Lampizator Baltic 4

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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The Lampizator Baltic 4 has just been released! It is now in production!

F7A8900B-BA11-4584-8B95-20272A440E55.jpeg

From Lampizator:

Baltic 4 DAC - an evolution of a revolutionary DAC

MAIN HIGHLIGHTS
Every unit is SE and Balanced at the same time, no need to configure the unit as balanced

True balanced topology with four channels - one per each phase of stereo sound.

Our newest 2022 engine ELEVEN also with DSD512 on board as standard provides the conversion. Baltic will be the cheapest DAC in our lineup to have the Eleven, as it was primarily designed as a Golden Gate DAC engine successor.

True Copper output capacitors - same as in the Pacific and Golden Gate.

SPECIFICATIONS
PCM 760 kHz, DSD x512, fully balanced from input to output (SPDIF is limited to 192kHz)

Output impedance 300 ohm per phase

Output level: 3 Vpp

Operating systems: USB input is compatible with Windows, Linux and MAC

Tube Compliment: 2 pieces of 12BH7, 2 pieces of 6SN7-BE. (or CV181-T or 6H8C or 6SN7GT)
one rectifier DHD : 5U4G or 274B or 5C3S or 5Y3 or GZ37 or 5R4WGB

Standard front panel is : Powdercoat Structural Matte Black, also available Sahara Silver, Anodized
Black, Anodized Alu Silver

Extra cost: custom-fit flight case, Copper top

Baltic 4 VS Baltic 3 - What's new?
Visually - from the outside, the biggest change is in the volume control / preamp variant. It has a new resistor ladder, resistor-switching microprocessor, software and display from the Pacific DAC.

Especially the OLED display with 10x bigger window looks great and the volume control also sounds great due to our new impedance scheme and matching.

Another big change is in the analog section where big and bold 12BH7 dual triode replaced ECC82 as output driver.

In digital section - not only the whole circuit is replaced by our fabulous Engine Eleven, but also power supply and mains transformer is changed for the benefit of Engine Eleven's pure sound.

Function-wise we got one more input - and that in turn allows us to offer 4 inputs - namely USB,
AES/EBU, S/PDIF and TOSLINK - all one ever needs without need of customer choosing 3 out of
4. Consequently, since we give all inputs already, this selection has been removed from the website DAC configurator.

Smaller internal changes are among others: better grounding, better noise suppression, better
voltage regulation, better operating points of tubes, better volume matching, better muting circuits
and colder devices throughout.

Contact:
Fred Ainsley
Lampizator North America
(631) 813-8992
LampizatorNA@gmail.com
 

charles1dad

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Hi Ron,
Have you developed any early listening impressions of your new Baltic 4 DAC yet?
Charles
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
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Hi Ron,
Have you developed any early listening impressions of your new Baltic 4 DAC yet?
Charles

The only direct comparisons I have are to the Pioneer CD player and to the iPad as streamer + DAC. I was not able to listen to either of the foregoing for any length of time.

Especially playing a CD (using the Pioneer as a transport) through the Baltic 4 I can listen enjoyably for as long as I want to.
 

kairosman

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Oct 12, 2020
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Didn't know of the change in the 4 to 12BH7 from ECC82 and went ahead and plugged in the stock ECC82s from my 3 2 weeks ago when I got my 4 upgrade, sounds great to me anyways, is there something as in a voltage mismatch I should be concerned potentially about?
 

charles1dad

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Didn't know of the change in the 4 to 12BH7 from ECC82 and went ahead and plugged in the stock ECC82s from my 3 2 weeks ago when I got my 4 upgrade, sounds great to me anyways, is there something as in a voltage mismatch I should be concerned potentially about?
If I were you I’d go straight to the source and find out for certain. The Baltic 4 seems to be a very nice DAC!
Charles
 
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shakti

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May 9, 2015
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Didn't know of the change in the 4 to 12BH7 from ECC82 and went ahead and plugged in the stock ECC82s from my 3 2 weeks ago when I got my 4 upgrade, sounds great to me anyways, is there something as in a voltage mismatch I should be concerned potentially about?
If you look on the Baltic 4 sticker on the rear side (like on the Photo above in this thread), it seems, that ECC82 is still the tube to go for on this list of tubes. I assume, as used with Lampi, that the 12BH7 ist just another alternative to play with.

I use ECC82 tubes from Telefunken on this position and I am happy with the result, but may look now for a pair of 12BH7 to listen to the potential difference. But before I will read in the Baltic 3 (4) tube recommendation thread,
which 12Bh7 tubes other users do prefer.
 
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VoicesInMyHead

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Apr 7, 2018
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first, congrats to @Ron Resnick for an excellent choice, I'm very happy for you! :)

I use ECC82 tubes from Telefunken on this position and I am happy with the result, but may look now for a pair of 12BH7 to listen to the potential difference. But before I will read in the Baltic 3 (4) tube recommendation thread,
which 12Bh7 tubes other users do prefer.

I think a bunch of us with B3's has come to the conclusion that both 12bh7 and e80cc tubes are usually more fun than most ecc82/12au7's, even though there of course always may be exceptions and one tube being better than the other etc. I think Lampi put it quite nice on their webaite "In every test the 12BH7 consistently gives a more interesting performance.". I think there's some nice tube recommendations and recti comparisons etc in the B3 thread, and as B4 is basically the same DAC I would definitely have a look over there...
 

kairosman

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Oct 12, 2020
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Well i guess 12bh7s are next on my list. Lol i got an urge to pop the hood on the 4 and see the new 'engine' but would that void the warranty? And it wouldn't mean anything unless i had detailed photos of the 3's innards...
 

highstream

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"Baltic will be the cheapest DAC in our lineup to have the Eleven, as it was primarily designed as a Golden Gate DAC engine successor."

This sentence could be read two ways: either the Baltic is the successor to the GG, or Engine 11 was thought of as the successor to the engine in the GG (or GG2). I read it the latter way, but someone just wrote me who read it the first way. How do you understand it, Ron?
 
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LampiNA

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Jun 30, 2015
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The Baltic 4 remains below the Golden Gate 3 in the lineup. While it features engine 11, so does the Golden Gate 3 DAC--the engine is only a part of the equation.

In our prior generation of DACs the Golden Gate 2 and Baltic 3 shared the same engine (53) as well, but the hierarchy remained.
 

highstream

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Nov 16, 2013
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The Baltic 4 remains below the Golden Gate 3 in the lineup. While it features engine 11, so does the Golden Gate 3 DAC--the engine is only a part of the equation.

In our prior generation of DACs the Golden Gate 2 and Baltic 3 shared the same engine (53) as well, but the hierarchy remained.

Thanks. Looking at the Poland site, the GG and Pacific are no longer listed under dacs (there's no posted Q1 price list yet). Is that a temporary production matter or a change in the line up?
 

nquery

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Sep 9, 2016
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Didn't know of the change in the 4 to 12BH7 from ECC82 and went ahead and plugged in the stock ECC82s from my 3 2 weeks ago when I got my 4 upgrade, sounds great to me anyways, is there something as in a voltage mismatch I should be concerned potentially about?

Hi, how did you upgrade from B3 -> B4? I thought Lampi NA had stopped doing upgrades/trade-ins?? I would love to upgrade my B3 to a B4, not just because of the DAC/engine improvements, but the resistor-ladder VC, so I could remove my preamp from my chain.
 

shakti

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May 9, 2015
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Hi, how did you upgrade from B3 -> B4? I thought Lampi NA had stopped doing upgrades/trade-ins?? I would love to upgrade my B3 to a B4, not just because of the DAC/engine improvements, but the resistor-ladder VC, so I could remove my preamp from my chain.
Too my knowledge this upgrade will not make commercial sense, as the main circuit board of B3 does not fit with Engine 11 circuit board, as the chassis from B3 is too small. B4 circuit board seem to be a more compact redesign of the old B3 board.

So a trade in is most likely the better way to go forward.
 
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nquery

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Sep 9, 2016
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Too my knowledge this upgrade will not make commercial sense, as the main circuit board of B3 does not fit with Engine 11 circuit board, as the chassis from B3 is too small. B4 circuit board seem to be a more compact redesign of the old B3 board.

So a trade in is most likely the better way to go forward.

I see. Maybe I misread @kairosman 's use of the word "upgrade". Last I read, LampiNA had stopped taking trade-in's but I'll check in with them.
 

kairosman

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Oct 12, 2020
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I see. Maybe I misread @kairosman 's use of the word "upgrade". Last I read, LampiNA had stopped taking trade-in's but I'll check in with them.
What happened is I had to send my B3 in for warranty repair and it got put in a corner and forgotten for 2 months, then to compensate me they did the upgrade for free. Whether they had to use a different chassis they didn't say, I was just happy to get a B4 in the mail. My understanding is the (1) the B3 chassis doesn't accommodate the Engine 11 board and (2) the factory has suspended the trade-in/upgrade program for now until they catch up with new orders. Fred from Lampi NA often posts here so maybe he will clarify at some point.
 
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nquery

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Sep 9, 2016
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What happened is I had to send my B3 in for warranty repair and it got put in a corner and forgotten for 2 months, then to compensate me they did the upgrade for free. Whether they had to use a different chassis they didn't say, I was just happy to get a B4 in the mail. My understanding is the (1) the B3 chassis doesn't accommodate the Engine 11 board and (2) the factory has suspended the trade-in/upgrade program for now until they catch up with new orders. Fred from Lampi NA often posts here so maybe he will clarify at some point.
Ah, very nice!

One thing I am still confused on regarding the B3 -> B4 transition. There were a number of folks who got B3's with the engine eleven board. Do those also have all of the other B4 upgrades, but with just a B3 label? Or are they still missing some other running changes that got built into the B4?
 

shakti

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May 9, 2015
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Ah, very nice!

One thing I am still confused on regarding the B3 -> B4 transition. There were a number of folks who got B3's with the engine eleven board. Do those also have all of the other B4 upgrades, but with just a B3 label? Or are they still missing some other running changes that got built into the B4?
there are a few B3 with the full engine 11 level, so no! difference to current B4, apart from the name plate on the back.
 

nquery

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Sep 9, 2016
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there are a few B3 with the full engine 11 level, so no! difference to current B4, apart from the name plate on the back.
Thanks, so you are saying they are the same I think. But the B3 with engine 11 still took 12AU7/ECC82 but the B4 takes 12BH7 right? They have different plate currents and operating points afaik.
 

highstream

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I don't know the specifics of the Baltic, but was assured with the TRP and GG that the upgrade takes the unit to the next model up, but doesn't replace everything with new components, e.g., the output circuit (TRP). Presumably for marketing purposes, to distinguish old from new, they are not calling the upgraded unit by the higher or newer model name. That said, at least a few got a new version back panel, but apparently most did not. They are either getting a back panel that notes the new engine or came back with the previous back panel. For the latter, only the paper report shows the upgrade, although supposedly they are developing an Engine 11 sticker to add to those backplates.
 
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shakti

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May 9, 2015
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Thanks, so you are saying they are the same I think. But the B3 with engine 11 still took 12AU7/ECC82 but the B4 takes 12BH7 right? They have different plate currents and operating points afaik.
please have a look to the batch on Baltic 4, clearly saying ECC82, like before with B3

No difference in this regard.

B3 and B4 will work with 12au7 / ecc82 / e80cc / 12bh7

Lampizator stated for B4:

"Tube Compliment: 2 pieces of 12BH7"

so you will get 12BH7 as standard shipment from factory.

F7A8900B-BA11-4584-8B95-20272A440E55.jpeg
 
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