[Meyvn]

I think it's just fallen out of favor because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews of the Zhaolu D2 and the Storm D02; people figure, 'for the price, if people STILL like these better, why even bother?'

 

[Edwood]

The lame toggle switch for volume control keeps it from being an undisputed all-in-one champion like the Benchmark DAC1 was.

Otherwise, it's a solid unit.

-Ed

 

[steaxauce]

I like the volume control. It's cool.

It certainly isn't any less useful.

 

[slwiser]

This is probably closer to the mark.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meyvn I think it's just fallen out of favor because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews of the Zhaolu D2 and the Storm D02; people figure, 'for the price, if people STILL like these better, why even bother?'

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by edisonwu I have had some "let me down" experience with DA10 on some speaker systems. But this don't stop me still loving it when I put it back to MY headphone system~

Why is that? Is it because you were using the built in preamp on the Lavry? Recently I've been considering the Lavry for a budget speaker setup because it's one of the only DACs that has a preamp for under $1000.

 

[dknightd]

Maybe, but it is still a damn fine DAC if it meets your needs and preferences.

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenW Just seems a rash of these up for sale these days. Is it the build quality or another case of FOTM passing?

Now you know my Zhalou owns you...and your mother and your family and your whole friggin neighbourhood. In a matter of fact it probably owns the size of texas.

 

[KenW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19 Now you know my Zhalou owns you...and your mother and your family and your whole friggin neighbourhood. In a matter of fact it probably owns the size of texas.

Feelin' frisky are you mister birthday boy?? Hey, you bring that Zhalou and I'll bring dat Lavry. We'll have us a good ol' hab/redwing death match. No need for headphones as the dacs will be thrown from 20 paces instead! You Detroit wussies are all alike.....big talk and no action.

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenW Feelin' frisky are you mister birthday boy?? Hey, you bring that Zhalou and I'll bring dat Lavry. We'll have us a good ol' hab/redwing death match. No need for headphones as the dacs will be thrown from 20 paces instead! You Detroit wussies are all alike.....big talk and no action.

How about I just fly over and bat you other the head with your Ps-1's. You better be wearing a crash helmet for that one.

I think that the zhalou at the moment is more costly effective dac for those headfiers on a budget. Who want to improve their sound over like say their onboard sound.

I think the Lavry is a little pricier for those. Also there is the whole lavry V zhalou sound presentation aspect for those in either camps who prefer the different sound to each other. But with people modding their perspective dacs they it may be possible to extract a little more out of them or if not just tweak the sound to their preferences.

I mean what's not to like about these kind of dacs. Not everyone can afford those uber dacs or maybe cannot justify them.

 

[Canman]

I still have mine and enjoy it. It does pretty well at rendering a sense of space which is crucial for me. The preamp funtion is critical is my system because my K1000 runs off a speaker amp. In comparison, the preamp on my speaker system sounds like crap. (The Lexicon is pretty awful)

 

[Filburt]

Well, when I tried the DA10 I have to admit I was disappointed. I guess I expected more given what comments I'd read here, but it was better than some of the other stuff I've heard. I liked the DAC1 better *shrug*

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Filburt I liked the DAC1 better.

 

[Filburt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox

Yeah I know, weird. The Lavry just didn't do it for me I guess. I felt bored while listening to it. It wasn't as fatiguing as the DAC1, though, and maybe I'd end up preferring it for long term listening; I don't know. I'm happier with the DAC I have, though.

If I get a chance, I'll give it another listen and see if my mood towards it improves.

 

[philodox]

If you do get another chance to try it, hook it up to a power conditioner. The Lavry responds very well to good power. I heard it straight out of the wall at a meet and could not figure out why it was not sounding as good as what I was used to. Some quick swapping later confirmed that my meagre PS Audio UPC-200 makes a large improvement.

 

[Filburt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox If you do get another chance to try it, hook it up to a power conditioner. The Lavry responds very well to good power. I heard it straight out of the wall at a meet and could not figure out why it was not sounding as good as what I was used to. Some quick swapping later confirmed that my meagre PS Audio UPC-200 makes a large improvement.

Hmm...I tried some basic test with power on my DAC at least, though not an "audiophile" power source yet, and I couldn't measure much in the way of differences in overall frequency response, THD, THD+N, IMD, or just noise. Maybe I'd get some gains with really clean power; I don't know. Not sure it'd be audible, but might be measureable. The Lavry may have been underpowered, but even then I don't have much reason to expect (both theoretically and based on experience) that it'd make it suddenly impress me. I think I just didn't care for its general sound. I may have simply expected too much out of it, too.