[Hansotek]

Now I'm worried! I pushed the button on a DNA Stratus tube amp around 6 months ago, I bought the LC more as a "what the hell" deal ...like an interim investment to fill a gap. But now I'm thinking....will the stratus ($2700) amp give me that much more than this little $600 box?

It's subjective I guess, I'm usually a tube guy, I like rolling and hearing the differences, but this little ss amp really kicks ass, whilst being detailed and tonally very balanced. A real triumph I think.

It's changed my perspective and expectations of headphone amps.

What? Why? No. You can't go wrong with the Stratus, dude. The Carbon is really great, but the Stratus is a flagship among flagships. One of the absolute best pieces of equipment I've heard.

 

[stuart1927]

I'm sure it will be Hansotek.....just had a wobble when I heard how good the LC was!!! The stratus is a bit of a beast by all accounts...hope to be able to compare sometime in January 2016!

 

[zachawry]

Mine arrived: 
 


The way the Kobiconn cord has to thread under the volume knob is annoying. Maybe I'll send my cable in to get it re-terminated to XLR. As for sound, I'm not sure yet. Still in first hour. Definitely fuller than Hugo alone, with better bass. Not sure about the soundstage, though, and the Hugo alone is clearer/cleaner/purer. Will have to listen more.
 
Edit: While I don't think I'm wrong about the Hugo alone sounding clearer or purer, the Cavalli definitely adds something compelling that wasn't there before. That's the best word for it, I think: compelling. I just can't stop listening. Not only can I not stop listening, I don't want to do anything BUT listen! Before I would listen and websurf or read or whatever, but with the Cavalli the music just drags me in and takes away my ability to do anything but concentrate on the sound. 

 

[grizzlybeast]

What is cool is the tons of impressions pouring in. I feel like the Carbon is a good amp. So far it only has a tad more warmth in the lower mids and doesn;t change the sound sig much of the Pulse xfi but it is a better sounding amp than the xfi headphone out. Short listen says its a bit more dynamic and better at revealing dynamics a little. But that is SE vs SE and I don't have anything balanced YET
Why not add a pic.  

 

[Hansotek]

Mine arrived: 





The way the Kobiconn cord has to thread under the volume knob is annoying. Maybe I'll send my cable in to get it re-terminated to XLR. As for sound, I'm not sure yet. Still in first hour. Definitely fuller than Hugo alone, with better bass. Not sure about the soundstage, though, and the Hugo alone is clearer/cleaner/purer. Will have to listen more.

Soundstage tends to be one of the aspects that changes the most with burn in, in my experience. I'd wait until you get past the 150 hour mark to make any judgements on that aspect of it. Many components tend to sound kinda 2D when they're right out of the box.

 

[Stillhart]

  What is cool is the tons of impressions pouring in. I feel like the Carbon is a good amp. So far it only has a tad more warmth in the lower mids and doesn;t change the sound sig much of the Pulse xfi but it is a better sounding amp than the xfi headphone out. Short listen says its a bit more dynamic and better at revealing dynamics a little. But that is SE vs SE and I don't have anything balanced YET
Why not add a pic.  

 
If you like it now, wait until you have 4x the power out of the balanced jack.  :-D

 

[x RELIC x]

Yeah, honestly, I wouldn't worry about it in the slightest.  The only times that I track burn-in/break-in these days is when I'm writing up a review, so that I can give people a reasonable approximation of how a unit might differ in sound (assuming that it does) beyond that of a typical return period.  It helps to keep people from getting stuck with a headphone that they don't like.

Yeah, not worried at all, I just like to know. Curious minds and all that.

 

[sheldaze]

The difference is very easy to pick out. The LC sounds better.

Agree - difference is easy to pick out.
 
Disagree - each to its own purpose. However, LC is clearly better with dynamic drivers.
 

Spoiler: Caveat

I caveat this though, in that I'd like to have at least one or two high-end dynamic driver headphones, but the list of high-end dynamic driver headphones is so short. Basically if I want two, I would need to get 800 and 800S 

 
 
So I'm waiting for the next local meet to hear an 800 for myself on the LC, or for a few reviews to roll in on the 800S stating problems are all solved - all clear to go buy.

 

[swspiers]

Just a quick update with about 120 hours on the LC. I'm using my Hifiman HE-400i's, single-ended. I do not have a balanced cable, mostly because I did not expect that much of a difference. However, I have compared the single ended output of my Benchmark DAC-1 to the balanced output. Contrary to what I first reported, and contrary to what I was advised, there is a significant difference in output. The most striking is the volume difference between SE/Balanced out of the DAC-1. I have not taken any measurements at all, and don't have any way to accurately do so. However, my best guess is a 6 dB difference between the outputs of the dac. I really didn't expect this.

But what really blows me away is the sound of the LC versus the headphone output of the Benchmark. The Benchmark is every bit as screechy and glaring as I have ever read it to be. It has a very pronounced treble, and by all accounts it is a very bright amplifier. It does have a lot of detail though, and with moderate listening levels I don't find it too bad. But the LC matches it in detail, and utterly trounces it in terms of bass, soundstage, and generally sounding awesome. I've used the 400i's on a few amps, including the headphone output of my iPhone, and always thought they sounded great regardless of amplification. This might be true, but even in single ended mode, the LC is nothing short of astounding at eking out a whole other level of performance from my favorite headphones.

Interestingly, the LC doesn't sound that great using my Grado SR-225i's, which I usually enjoy listening to. I may have had too high of expectations, but the Grado's still sounded exactly like Grado's, and the difference between the LC and the Benchmark weren't that great. It was a little disappointing.

But the sound I'm getting out of the 400i's more than makes up for everything. I still feel strange preferring them to my Alpha Primes, but with most material I certainly do. The LC simply makes me prefer the 400i's even more!

 

[stuart1927]

Well, less than 24 hrs in, but curiosity got the better of me!
 
One of my favourite recordings is Spiral by Hiromi. It's a superbly recorded piece of music and it's my go to reference for any gear I have....highly recommended.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_(Hiromi_album
 
 
Anyway, on the LC, (emotiva dc-1 stealth dac, Ibasso dx-80 dap and Alpha primes) it is just staggering how good it sounds. Tony Grey's bass on the opening track was actually coming from the back of my skull!....that's never happened before! I've heard people talk about 3d soundstage and separation and thought there was a lot of bs going on, but I'm a believer now!
 
My over-riding impression of this amp is that basically Mr Cavali just knows what he is doing. The implementation is just superb. 
 
Screw burn in....I'm just gonna listen!

 

[Cardiiiii]

Can someone who just received the LC please check the shipping box if they still have it and let me know the post code it was shipped from? My tracking number says mine is being delivered to a different state in Australia.

 

[Viper2005]

  Can someone who just received the LC please check the shipping box if they still have it and let me know the post code it was shipped from? My tracking number says mine is being delivered to a different state in Australia.

 
93021

 

[yonitaun]

Just received mine yesterday, and am very much enjoying the sound straight out of the box, although I only have single ended headphone cabling at the moment. I'm very exited to hear this amp via the balanced out.
 
I did have a question regarding the switching. The manual states that the far right switch that toggles SE and balanced should be white/out for balanced, and red/in for SE, yet my amp is the opposite. I also noticed this in atomicbob's picture of his set up:
 
Quote:

  you mean like this:

 
 
I could listen to this. Oh, I am. With HD650 and HD800. The GuMB running balanced into the Liquid Carbon will provide a bit more resolution. However, this is a very enjoyable system. I judge systems on how well they produce an immersive experience (IE) and how fast they induce listening fatigue (LF). This setup is high on the IE and low on the LF.

Just curious how common of an occurrence this is, although I'm guessing as long as both outputs work fine it shouldn't really matter...

 

[Stillhart]

  Just curious how common of an occurrence this is, although I'm guessing as long as both outputs work fine it shouldn't really matter...

Once again, that button toggles the input, not the output.  Both outputs are always on.  Only one input at a time is on. 
 
If you think about it a bit, this makes perfect sense.

 

[f0oster]

  Once again, that button toggles the input, not the output.  Both outputs are always on.  Only one input at a time is on. 
 
If you think about it a bit, this makes perfect sense.

Not sure if I am misunderstanding....
 
are you suggesting that the Liquid Carbon will output to the XLR (balanced) and SE jacks at the same time?
 
edit:
it definitely does, just tested it.