Light Harmonic Da Vinci DAC

[dallasjustice]

To be taken seriously as a high-end brand, selling low 5 figure electronics and low 6 figure speakers does not cut it anymore these days.....

Please explain. Are you saying the Lightharmonic is too expensive for what it offers?

 

[edorr]

Please explain. Are you saying the Lightharmonic is too expensive for what it offers?

Not at all. In fact, compared to the Magico M-Rack it is an absolute steal. I just observe a trend towards increasingly expensive electronics, and I am not sure this is driven by higher cost of build / components / R&D, or simply manufacturers marketing to a small segment of very afluent buyers that are narrowing their shortlist to ultra expensive stuff as a matter of principle. This is a well known marketing strategy.

I am reminded of walking into the Singapore tax free shop and spotting a $500 bottle of cognac. I was young and naively asked a clerk if they ever sell any of these. She indignantly replied "it is our best selling cognac". Japanese businessman pick up the $500 bottle by default.

Seriously though. How much this DAC is "worth", how much it costs to design / build and how good it is I have no idea. I personally have no issue with ulta expensive stuff at all, and if you spend a good amount of time listening to music is all well worth the money.

 

[dallasjustice]

I think it's priced competitively when you compare it to the competition, to the extent there is any.

 

[edorr]

I think it's priced competitively when you compare it to the competition, to the extent there is any.

Pricewise the competition would be MSB and dCS. How all this stuff compares sonically is anyone's guess. I believe I read about someone preferring the (cheaper) EMM labs DAC2X over the lightharmonic though (on computer audiophile).

 

[Bruce B]

Pricewise the competition would be MSB and dCS. How all this stuff compares sonically is anyone's guess.

I compared it directly to both the Playback and MSB and preferred those over the Davinci

 

[dallasjustice]

I compared it directly to both the Playback and MSB and preferred those over the Davinci

Did you compare them in your studio? Did your Davinci have DSD or PCM only? Thanks for your feedback.

 

[edorr]

I compared it directly to both the Playback and MSB and preferred those over the Davinci

I have an MSB signature (with galaxy clock) on the way for a shootout against my EMM Labs. Should be interesting .... Based on the pics of your MSB stack you posted it looks like you have an MSB signature as well. Is this correct?

 

[Bruce B]

Did you compare them in your studio? Did your Davinci have DSD or PCM only? Thanks for your feedback.

I compared them in my room at RMAF over 3 days. Yes, the Davinci was playing DSD

 

[michael123]

I think it's priced competitively when you compare it to the competition, to the extent there is any.

Sure.
2 yrs ago they introduced the piece at less than 10K$, at last year's CES it was at 20K$ already and now it is 31K$.


I would say that at 10K$ it was more competitive than it is today

 

[Larry Ho]

Hi, Michael

Just for few clarification. When we introduce DaVinci DAC (PCM only version) in 2011, there is a brief introduction price @ 12,000. After 5 months, we found that the cost is really too high related to that price so we finally settle at $20,000 USD for domestic market. And never change since then.

$31,000 is the price for Da Vinci Dual DAC which we completely add another DSD decoding engine and analog output stage inside with dedicated power supply & regulation. Actually beside the sharing USB front end (with DoP version 1.1), the
rest of DSD path is a dedicated and totally separated DAC so we could optimize for DSD music signal. So there is a price $11K gap here.

And yes, we are trying hard to make another DAC that can fit in lower price range.

Larry

 

[Larry Ho]

Hi, Bruce

Please wait to hear our production version of DSD. You might like it more...

We just expand our office and factory to a new place. Hope I can get some free time to visit you around the end of Feb. or early Mar.

Larry

 

[JackD201]

Hey there Larry As you know, I'm in line for a Dual DAC as the Da Vinci that was meant to be the demo unit was sold after less than 48hours. Luckily the client's new penthouse is under construction so I am enjoying it in the meantime.

Just to let you know, there is keen interest in the Server. Even more keen if the server will also support video (TV and Movies via iTunes + BluRay and DVD) and have an HDMi output for video and surround sound aside from PCM and DSD through the analog outputs. 12TB is a LOT of space.

 

[dallasjustice]

These types of DACs are expensive to build and sound superior to most everything out there to my ears. I heard the Davinci in Bruce's hotel room as well as in the room with the Von Schweikerts in Denver. The Davinci sounded alot better on the Von Schweikerts. Everyone has their preferences. As someone that has spent time with and owned an NOS discrete resistor ladder dac and a fine quality discrete resistor SDM DAC, there is one undeniable truth: They do not sound the same. It's almost like solid state and tubes. I prefer transistor amps, but I would never tell a tube lover that their amp is inferior to mine. That's a preference. I also applaud Larry and his team for bringing this DAC to market. I want to encourage variety and real options not the same old tired SDM DAC designs.

 

[Larry Ho]

Hi, Jack

Thanks. Just want you to know your new Dual DAC will be ready to ship in next few weeks. And we all love the sound we heard in several U.S dealers' room.

 

[Larry Ho]

Thank you, Dallas.

And I agree with your point. We should encourage variety and options. We build Da Vinci based on the assumptions that 384K/DxD and DSD music will be the major stream of digital playback. We design around that. Our approach is somehow different than many excellent DACs on the market and we are confident this new approach could provide music lovers another nice options.

Cheers,

 

[dallasjustice]

Larry,
My dealer Scotty Warren says that you guys will be shipping his dual unit soon as well. I look forward to hearing it in my room. I will be particularly interested in how it compare with my TotalDac D1 which is a very similar design. Thanks again.

Thank you, Dallas.

And I agree with your point. We should encourage variety and options. We build Da Vinci based on the assumptions that 384K/DxD and DSD music will be the major stream of digital playback. We design around that. Our approach is somehow different than many excellent DACs on the market and we are confident this new approach could provide music lovers another nice options.

Cheers,

 

[LL21]

Larry,
My dealer Scotty Warren says that you guys will be shipping his dual unit soon as well. I look forward to hearing it in my room. I will be particularly interested in how it compare with my TotalDac D1 which is a very similar design. Thanks again.

Please post impressions when you can!

 

[Larry Ho]

I'm looking forward to know as well.

 

[Roysen]

Hi, Larry.

I know its early days yet but I am also very curious about the upcoming Light Harmonic Source and Light Harmonic Streamer. Are there any details you might want to share with us about these products at this time? I know some details were already revealed at CES this January. I have reserved a spot in one of my systems for the Source/Streamer/Dual DAC combination instead of a planned MSB combination.

Thanks,
Roysen

 

[Larry Ho]

Hi, Roysen

I saw your location. We have a wonderful distributor in this region. www.audioconcept.se Hope Robert could help you arrange the audition when the full set is ready.
Dual DAC is ready to ship in next few weeks. The Source (music server) will be the next, then Streamer.

For source, we are finalizing the software UI part for iPad. We try to make this UI as intuitive as possible. Also, testing few final RAID candidates to make it "future prove".
6T bytes ~ 12T bytes with hot swap capability is our target. After few years, if 12TB (12,000 GB) still not enough, then you just need to spend some little more money to
build a bunch of new hard drives then migrate. (It will take quite some "time" to transfer the music library though, )

Streamer will be very useful for your mobile devices. We want to create something really different, reach out the broader scope of potential music lovers. Right now, we are fine tuning
the 3L buffer stage, which kills jitter via wireless transmission, for different wireless music source. Including AirPlay, Blue tooth, Blue tooth with ATP-X.

Cheers,
Larry