pjw241142
100+ Head-Fier
Hi Fluty - what sort of music do you listen to predominantly?
LAiV Harmony uDDC Re-clocker/DDC
- Thread starter catastrofe
- Start date
Mainly classical, because that has been my profession - you can probably guess what instrument I play. I always think that listening to an orchestra is the best way to judge sound gear, as we know exactly how the various instruments should sound and where they're located on the stage!
JjB067
100+ Head-Fier
Wave Theory has just posted a comprehensive YouTube review of the uDDC. Really likes it, covers a lot of ground like the importance of an external power supply to maximise performance. Also a comparison with the Singxer SU-6. As a user of the uDDC myself, I agree with most of his conclusions about the device. Only topic not covered was the use of the external 10 MHz clock input.
bblindstrom
New Head-Fier
Excuse me for cross-posting this from the Harmony Dac thread. Too lazy to compose another fawning tribute to Laiv. 
Quick report for those interested:
I received my µDDC today (after ordering it only TWO NIGHTS ago!!!). Listened to one of my usual test tracks and then connected it to my Harmony DAC and replayed the track. FWIW, I don't think that a reclocker can improve the performance of an already excellent DAC.
I was SO WRONG.
It took about half the track playback to hear significant improvement in middle-range precision and prominence, more full-bodied and defined bass response, and (slightly) wider and deeper soundstage. Everything just reflected an increased live, acoustical instrumental/vocal presence. (That first test track was "Sinatra at the Sands," "Come Fly with Me." Love that Quincy Jones arrangement. Using Zen Stream USB output until Laiv releases a streamer.)
The real ear-opener was moving to classical music and hearing the smooth and rich reproduction of a violin section (which pretty generally sounds thin with most setups.) As a former section violinist and after a decade as a professional classical music critic (with hundreds of live performances reviewed), I intimately know what a live, richly textured string section sounds like. This was it.
If you have the Harmony DAC and $850 burning a hole in your pocket, IMO, you won't be disappointed by adding the µDDC to your system.
Quick report for those interested:
I received my µDDC today (after ordering it only TWO NIGHTS ago!!!). Listened to one of my usual test tracks and then connected it to my Harmony DAC and replayed the track. FWIW, I don't think that a reclocker can improve the performance of an already excellent DAC.
I was SO WRONG.
It took about half the track playback to hear significant improvement in middle-range precision and prominence, more full-bodied and defined bass response, and (slightly) wider and deeper soundstage. Everything just reflected an increased live, acoustical instrumental/vocal presence. (That first test track was "Sinatra at the Sands," "Come Fly with Me." Love that Quincy Jones arrangement. Using Zen Stream USB output until Laiv releases a streamer.)
The real ear-opener was moving to classical music and hearing the smooth and rich reproduction of a violin section (which pretty generally sounds thin with most setups.) As a former section violinist and after a decade as a professional classical music critic (with hundreds of live performances reviewed), I intimately know what a live, richly textured string section sounds like. This was it.
If you have the Harmony DAC and $850 burning a hole in your pocket, IMO, you won't be disappointed by adding the µDDC to your system.
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JjB067
100+ Head-Fier
Alvin from Vinshine Audio has just released a YouTube video on the Laiv uDDC. He shows the inside of the device and describes the clocking scheme. Interestingly he states that the internal clock is Accusilicon but no model number given, maybe the same model as in the same series uDAC?
I just added an sbooster to mine..was like adding additional icing to already iced cakeExcuse me for cross-posting this from the Harmony Dac thread. Too lazy to compose another fawning tribute to Laiv.
Quick report for those interested:
I received my µDDC today (after ordering it only TWO NIGHTS ago!!!). Listened to one of my usual test tracks and then connected it to my Harmony DAC and replayed the track. FWIW, I don't think that a reclocker can improve the performance of an already excellent DAC.
I was SO WRONG.
It took about half the track playback to hear significant improvement in middle-range precision and prominence, more full-bodied and defined bass response, and (slightly) wider and deeper soundstage. Everything just reflected an increased live, acoustical instrumental/vocal presence. (That first test track was "Sinatra at the Sands," "Come Fly with Me." Love that Quincy Jones arrangement. Using Zen Stream USB output until Laiv releases a streamer.)
The real ear-opener was moving to classical music and hearing the smooth and rich reproduction of a violin section (which pretty generally sounds thin with most setups.) As a former section violinist and after a decade as a professional classical music critic (with hundreds of live performances reviewed), I intimately know what a live, richly textured string section sounds like. This was it.
If you have the Harmony DAC and $850 burning a hole in your pocket, IMO, you won't be disappointed by adding the µDDC to your system.
JjB067
100+ Head-Fier
Soundnews has posted a YouTube video review on the Laiv uDDC. He uses 3 different DACs to tease out what the uDDC is doing. First is the Laiv uDAC, second is the original Harmony DAC, third is a very high end Rockna wavedream signature. With the uDAC, he gets the biggest effect, bigger soundstage in all dimensions, more punch and clarity and improved pace and timing. He gets a reduced version of this when paired with the Harmony DAC, not a small effect just reduced compared with the uDAC. When he uses the Rockna DAC, the effect is much smaller perhaps no effect at all. He used a high end network streamer as source into the uDDC in all these cases, he comments that poorer sources should be noticeably improved. Interesting review. I use the Laiv uDDC with a Holo Audio Cyan2 DAC, and also find a distinctly improved soundstage.
uDDC is only 1/2 the equation. You need to also clean up Ethernet as well to really hear the benefits of uDDC
Anyone compared MATRIX X-SPDIF 3 to uDDC? I am using I2S connection only
My unit will arrive at the end of April. Luckily, my country doesn’t have a tariff war with Singapore.
Hope the Laiv Ganm comes out before that date ..sigh
Gee you’ve gotta feel for the likes of Alvin and Weng-fai who must fear demand in their biggest consumer market will fall off a cliff if tariffs are imposed in their current form for any period of time. Not to mention secondary effects on demand from other markets as the economic ripples inevitably hit consumer confidence and/or spending power globally (the primary concern for our export sector BTW). I had initially hoped that being Singapore based would mean only a 10% US tariff rate for those guys but after watching that watch guy’s candid YT vid I realise it’s all about country of origin of components on a prorated basis* so I guess the crushing PRC rate will primarily apply.
As we say over here Kia Kaha fellas.
*it’s more nuanced and complicated than that of course, more deets here on how country of origin rules apply, the high bar for a ‘substantial transformation’ to occur in another country in order to change the country of origin. https://dimerco.com/resources/tariff-wars-understanding-country-of-origin/
https://harris-sliwoski.com/chinala...ing_Country_of_Origin_and_Ensuring_Compliance
As we say over here Kia Kaha fellas.
*it’s more nuanced and complicated than that of course, more deets here on how country of origin rules apply, the high bar for a ‘substantial transformation’ to occur in another country in order to change the country of origin. https://dimerco.com/resources/tariff-wars-understanding-country-of-origin/
https://harris-sliwoski.com/chinala...ing_Country_of_Origin_and_Ensuring_Compliance
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JjB067
100+ Head-Fier
Having being impressed with what the Laiv Audio uDDC did with the soundstage from my Holo Audio Cyan2 DAC, I decided to explore the use of an external master clock on this device. Following posters on this and other threads, I purchased the LHY Audio OCK-2S 10 MHz clock from Vinshine Audio.. The datasheets that came with the device show a phase noise figure of -112.7 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz offset, and an Allan deviation over 1 sec of 1.72E-12. I connected the clock and uDDC with a 50 Ohm BNC coaxial cable from Cybershaft, blue semi-rigid RG402 1.5 m long. The clock arrived just over a week ago and I have been listening to the external clock vs internal clock situation. The uDDC has a simple switch to toggle between it's internal clock (white LED) or the external clock (blue LED). I used a 50 Ohm sinewave output on the OCK-2S, it has 6 outputs covering 50 and 75 Ohm impedances and waveform shape sine/square options. The uDDC was powered via an LHY Audio LPS25VA 5V rather than the supplied SMPS.
The uDDC was fed over AES from a streamer (Eversolo DMP-A6) and miniDSP SHD Studio box combination. The latter can do Dirac Live room correction but I increasingly favour turning this feature OFF as my system improves, it also acts as a usefull junction box for TV and other audio feeds etc. It resamples everything to 96 kHz which is what the DAC will see. The uDDC was connected to the Holo Audio Cyan2 DAC over I2S using an AudioQuest Cinnamon 48G HDMI cable. This is an R2R NOS only type DAC, it has been my main DAC for over a year now. This is then connected over XLR to my pre and power amplifiers and on to floorstanding loudspeakers.
The first thing I noticed with the first few notes with the external clock engaged was the increased base definition, tighter and cleaner. Then you become aware that the soundstage has altered, not so much in dimension but in content. It is significantly clearer with increased precision in placement of everything. The layering in depth is now much clearer, so it feels a bit deeper. Over the last week I have been continually impressed with how the soundstage now behaves, the system is now more immersive and 3D than ever before. The uDDC on it's own made a significant change to the soundstage dimensions, the OCK-2S clock has moved everything up another distinct notch with increased clarity and precision.
For completeness, I add the phase noise plot for this clock supplied by LHY Audio, I am aware the posters on the Master Clock Talk thread on this forum will be interested in such detail.
The uDDC was fed over AES from a streamer (Eversolo DMP-A6) and miniDSP SHD Studio box combination. The latter can do Dirac Live room correction but I increasingly favour turning this feature OFF as my system improves, it also acts as a usefull junction box for TV and other audio feeds etc. It resamples everything to 96 kHz which is what the DAC will see. The uDDC was connected to the Holo Audio Cyan2 DAC over I2S using an AudioQuest Cinnamon 48G HDMI cable. This is an R2R NOS only type DAC, it has been my main DAC for over a year now. This is then connected over XLR to my pre and power amplifiers and on to floorstanding loudspeakers.
The first thing I noticed with the first few notes with the external clock engaged was the increased base definition, tighter and cleaner. Then you become aware that the soundstage has altered, not so much in dimension but in content. It is significantly clearer with increased precision in placement of everything. The layering in depth is now much clearer, so it feels a bit deeper. Over the last week I have been continually impressed with how the soundstage now behaves, the system is now more immersive and 3D than ever before. The uDDC on it's own made a significant change to the soundstage dimensions, the OCK-2S clock has moved everything up another distinct notch with increased clarity and precision.
For completeness, I add the phase noise plot for this clock supplied by LHY Audio, I am aware the posters on the Master Clock Talk thread on this forum will be interested in such detail.
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