duffer5,
I’m going to do my own personal shootout. May the best Dac win. I’m not captivated by the OTT bling or great unboxing experience but I’m very interested in how it sounds in my setup. I’ll let you know what I think when it arrives.
There may be an r26 for sale.
StandardModel
I am not a fan of the gold bling either but I do like what the reviewers have to say about the audio quality. Very promising.
I’m hopeful that their i2s adjustments will talk to one of theTWO RS 130 configurations.
I think you will have success. Enjoy the new toy.
Here’s another review by iiWi Reviews.
He went crazy over it.
You might want to watch.
Mine arrives today.
StandardModel
I have been playing it.
It is a work of art.
The sound far surpasses my Gustard R26 r2r Dac.
StandardModel
How is the i2s working for you?
Duffer5,
This was my question too. I sent them the settings from the RS 130 and asked for his advice. One of the issues is that they only give settings for some of the HDMI pinouts and not all of them. Here was the response of Weng Fai Hoh of LAiV:
“Thank you for sharing details about your system setup with me. While the Harmony DAC follows the I2S from PS Audio, the HDMI pin configuration you provided for the Rose RS130 doesn’t seem to match exactly. Based on this information, selecting B mode on your Rose RS130 and Mode 1 on the Harmony DAC should work effectively. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.”
It’s working perfectly.
I’m actually using the RS130 through I2S and the Mac operating the Bacch4Mac software playing Roon through my iPad. The Mac Mini is connected through USB. I can switch between the Harmony and Roon with Bacch4Mac by changing inputs on the LAiV Harmony Dac.
I’m a long way from an expert on analyzing sound, however I know what I like and it sounds a lot better to me than my Gustard r26 r2r Dac. Some reviewers said was more “bright” than the other Dacs. I don’t find that to be the case.
StandardModel.
@StandardModel
I can see your a closet audiophile. 
I am saving up for the Laiv too.
I have a Denafrips Ares II that is very good but lacks some things that my old dac did better (and added things that that one lacked). The Laiv Harmony ticks many boxes for me.
Great R2R sound without being syrupy
Beautiful design
Usable display
Remote
Small formfactor
Very decent price for the quality offered
Lacks native DSD
Lacks volume control (for direct to monoblocks) will be added by upcoming pre/HP-amp. Not really an issue.
I was saving up for a Denafrips Venus 12th but that’s really bulky in my rack and lacks a remote and proper screen to tell which input and sampling rate.
If some reviewer said it was more “bright”; you need to see that in the proper context. I find my Ares to be a bit ‘round’ and syrupy in the highs compared to my old 8xTDA1543 dac I modified. All Denafrips have that non-fatiguing high (especially the Ares). People who don’t ‘get’ ladder DACs say that all R2R DACs are rolled off. That is not true. It’s the other way around, FPGA and SD DACs use oversampling, lots of filtering and elaborate I/V stage that causes artificial detail and ‘sparkle’ caused by pre-ringing. Unless you tackle it properly. There are exemptions.
R2R just sounds more ‘real’ (pre-ringing in nature is physically impossible).
Here is another review by Hifi (Steve) Huff who knows his stuff.
I just need to be patient and save up a little longer. I’m not that rich.
Closet audiophile? I call it WAF. 
StandardModel
I’m still not sure if I should buy one or not. My current DAC Board is already in a higher range. Maybe I save my money and wait for a used Mola Mola Tambaqui. The design of the Harmony DAC is nice.
I know what you mean with WAF - since mine is gone, my setup growed quickly 
Schauen Sie sich auch diesen an. Deutsche Verarbeitung. 
It’s ugly
Yes, but it’s the inner values that count.
Of course, but when you spend large amounts of money, in my point of view, both performance and form factor and aesthetics are necessary. For this reason I chose the Rose which is aesthetically beautiful and offers high level performance. The next component that I would like to have and that I will certainly purchase will be the LAiv Harmony DAC which presents high level performance and exceptional, if not currently unique, modes of use.
You are absolutely right with your statement.
I just wanted to show what is being developed in Germany. I hadn’t yet tried the expensive high-end ones like T+A or Burmester. (click link below⬇️) I actually just wanted to show that there is also relatively affordable high end.
Speaking of which:
I have the Rose RS520…it still plays and I’m happy with it.
Ist doch unvergleichbar.
Edit: allerdings nichts gegen den T+A . Das steht doch für Titten und Arsch? Innere Werte sind schön, aber das Auge will auch was.
Der 200 dac ist vor allem geeignet für native DSD (upsampled by PC), PCM ist eher mittelmäßig. Beide werden getrennt verarbeitet. Also nicht optimal geeignet icm Rose Streamer. /Edit
I know we all like to support our own countries manufacturers and so on and so forth. But you are spamming expensive products that have nothing to do with this topic. On this site.
We were talking about an R2R dac. Which is something Rose Audio is not offering. And a lot of people prefer over Sigma Delta for obvious reasons. That is not competition but an alternative.
Edit: Translated: the T+A has two seperate DACs for PCM and DSD (like from a PC upsampled to DSD). The DSD dac is the main attraction, the pcm dac is just mediocre (good but a lot less competitive at this price level). So the T+A 200 is not really a good match for Rose streamers (unless you have a lot of native DSD music stored).
