Designsfx
500+ Head-Fier
I’m in total agreement with you there- very satisfied with my preamp and see no need for having another stage added in the chain.LAMPIZATOR THREAD COMMENTS REVIEWS TUNING
- Thread starter Crashem
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I’m in total agreement with you there- very satisfied with my preamp and see no need for having another stage added in the chain.
I always prefer having good preamp capabilities in my DAC as long as there's a bypass function because some amps prefer different levels on inputs and it's good to have flexibility
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I have a pacific with a volume control ,I use it with my preamp Hegel p30.I use the volume control with remote on the
pacific to fine tune the sound from my couch I like using it this way.My Hegel also has a remote as well
pacific to fine tune the sound from my couch I like using it this way.My Hegel also has a remote as well
New Baltic 4 owner here. Any collective thoughts on whether one digital input or the other performs better in the view of longer term owners?
Designsfx
500+ Head-Fier
Congrats on your new dac- your gear list shows you’ve owned some other nice dacs as well! Overall I’ve had no complaints with any of the inputs on my Lampizator but I do prefer to use AES when it’s available. In my setup I use AES to my streamer, BNC coaxial to my server (SPDIF), Toslink for my CD player and USB for my laptop.
Thank you for your input. Really enjoying the Baltic but now I have to sell one of the other 2 as 3 DACs seems a bit much.
Hi!
Ive been experimenting with the different inputs and it has a lot to do with you're streamer/source and cables but in general i prefer BNC -coaxial or USB. The coax tends to be slightly more relaxed and organic and the USB has a bit more speed, precession and contour. I don't quit like the AES, i think it sounds less relaxed then the coax and has less precession then the USB. If you find a really good USB cable you can come close to have a bit of the organic sound that coax gives you but i havent found the oposit to be true, i havent found a coax that gives the same pressision as usb. This are just my conclussions based on 3 different streamers and 6-7 cables in the price range between 1-4k usd.
How would you describe the Tambaqui compared to the Baltic? I do love my Baltic, specially for jazz and voices but im getting a bit tired of all the tube swapping and the Baltic doesn't really give me what i need when I listen to electronic music. I listen to mostly Jazz and electronic music and its been hard to find a dac that shines on boat genres.. Could the Tambaqui be an option for me?
Thank you for this! Does the Aqua give more speed, prat and impact then the Lampizator or is it the opposite? Im listening to a lot of Jazz and electronic music. I love the Lampi for Jazz but it doesn't really give me what i need when it comes to electronic musik. Would love to find a dac that can handle both without going over 13k
it'd be very hard to find a DAC that shines with both of those. What's your budget?
Generally speaking the best DAC I've owned and heard for electronic music is Rockna Wavedream
Yes, ive been looking at the Rockna as well, it would be top of my budget. I didn't have a chance to here it yet, i will try to do so! But can it do jazz and timbre as well?
My first day with the Baltic 4 I used USB direct from my MacBook for a quick listen. Since then, I’ve been feeding the B4 over coax from a T+A MP200 streaming transport. My cursory impressions (albeit likely unreliable given my short time with the DAC) align with yours on subtle USB vs. coax differences.
Like the B4, the Tambaqui sounds very “analog” and has no digital “glare” or leanness despite not having a tube output stage. It conveys a sonic authority but does so in an effortless way, i.e. it never sounds like it is “trying too hard” or “forcing high detail, or imaging, or a sense of the recorded space, etc.” on the listener although those qualities are there in spades. I think it is suitable for all genres but that is also greatly influenced by the amp and headphone pairing. My B4 is paired with a solid state HSA-1b driving an Immanis which I thought needed a bit of tube warmth to round the chain out. Conversely, the Tambaqui is paired with a 300B SET amp which doesn’t necessarily need more “tubeyness” (but I do plan to test the pairing with the B4 eventually).
Designsfx
500+ Head-Fier
I totally agree with you on SPDIF over BNC- it’s the way to go when compared to the more consumer based formats like RCA or Toslink. AES meets the same spec as SPDIF but is generally a hotter signal. It is also the only SPDIF output that adheres to 75 ohms and a symmetrical pathway for fully balanced systems. BNC/coaxial comes close but cannot truly maintain the SPDIF 75 ohm spec due to the connector and is not truly symmetrical. The higher output may be a reason why you prefer the sound of SPDIF over coaxial to AES.
I generally have no strong opinions when it comes to USB but I can say that in my system/my gear I’ve never heard any difference from cables when running from my MacBook Pro. I’ve tried different cables, have stayed within a limit not exceeding 4 meters and have literally heard no difference.
The SPDIF driver/interface board in the Lampizator only offers you three outputs, at least this what I was told by Lampizator when configuring mine so I went with one of each (AES/BNC/Toslink). If memory serves I don’t think there is a choice when it comes to Toslink as it’s one of the standard outputs of the board.
Designsfx
500+ Head-Fier
That’s a difficult question for me to answer as I don’t really have experience with the Baltic dac and I’m sure there are differences when it comes to your Baltic and my TRP3.
When you compare the Aqua to the TRP3 side be side- meaning level matched and switching between inputs during playback there are a lot of similarities but it is easy to tell that the Lampizator produces more bottom end, better separation between instruments, more air and a general sense of more authority. There are certain traits the Aqua produces that I haven’t been able to match “exactly” with the Lampizator though and that lies in the realm if timbre. Although I’ve only noticed this on a few tracks it does draw my attention.
The largest hurdle I’ve come across since owning the TRP is determining which tubes produce the best sound/performance when mated with the rest of the tube components in the chain. So far this has always come back to specific quads of triodes like 1950’s 6J5 Sylvania/GE, 50’s Soviet 6S5S, 50’s Raytheon/RCA/Sylvania 6SN7’s, early 40’s KenRad 7193’s and early 50’s 6BL7’s to name a few. Indirectly heated triodes seem to provide the best presentation when using the TRP in my system although I do like certain pentodes as well- mainly the Philips EL3N and Sovtek 6L6WXT+.
I know some folks get burned out on tube rolling as it can be frustrating and seem like an endless quest at times but I also know that the tubes that were installed in my dac when sent from the factory didn’t match my system at all. Trying a few different brands/models and researching/asking questions of those with experience (like the great folks here at Head Fi!) helped me get to a point where I look forward to trying different tubes to see where it takes me. When you find the right match buy them up!
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