[Theogenes]

I'm not familiar with the Apollo nor the Source, so I can't offer direct comparisons there. I can say that the HPA in the Hilo is truly excellent, and is considerably better in my opinion than the SE-out on the Audio-gd Master 8 preamp. In fact, I'd say that the HP-out on the Hilo is better than any other SE output on any amp that I've had extended experience with. I hope to be able to compare it to the Meier Classic and a few other well-regarded headphone amps at the Nashville meet next month.
 
In short, I'd be highly surprised if there's another non-dedicated headphone output on a device that trumps it, and pretty surprised if there are many that are on its level, honestly.
 
Edit for clarity: Stated more clearly, I would imagine there are dedicated, standalone headphone amps that can best the Hilo, but I would be very surprised if there was a headphone output on a DAC or other bit of kit that surpasses it.

 

[kawaivpc1]

  I'm not familiar with the Apollo nor the Source, so I can't offer direct comparisons there. I can say that the HPA in the Hilo is truly excellent, and is considerably better in my opinion than the SE-out on the Audio-gd Master 8 preamp. In fact, I'd say that the HP-out on the Hilo is better than any other SE output on any amp that I've had extended experience with. I hope to be able to compare it to the Meier Classic and a few other well-regarded headphone amps at the Nashville meet next month.
 
In short, I'd be highly surprised if there's another non-dedicated headphone output on a device that trumps it, and pretty surprised if there are many that are on its level, honestly.
 
Edit for clarity: Stated more clearly, I would imagine there are dedicated, standalone headphone amps that can best the Hilo, but I would be very surprised if there was a headphone output on a DAC or other bit of kit that surpasses it.

Cool. I think Hilo is truly a one-of-a-kind unit on the market. I haven't seen any other audio interface which has DAC chips and headphone amp.

 

[Theogenes]

  Cool. I think Hilo is truly a one-of-a-kind unit on the market. I haven't seen any other audio interface which has DAC chips and headphone amp.

 
If I'm not mistaken (which is entirely possible, given that I have zero background in professional audio), I believe there are a few devices out there that attempt to check generally the same boxes as the Hilo. I just don't know of any that also include an ADC and are quite as high-quality, sound-wise.
 
As an audio nutjob, it's almost worth having this just so I don't have the insatiable urge to upgrade all the $%^ time... I still look at amps and headphones constantly, but I'm pretty content with the Hilo, so I'm not also digging through DAC reviews all the time. Guess that kind of makes this a non-pharmaceutical antipsychotic, and pretty effective one at that.

 

[kawaivpc1]

   
If I'm not mistaken (which is entirely possible, given that I have zero background in professional audio), I believe there are a few devices out there that attempt to check generally the same boxes as the Hilo. I just don't know of any that also include an ADC and are quite as high-quality, sound-wise.
 
As an audio nutjob, it's almost worth having this just so I don't have the insatiable urge to upgrade all the $%^ time... I still look at amps and headphones constantly, but I'm pretty content with the Hilo, so I'm not also digging through DAC reviews all the time. Guess that kind of makes this a non-pharmaceutical antipsychotic, and pretty effective one at that.

So far, I haven't found one like Hilo. Hilo is in between a DAC and an audio interface.
Majority of other companies such as Benchmark, UAD, etc don't make them into one.
Do you have other DACs? how would you compare their sound quality to that of Hilo?

 

[grunter72]

Hi. In my experience Hilo is a very good dac.
I found Hilo to be on par (or just a little behind) Forssell Mdac-2 and Burl Audio Bomber dac2 but for me Hilo is a step beyond versus Yulong da8, Anedio d2, Nad m51.
Recently I've bought a Meitner ma-1... ma-1 is in another league but costs many more dollars.
Ciao.

 

[kawaivpc1]

  Hi. In my experience Hilo is a very good dac.
I found Hilo to be on par (or just a little behind) Forssell Mdac-2 and Burl Audio Bomber dac2 but for me Hilo is a step beyond versus Yulong da8, Anedio d2, Nad m51.
Recently I've bought a Meitner ma-1... ma-1 is in another league but costs many more dollars.
Ciao.

Hilo vs Benchamrk DAC 2?
What do you guys think?

 

[grunter72]

 
Hilo vs Benchamrk DAC 2?
What do you guys think?

I've not opportunity to test Benchmark dac2, only Benchmark Dac usb that I've found a little too harsh for my taste.

 

[kawaivpc1]

  I've not opportunity to test Benchmark dac2, only Benchmark Dac usb that I've found a little too harsh for my taste.

 
Benchmark DAC 1 is fairly old now... The company claims Benchmark DAC 2 is better in every aspect. I've seen many people saying Benchmark DAC 2 is the best of its kind.  I'm thinking about buying DAC2  and Hilo at the same time. It will cost a lot of money though.

 

[Theogenes]

  So far, I haven't found one like Hilo. Hilo is in between a DAC and an audio interface.
Majority of other companies such as Benchmark, UAD, etc don't make them into one.
Do you have other DACs? how would you compare their sound quality to that of Hilo?

 
Bit late in replying to you, sorry man!
 
I haven't heard a large number of DACs, and nowhere near the caliber of stuff @grunter72 has (I read a bunch of his posts while researching which DAC to get), but the DAC I upgraded into the Hilo from was the Meier Daccord, so that would be about the only meaningful comparison I could make. Overall, the major difference between the Hilo and Daccord is that the Daccord strikes me as a bit overly smoothed-sounding, which doesn't mesh well with my musical tastes (a lot of electric guitar and music that relies on texture), where the Hilo presents the music absolutely as it is without unnaturally smoothing the sound. I must say that the differences between the Hilo and Daccord are in actuality not that large, but I found the Hilo to be slightly better in detail retrieval, significantly better with transients (that smooth vs neutral/revealing thing again), and maybe a touch better with treble articulation.
 
If one were to listen to both devices as DACs only and then ask if the Hilo is worth $1700 more (MSRP), the answer would almost certainly have to be 'no.' However, when you factor in everything else the Hilo can do (and the improvements it made in areas that were crucial to my listening enjoyment), it was a worthwhile switch for me. YMMV.
 
Honestly, I think the differences between DACs (at least in my experience) seem to be much smaller once you reach a certain level of quality than a similar comparison of amps. This also means it seems like you basically have to listen to a DAC for a while in your own setup before you really get a handle on the differences, because they just aren't that large.
 
Anyway, hope this helps somehow. Don't think you'll be disappointed if you end up with the Hilo-- one of the major points that convinced me to give it a go was the fact that I couldn't find any bad reviews on it, whether on audiophile or pro audio sites. Everyone seemed to think it was at least very good, and many thought it was exceptional. There were a number of other DACs I looked at as well, but most (if not all of them) had a mixture of good and bad reviews, even if the good largely outweighed the bad.
 
Bottom line? I paid more for my Hilo than any other single piece in my system, and I've never regretted it for a single second. Good luck with your search, and I hope you end up as satisfied with whatever you get as I've been with my Hilo!

 

[Happy Camper]

Under 2k, the Hilo is a peer that is hard to match. Not just for the sound but the functionability. I run a headphone rig from a laptop, I feed the speaker system and my outside speaker system from a third and use the onboard headphone amp to monitor it all.

 

[PleasantSounds]

Under 2k, the Hilo is a peer that is hard to match. Not just for the sound but the functionability. I run a headphone rig from a laptop, I feed the speaker system and my outside speaker system from a third and use the onboard headphone amp to monitor it all.

 
There's probably many more interesting ways people use their Hilos. I'd like to hear about that.
 
Here's a few ideas from my experience:
1. In my PC setup I'm using Toslink connection for all the Windows sounds, but USB for my music player. This way I can have bit perfect connection at a native bitrate for my music, and still switch seamlessly or even mix in the Windows sounds
2. For comparing sound of various amps or different tubes, I have resorted to recording their output through Hilo's analog input back to the PC and then doing ABX in f2k. It makes picking the differences much easier as the sound can be switched instantly.
3. Of course I'm using the onboard generator to calibrate the volume first.
4. Hilo serves in my system as a USB to S/PDIF converter for a couple of other DACs. If it only supported DSD to PCM conversion it would be perfect...
5. If you can play it you can record it...

 

[suryand]

Good morning Sirs,
 
I have to change DAC for my active speakers and I’d like to know if any of you compared Antelope Zodiac Silver\Plus and Forrsell MDAC-2 and Lynx Hilo.
 
Thank you, kind regards.
Fabio

 

[OJNeg]

  Good morning Sirs,
 
I have to change DAC for my active speakers and I’d like to know if any of you compared Antelope Zodiac Silver\Plus and Forrsell MDAC-2 and Lynx Hilo.
 
Thank you, kind regards.
Fabio

 
While I have not compared any of those directly, it looks like the Hilo is the only one that has a monitor out (balanced TRS) that you could run directly into your active speakers. That'll let you do analog domain volume control so you can control the volume directly from the Hilo. I'm not sure what your signal path is looking like, but that's a feature worth considering.

 

[PleasantSounds]

Lynx has recently released new firmware for Hilo (v. 6.2).
 
From the Lynx support site:

1. Added Chinese Language Support to the Hilo menus.  To enable the Chinese Language Menus, your Hilo must have been purchased through Lynx's Chinese Distributor: ACE.  Please contact ACE (sunny_li@acehk.com.hk) to request instructions on how to enable Chinese Language Menus.
2. Added feature to insure that no MIDI data to Hilo Remote Control is missed when operating at 4X sample rates when using the LT-USB.
3. Improved All I/O screen to immediately update when the LT-TB cable is plugged in.
4. Fixed issue that would mute the wrong output when the mute button was pressed on Hilo Remote for a channel number greater than 7.
5. Updated About Hilo to show 6.2 application version.

 
EDIT: There's also a new version of Hilo Remote, as well as Lynx Redirector - an app that allows Hilo Remote to be used on a machine which is not directly connected to Hilo, i.e. using WiFi or even via internet.

 

[yoghurtlidlicker]

hello everyone,

I'd like resurrect this old topic...
I just ordered Lynx Hilo USB.
I was thinking to get Oppo Ha-1 at first but then magically I've found this thread (some great findings and comparisons, thank you!).

Are you guys still happy with your purchase?

Ps
I'm sorry for my english skills. It's my secondary language.