[Jon L]

Is it possible to do direct comparisons of Lavry with Benchmark or other well-known DAC's?

So far, it doesn't sound like Lavry will fit my tastes, which favors immediacy, resolution, pace over "refinement" and overt smoothness...

 

[grandenigma1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L Is it possible to do direct comparisons of Lavry with Benchmark or other well-known DAC's? So far, it doesn't sound like Lavry will fit my tastes, which favors immediacy, resolution, pace over "refinement" and overt smoothness...

If mine shows up before I head back to school (told it should be in Friday) I can borrow my friends DAC1 again and do some comparisons... it wont be fair as the DA10 will be right out of the box but might offer some insight.

If not it will surely be thrown up against my Grace 901 when I get back to school.

 

[thomaspf]

Oh, there is plenty of resolution just not the kind that is being pushed on you by distortion and exaggerated highs

In fact I found the Lavry to provide more resolution than the Bryston SP1.7 I have been using in my main system. This becomes especially obvious at lower volumes. The Lavry still sounds very detailed and satisfactory at levels where I would contantly reach for the volume control with the Bryston.

I am not sure what immediacy is but the frequency response is of course flawless. Recreation of unamplified stereo recordings create a great sense of realism.

I only listened to the DAC1 some time back and I did not like the sound too much. Recalling from memory it was a bit dry and lacking the naturalness and the sense of space the Lavry creates. I did not get much pleasure listening from it for longer periods.

The Bryston sounds warmer than the DAC1 but does not seperate complex orchestral music as well as the Lavry does. The Lavry also somehow does a better job on voices. The Bryston has an emphasis on bass, while the Lavry does a more balanced job integrating the sound across the whole frequency range. Smooth is the term that comes to mind....

I spent most of yesterday and today listening both to speakers and a mix of HD600/ER-4S and I am very pleased with the sound.

Sorry, subjective reviews are not my particular strength but this is a pretty nice DAC and the integrated headphone amp is an order of magnitude better than my old Earmax Pro.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[edisonwu]

Hi,

Surprised to hear that the integrated headphone amp is better than EMP.
What tubes are on your EMP, Thomas?

Besides two XLR to RCA adapters, Did you set something inside the DAC (such likle jumper) in order to make it work in an unbalanced output mode?

Best!
Edison

 

[applebook]

LOL.

Thanks for your impressions, Thomas, and for your reply to my PM, Edison.

You guys are making it very difficult for me NOT to be buy the Lavry now.

Their based in WA, so I might take a trip down if they offer pick-up.

 

[thomaspf]

I used stock tubes on the Earmax but I somehow doubt that changing tubes will change the fundamental character. As I said I liked the Earmax for 3 years but in the end became more and more aware of it's lack of detail and noise level. The Lavry does not bloom as a tube amp but it is still full and warm without the loss of detail. It also has a more controlled bass. Somehow it feels the bass on the ER-4S is stronger although it might just be clearer.

I am not sure I understand why an external hadphone amp should have any advantage over a good internal one. Isn't this all a matter of power supply and circuit design?

I did not set any jumpers on the Black. I plugged it in and turned it on. My power amplifier is from Bryston and has balanced inputs.


Cheers

Thomas

 

[jhenderson010759]

Thomas -

Can you run RMAA measurements on the DA10, using something on par with the EMU0404 as the ADC? I'd really like to see some numbers...

 

[thomaspf]

I see whether I can do that on my Juli@. I hope I can also hook it up to our AP at work since I assume the Juli@ might not be fully capable of serving as a measurement reference.

I don't expect super stellar measurements but I suspect very low distortions on multi-tone measurements (like real music ...) and great behavior on lower output voltages.

I can't quite predict my work load for the near future so this might take some time but I am very motivated to get these numbers myself.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[grandenigma1]

Lovely Grado Pizza box

LavryBlack DA10

Initial impressions to come later tonight

 

[slwiser]

I can see one in my future....NICE

 

[darkless]

Anyone in the US who has an AQVOX USB 2 D/A? I'd love to see how the two of them compare

 

[Anders]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomaspf I used stock tubes on the Earmax but I somehow doubt that changing tubes will change the fundamental character. As I said I liked the Earmax for 3 years but in the end became more and more aware of it's lack of detail and noise level. The Lavry does not bloom as a tube amp but it is still full and warm without the loss of detail. It also has a more controlled bass.

I agree that Earmax Pro has these limitations to some degree regardless of tubes, although it is a very nice amplifier. Thanks for the comparison, Larvry seems very interesting.

 

[sacd lover]

I used stock tubes on the Earmax but I somehow doubt that changing tubes will change the fundamental character. As I said I liked the Earmax for 3 years but in the end became more and more aware of it's lack of detail and noise level. The Lavry does not bloom as a tube amp but it is still full and warm without the loss of detail. It also has a more controlled bass. Somehow it feels the bass on the ER-4S is stronger although it might just be clearer.



If you have been using the same tubes for three years and became more aware of the lack of detail and noise I would say your tubes are worn out; or close to worn out. You will notice a BIG difference if you just put some new tubes in the amp.

 

[Jon L]

All right, keep them impressions and comparisons coming.

BTW, we need a large internal pic!

 

[thomaspf]

Quote:

If you have been using the same tubes for three years and became more aware of the lack of detail and noise I would say your tubes are worn out; or close to worn out. You will notice a BIG difference if you just put some new tubes in the amp.

Maybe, I probably had 300 hours or less on that amp.

Cheers

Thomas