Oh no, after I just bought a new LAiV Dac!
Can you give a little more info? URL?
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Details pending, making its debut tomorrow in Munich. Pure speculation on if it is a DAC or something else. I suspect DAC.
Could you tell us where exactly in Munich it will be presented? I could go and see
We will soon see what it is. At least, Hifi Rose decided to change the distributor here in Switzerland (and probably also in EU). the old distributor was very unfriendly and not willing to help with an device, that was not bought in switzerland (strange in a global market).
They need to change in the US as well.
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I’ve just ordered the Harmony - what do you think of it? Any issues with the I2S connectivity?
Chiller61,
None.
It was instant and worked perfectly.
Although they have many options for I2S, it seemed to self select the appropriate connection.
Very happy with it.
You will be too.
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Duffer 5,
Nothing special. Plain old Monoprice HDMI.
As an Electrical Engineer, I can’t figure out why special cables (made by virgins, etc) matter at such low frequencies (HDMI 2.0 18.0 Gbit/s). At TeraHertz (between100 GHz and 10 THz, or wavelengths between 3 mm and 30 μm) cables matter a lot because of the skin effect. At these frequencies (HDMI), not so much. Still, I’m not an expert in how things sound so I could be wrong.
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How would you compare the Harmony to other DACS you’ve owned and what were they? I’ve been a Denafrips fanboy for my last 3 - currently listening to a T2 - 12th…
Chiller61,
I’m not an expert on the intricacies of sound reviews. I have been into design and listening to audio from an engineering standpoint for sixty years. My sense is that the Denafrips Terminator2 12th is a very fine Dac. Some reviewers have said that LAiV Harmony is better but I don’t personally know as my Dac experience as far as owning them is somewhat limited. I’m probably not the best person to compare the two Dacs. I have a Gustard r26 r2r Dac and to me, the LAiV Harmony sounds better. On the AVS forum I’m being raked over the coals for spending more than$100.00 on a Dac because they say in double blind tests nobody can tell the difference.
YMMV
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Well, here’s something new from HiFi Rose Shown at Munich:
There’s a new HiFi Rose RD 160 Dac on the way in August. $5-6,000.
Looking at the front display it looks like the Dac uses a Delta Sigma Dac chip with possible ASIC modifications. Obviously, this is just a guess. Anyone have any more details?
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Well, it certainly looks nice, although I wish Rose would choose one design language and stick to it.
This is good news because the RS130 deserves to be accompanied by a worthy DAC from the brand.
But I am disappointed with the design well below the RS130 and I hate the rotary control on the light front copied from the design of the Harman/Kardon Home Cinema Receiver from the 2000s.
We are far below on this point the RS130 with its refined design and therefore very very classy. Where did the Rose logo pierced above go?
The good news is the very complete connectivity (USB SFP, clock input etc… but I have never been a fan of the Delta Sigma DAC. If the peripheral implementation (analog parts) is top notch why not?
Maybe an RD 130 is in the pipeline?
No need to worry.
This new dac is costly and looks like a mate for the RS130. It has the AKM4499(something) dac-chip, which is the same chip as in the original RS150 (no A) from before the factory burned down, or the newer EX version. That is a very nice flagship chip to build on with velvetssound technology. Smooth sound and fast.
However, the Laiv is a discrete R2R DAC which sounds more natural. It’s a different dac system (at half the price). What could set it apart is DSP features (like in inbuilt dac on the streamers) with equaliser. And volume.
The RD160 will be a fine dac, I’m sure. But it’s a choice for sigma delta.