the UD-301 for the meantime. I hope i could find a R2R DAC that i could afford!
 
Thanks for all your suggestions and inputs! And sorry If i derailed the topic a bit regarding DACs. I don't know how i missed that dedicated thread about DACs+LC. My bad.. 

 

[ying]

   
Yep.  Happy to answer any specific questions that weren't addressed in the review.
 
 
I think the best pairing would probably be brighter headphones and ones with a big soundstage.  The HE-560, for instance, is wonderful with it.  The ZMF x Vibro with the new cowhide pads is on the warm side to begin with and I find the pairing with the LC to push it too far into warmth for my preferences.  But keep in mind, I prefer my sound to be slightly bright of neutral.  Someone like Tyll would probably love the Vibro pairing.  
 
Just based on the tonality, I suspect the HD800 would pair well.  I'm not sure if it has the power to deal with the weird impedance issues tho, so I take that guess with a grain of salt.
 

 
 

@Stillhart - thanks for the insightful review. Your impressions have reinforced my suspicion that the LC will be a very good match for the HD800.

I ask Dr. Cavalli about the pairing with the HD800, from what he said I think it is gonna be pretty good with the HD800
 
Hi . Thanks for writing.
 
The Carbon is capable of very large voltage swings at its output and is quite suitable for HD800s.
 
Regards,
 
Alex Cavalli
Cavalli Audio

 

[ying]

Thanks for the clarifications Stillhart. All of my DACs (DAP and DAC/AMP) are D-S. I was curious about the R2R but only really looked into it because of your preference to it. Now having read quite a bunch of articles on R2R i find it very interesting and wanting to try one out. Learning something new every time here. I will also look into those DACs that you mentioned. If i can't afford it then i will just make do of what i have at the moment or even just try the UD-301 for the meantime. I hope i could find a R2R DAC that i could afford!
 

 
The Teac UD 301 is amazing for what the price given. There aren't too many post about it on headfi, but if you look around the other forums that relate more towards the Japanese audio brands you will find a lot of good reviews and information about it. You should of got it when the rebate was still on, at $299 USD it was a steal!! I have the HD800 and I think it sounds superb for the price I got it for! 

 

[adobotj]

   
The Teac UD 301 is amazing for what the price given. There aren't too many post about it on headfi, but if you look around the other forums that relate more towards the Japanese audio brands you will find a lot of good reviews and information about it. You should of got it when the rebate was still on, at $299 USD it was a steal!! I have the HD800 and I think it sounds superb for the price I got it for! 

 
Yeah too bad for me i can't avail of the rebate as i don't live in the states. But still, it's a very well constructed equipment with a lot of functions for the price. For me it's still quite a bargain even at it's present price. with the rebate... it's a steal!