[BunnyNamedCraig]

Thanks guys. And what about @Gopher or anyone else at Lampizator. What's your word on the above, if the sound is 'colored' or euphonic vs. clean and pure? And does it support DSD or is that an add-on?

“On the contrary our DAC is beloved for it's ability to capture the emotion of a performance while remaining neutral, dynamic and honest in it's presentation.”-gopher ha

This sums up what I was trying to explain in my head to you Levi so thank you Gopher.I agree on how the DAC feels to me and also what it’s tone is.

 

[AlanU]

Experiment with a Denafrips Terminator.

All I can say is that I can create a holographic image or be more on the transparent side by rolling tubes with my Space Tech Labs dac. The key IMO is the separate power supply feeding my Tube dac. In due time I'll be changing to a different STL tube dac that takes KT150 buffers vs the small vaccum tubes you commonly see. Currenty I put KT88 JJ Electronics "blue" on my dac and it was such a substantial jump in SQ vs my little tiny Mullard NOS EL32(CV1052/VT52). KT88 on Tube dacs are not common at all. Dynamic meat to the bones. Power my tube dac with a separate power supply with a mercury vapour rectifier and 1616 rectifier tube is sublime air.

 

[Monsterzero]

Experiment with a Denafrips Terminator.

Terminator is nearly twice the price of the Amber 3. For that kind of cash might as well go with the TRP.
I was dead set on a Terminator,until I heard some disturbing info from someone in the know,which I will not repeat here.

EDIT: For the record I tried for over a year to get a Terminator on loan and it never happened,and Alvin knows of me,my reputation here is solid and I even owned one of his previous DACs from Vinshine.

KT88 on Tube dacs are not common at all. Dynamic meat to the bones. Power my tube dac with a separate power supply with a mercury vapour rectifier and 1616 rectifier tube is sublime air.

TRP can take KT88s,but those who can afford to try tons of tubes claim its not a preferred tube in the TRP.
Here,here and here are great source for TRP tube rolling,in case anyone is interested.

 

[Hansotek]

@Hansotek I am really interested in the other professions about the Smber 3, especially how it can be so drastically better than me Chord Hugo 2. This was a DAC I already thought was almost miraculously good. How can it get better than that without coloration or the like?

Avove was a quote from the 2359 Glenn thread. Did you mean to say it was better than the Yggy 2 also?

I wrote a full review of the Amber III here: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1019/LampizatOr_Amber_III_DAC_Review.htm

Yes, I feel the Amber III is better than Yggy 2. The main advantages being transparency and staging width.

I feel like Amber 3 is a couple steps up from the Hugo 2 in both regards. Timbre/tone on the Amber 3 is definitely more true-to-life/realistic than Hugo 2. If you haven't heard/compared directly, it is hard to fault Hugo 2 in that regard, but the Amber 3 definitely surpasses it there.

 

[DecentLevi]

Awesome that the Amber 3 is said to best even the Hugo 2 and Yggy 2 in those regards. I certainly hadn't noticed issues with those DAC's but I'm not discounting that possibility and definitely I'm looking forward to trying it sometime.

Also @AlanU your post above kind of threw me off. Did you post on the Lampizator instead of Denafrips thread by mistake? Or did you mean some kind of correlation to the Lampizator DAC? Is that Decafrips comparable to it, or have you tried a Lampi DAC?

 

[Hansotek]

Awesome that the Amber 3 is said to best even the Hugo 2 and Yggy 2 in those regards. I certainly hadn't noticed issues with those DAC's but I'm not discounting that possibility and definitely I'm looking forward to trying it sometime.

You don't really notice "issues" with a DAC unless you have concentrated exposure to a new DAC and then you switch back.

In my experience, the best way to test a new DAC is to switch it into your system for a week or two and then switch back to your old one. From there, you'll notice any areas of deficiency. Your ears kind of need to adapt to a new reality.

I really enjoy the Hugo 2, but going back to it after the Amber 3, you do notice some limits to the edges of the soundstage that were not readily apparent before. You also notice, when listening down into the individual notes, the inner resolution of the Amber is a bit deeper.

It should be noted that these differences are not readily available on every driver - these are all shades of grey. I made most of these observations with the STAX L300LTD (which uses the L700 driver and is a direct descendent of the SR-009) and the KGSSHV Carbon.

 

[Monsterzero]

In my experience, the best way to test a new DAC is to switch it into your system for a week or two and then switch back to your old one. From there, you'll notice any areas of deficiency. Your ears kind of need to adapt to a new reality.

Totally agree.

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

You don't really notice "issues" with a DAC unless you have concentrated exposure to a new DAC and then you switch back.

In my experience, the best way to test a new DAC is to switch it into your system for a week or two and then switch back to your old one. From there, you'll notice any areas of deficiency. Your ears kind of need to adapt to a new reality.

I really enjoy the Hugo 2, but going back to it after the Amber 3, you do notice some limits to the edges of the soundstage that were not readily apparent before. You also notice, when listening down into the individual notes, the inner resolution of the Amber is a bit deeper.

It should be noted that these differences are not readily available on every driver - these are all shades of grey. I made most of these observations with the STAX L300LTD (which uses the L700 driver and is a direct descendent of the SR-009) and the KGSSHV Carbon.

Dude amen!

While switching back and forth from my beloved M2Tech Young DAC, and the Amber I was impressed with how crisp the Amber sounded. It’s like it took a greasy film off the lens in total of all detail, gave me more direct solid sounding bass, and more depth to the sound (to name a few).

then fast forward to me giving it back and JUST listening to the Young now and it difficult to not immediately see the “faults” lol.

it’s all relative given the price of the Young versus the Amber that the Amber would be “better”. But I’m shocked and (and saddened lol) at how deeply connected I am to the Amber’s sound now that I don’t have it .

It was a total step up in every direction, mixed with this realness that my DAC doesn’t have.

I think when it comes to hugo 2 versus it, like you said it would be best and easiest to take a week or 2 with the Amber II then going back to hear the difference it makes. I’m suspecting the details are both crisp but they have different presentations that take a bit to realize

edit: I also forgot to mention that I have been mulling it over for months now on wether I can swing getting this DAC or not. Life events keep coming up that put my wallet on hold. I’m not a religious man but it might be time to pray for a break in the action so I can pull the trigger on this beast mode.

 

[Zachik]

I’m not a religious man but it might be time to pray for a break in the action so I can pull the trigger on this beast mode.

Amen to that!

 

[chrisdrop]

I have had a loaner Lampizator Amber III DAC for a listening a week or so at this point, probably ~20 hours of use. I have a balanced unit here, although I am using as single-ended to my Glenn OTL. It is already sounding very pleasant and different. It certainly throws out some big images. The UK distributor for Lampizator and more, has been fantastic.

I am coming from an RME ADI II DAC. When hearing a few other DACs, I was surprised how much better it could get. I have been evaluating DACs and was primarily interested in {Yggy, SW1X DAC II, Lampizator Amber3, Holo Spring DAC II L3}. I also had a random opportunity to home demo an Ideon DAC & Reclocker last weekend. Comments here. I was expecting to be sort of disappointed with the Amber 3 after using the very nice Ideon DAC/ 3R for a bit. I am happy to report there is no disappointment happening.

I am still very keen on the SW1X DAC II but will be giving the Amber3 a good ~2-week evaluation. So far it is very enjoyable.

It was also suggested that I try the Amber w/ a USB reclocker, which I was also offered to use on loan. So far I have used the unit by itself for most of the time, then recently added the big ideon reclocker. I have not yet used the smaller reclocker. I think the USB unit in the Amber3 is pretty good, but you can hear improvements going to at least the bigger Ideon reclocker. Specifically, the sound has somewhat more cohesive transients with the reclocker. The note-inception/instigation sound more clear or round. At some point, I will try the smaller reclocker and see how that goes. I think the bass has also been sounding more controlled. While typing this, I thought "the Amber has some more hours on it now", so I switched back to just the Amber without the Ideon reclocker to see if it was just the hours. This brief experiment does confirm my impression on improvements; the reclocker improves the sound. The reclocker does increase the overall smoothness. That said, the Amber sounds lovely with or without it...

 

[Zachik]

So far I have used the unit by itself for most of the time, then recently added the big ideon reclocker. I have not yet used the smaller reclocker. I think the USB unit in the Amber3 is pretty good, but you can hear improvements going to at least the bigger Ideon reclocker.

Good impressions - thanks Chris!
Looking at the small and big reclockers... OMG the big one is VERY expensive! Will be curious to read your impressions about small vs. big vs. none (knowing the big is not happening for me at least).
Have you tried or considered, instead of reclocking USB, to use one of the USB-to-Coax (or AES/EBU) devices? I currently use the Gustard U12, and am seriously considering upgrade to the new comer AudioGD DI-20 (or the higher end DI-20HE).

 

[chrisdrop]

Good impressions - thanks Chris!
Looking at the small and big reclockers... OMG the big one is VERY expensive! Will be curious to read your impressions about small vs. big vs. none (knowing the big is not happening for me at least).
Have you tried or considered, instead of reclocking USB, to use one of the USB-to-Coax (or AES/EBU) devices? I currently use the Gustard U12, and am seriously considering upgrade to the new comer AudioGD DI-20 (or the higher end DI-20HE).

SW1X DAC units you can get with an inbuilt tube-clock-based USB unit. This is an encouraging approach. They also make a full-blown big-tube USB-SPDIF stand-alone unit that I have seen when someone else was picking it up.

The 2 audiogd units were suggested on another thread recently and look good. Pi2AES looks like an approach. Sonore *rendu products are interesting. Plenty of choices!

There are very good reviews and comparisons out there of the smaller Ideon reclocker if you google. I'll post once I give it a go. I don't have an LPS for the small unit here, which is a shame.

I am listening to the Amber for a few hours today with no reclocker to re-acclimatise before trying the small one...

 

[DecentLevi]

@chrisdrop that will be interesting to see your impressions after some time, of the Amber 3 vs. SW1X DAC II, either here or on the SW1X thread. Also have you tried their DAC III? And your big reclocker didn't seem that expensive to me, already having the Singxer SU-1 which was about $600, but to be fair it's more of a domain digital converter with multiple output types as well as reclocking and power filtering. I suppose I wouldn't have a need for your big reclocker with this as well as the iFi Micro iPurifier and Wyrd, right? Also I would recommend trying different connections into either DAC such as AES/EBU and RCA coaxial because this way can actually vary the final result.

 

[Monsterzero]

@chrisdrop that will be interesting to see your impressions after some time, of the Amber 3 vs. SW1X DAC II, either here or on the SW1X thread. Also have you tried their DAC III? And your big reclocker didn't seem that expensive to me, already having the Singxer SU-1 which was about $600, but to be fair it's more of a domain digital cleaner with multiple output types as well as reclocking and power filtering. I suppose I wouldn't have a need for your big reclocker with this as well as the iFi Micro iPurifier and Wyrd, right? Also I would recommend trying different connections into either DAC such as AES/EBU and RCA coaxial because this way can actually vary the final result.

You might find this posting helpful

The Amber3's USB input easily bested coax from the Matrix x-spdif2 and Belden BNC from the DI20HE. I didn't try feeding coax from the DI20HE.

Something else I observed -- the terminator is cold to the touch while my r2r7 (non-he) get's nice and warm. Even the brass footers heat up.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/audio-gd-di-20.918123/page-59#post-15458598

EDIT: I should also mention that when I first got the TRP I was using a iFi iUSB3.0 Micro and after removing it from the chain the sound of my TRP really opened up. It seems these devices in general slow Lampi DACs down and dont allow them to flourish.
Its worth mentioning however that I purchased an $850.00 USB cable,the FTA Callisto,to run it direct from my Aurender N100H into the TRP. Im sure that had a lot to do with the increase in goodness.

 

[Zachik]

your big reclocker didn't seem that expensive to me

€2,850 (approx. $3,100) didn't seem expensive to you?! For a USB reclocker??? Good for you, buddy!