Lampizator questions

[mikicasellas]

6 minutes ago, elan120 said:

Any chance you could comment on the differences between your T-II and Baltic 3.

Sorry, i was not clear !

 

I would like to try / Know from other members here who have tried both if Baltic 3 is way better ?

 

I know from some person here that sold his T-II + Hermes to stayed with the Baltic, and although his experience is very important in this context, I have to take in count "synergy" as my Preamp is a Denafrips Athena, so i would give an arm to be able to hear it again the T-II or read more observations and experiences from others that has gone similar ways

[elan120]

3 minutes ago, mikicasellas said:

Sorry, i was not clear !

Looks like I misinterpreted your earlier post.  I may end up going for an Amber 4 unless I can somehow find a way to increase the height, then I will try a Baltic 3 or others in their lineup.

 

To me, Terminator is an overall fun DAC that provide good clarity, energy, and scale.  It has strong macrodynamic focus with good impact and punch, as well as solid resolving power and texture, but the drawback is lacking microdynamic capability, tonality is not organic, neither is presentation, treble is not that refined, and can sometimes get too hot and gritty.  What I hope in Amber 4 is a balanced DAC that lean a bit more toward the relaxed and slightly sweeter smoother side of things, great organicness, great placement accuracy and depth in overall stage, great coherency and liquidity, as well as having great impact and punch.  Perhaps @Dev could help provide further details since he seems to have experience in both DACs.

[mikicasellas]

20 minutes ago, elan120 said:

Looks like I misinterpreted your earlier post.  I may end up going for an Amber 4 unless I can somehow find a way to increase the height, then I will try a Baltic 3 or others in their lineup.

 

To me, Terminator is an overall fun DAC that provide good clarity, energy, and scale.  It has strong macrodynamic focus with good impact and punch, as well as solid resolving power and texture, but the drawback is lacking microdynamic capability, tonality is not organic, neither is presentation, treble is not that refined, and can sometimes get too hot and gritty.  What I hope in Amber 4 is a balanced DAC that lean a bit more toward the relaxed and slightly sweeter smoother side of things, great organicness, great placement accuracy and depth in overall stage, great coherency and liquidity, as well as having great impact and punch.  Perhaps @Dev could help provide further details since he seems to have experience in both DACs.

It was my bad, i made you guys understood that I already had the Baltic.

 

You are right on the T-II characteristics.

 

I did not know Lukasz launched a new Amber 4

 

Let me know your impressions once you have it

 

Nice day !

[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

[elan120]

11 minutes ago, Dev said:

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.

Looking forward to your additional details.  Meanwhile, enjoy the long weekend.

[Lowlands]

On 5/29/2022 at 8:27 PM, Dev said:

However, I did not find any usefulness of hqp upsampling with any Lampi DAC

 

For the purpose of alternative 'datapoints' and experiences, I found the impact and sonic gains going from PCM to upsampled DSD(256) using HQPlayer massive on my Lampi GG. Lampi has different digital 'engines' (DAC sections) floating around though, so YMMV. 

[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.

[Nikko1960]

I use HQPlayer with my Baltic3, up sampling to DSD256 from red book and Tidal high Rez formats. 
 

Upsampling has a huge positive impact to the sound. Jussi’s ECv2 modulators are simply superb. Although people on the HQP forums rave about the ASDM7ECv2 modulator, I find that the 5th order variant yields the most organic sound from the Baltic3.

 

There are lots of filters to choose from but my current fav is guass-long for red book and the high-Rez variant for Nx. 
 

Any Lampizator owners can give HQPlayer a test, since Jussi offers a trial version. I run it on a dedicated Mac Mini M1 & 8GB ram, and it upsamples to DSD256 using the heavy modulators without issue. 
 

nikko

 

 

[Lowlands]

Important note I think is there are various forms / variants of upsampling and/or conversion: 

A - low rate PCM to high rate PCM, synchronous (within same family rate, 44.1 or 48)

B - low rate PCM to high rate PCM, a-synchronous (not within same family rate)

C - Any rate PCM to high(er) rate DSD, synchronous

D - Any rate PCM to high(er) rate DSD, a-synchronous

E - Any rate DSD to any rate PCM

HQPlayer can be used for all of the above 'routes' (afaik).

Any statement that upsampling using HQPlayer does not reap benefits triggers the question (in my mind at least) : what route was used?

 

My ears tell me that on my GG, route C outperforms all other routes and/or alternative methods feeding my GG, including route A using a Metrum Acoustics Ambre via AES as input and not using HQPlayer at all. I do have the somewhat older PCM Engine '5942". I reckon the newer engine "S53" is likely better sounding. There is also an "R2R" PCM engine that many love. 

 

My GG is limited to DSD256 (so that is what I use) and I have the Amanero USB, but with the superclock upgrade from Lampizator.

 

[tedwoods]

On 6/3/2022 at 4:25 AM, Dev said:

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.

I agree. With the Amber 3 no benefits were realised through up-sampling. I have since simplified my front-end considerably and I'm very happy with the sound I'm getting.

[Blake]

On 3/30/2022 at 9:58 AM, Lowlands said:

The technician that is refurbishing my upcoming GG unit at Lampizator suggested that a superclock upgrade on the amanero USB would outperform a switch from amanero to the JL USB board (with stock clocks), so I went with the clock upgrade instead. The amanero receives latest firmware as part of the factory refurb anyway....

 

 

 

This is interesting.  I recently purchased a Golden Gate 2 that had Amanero USB with super clocks.  My Lampi tech recommended I swap it out for the JL Sounds USB, so I did that.    Perhaps Amanero is better for GG1, and JL Sounds is better for GG2?

 

 

[Lowlands]

On 7/25/2022 at 8:37 PM, Blake said:

 

This is interesting.  I recently purchased a Golden Gate 2 that had Amanero USB with super clocks.  My Lampi tech recommended I swap it out for the JL Sounds USB, so I did that.    Perhaps Amanero is better for GG1, and JL Sounds is better for GG2?

 

 

Right.... 🤔.. makes you wonder... could be as you suggest. ..or it might be the flavour of the day / preference..? Don't know. Perhaps they were standing on the workbench next to each other 😂 ..?  VERY happy with my GG1 in either case... Pretty much endgame for me..
And I also think that the format (DSD vs PCM) and tubes are way more important for SQ from my GG anyway.

[Blake]

On 10/14/2022 at 6:03 AM, Lowlands said:

And I also think that the format (DSD vs PCM) and tubes are way more important for SQ from my GG anyway.

 

Yes, for sure those variables as well as things like power supply are much more important than the USB module du jour.  Lampi now has a new digital engine offering, Engine 11, but I'm off the DAC and other audio gear merry-go-round, I'm very satisfied with where I'm at.  

[AudioDoctor]

3 hours ago, Blake said:

 

Yes, for sure those variables as well as things like power supply are much more important than the USB module du jour.  Lampi now has a new digital engine offering, Engine 11, but I'm off the DAC and other audio gear merry-go-round, I'm very satisfied with where I'm at.  

 

It's my understanding they also will retrofit the Pacific with the same USB input as the Horizon DAC

[Lowlands]

On 10/16/2022 at 9:23 PM, Blake said:

 

..... I'm off the DAC and other audio gear merry-go-round, I'm very satisfied with where I'm at.  

 

Major + 1

[Blake]

Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled programming in the DAC subforum of this website...  in other words, the millionth post about "ECDesigns" and "Holo May" DAC's.  😃

 

 

[barbz]

Has anyone had ears on both the amber 4 and baltic 3? Trying to find some impressions on how they differ to know which may have a better synergy with my Riviera amp and my ears.

 

Thankyou

[mikicasellas]

54 minutes ago, barbz said:

Has anyone had ears on both the amber 4 and baltic 3? Trying to find some impressions on how they differ to know which may have a better synergy with my Riviera amp and my ears.

 

Thankyou

Ask Marc from Sablon, I know he owns a Riviera Int. and he is using a Baltic 3

[Nikhil]

 

This is the comparison table from Lampizator's 2022Q4 Price list which is available on their website.

 

 

 

[mikicasellas]

On 6/3/2022 at 1:31 AM, Nikko1960 said:

I use HQPlayer with my Baltic3, up sampling to DSD256 from red book and Tidal high Rez formats. 
 

Upsampling has a huge positive impact to the sound. Jussi’s ECv2 modulators are simply superb. Although people on the HQP forums rave about the ASDM7ECv2 modulator, I find that the 5th order variant yields the most organic sound from the Baltic3.

 

There are lots of filters to choose from but my current fav is guass-long for red book and the high-Rez variant for Nx. 
 

Any Lampizator owners can give HQPlayer a test, since Jussi offers a trial version. I run it on a dedicated Mac Mini M1 & 8GB ram, and it upsamples to DSD256 using the heavy modulators without issue. 
 

nikko

 

 

Hi Nikko, Best for 2023 !

 

I have the Lampi Baltic 3 and im wondering how many bits are the ideal in HQplayer for these Lampi DACs, Miska could not answer, he knew about the T-II but he said no experience with Lampi DACs

 

Could you share your HQP config please ?

Regards

 

Miguel

[Nikko1960]

8 hours ago, mikicasellas said:

Hi Nikko, Best for 2023 !

 

I have the Lampi Baltic 3 and im wondering how many bits are the ideal in HQplayer for these Lampi DACs, Miska could not answer, he knew about the T-II but he said no experience with Lampi DACs

 

Could you share your HQP config please ?

Regards

 

Miguel

 

HNY to you too, Miguel.

 

Please find attached a screen shot of my settings.  Note that I am converting to a DSD stream.  I throttle the volume back to -3.4db to prevent clipping.  But I leave bits set to auto.  Someone told me some time back that the bits setting only matters when you upsample to PCM.

 

All the best

 

Nikko

[mikicasellas]

10 hours ago, Nikko1960 said:

 

HNY to you too, Miguel.

 

Please find attached a screen shot of my settings.  Note that I am converting to a DSD stream.  I throttle the volume back to -3.4db to prevent clipping.  But I leave bits set to auto.  Someone told me some time back that the bits setting only matters when you upsample to PCM.

 

All the best

 

Nikko

 

Thank you Nikko,

 

I was using 32 DAC bits and now using DEFAULT ( as yours ) it sounds a little less Trebly and following your config and then using CLOSE FORM & N5 Dither on PCM seems more analog in my system of course...with SDM, my server goes from 40 wish Celsius to 68-75 C, im using HQP thru Euphony and with ROON

[Powerman]

Well, I recently upgraded to a LTA Z40+ intigrated amp. Then I got some Dynaudio Heritage Specials. I very much enjoyed them with my Pontus 2 DAC. I thought I should have something comparable... Terminator 2, Holo May... Baltic 3...which led me to Amber 4...anf I ended up stretching it to a Baltic 4. Now the month long wait. Feeding from Mercury streamed to I2S I added. I'm pretty excited. It's going to be a long month... At least...

[Powerman]

Well it was a month, and now it's been almost 2 weeks. I simply did not know this was possible.

 

Everything to this point has been a minor upgrade. An improvement on the former. Yes, it was better... Timbre, extension, dynamics, resolution... The first leap was my tube amp. Truly next level. Rolling tubes was a significant improvement. I think that was a baby step. The Baltic 4...well next level now sounds stupid.

 

Everything isn't an upgrade, it's so better it's different. Bass is huge, full, detailed. Mids and treble are magic. It's not "better", it's no longer playing music, it's real. Never has any upgrade been such a huge leap in realism.

 

But nobody could explain how immersive it is to me. Going back it's a regular and often comment in reviews. Sounds great, no clue what that means. I know now. Everything, and I mean everything, I have ever heard is 2D. Yes it gets wider, better seperation, depth... Ehh. It's all a better 2D picture. This is 3D. It's damn near surround sound. It's not a reproduction, it's being in the space. It's such a crazy spacial reconstruction. Now I get it. My room is well treated with low ceilings. Not easy making low ceilings disappear. The Lampi makes everything HUGE, but now it's also intimate. It's like being in the studio.

 

Its not all recordings. It all sounds better, great. But crappy recordings are still not great ones. Rolling tubes was another step forward. Stock tubes are technically good, but bland and mundane compared to NOS. It's gotten better with burn in. It's made me revisit speaker placement and that is another improvement. The realism, texture, space... Just nuts. I've heard some very expensive systems that all sounded expensive, but nothing like this. The summit. Game over. I have a couple other tubes coming, but I'm not really looking for more. That will be it. Just amazed what this DAC did to my system.

[Blake]

Very well put @Powerman.   That sums up my experience with Lampizator as well.  The performers are in my the room.  It is actually spooky at times, in a good way.