[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Yeah finally available. Hope this with the LP as amp would be a nice combo.
I think Topping has more bang for the buck since it has more features and stuffs (DDC, Preamp).

 

[George Chronis]

Mine will be here Monday. We shall see…

 

[pabbi]

Running Coax -> Balanced -> Balanced with HP-3 and Senn 6xx. A definite improvement over the dual 4497 in my DAP, but only about 20 hours in so hard to tell overall. Sarah Jurosz 'House of Mercy' is my best experience so far in one of the better rooms in Nashville, with absolutely magical overtones on the acoustic guitars. Joe's Garage, one of the better engineered releases ever comes through as such. Instead of just presenting the data, this DAC puts it together like you are in the room - well, for quality recordings mixed down correctly. Pink Floyd Meddle, DSOTM, Wish You Were Here and Animals are all magic again.

Anti vibe just for spacing/air flow but likely unnecessary

About all I can offer at this point, since I am still wondering why my other 7000 (literally) posts over the past18 years were deleted.

 

[cglin222]

Any update on more listening notes and comparisons?
How does it paid to the liquid platinum tube amp?

 

[George Chronis]

This is very quick and not very much A/B: sounds great, looks great, not sure it’s worth $800. I personally don’t think DACs make a huge difference in sound, so I may not be the best person to judge, but I’ll probably be returning mine. I do like how it looks with the LP though. I think it sounds more lively and clear than the Ares but similar to the Bifrost. I no longer have my Bifrost for an A/B.

 

[cglin222]

This is very quick and not very much A/B: sounds great, looks great, not sure it’s worth $800. I personally don’t think DACs make a huge difference in sound, so I may not be the best person to judge, but I’ll probably be returning mine. I do like how it looks with the LP though. I think it sounds more lively and clear than the Ares but similar to the Bifrost. I no longer have my Bifrost for an A/B.

Thanks ya i like how it stacks and looks with the LP but for the price it's really hard to swallow can get a fiio k9 pro ess at that price range

 

[jktw]

Still not much on this DAC... it was on sale at $599 a few weeks ago, now it's priced at $549 plus 15% off sitewide, so I took the plunge. I'll be using the balanced output to a Liquid Platinum.

 

[samshaver]

Still not much on this DAC... it was on sale at $599 a few weeks ago, now it's priced at $549 plus 15% off sitewide, so I took the plunge. I'll be using the balanced output to a Liquid Platinum.

Yeah, same here! I was surprised the code was stackable with the sale price!

 

[George Chronis]

I grabbed another one myself. Thanks for the heads up. I liked it, but not for $800

 

[marcusd]

Our review of the Liquid Platinum Balanced DAC is posted. It has a punchy, smooth tone that pairs well with the sibling tube amp and is simple enough to set up.

https://headfonics.com/monoprice-monolith-liquid-platinum-dac-review/

 

[audioguru1]

I managed to snag this while they had it on sale. It is a solid performer. I was honestly hoping for a better analog output stage given the Cavalli name attached. This really just seems like they took the AKM reference schematic and used that. It has the AKM balanced timbre, and is less forward than ESS. Call it mid orchestra, vs front row. I don't find it smooth, yet its not grainy either. I would say it has good texture. It is better with a linear power supply. As others have said @799 i'm iffy. It seems great at $599, though. I'm going to spend some more time evaluating.

 

[JoshG1217]

Any updates here? Just got the amo to drive my he6se and like it alot. Running it with smsl.do200, which is ess 9068. Moving smsl stack to my office. Wondering if the monolith dac will be an upgrade or not. Given thst it is 500 right now plus 15% off...

 

[jktw]

Any updates here? Just got the amo to drive my he6se and like it alot. Running it with smsl.do200, which is ess 9068. Moving smsl stack to my office. Wondering if the monolith dac will be an upgrade or not. Given thst it is 500 right now plus 15% off...

I'm happy with mine, although I haven't used it a ton or done a detailed shootout. I use the Liquid Platinum amp. The single ended input is for vinyl, which leaves balanced for digital. I was previously using a $130 balanced SDAC (from drop) but it lacked something I recalled liking from my (original) Schiit Bifrost. I haven't put time into many comparisons, certainly not blind, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I started with the LP DAC in the default mode and thought it was OK. Then I switched to a different filter (the 4th one on the menu, can't remember what it's called) after reading this post from AKM. It brought back more of the quality I remembered from my original bifrost (backing vocals popping a bit more).

So, no regrets for me personally. I'm happy to have something that stacks with the LP. The ability to switch filters is nice, even though it wasn't something I really wanted in a DAC.

 

[JoshG1217]

I'm happy with mine, although I haven't used it a ton or done a detailed shootout. I use the Liquid Platinum amp. The single ended input is for vinyl, which leaves balanced for digital. I was previously using a $130 balanced SDAC (from drop) but it lacked something I recalled liking from my (original) Schiit Bifrost. I haven't put time into many comparisons, certainly not blind, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I started with the LP DAC in the default mode and thought it was OK. Then I switched to a different filter (the 4th one on the menu, can't remember what it's called) after reading this post from AKM. It brought back more of the quality I remembered from my original bifrost (backing vocals popping a bit more).

So, no regrets for me personally. I'm happy to have something that stacks with the LP. The ability to switch filters is nice, even though it wasn't something I really wanted in a DAC.

Nice. Thanks for the reply. I really like the amp. It's a bit more musical than my smsl ho200, so I bought the dac earlier today. I like that they will match aesthetically. Should have it end of the week.

 

[audioguru1]

Its on sale right now, FYI. After doing more listening and in absolute terms compared to higher priced units It is flat sounding, especially in the lower mid bass. Its quite musical, but lacks slam. Not a bad thing in the right setup. The 4499 is very different from the other velvet sound DACs, so be aware of that. I think the biggest disappointment is this does not have the Cavalli house sound. Its a great dac at $499, though!