Lampizator DSD DAC

[Geardaddy]

Alrainbow, when you were at Myle's house you mentioned hearing some glorious sounding DSD (Dsd128 of Elvis and an Opus sampler). You also mentioned the same tracks were played through his vinyl rig. How did that stack up and what dac was used?

Bruce has more experience in DSD than all of us combined, and thus his input on the Lampi is provocative. I myself have a L7 with DSD on order and am looking forward to it.

Paradoxically, my love of two channel started in elementary school with vinyl. Since becoming an "audiophile," digital has been the medium of choice due to convenience. I have subconsciously sought out digital front ends that better approximated the ease and fluidity of vinyl. To date, I have yet to hear digital at any price point deliver in that regards (I am hoping the L7 proves to be the exception). In the next few months, I plan on scoring a turntable (Triangle).
I will have come full circle.

 

[Alrainbow]

Yes I am with you on this. I too feel like you and whT mep,is saying. As at Myles house there was a ease in the music I never heard before even with my msb stack. Especially with the open reel . I think the open reel has a little dymamics
But also the same ease in presentstion. The vinyl people are not crazy as I grew up as a headbanger and of course a TT , BUT AT 57 I know know the vinyl is better . It's full circle for me too. The first thing I did is buy every damn album Myles played to get what he had. Now Elvis is the room but Myles smells his colognes. Hahahahaa
Now given it's music memory as there was no direct comparison as yet. But in think it will remain as it is now for me.
I also think there will always be a divide in this cult war too. But there is truth in vinyl.
Now given Myles had ES speakers so detail is great ,. But I have the infinity ,s and they to give you the rap around image . So maybe if they were box speakers I would have doubts , but I do not.
A little long winded answer but this is complex stuff here .
Al

 

[marslo]

Marslo-So you were serious about that? You hit on a point that has credence. My ARC REF 5SE and REF 75 are new to my system. I sold my long term speakers I owned and bought a pair of Nola KO speakers which haven't arrived yet. So, there has been lots of changes in my system lately. I also explained all of this to the Lampi people before they sent the DAC for me to review in case they wanted to wait until after my Nola KOs arrived. I provided a complete list of my gear and they built the Level 4 DAC for me to review and shipped it to me.

I have been listening to DSD files for a fair amount of time since I bought my Mytek Stereo 192 and I think I have a good handle on what DSD brings to the table. I have praised the sound of DSD more times than I can count on WBF. I'm a believer. However, I'm not a believer that the sound of DSD is superior to either LPs or tape. It's different sounding and is the most analog sounding digital format that I have heard in my home. I just wouldn't climb out on a limb and say it sounds better than analog.

Mep,

I have not so extensive expertise with gear and hiend stuff as you do. I like the WBF very much , I want to congratulate you as a founding member, I find here a lot of usuful opinions . I am still young but already 55
Nevertheless, having bought my first TT with my father in 1970 or so ( the simplest one ) and then the best polish TT around 1981( Daniel, which I still own ) I was rather analog guy , but with limited number of vinyl recordings, just by the lack of means and offer.
Then my first real hifi gear with cd player comes in 1996 ( PS 5.1 by Focal Jm lab, Sugden and Cairn ) , then went for tubes in 2000 and since 2010 I am building the system around Avantgardes. Nearly 3 years ago I switched to files both for convenience and SQ. I dont say that DSD from Lampi sound better in every aspect than analog which still has the egde when we talk natural , organic sound. But I believe that with Lampi dsd and Aurender W20 we have 3d sound, micro and macro dynamics, resolution and timbre yet softer than pcm, more analog . This kind of presentation result IMO in an overall better SQ.

 

[Alrainbow]

YES i agree but we also need the pcm as well . i have plenty of dsd but even all the dsds is not really at same level . so to me the lampi plays pcm very well . thie lampi 7 i ahve coming i hope can do this even better then ones i have heard.
th efirst time when i herd the msb stack i have it made most of my pcm play way above what i was hearing before .
i feel we have been cheaded with our music for many years and it seems to me that only dsd or vinyl seem to be an option for great sounding audio.
al

 

[marslo]

Yes agreed, when we say rock, than we we will probably say pcm, just for harder bass .
We want all of them : good pcm , outstanding dsd and beautiful vinyls. This hobby is about music and not unique type of reproduction.

 

[Alrainbow]

Now given the three lampi ,s I have had all did pcm very we'll as well as dsd. I wait for the level 7 to hear improvements

Al

 

[Elberoth]

Did anyone try to play PCM files (after upsampling to DSD on a computer side) on the Lampi DSD ?

 

[bmoura]

Don't forget that some (like tailspn) have said one reason DSD sounds so good is that it is analog!

 

[Alrainbow]

As you have the trinity how do you play dsd . Do you use audio gate and convert or j river and up sample on the fly ?
I have up sampled it sounds ok but I feel it becomes if using as to how it should sound. As the music is now going through much more of a process.
Al

 

[Bruce B]

For my server that I use, I have both PCM and DSD and just let the software upsample all PCM to DSD, so the Lampi DSD is all I need for that system.

 

[rbbert]

For my server that I use, I have both PCM and DSD and just let the software upsample all PCM to DSD, so the Lampi DSD is all I need for that system.

Does Jriver do this now also?

 

[Alrainbow]

Yes of course it does. Just select the output you want in the DSP studio menu. Ther is hiw too,s on the internet.
Post back of you need help the little I know I can help with this.

Bruce as I have done this and others may I ask what program do you use . Also as the program does the ulsampling I am always wondering what changes it is doing to my music .
Al

 

[Bruce B]

Yes of course it does. Just select the output you want in the DSP studio menu. Ther is hiw too,s on the internet.
Post back of you need help the little I know I can help with this.

Bruce as I have done this and others may I ask what program do you use . Also as the program does the ulsampling I am always wondering what changes it is doing to my music .
Al

For my consumer setup for testing, I have 2 systems. The PC has HQplayer and the Mac has Audirvana+

I cannot detect a difference whether the PCM files have been upsampled off-line or on the fly. I'm sure this has a lot to do with my computer setup, cables and other factors.

 

[Alrainbow]

Thanks Bruce I never could either .
But I am not a pro nor claim to be. This begs the question why bother to up sample other than the purpose you have.
My msb and my mytek do it internal but I a have always wondered why ?
Al

 

[rbbert]

I wonder if the PS DirectStream sounds different with PCM it converts to DSD vs. PCM converted to DSD by the server software/hardware?

 

[Alrainbow]

I have it and it sounds a lot better than the Pwd did. But as it up samples everything it does sound nicer with PCM than the Pwd did . Not sure why though.
Al

 

[rbbert]

I have it and it sounds a lot better than the Pwd did. But as it up samples everything it does sound nicer with PCM than the Pwd did . Not sure why though.
Al

You use Jriver, right? So you could do the comparison I suggested.

 

[Alrainbow]

With the direct stream you cannot do this it starts to click . It must be dsd to do dsd over dop. You can up sample say 24/96 to 24/192 . This works but I do not hear a change .
Al

 

[tsaett]

Bruce,

I have a DSD & PCM Lampi also at the moment but I don't get any sound from it with DSD, just silence. PCM works fine.
I used both JRiver/Windows and Audirvana/Mac, same silence.
I tried to troubleshoot this with Lukasz, but we couldn't get it to work.
My problem sounds similar to what you experienced in your stereomojo review, would you be so kind to tell me how you fixed your issue?
I thought I ask you before sending the unit back to service.

Thanks in advance
Christoph

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce,

I have a DSD & PCM Lampi also at the moment but I don't get any sound from it with DSD, just silence. PCM works fine.
I used both JRiver/Windows and Audirvana/Mac, same silence.
I tried to troubleshoot this with Lukasz, but we couldn't get it to work.
My problem sounds similar to what you experienced in your stereomojo review, would you be so kind to tell me how you fixed your issue?
I thought I ask you before sending the unit back to service.

Thanks in advance
Christoph

The problem I had was Audirvana+ needed to be set to DSD over DoP. Everything worked fine after that.