Lampizator questions

[Dev]

3 hours ago, quanghuy147 said:

I read some reviews and learned that Amber 3's sound signature is full of texture, warm and non-fatiguing. Is it true? If it is then it's a perfect match for my system which is very detailed and tiring at some high notes. 

 

I own an Amber3 and it was my first Lampizator DAC. I haven't heard this level of quality from a $3k DAC. It's amazing how analogue it sounds.

 

 

3 hours ago, quanghuy147 said:

Also, I was looking for a used Amber 3 and found that there are a few people sold Amber 3 just after a few months. I wonder what's wrong they found with Amber 3? 

 

 

I don't know about others but for me, I moved to higher end Lampi.

[Dev]

I believe Amber3 is the newer generation of Lampi DACs that are designed with JL Sounds USB module and Engine53 DAC.

[Dev]

If any of you guys with Amanero usb board are sending their Lampi to manufacturer, ask them if they can exchange the Amanero for the JL Audio usb board. They are much much better sounding.

[Dev]

I had Amber 3 and also Terminator in the past. I did not own them at the same time but they are very different sounding DAC. The Lampi is more live sounding, larger soundstage, more details and air. The Terminator is more dense, more depth and layering. Both are excellent at what they offer at the price point. It’s a matter of taste. Their is no question that Amber 4 will definitely take things further. The JL sound USB board is A4 is also a lot better than the Amanero they used in the past. However, I did not find any usefulness of hqp upsampling with any Lampi DAC.

[Dev]

I will write more later in the week as I am out in the woods with sporadic internet connection. I owned the original Terminator with the updated dsp board, the Amber 3 and now the Baltic 3. In short the B3 is superior in almost all aspect from the others and also is the price. You can roll  octals and rectifiers to further tune the sound. If space and price is not a concern, I will definitely recommend the B3 without reservation.

I also have a Musetec 005 coming soon. Far cheaper than all of them but has an interesting design.

 

http://www.mu-sound.com/DA005-detail.html

[Dev]

Lampi had/has different types of digital engine (not exactly sure what that means and they are secretive about it) in different model of their DACs over time. They also used Amanero USB board before they switch to JL Sounds and I believe these key differentiation is critical. Both Amber3 and Baltic3 uses S53 digital engine and both has JL Sounds USB boards and my various attempts to upsample using HQP did not yield anything on both these DACs. There are countless threads in WTBF forums on Lampi DACs and none of them seem to use upsampling with their recent DACs as well. So one has to try and find themselves if HQP upsampling will help or not.