[jaboki]

Headphone amp looks meh based on the spec. Can we get an internal shot?

I found it from: https://www.moon-audio.com/dcs-lina-headphone-amplifier.html

 

[Whazzzup]

well there's the 30 G threshold.

 

[bflat]

I found it from: https://www.moon-audio.com/dcs-lina-headphone-amplifier.html

That does not look like a high end volume pot for something at this price. Not that it matters to me but I think it's a fair question/concern.

Now this is a volume pot!

 

[Not so fat head]

The price makes zero sense, what costs, R&D and MFG expenses are being recovered here?
I love to see the cost breakdown…..
If you plan on selling 10 of them, then sure….

 

[Whazzzup]

It is to drool.

 

[zach915m]

It has a 6 volt output setting?! That’s pretty hot out of a DAC.

It's spicy! And honestly I wasn't quite sure it made sense when I saw that, but when using the dac for some amps, it makes all the difference as some gear really likes the extra input voltage while some doesn't.

The price makes zero sense, what costs, R&D and MFG expenses are being recovered here?
I love to see the cost breakdown…..
If you plan on selling 10 of them, then sure….

I think if you think of each unit within the chain it might make a little more sense, there are tons of other company's that make gear that is that expensive, but usually it's looked more segmented than as a unit like the Lina system is. I ofcourse cannot speak to the business side of DCS as I have no idea, but I know from running ZMF that running a business is tough, and if your strive to make a piece of gear that is meant to truly be TOTL you'd rather go for it then cut any corners to save off the MSRP, and that includes having the best engineers, staff and team in house so that gear like this delivers to the customers for years to come on all facets. And making sure those jobs are not transient.

Personally if I HAD to choose from one of the three components I would go for the DAC, it absolutely does some things I've never heard before from any other piece of gear. When used in synergy with the other components in the Lina system it's still amazing, but it can bring any setup up another level IMHO when added by itself.

 

[ricksome]

this could be a fun thread to watch

.... without spending $30,000.00

 

[RobertSM]

I've actually become pretty good friends(@TomSix )with the designer of my daily driver headphone amp, the ALO Studio Six. In conversations that I've had with him over the last few months he's told me that my amp can easily accept 6v of input from a DAC. He's even mentioned that it could take 10v. The only issue that you'd encounter would be not having as much range with the volume control before the sound was way way to loud to the point of damaging one's hearing or the headphones themselves.

The dCS network DAC comes at a perfect time. I've been budgeting for a new TOTL DAC and will be prepared to purchase one in Sept or Oct of this year. At this point I've had both the Mola Mola Tambaqui & the Weiss Dac501 in house for auditions. The Tambaqui is wonderful but only has one set of outputs. The Weiss DAC501 is a real strong contender and what I was probably going to upgrade into before I knew about the dCS network DAC. Now I'll do my due diligence and learn what I can and maybe, hopefully get an audition at home before I make my final decision. @dCS Team any chance of at home audition for a serious and prospective buyer of your new dCS network DAC? If so, please contact me for arrangements.

I welcome dCS and what they bring to us and into the Head-Fi community. It's nice to know we have a range of gear and price points to enjoy our style of audiophile nirvana, aka Head-Fi.

 

[chesebert]

I found it from: https://www.moon-audio.com/dcs-lina-headphone-amplifier.html

Are those electrolytics in the signal path? Yikes.
That’s some weak sauce heatsink- probably lightly biased into class A.
The transformer placement is pretty clever.
Overall not a TOTL effort.

 

[Andrewteee]

Now I'll do my due diligence and learn what I can and maybe, hopefully get an audition at home before I make my final decision. @dCS Team any chance of at home audition for a serious and prospective buyer of your new dCS network DAC? If so, please contact me for arrangements.

You raise a good question. The Lina is available directly or through select dealers. I have a local dCS dealer whom I purchased my Bartok through -- I don't know yet if they are one of the select dealers. But I would be disappointed if I could not demo the Lina at a local dCS dealer.

Not that I'm in the market for one!

 

[RobertSM]

You raise a good question. The Lina is available directly or through select dealers. I have a local dCS dealer whom I purchased my Bartok through -- I don't know yet if they are one of the select dealers. But I would be disappointed if I could not demo the Lina at a local dCS dealer.

Not that I'm in the market for one!

Yeah I think the pandemic forced alot of manufacturers and dealers to try to get gear into potential customers hands with in-home auditions. I realize we have CanJam events but this isn't the only way to get gear into the eyes and ears of customers.

If a dCS dealer that serves the Los Angeles area or any official dCS internet dealers, reading this please contact me as I'd love to do an in-home audition of the network DAC. I'm very familiar with the usual requirements and am okay with putting a CC down if needed to make everyone feel comfortable with everything.

 

[Not so fat head]

I would wait in a very long line (or queue in the UK) to hear this…
Awww, what else ya gonna spend your hard earned money on?
Beautiful product..

 

[Z_Showmaster]

The DAC spec is identical to Bartok. And, with the master clock, Lina DAC is about the same price as Bartok. I wonder which sounds better as DAC for the same amount of money. However, looks like Lina DAC does not have volume control.

*It seems Lina cannot be used with the speakers at all. That's a bummer..

We had talked extensively with dCS engineering about the Lina amp, which I've been openly saying to interested parties is the star of this launch, in my opinion.

They replied about their output stage. Instead of running a few normal transistors in parallel for more current-handling, they use an uncommonly large part to supply the current big planars need.

Lina HP Amp – the link is the extent of what I could glean from asking more about its design

The torture test was done with the 2V (not 6V) output from Lina DAC into Lina amp's (on low gain) unbuffered input driving a Susvara, and it got painfully loud at 2 o'clock, with headroom to spare. That's before we get onto the optimal 6V, or high-gain, and start to hear fireworks.

Despite what I've said about easily driving Susvaras and, by extension, Abyss, dCS managed internal gain perfectly on Lina amp. We got up to 10 o'clock on sensitive gear like Rosson RAD-0s and Focal Stellias, and managed 12 o'clock for ZMF Headphones. dCS were serious when they said Lina amp will drive any headphone.

We had a great time at launch yesterday, and hopefully Zepp's attendees will have something to share for all of us here.

 

[Z_Showmaster]

I think if you think of each unit within the chain it might make a little more sense, there are tons of other company's that make gear that is that expensive, but usually it's looked more segmented than as a unit like the Lina system is. I ofcourse cannot speak to the business side of DCS as I have no idea, but I know from running ZMF that running a business is tough, and if your strive to make a piece of gear that is meant to truly be TOTL you'd rather go for it then cut any corners to save off the MSRP, and that includes having the best engineers, staff and team in house so that gear like this delivers to the customers for years to come on all facets. And making sure those jobs are not transient.

Personally if I HAD to choose from one of the three components I would go for the DAC, it absolutely does some things I've never heard before from any other piece of gear. When used in synergy with the other components in the Lina system it's still amazing, but it can bring any setup up another level IMHO when added by itself.

Exactly. So much of what a product is worth doesn't just come down to parts – but intellectual property and expertise (dCS' forte), manufacturing, product development, prototyping... endless costs too.

That all said, it's granted. Lina will cater to a very small niche of listeners. And I congratulate every one of those, now and in the future, for acquiring the very summit of what's possible in a headphone source.

On an aside, I refrain from judging value just by the photos of internals and how many parts you get. You'll never achieve your BOM counting transistors. Nothing short of circuit design schematics will show you the true worth of a product which ... last I checked, dCS have no intention of making me privy to.

 

[deuter]

Certainly an exciting period for Headphone Enthusiasts.