You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
LAiV Harmony R2R DAC Impression and Reviews
- Thread starter tassardar
- Start date
RHMMMM
100+ Head-Fier
Got it in to my bedroom system and will compare over the next week to the Denafrips.
EDIT:
So far, right out of the box, I can say that as of May 2024 **FOR a $2700 price DAC ($2675 after coupon)** compared to what else is out there now:
10/10 Design
10/10 Packaging & Unboxing Experience
10/10 Interface
TBD on the sound but I CAN say that I would choose this over the Rockna Wavelight, which I have also owned. I'm still comparing to the Terminator II-12th, but this thing pretty close and has a pleasing sound.
After I placed my order, I got a personal email from Weng Fai Hoh thanking me. Love the personal touch.
EDIT:
So far, right out of the box, I can say that as of May 2024 **FOR a $2700 price DAC ($2675 after coupon)** compared to what else is out there now:
10/10 Design
10/10 Packaging & Unboxing Experience
10/10 Interface
TBD on the sound but I CAN say that I would choose this over the Rockna Wavelight, which I have also owned. I'm still comparing to the Terminator II-12th, but this thing pretty close and has a pleasing sound.
After I placed my order, I got a personal email from Weng Fai Hoh thanking me. Love the personal touch.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2016
- Posts
- 1,669
- Likes
- 1,807
Interested in the comparison. I just don't see it beating a Terminator.Got it in to my bedroom system and will compare over the next week to the Denafrips.
Lovely Lumin.
OhmsClaw
500+ Head-Fier
@wengfai so unofficially it supports 512 ?
Tubewin
1000+ Head-Fier
So it just says 512 when it really only does 256?
RHMMMM
100+ Head-Fier
I had the same reaction and was curious - I’m only out $100 if I send it back per their 30-day guarantee.Interested in the comparison. I just don't see it beating a Terminator.
Lovely Lumin.
I am letting it run in now for a few days and will return with more sound impressions. I can say from the cursory listen out of the box that it is much closer than the Wavelight was.
OhmsClaw
500+ Head-Fier
Maybe there's stability issues with the FPGA doing the PCM conversion but it DOES it?So it just says 512 when it really only does 256?
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2016
- Posts
- 1,669
- Likes
- 1,807
Wowzers!I had the same reaction and was curious - I’m only out $100 if I send it back per their 30-day guarantee.
I am letting it run in now for a few days and will return with more sound impressions. I can say from the cursory listen out of the box that it is much closer than the Wavelight was.
Tubewin
1000+ Head-Fier
Dang, the Harmony surpassed the Rockna Wavelight? I've got high hopes. It may beat the Terminator!I had the same reaction and was curious - I’m only out $100 if I send it back per their 30-day guarantee.
I am letting it run in now for a few days and will return with more sound impressions. I can say from the cursory listen out of the box that it is much closer than the Wavelight was.
devilboy
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2011
- Posts
- 1,651
- Likes
- 1,944
THANK YOU for saying the quiet part out loud. I've said this to myself for the 15 or so years I've been reading his reviews. Lol.Hahaha!!
You are not alone in not being able to understand a single word the reviewer wrote! Srajan Ebaen is notorious for using the most inscrutable purple-prose in his reviews, making them nearly indecipherable to even the most well-read native English speaker! And Google Translate will have absolutely no chance of making any sense of his reviews either.
The bottom line is that he thought the Harmony DAC sounded excellent overall, he thought it sounded 'tonally richer' than the $5300 Sonnet Audio Pasithea (R2R DAC), he thought it competed directly with the $6200 Cen.Grand DSDAC1.0 Deluxe (DSD DAC), and he gave it a rare Blue Moon Award.
Hope this helps.
RHMMMM
100+ Head-Fier
I ordered mine in part because the 6moons review was SO MADDENING to attempt to read. I love that 6moons exists - every audio review site that generates reviews is another source of reference, but IMO the guy needs to get a ghostwriter that can produce his content. It’s so very hard to understand and for me, it is downright not enjoyable to read. Additionally, in his video interview with Darko, 90% of the time he spoke about the DAC, he focused on the aesthetics and the usage of the unit. ~10% of the time of the video was about the SOUND of the unit. The sound is what I (and I assume most others) am interested in. Weird.THANK YOU for saying the quiet part out loud. I've said this to myself for the 15 or so years I've been reading his reviews. Lol.
devilboy
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2011
- Posts
- 1,651
- Likes
- 1,944
YES!I ordered mine in part because the 6moons review was SO MADDENING to attempt to read. I love that 6moons exists - every audio review site that generates reviews is another source of reference, but IMO the guy needs to get a ghostwriter that can produce his content. It’s so very hard to understand and for me, it is downright not enjoyable to read. Additionally, in his video interview with Darko, 90% of the time he spoke about the DAC, he focused on the aesthetics and the usage of the unit. ~10% of the time of the video was about the SOUND of the unit. The sound is what I (and I assume most others) am interested in. Weird.
No, not weird. I noticed that too. It ticked me off.
OhmsClaw
500+ Head-Fier
If you don't use million dollar words for 90% of your prose, than plebes will understand what you're trying to convey and get in on the actionI ordered mine in part because the 6moons review was SO MADDENING to attempt to read. I love that 6moons exists - every audio review site that generates reviews is another source of reference, but IMO the guy needs to get a ghostwriter that can produce his content. It’s so very hard to understand and for me, it is downright not enjoyable to read. Additionally, in his video interview with Darko, 90% of the time he spoke about the DAC, he focused on the aesthetics and the usage of the unit. ~10% of the time of the video was about the SOUND of the unit. The sound is what I (and I assume most others) am interested in. Weird.
Well this isn’t true at all. Dsd is the sacd format. Every OS dac (except R2R ) upsamples PCM then converts to DSD internally, that’s then converted to analog. So since about the late 1980’s you have been listening to some form of DSD without even knowing it.The thing is, you can't process DSD. It's designed just for storage. Not to do calculations on, filters , mixing, DSP etc. If you have a DSD master that you want to 'remaster' as in remove hiss, equalise etc you have to convert to PCM first.
Sony in 1998 developed the Sonoma DSD mixing and editing workstation keeping everything in DSD never converting to PCM.
Modern computers make converting PCM to DSD a breeze allowing us to apply higher sampling rates, better filters and more advanced modulators that’s then passed direct to the dac, processed as DSD with no conversion to PCM.
]eep
Headphoneus Supremus
I suppose it's because you speak American and not English. It's quite a step up. Look at the movie Snatch (Guy Ritchie movie, try understanding Brad Pitt doin his pikey slang). When cousin Vinnie returns home the officer at the airport asks him "Anything to declare?"... "Yeah! Don't go to England!" He couldn't understand a word they were saying.I ordered mine in part because the 6moons review was SO MADDENING to attempt to read. I love that 6moons exists - every audio review site that generates reviews is another source of reference, but IMO the guy needs to get a ghostwriter that can produce his content. It’s so very hard to understand and for me, it is downright not enjoyable to read. Additionally, in his video interview with Darko, 90% of the time he spoke about the DAC, he focused on the aesthetics and the usage of the unit. ~10% of the time of the video was about the SOUND of the unit. The sound is what I (and I assume most others) am interested in. Weird.
It's like when you talk to someone about your wife. You tell them how beautiful she is, and how well she cooks. But nothing intimate. That's none of your business.
But seriously. I'm not a native speaker and I understand him. And his reviews are always very good. He has a style that transcends mere prose, but then the substance of high end audio shouldn't be prosaic, should it?