LKS AUDIO MH-DA004

[abrahavt]

 

I finally pulled the trigger on one with the enhanced USB. Out of the box it sounds great. First time I am hearing music without digital harshness since I ripped all my music onto a computer and started playing via USB a couple of years back. My system consists of music stored on a Synology NAS, played using Roon installed on an Intel NUC (Roon Optimized Computer Kit) via ethernet to a sotm sms-200ultra network player using USB. I suspect that the fancy clocking in the sms-200ultra network player is being wasted. Oh well atleast it helped in my previous system. I have laid a quiet computer case fan over the top vent to cool it down as a precaution. I would describe the sound as highly resolved with much detail without being harsh or tube syrupy. This is the first time that I have able to listen to music from my computer network via USB for long stretches without tiring. Way to go LKS.

[mac_and_dac]

7 hours ago, abrahavt said:

 

I finally pulled the trigger ...

 

Good stuff. LKS were among the first to go with a 'dual mono' architecture. This is something I sought out after learning that my previous favorite DAC maker (Eastern Electric) weren't interested in pursuing that approach.

 

The MH-DA004 dual mono architecture is well implemented, has the latest DAC chips, and uses a discrete output stage - which should all contribute to good sonics.

 

With the previous LKS Audio DAC's (002 and 003), further improvements could be wrought by changing out certain components. The 004 sounds very good out of the box, though, and might not be worth tinkering with.

[mikicasellas]

I have there NEW OPPO 205, has anyone in this thread has compared the 205 to the LKS 004?

 

I think the 205 is very good and possibly a step over my last Auralic Vega...

[latenz]

i compared the sonica dac (which is very good) but far away from the lks 004.

in every respect. more depth, more detail without the digital harshness of all my systems before (audiolab cdq/ mytek brooklyn/ auralic altair/ sonica dac). the lks is a pure dac - no spotify connect, no bluetoth...so there is a big diffrence in comfort. the sq is without questioning amazing from the lks...

 

 

[Hifihova]

Thanks for the feedback ! I bought this dac after carefully studying all the input in this forum and one other and decided to keep it after comparing it to the basic sytem i have and the T+A. The information here was very useful and "spot on" !

My new stereo is so nice sounding now, that i am even getting curious: is there a dac out there that will add even significant better quality to my system? I would be very curious to test a very expensive dac besides the LKS004, like a Nagra or so...  just to see how far one can reasonably go.

[mikicasellas]

Hello all,

 

I have some questions and i would like to read your experiences with this DAC

 

Is this DAC outperforming the T+A DAC8 DSD?

Has anyone compared to the HOLO Audio DAC?

Is it better on the USB input or i its i2s via Singxer?

Is it "analog like sound"?

For those who has heard the OPPO 205 or Sonica, is the LKS less noisy?

 

I have the 205 and it is very good but sometimes i keep listening to some "harshness"

[hurka]

yes,no,no,no,yes

[mikicasellas]

[Hifihova]

Hurka, are you sure? Isn't it yes, no, no, yes, yes ?  

 

[littlecx]

dose it accept hdmi output from oppo player? i want to use oppo as sacd transport

[Miko]

26 minutes ago, littlecx said:

dose it accept hdmi output from oppo player? i want to use oppo as sacd transport

A stock Oppo will not pass a sacd signal. It will downsample it. You would need a digital output board like I use. http://audiopraise.com/vanityhd/overview.php

 

I route my pc and my Oppo into a Mutec mc3 USB and then send the signal out to my DAC ( Modified Tascam DA3K)

 

With my sacd's what I've done is record them with my Tascam using the digital output of my audiopraised Oppo and then edit each track with Tascam software. Save it as a 192/32 bit file and then I can play the album on my pc w/ Jriver.

 

now, if you wanted to have 5-6-8 discrete channels you'd need multiple DACs as the output board separates each group. 

 

 

[littlecx]

20 minutes ago, Miko said:

A stock Oppo will not pass a sacd signal. It will downsample it. You would need a digital output board like I use. http://audiopraise.com/vanityhd/overview.php

 

I route my pc and my Oppo into a Mutec mc3 USB and then send the signal out to my DAC ( Modified Tascam DA3K)

 

With my sacd's what I've done is record them with my Tascam using the digital output of my audiopraised Oppo and then edit each track with Tascam software. Save it as a 192/32 bit file and then I can play the album on my pc w/ Jriver.

 

now, if you wanted to have 5-6-8 discrete channels you'd need multiple DACs as the output board separates each group. 

 

Thanks for you reply. From Oppo website it says it can output DSD signal over HDMI, I thought it can be use as a SACD transport.

[hurka]

18 hours ago, Hifihova said:

Hurka, are you sure? Isn't it yes, no, no, yes, yes ?  

 

I think my r2r ladder 12rail ultracapacitor balanced dac without output stage,without regulators......

with output transformers, more analog.That`s why yes no no no yes

[Emcee]

On 3/25/2017 at 0:07 PM, mac_and_dac said:

 

I have the stock Crystek 575 XO in a slightly modified Eastern Electric MiniMax Dac+ and that unit sounds very nice, but with the same XO in the MH-DA003 I found the sound really thin, as have one or two others. Someone recommended that I swap it out for the Crystek 950 (which in some aspects measures inferior) and this, to my surprise, sorted the problem out.

 

 

In what ways is the 004 better than the MiniMax? I own a modded original MiniMax (no clock mod) that sounds reasonably musical and organic and I wouldn't want to sacrifice that for detail and slam. Tried a Yulong and didn't like it very much. Been wary of FOTM Chinese DACs with impressive specs since then. Tried the highly praised Mojo as well and while equally musical (timing, etc) found it lacked the warmth of the EE.

[mac_and_dac]

4 hours ago, Emcee said:

In what ways is the 004 better than the MiniMax? I own a modded original MiniMax (no clock mod) that sounds reasonably musical and organic and I wouldn't want to sacrifice that for detail and slam. Tried a Yulong and didn't like it very much. Been wary of FOTM Chinese DACs with impressive specs since then. Tried the highly praised Mojo as well and while equally musical (timing, etc) found it lacked the warmth of the EE.

 

 

Hi

 

I still own a modified EE MiniMax and a modified EE Supreme (likewise, no clock mods in either, the changes are in the areas of regulators and op amps). Both are excellent: extremely musical and listenable.

 

Though I was impressed, I knew that better could be achieved with a 'dual mono' architecture, and so I reached out to EE (via a 3rd party) to ask if they would implement this in a later design. The answer was in the negative.

 

This made me search for the same architecture from different vendors. But it needed to be affordable.

 

I found the LKS Audio MH-DA003, with its dual mono architecture. I plugged it in, powered it up, and expected to be wowed. But I found it very thin sounding. Nevertheless the potential could be heard. I was able to rectify the shortcomings with some DIY work, particularly the replacement of the stock XO and the cheap I/C op amps.

 

The 004 on the other hand sounds 100% excellent out of the box, due no doubt to its discrete output stage and the 9038pro ES chips. Really, it doesn't need any mods (but I will still try). It has all the liquidity of the Eastern Electric DAC's, but is at a different level in terms of imaging, grip and detail. It is no more or less 'analogue'. The EE's are great in that department.

 

I can still listen to my EE DAC's and not feel short-changed, but the 9038pro DAC chips and the dual mono architecture does make a difference. It would be a surprise if it did not.

 

cheers

mac_and_dac

 

 

 

[Emcee]

4 hours ago, mac_and_dac said:

 

 

Hi

 

I still own a modified EE MiniMax and a modified EE Supreme (likewise, no clock mods in either, the changes are in the areas of regulators and op amps). Both are excellent: extremely musical and listenable.

 

Though I was impressed, I knew that better could be achieved with a 'dual mono' architecture, and so I reached out to EE (via a 3rd party) to ask if they would implement this in a later design. The answer was in the negative.

 

This made me search for the same architecture from different vendors. But it needed to be affordable.

 

I found the LKS Audio MH-DA003, with its dual mono architecture. I plugged it in, powered it up, and expected to be wowed. But I found it very thin sounding. Nevertheless the potential could be heard. I was able to rectify the shortcomings with some DIY work, particularly the replacement of the stock XO and the cheap I/C op amps.

 

The 004 on the other hand sounds 100% excellent out of the box, due no doubt to its discrete output stage and the 9038pro ES chips. Really, it doesn't need any mods (but I will still try). It has all the liquidity of the Eastern Electric DAC's, but is at a different level in terms of imaging, grip and detail. It is no more or less 'analogue'. The EE's are great in that department.

 

I can still listen to my EE DAC's and not feel short-changed, but the 9038pro DAC chips and the dual mono architecture does make a difference. It would be a surprise if it did not.

 

cheers

mac_and_dac

 

 

 

Thanks,

My MiniMax has Belleson regs, power and output cap upgrades, internal wiring, Dexa opamps, WBT RCAs, bridge and diode upgrades and has had all select switch, volume knob, etc bypassed (S/PDIF in only)

Anyhow, even after 7 years I'm still enjoying it but you know how it is... If I can improve on imaging, micro detail, bass impact and hopefully richer tone without any tradeoff in the musicality dept. then I think I'm in. One thing for sure is that I have no intention of going down the DIY rabbit hole again. I had enough costly misadventures as is.

[pdg540]

Hello all
 

I'm curious as to whether anyone is abreast of the Amanero firmware development that would enable native dsd256 and dsd512 streaming from mac osx and linux systems? I came across some discussion of this in a Lampizator thread and there was speculation that a new firmware version 2003 was to be released this week that does just this......... Wasn't sure if this was just a Lampi thing or not.

[MINORISUKE]

With the firmware 2002b and Linux kernel 4.11.12, I have just succeeded in playing up to DSD512 with Gustard DAC-X20 via I2S/DSD input (HDMI connector).  This means it should work also with MH-DA003/004 in case a correct connection via I2S/DSD is given.

MAC Audirvana is up to DSD256.  DSD512 is not highlighted in Preference.

https://github.com/lintweaker/xmos-native-dsd/issues/12

[pdg540]

Thanks for the info M. Where do u get these firmware 2000 series firmware versions? The Amanero site only has 1900 series. I am not using the i2s inputs; only usb. I have been booting my mac mini with a usb thumb drive with windows 10 and roon server on it. This has allowed me to stream at dsd256 and 512. But I'd like more options.

 

I have a ultra rendu on its way but I imagine that its linux and I will still be limited to dsd128 with the amanero 384 usb input????

[bibo01]

At Amanero site go to Firmware History and download oem_tool. There are instructions on how to download and update new firmware.

However, please notice that under Mac you will not be able to use DSD native no matter what - the new firmware is for Linux - so you will still be using DoP. On the other hand, you will be able to use it with ultraRendu.

[pdg540]

Thanks again. Am I understanding this correctly? When I update the firmware on the lks and insert the urendu as the roon endpoint, I will  be able to upsample to dsd512 and dsd256 with ios version of roon server on the mac mini? (eg. I will not have to boot windows on the mac mini)

[bibo01]

You should, but you better confirm it with Sonore.

However, if I were you, I would wait for final version of firmware.

[pdg540]

I think I'll probably take that advice on waiting since I'm not in a huge hurry.

 

[MINORISUKE]

There is nothing to lose when you update the firmware of comb384.  You can change it into any available version at any time.

[pdg540]

9 hours ago, MINORISUKE said:

There is nothing to lose when you update the firmware of comb384.  You can change it into any available version at any time.

 

Are all the fw versions included in the same installer tool? Also, would the comb384 look to roon server on the mac mini where the dsp upsampling is being performed (ios) or the ultrarendu endpoint (linux) when it's deciding whether it will accept dsd 256 and dsd512?