Lampizator questions

[lightminer]

Calm down everyone or I'll write an even-longer post!

 

From a purely actionable perspective (this isn't taking sides) let's support jtwrace's efforts to measure whatever he wants to measure, I think its great.

[lightminer]

Okay, so here is what I have so far:

 

 

USB

 

MP3 variants

16/44.1

24/96

24/192

24/88.1

24/176.2

DSD64

DSD128

 

 

Toslink

 

?????

 

 

 

SPDIF/BNC

 

MP3 variants

16/44.1

24/96

24/192

24/88.1

24/176.2

 

 

AES/EBU

 

MP3 variants

16/44.1

24/96

24/192

24/88.1

24/176.2

 

 

Sometimes toslink is limited to 24/96, it would be good to know if that is the case.

 

Also, can someone who has one of these try Spotify? I know this will sound crazy, but I actually do recommend Spotify to Audiophiles - for music discover it is great. Then I get the high res or cd of whatever I want. But to explore it is second to none. And, apparently, sounds pretty good - better than one would think. It will be interesting to see how Beats does in terms of sound quality.

[jtwrace]

 

Also, can someone who has one of these try Spotify? I know this will sound crazy, but I actually do recommend Spotify to Audiophiles - for music discover it is great. Then I get the high res or cd of whatever I want. But to explore it is second to none. And, apparently, sounds pretty good - better than one would think. It will be interesting to see how Beats does in terms of sound quality.

I love Spotify for the exact same reasons you do. Great stuff!

[ALRAINBOW]

Spotify ? Are you saying it is better than j river in windows ?

Al

[jtwrace]

Spotify ? Are you saying it is better than j river in windows ?

Al

 

Gosh no. Just using it discover new music and/or see if the whole album is good or not.

[ALRAINBOW]

Oh like frostwork or the old lime wire. Thanks

 

ps the only dac I know that does all formats with all inputs including dsd is the MSB . Although there may be others. Regarding dsd as much as it does sound fantastic it is more important that the dac does PCM at the best level possible .

Al

[lightminer]

Al, not saying I'm necessarily going to do this, but some are saying that DSD upsampling real-time in JRiver, or not in real time, has benefits. So, if you buy into that, you could even save some money and get the DSD only dac for the best PCM sound.

[wisnon]

Oh like frostwork or the old lime wire. Thanks

 

ps the only dac I know that does all formats with all inputs including dsd is the MSB . Although there may be others. Regarding dsd as much as it does sound fantastic it is more important that the dac does PCM at the best level possible .

Al

Does it do DSD128 on all inputs?

[wisnon]

Calm down everyone or I'll write an even-longer post!

 

From a purely actionable perspective (this isn't taking sides) let's support jtwrace's efforts to measure whatever he wants to measure, I think its great.

 

He is free to measure what he wants…I just ask that he stops whining about it. Just do it!

 

He seems to listen to measurements. Not sure if he would recognize good sound quality if he heard it. LoL

 

Still, variety is the spice of life and it takes all kinds.

[lightminer]

Does anyone know what the Oppo HDMI output format is? It will put out DSD/SACD via HDMI2. I'm trying to see if I can rig up an input for Oppo HDMI SACD on the Lampizator. Lukasz thinks he can do it, but I want to know for 100% sure what the output looks like. This is something perhaps many people could benefit from.

 

This article came really close to answering my question, but no cigar.

 

Everything Audio Network: Audiophile Review!Oppo BDP-105 Universal Player:New Flagship Gets HDMI/SPDIF Inputs,Onboard Headphone Amplifier

[ALRAINBOW]

Winson yes it does dsd128 and 32/384 on all inputs. It does dsd over dop so when playing the screen lights up as 24/176 . As for the sound the two lampi,s I have heard have a relaxing sound only found on my msb. It's not just details it's presentation . I have had many dacs to listen too , ,any owned some loaned . The lampi has a house sound that just sounds right. If the level 7 is a big improvement over the 5 and by any who has heard them say it is. It will be close enough to the msb for me at 1/3 the price. Now I do not need a transport I have a UMT plus so I have the network and disk well covered.

Inwas supoosed to get to hear one this weekend . But that fell through so mine is due about the end of this month.

al

[islandman]

I love Spotify for the exact same reasons you do. Great stuff!

 

(I don't want to derail the thread, but I just wanted to chime in here a second and mention that I have been using Qobuz, a company out of France that streams at 16/44.1. So far they are the only company that does this level of quality. From what I understand, this is about 4X's the resolution of 320kbps. I had been using MOG at 320kbps but there is no comparison. 17,000,000 songs so far. They are not official in the US until later this year. You have to email them that you want to try their service if a message comes up that says "Not available in your country". You can try a month for free.)

[jtwrace]

(I don't want to derail the thread, but I just wanted to chime in here a second and mention that I have been using Qobuz, a company out of France that streams at 16/44.1. So far they are the only company that does this level of quality. From what I understand, this is about 4X's the resolution of 320kbps. I had been using MOG at 320kbps but there is no comparison. 17,000,000 songs so far. They are not official in the US until later this year. You have to email them that you want to try their service if a message comes up that says "Not available in your country". You can try a month for free.)

Nice. Never even heard of it. Thanks!

[wisnon]

(I don't want to derail the thread, but I just wanted to chime in here a second and mention that I have been using Qobuz, a company out of France that streams at 16/44.1. So far they are the only company that does this level of quality. From what I understand, this is about 4X's the resolution of 320kbps. I had been using MOG at 320kbps but there is no comparison. 17,000,000 songs so far. They are not official in the US until later this year. You have to email them that you want to try their service if a message comes up that says "Not available in your country". You can try a month for free.)

 

A very nice company rep gave me a discount coupon for Qobuz last October at the Zurich Audio show. i hope I can find it...

[Hiro]

New Lampizator DSD DAC Review (by Bruce Brown of Puget Sound Studios)

[HornedFrogGuy]

I am now a few days in with the Lampizator (a big box Level 5), which is a part of my headphone rig that features some Stax SR-009 earspeakers. The combination is just magical. The sublime musicality of the Lampi, in concert with the detail retrieval of the the electrostatic 009s, is just frighteningly good.

 

Earlier this evening, my wife came over for a listen (reluctantly). She doesn't really understand this crazy hobby, and her frugality sometimes requires her to willfully ignore how much this stuff costs. She was listening to Till Bronner, the great German jazz trumpet player, and I saw a look come over her face that I'd never seen before. In that brief moment in time, she got it. She understood the source of my joy, and my passion for great gear.

 

Thanks to all, especially wisnon, who helped guide me in this quest.

[PhilipAC]

Hi HFG

 

I too have the Lampi L5 and SR009s, and I agree the combo is amazing! I use the Stax SRM 007tII energiser- what about you?

 

Philip

[PhilipAC]

Hi HFG

 

I too have the Lampi L5/SR009 combo and I agree it is amazing. I use the Stax SRM 007tII energiser- what about you?

 

Philip

[matthias]

A question regarding the Lampizator DSD:

 

Amanero supports DoP up to 6,144MHz. Is the Lampi DSD limited to DoP or is there a support for higher rates than DSD128 with Windows-ASIO?

 

Thanks

KR

Matt

[Hiro]

A question regarding the Lampizator DSD:

 

Amanero supports DoP up to 6,144MHz. Is the Lampi DSD limited to DoP or is there a support for higher rates than DSD128 with Windows-ASIO?

 

Thanks

KR

Matt

 

I gather from Bruce's review that the Lampi DSD DAC requires DoP for DSD transmission.

 

"I queued up a tape archival we did of Oscar Peterson and hit play…. Nothing. Time is money that I have precious little of so I just set it aside for when I had time to troubleshoot the problem. About a week later I sat down and plugged the USB into the Playback Designs, hit play and I was golden… it never fails me. I then re-booted and connected the Lampi and get nothing again. I contacted the distributor and he was very helpful getting me up and going. Seems the Lampi wants to see DSD over DoP. Okay, we’re cooking with gas now."

[Hiro]

BTW, it's good to hear they managed to remove the manual DSD64/DSD128 switch from the production unit, and the DAC now automatically detects the sampling rate. I wonder if they will be able to solve the mute issue at some point... Lampizator website states it's "inconvenient as hell."

 

This is the DAC for purist audiophiles who want to experience the best DSD sound quality and enjoy listening to the music. Music more beautiful - than they ever heard before, be it from a DSD or PCM.

We believe it is the best sounding DAC in the world today but it is inconvenient like hell. No, you don’t have to wash the records, lift manually the cartridge or change sides from A to B but you may have to use MUTE before and after listening . If you are not repelled yet - please read on.

http://www.lampizator.eu/newdac/lampizator/DSD_DAC.html

[matthias]

I gather from Bruce's review that the Lampi DSD DAC requires DoP for DSD transmission.

"I queued up a tape archival we did of Oscar Peterson and hit play…. Nothing. Time is money that I have precious little of so I just set it aside for when I had time to troubleshoot the problem. About a week later I sat down and plugged the USB into the Playback Designs, hit play and I was golden… it never fails me. I then re-booted and connected the Lampi and get nothing again. I contacted the distributor and he was very helpful getting me up and going. Seems the Lampi wants to see DSD over DoP. Okay, we’re cooking with gas now."

 

Hiro,

thanks.

The Lampi DSD is a pureDSD-DAC like Miskas DAC (see his Blog). Both use the Amanero-USB, but Miskas DAC allows to go to DSD512 with Windows-ASIO. Unfortunately I am not able to build his DAC. So it would be nice if the Lampi supports Windows-ASIO up to DSD512, too.

 

KR

Matt

[HornedFrogGuy]

Hi HFG

 

I too have the Lampi L5/SR009 combo and I agree it is amazing. I use the Stax SRM 007tII energiser- what about you?

 

Philip

 

I was able to snag, off the 'gon, a gently used Kevin Gilmore Blue Hawaii (non-SE).

[Hiro]

Hiro,

thanks.

The Lampi DSD is a pureDSD-DAC like Miskas DAC (see his Blog). Both use the Amanero-USB, but Miskas DAC allows to go to DSD512 with Windows-ASIO. Unfortunately I am not able to build his DAC. So it would be nice if the Lampi supports Windows-ASIO up to DSD512, too.

 

KR

Matt

 

Matt,

 

While Miska is evidently intent on staying ahead of the game with his DSD512 DAC, the most fundamental step one can make in DSD is the upgrade from DSD64 -> DSD128, and the Lampi covers that.

 

Personally I would be more concerned about the "mute" problem in the Lampi, than the lack of +6.1MHz DSD support (6.1MHz DSD already has 128X higher sampling rate than 24/48 downloads).

[Hiro]

BTW, do we know for sure that the Lampi supports 6.1MHz DSD?

Their website only says the DAC handles 128 DSD without specifying the actual sample rate (5.6-only, 5.6 + 6.1?).