[Badlands]

Let me follow up Odin412‘s comments. Loving the Liquid Gold X with the SMSL 400 DAC feeding my ZMF Auteur. Had it for about 3 months now. Most of my listening is done in the late evening so my preference at that time is to decompress and relax with the likes of Jon Batiste, Lianne La Havas, Taylor Swift, Gerald Clayton and GoGo Penguin to name a few. The LauX/Auteur combo is so smooth and organic. Great layering/transparency through the mids. Vocals and instrumental timbre is authentically rendered and emotive. LauX can also “slam” (borrowed that technical term from Tyler & Marcello ) when listening to Megan Thee Stallion, Tyler, The Creator and Billie Eilish. And as far as rock... the power and the glory of Springsteen & The E Street Band is parlayed deftly and elegantly (New York Serenade) yet with great authority when required on songs like Badlands. I love music and I love listening to it with the LauX/Auteur. Having said that, the aforementioned Tyler & Marcello keep espousing their preference for tube amps so the ZMF Pendant, Elise or Kenzie is ever present as something I have to experience in the future. That’s the fun and beauty of this admittedly expensive hobby. Hearing music in new ways that evokes that sense of excitement and makes you feel alive in ways nothing else can.

 

[Odin412]

Let me follow up Odin412‘s comments. Loving the Liquid Gold X with the SMSL 400 DAC feeding my ZMF Auteur. Had it for about 3 months now. Most of my listening is done in the late evening so my preference at that time is to decompress and relax with the likes of Jon Batiste, Lianne La Havas, Taylor Swift, Gerald Clayton and GoGo Penguin to name a few. The LauX/Auteur combo is so smooth and organic. Great layering/transparency through the mids. Vocals and instrumental timbre is authentically rendered and emotive. LauX can also “slam” (borrowed that technical term from Tyler & Marcello ) when listening to Megan Thee Stallion, Tyler, The Creator and Billie Eilish. And as far as rock... the power and the glory of Springsteen & The E Street Band is parlayed deftly and elegantly (New York Serenade) yet with great authority when required on songs like Badlands. I love music and I love listening to it with the LauX/Auteur. Having said that, the aforementioned Tyler & Marcello keep espousing their preference for tube amps so the ZMF Pendant, Elise or Kenzie is ever present as something I have to experience in the future. That’s the fun and beauty of this admittedly expensive hobby. Hearing music in new ways that evokes that sense of excitement and makes you feel alive in ways nothing else can.

Great impressions - thanks for sharing! Enjoying your music is what it's all about. I think you'll enjoy exploring tube amps next to the Liquid Gold X - it's a different flavor for sure, but very enjoyable. It's fun to have different flavors to choose from - just like ice cream.

 

[inthere]

Owned the original Liquid Gold as well as the Liquid Carbon and I have to say if this Monoprice version doesn't sound exactly like the original, it's pretty damned close. Very satisfied. Using my pro audio interface as a DAC right now (UAD Apollo X6) Thinking of picking up the Holo Audio May, but right now the UAD is doing pretty good.

 

[inthere]

Also would like to add this amp has a lot of "sparkle". For instance, other amps i've owned had more clarity (LAu doesn't *lack* clarity, the other amps were just outstanding) Remember, the original LAu was a $5k amp..............imo this thing is a steal.

 

[ra990]

I've had this for about a week now. I was trying it out as a bedroom setup, but the built-in DAC leaves a lot to be desired. It is a really warm sounding DAC, so it might suit you. Not particularly impressive in resolution. Even an SMSL M200 DAC is a clear step up from the built-in one. Good news is that the amp portion is nice and packs plenty of power for Abyss and Susvara. But, I would have so much rather had a cheaper version of this without the built-in DAC. I could be wrong but I think this is the first attempt at a DAC by Mr. Cavali? I would continue to recommend the Liquid Platinum over this for anyone looking for just an amp. And I wouldn't recommend it at all for anyone looking for an all-in-one.

 

[jonathan c]

I've had this for about a week now. I was trying it out as a bedroom setup, but the built-in DAC leaves a lot to be desired. It is a really warm sounding DAC, so it might suit you. Not particularly impressive in resolution. Even an SMSL M200 DAC is a clear step up from the built-in one. Good news is that the amp portion is nice and packs plenty of power for Abyss and Susvara. But, I would have so much rather had a cheaper version of this without the built-in DAC. I could be wrong but I think this is the first attempt at a DAC by Mr. Cavali? I would continue to recommend the Liquid Platinum over this for anyone looking for just an amp. And I wouldn't recommend it at all for anyone looking for an all-in-one.

A Liquid Gold that is DAC-less would be an attractive product. Let the user pick the DAC, maximise amplifier $$ on the amplifier. Great design capability for amplifiers does not assure great design capability for DACs.

 

[ra990]

I've been having trouble with the amp going into some kind of protection mode while using the built-in DAC. It's always like right before a loud part of the music, like the start of a guitar solo or drum fill. It's like the DAC isn't expecting those levels or something, weird. I have to power cycle the unit to get the music going again and then...click...right at the damn start of the best part usually. This only happens in high gain mode I believe because I always alleviate it by dropping into low gain and lowering the volume. Anyone else experience this? Particularly on Susvara?

 

[jonathan c]

A Liquid Gold that is DAC-less would be an attractive product. Let the user pick the DAC, maximise amplifier $$ on the amplifier. Great design capability for amplifiers does not assure great design capability for DACs.

One additional thought: perhaps there is a timely market opening currently for an amp-only Liquid Gold since the AKM DAC chips are in short supply/unavailable due to the AKM chip factory blaze towards the end of 2020.

 

[jonathan c]

I've been having trouble with the amp going into some kind of protection mode while using the built-in DAC. It's always like right before a loud part of the music, like the start of a guitar solo or drum fill. It's like the DAC isn't expecting those levels or something, weird. I have to power cycle the unit to get the music going again and then...click...right at the damn start of the best part usually. This only happens in high gain mode I believe because I always alleviate it by dropping into low gain and lowering the volume. Anyone else experience this? Particularly on Susvara?

Are you using balanced (XLR) cables in and balanced (XLR) headphone cables?

 

[ra990]

I'm using the built-in DAC so no cables coming in except USB and TOSlink. XLR balanced out to Susvaras, but happened on Abyss as well last night. It's happened enough times (4 or 5 over the past week) that I'm returning it - likely a faulty unit. It happens.

 

[jonathan c]

I'm using the built-in DAC so no cables coming in except USB and TOSlink. XLR balanced out to Susvaras, but happened on Abyss as well last night. It's happened enough times (4 or 5 over the past week) that I'm returning it - likely a faulty unit. It happens.

It is interesting that the issue arises with the Susvara and Abyss - are they not the hardest / most power-hungry hp to drive? I’m wondering if the little power supply is overtaxed - especially at musical peaks. An external linear power supply might be a solution. The one below (36-volt, 1.5-amp) is that which I have been using for a year with my Liquid Platinum (same amp specs as Liquid Gold).

 

[inthere]

I'm using the built-in DAC so no cables coming in except USB and TOSlink. XLR balanced out to Susvaras, but happened on Abyss as well last night. It's happened enough times (4 or 5 over the past week) that I'm returning it - likely a faulty unit. It happens.

It's definitely not a faulty unit-IME Cavalli *smart* electronics are a major distraction from the audio experience. I've had experiences like yours from the 2 original Cavalli amps I had-Liquid Carbon and Liquid Gold, as well as my current Monolith version. It has nothing to do with the DAC. Very annoying. At least that confirms that they ARE authentic Cavalli amps, lol.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

I've had this for about a week now. I was trying it out as a bedroom setup, but the built-in DAC leaves a lot to be desired. It is a really warm sounding DAC, so it might suit you. Not particularly impressive in resolution. Even an SMSL M200 DAC is a clear step up from the built-in one. Good news is that the amp portion is nice and packs plenty of power for Abyss and Susvara. But, I would have so much rather had a cheaper version of this without the built-in DAC. I could be wrong but I think this is the first attempt at a DAC by Mr. Cavali? I would continue to recommend the Liquid Platinum over this for anyone looking for just an amp. And I wouldn't recommend it at all for anyone looking for an all-in-one.

Are you able to get enough volume with the Abyss in low gain? Or do you need to go to high gain at times, for example with softer classical music?

I haven't been able to try an Abyss headphone or similar harder to drive headphone with the Liquid Gold X yet. I'm curious if low gain is enough volume for the Abyss and similar headphones when playing softer music like classical.

I've been using Audeze LCD-2 headphones with the amp and low gain is more than plenty. But they're also not really hard to drive.

 

[ra990]

Are you able to get enough volume with the Abyss in low gain? Or do you need to go to high gain at times, for example with softer classical music?

I haven't been able to try an Abyss headphone or similar harder to drive headphone with the Liquid Gold X yet. I'm curious if low gain is enough volume for the Abyss and similar headphones when playing softer music like classical.

I've been using Audeze LCD-2 headphones with the amp and low gain is more than plenty. But they're also not really hard to drive.

Abyss was fine in low gain. Susvara needed high gain.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Abyss was fine in low gain. Susvara needed high gain.

Awesome! Thanks.
I prefer the sound of the amp with low gain. So it's good to know that the amp has enough gain and oomph in low gain to drive the Abyss.

I haven't noticed any problems with the internal DAC. But I also haven't used the internal DAC much at all except to find out how it sounds. I've been using a Gungnir Multibit using the balanced XLR connections. I do prefer the Schiit multibit imaging and sound to the AKM imaging and sound. I think of the internal DAC as just a $100 convenience DAC for times when a better external DAC isn't conveniently available. And to experiment with DSD (the Schiit DACs don't do DSD).

My challenge now is to find headphone synergy with the Liquid Gold X. The Audeze LCD-2 has great synergy with the Liquid Platinum, but not so much with the Liquid Gold X. So I'm looking for a headphone to pair with the amp that does. Thinking of headphones to try like HEDD, HiFiMan Arya, and even the Abyss line if necessary.