@spruce IIRC there were a couple of owners of both the µDAC and Qutest who posted some observations over on the Harmony DAC thread, including @VintageAudio.
Laiv Harmony µDAC, Discrete Balanced R-2R DAC
- Thread starter bodhidharma
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Headphoneus Supremus
Can some owners please react to the heat question. I haven't really seen that answered. How warm does the μDAC get?
I'm just curious. My Harmony does not get warm.
For instance my two Fosi ZA3's get nice and warm, just right for a hot shower. I guess about 42 to 45°C. (110F). That's ok for such a small amp with well functioning heat conduction to the outer case.
I'm just curious. My Harmony does not get warm.
For instance my two Fosi ZA3's get nice and warm, just right for a hot shower. I guess about 42 to 45°C. (110F). That's ok for such a small amp with well functioning heat conduction to the outer case.
VintageAudio
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Mine gets hawwwwwt! Make sure you have plenty of ventilation.
JackJohnson316
Head-Fier
FYI I asked Laiv if the uDac usb input connector requires the 5v signal and they confirmed it does not. So you can potentially use a usb cable that doesn’t have the 5v conductor, or in my case the Jcat usb XE Evo card and remove the 5v jumper. Should potentially provide a sound quality uptick removing the usb 5v signal. I’ll test it and compare with and without the 5v signal next week when I get the chance.
So some ways to potentially improve the already superb sound quality of the uDac are to ground the unit using the coaxial input ground portion, use vibration control like isoacoustics, use a LPS as the power source, use a ddc with the master clock being from the ddc, and omit the usb 5v signal.
Lots of cool options to play with and I’m sure more to come.
My friend says with his Harmony dac he gets best results by splitting the upsampling between HQplayer and the dac. So for a 96k file, use HQplayer to upsample to 256k, and use the Harmony in OS mode, upsampling to 512k or whatever the max upsampling is for the Harmony.
So some ways to potentially improve the already superb sound quality of the uDac are to ground the unit using the coaxial input ground portion, use vibration control like isoacoustics, use a LPS as the power source, use a ddc with the master clock being from the ddc, and omit the usb 5v signal.
Lots of cool options to play with and I’m sure more to come.
My friend says with his Harmony dac he gets best results by splitting the upsampling between HQplayer and the dac. So for a 96k file, use HQplayer to upsample to 256k, and use the Harmony in OS mode, upsampling to 512k or whatever the max upsampling is for the Harmony.
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On the usb , do you not mean the + and - power , and only solder the signal side ? Otherwise there would be no signal going into the dac ?
JackJohnson316
Head-Fier
Hi, for a usb A&B, there are data +, data -, ground, and +5v power conductors.
I’m not able to give advice or instructions on building your own usb cable, but I do know there are cable manufacturers, like Sablon Audio, that have and can make usb cables without the 5v power conductor.
Curious Cables makes a separated dual cable that comes together at each end... but in reality you can not NOT have a 5v power source at the usb hub.
StokeNewingtonJohn
100+ Head-Fier
Take a look at Laiv’s website: they’re teasing their own streamer for Q3.
Any reason to think going from balanced to unbalanced out of the Laiv uDac will hurt sound quality? I would be using with a tube amp that only has SE.Was confused why some YouTube reviewers referenced the cheaper Amazon adaptors. Apparently they're not the way to go as they probably introduce noise and hum. Benchmark will have more of these 3' adapters in stock in a couple of weeks.
That’s exactly my use case. After talking to Jesse at Pine Tree Audio, who is making my cables for this very purpose, I have no reason to think it will hurt the sound quality.
vvume
Head-Fier
Same situation with the ANK L5 Mentor Pre-amp that only accepts RCA inputs. I didn't notice any loss in sound quality, though I am using the very expensive Cardas CGA XLR to RCA adapters with my Iconoclast UPOCC Series 2 XLR interconnects.
shamo42
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Just to be sure, this cable has the 3rd (-) pin floating and works with the uDac?
Ha! Just received my xlr-to-rca cables from Pine Tree Audio and hooked them up to listen to this DAC for the first time. The unit has been “playing” non-stop since Thursday with no output cables (to burn it in).
The DAC is somewhat warm but not hot to the touch.
First impression: sounds good but it is different from what I am used to, coming from an AKM chip dac. I need to do a whole lot more listening to really describe the sound and pass judgement on whether it will be a keeper for me.
Since DACs are difficult to test head to head, this is all to be taken with some salt. I THINK that I’m hearing a more spacious soundstage and more distinct layering and separation. At the same time, treble is less incisive and crisp. Bass is solid; mids are fleshed out nicely.
I am taking it as a very good sign that I just want to keep listening as a track plays, rather than skipping ahead to my next test track! This is going to be some fun research, for sure.
The DAC is somewhat warm but not hot to the touch.
First impression: sounds good but it is different from what I am used to, coming from an AKM chip dac. I need to do a whole lot more listening to really describe the sound and pass judgement on whether it will be a keeper for me.
Since DACs are difficult to test head to head, this is all to be taken with some salt. I THINK that I’m hearing a more spacious soundstage and more distinct layering and separation. At the same time, treble is less incisive and crisp. Bass is solid; mids are fleshed out nicely.
I am taking it as a very good sign that I just want to keep listening as a track plays, rather than skipping ahead to my next test track! This is going to be some fun research, for sure.
Have you (or anyone else) done much swapping between over sampling and NOS? I’ve toying with getting one to try as I really like my Holo Cyan2 and seems some music benefits from oversampling and I’m trying to avoid going down the HQ Player route. Maybe the interval OS isn’t quite as good as HQP but would be FAR more convenient.
Guess on another note, anyone compares it to the Cyan2?
I have not tried over-sampling mode yet, but I will eventually. I stream from a Node, so HQ Player is not an option for me. (Also have never heard a Cyan2, although that was my other contender when I purchased this.)
