Lampi pacific in the House

Alrainbow · May 19, 2018

Sorry for my misunderstanding you and when I re read your post I realized it.
All I can say is if you heard the inprovemt from gui to non now imagine having a second machine running hq and upsampling that is very resource intensive. I don’t upsample my music for me it’s always better. But this has to do with dacs and presence. Upsampling has some virtues to it but has bad as well. Dsd 512 is the sweet spot for dsd upsampling though
i made a crazy fast sever latest I7 all out assault to do it. In the end it’s just not for me.

Randy Myers · May 19, 2018

Thx... I am glad you like HQPlayer and Roon. I totally agree... can't beat the combination. The T+A DAC8 DSD is the first one listed by HQPlayer on their recommended list. I will not try to say it compares to a Lampi, obviously it does not... but for me it is fantastic and surprisingly good in its price range. It considered to be a DSD specialist... and the up-samples sound great. I just compared a 44.1khz recording to the up-sampled and it was very dry, much less dynamics, bass was flat, impact was far less, and cymbals, bells, etc. were much worse when compared to the DSD512 48k base clock up-sampled.

Alrainbow · May 19, 2018

The t and a dac was made to upsample to dsd and it does not surprise me when it’s out of its design zone it’s not optimal. It’s tough to get it all.
The pacific dac does very good pcm so good I don’t care if it’s dsd or not anymore
while it’s dsd is outstanding most music we love is pcm even if over tidal.
If you have a second desk top or even a laptop try using it as roon sever and your present one
as the hq dac pc and upsample there.
If you have a extra sss drive just put a few good tracks on it to listen too.
Also you could try using the non audio one for hq and try not upsampling and upsampling as well. The virtue of two pcs especially in upsampling are very obvious

Randy Myers · May 19, 2018

I certainly understand the advantages to having more power... I am going to soon try off loading to Cuda cores. My one son will be returning my GXT980 soon. I will try the off loading after getting this card back in place.

The PC is doing pretty good as it is though. Why I got the machine originally from Falcon is their custom built cases and that they always have access to hand picked, best of the lot parts, being that they are the original custom PC builder.

Alrainbow · May 20, 2018

I tried coda offload as well. For me it does not onrpbe sound and made things not what I like
I had conversations with miska a nice man and makes a great product
having said this he is fixated on upsampling and it’s filters as I don’t up sample I feel it’s time or resources not spent well. Again my thoughts and there are plent who love doing this. I do feel if I had them in my room and allowed them to hear it both ways I have little doubt in the result being in my favor.

jadedavid · May 20, 2018

A nice shoot out on the same system (allowing for the different source requirements) would be Pacific PCM vs T&A 512.
That I would like to hear

Marslo · May 20, 2018

I had the opportunity to audition SGM server with HQ player plus Roon and T+A Dac 8 , everything was upsampled to 512 fs at Geoff Armstrong galerie in Monaco.
Despite the technical excellence of the sound I was not sure that it’ s the way to go- every recording sounded more or less the same.
For me too much upsampling and processing kills the soul of music , I am in the camp of „ native” pcm hires and dsd reproduction .

Alrainbow · May 20, 2018

I had two opertunities to have the SGM in my room. Both times I could not be there.
So what I did do is do extensive windows 10/SER 2012 /server 2016 on one machine so all hardware was the same. One hard drive three partitions.
All AO optimized
I have many versions of win 10
Even enterprise and versions made custom by shutting down services in both scripts and software revisions
After all was done win 10 does not have the magic of 2012 and far from 2016
Again my observations done By me and a Calibration Of a certified windows tech. We both have come to the same conclusions.
Yes he feels the same of upsampling too. But that is preference to some degree and if one has a T and A dac the choice has been forged at purchase
One of my machines can do any upsampling Scheme with hq player alone. It’s just not a winner for me.
As for a shootout yes love the concept but the pacific is far above most any dac and for me beyond even the Msb sel 2 even in red-book
Dsd while still best on-a lampi it’s is pcm that is the standout now.
dsp is much like upsampling in that it becomes the sound of the music As marslo posted it makes much of the music the same.
What makes an ultra system over just hifi is this change of track to track. Even the slight change in tone or loudness of vocals and instruments. It’s something you don’t know is there until your system can show you this.
Find a dsd of Ella and Louis
title track is why can’t we be friends
Ellla is a wonderful vocalist of the best of her time and now
in the song you can hear her slightly vary her sound level oh so little but it’s this that lets you know you have risen above the pack below that is Littered with almost there dacs.

Randy Myers · May 20, 2018

I would love to have a Lampi, and I fully expect it would be vastly superior to my T+A. It better be to be honest at $30,000 versus $4200. However, in a budget that I can afford I do not believe I could find a better over all sound then I am achieving with Roon -> HQPlayer -> DSD512 - 48 (24.6MHz) -> T+A DAC8 DSD.

Several members of our local audio club have came over during several phases of the upgrades. Many are vinyl enthusiasts also. They all believe that this digital setup is outstanding.

No one in our club has a Lampi, unfortunately, but we do have some good setups. I would say probably only one member plays at the same level you do however

.... He is more of a vinyl guy though. His digital setup is using a dCS... however his current main gear is MBL, pre-amp, mono amps, speakers.... not sure what table he has, but I know he is using an ARC Ref10 phono stage.

The Lampi sounds like it would be amazing and I would love the opportunity to have one. I have a lot of PCM albums, both hi-rez downloads and CD rips, and many DSDs.... again both downloads and SACD rips. Mostly DSD64 (271 albums), but several DSD128 (20 albums), and DSD256 (13 albums). With something like the Lampi I may not be so inclined to up sample, but HQPlayer and my T+A DAC sound much better running everything at 24.6 (or 24M6 as T+A displays it).

Alrainbow · May 20, 2018

thank you your honest posts it’s truely nice to post and not get bashed
very kind of you may I ask where you live ?
And the name of your club. Also analog and digital are not the same as they should not be I feel. My best music is sourced from tape or vinyl to dsd as such it’s still the pinicle for me.
What digital is the preservation and simplistic playing of our music in a slightly different view.
Both are penthouse apartments lol just facing different Mountain View’s.

Randy Myers · May 20, 2018

Nipomo, CA is on the Central Coast of California. About halfway between LA and SF. Our audio club is called Central Coast Audio Club (real inventive there

)....

Alrainbow · May 20, 2018

Hahaa let me let lampi know. Never know who has what and where

Randy Myers · May 20, 2018

Very cool. I have always loved the idea of a Lampi, but never have had the opportunity of playing with one.

Gopher · May 25, 2018

Randy Myers said:
I would love to have a Lampi, and I fully expect it would be vastly superior to my T+A. It better be to be honest at $30,000 versus $4200. However, in a budget that I can afford I do not believe I could find a better over all sound then I am achieving with Roon -> HQPlayer -> DSD512 - 48 (24.6MHz) -> T+A DAC8 DSD.

Several members of our local audio club have came over during several phases of the upgrades. Many are vinyl enthusiasts also. They all believe that this digital setup is outstanding.

No one in our club has a Lampi, unfortunately, but we do have some good setups. I would say probably only one member plays at the same level you do however .... He is more of a vinyl guy though. His digital setup is using a dCS... however his current main gear is MBL, pre-amp, mono amps, speakers.... not sure what table he has, but I know he is using an ARC Ref10 phono stage.

The Lampi sounds like it would be amazing and I would love the opportunity to have one. I have a lot of PCM albums, both hi-rez downloads and CD rips, and many DSDs.... again both downloads and SACD rips. Mostly DSD64 (271 albums), but several DSD128 (20 albums), and DSD256 (13 albums). With something like the Lampi I may not be so inclined to up sample, but HQPlayer and my T+A DAC sound much better running everything at 24.6 (or 24M6 as T+A displays it).

FWIW, I have not heard the T+A myself, but this was an interesting review/comparison to the LampizatOr Atlantic in stock configuration: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/lampizator2/1.html

Mr Peabody · May 25, 2018

Gopher, is the Amber still current, if so, what's the price these days. For anyone who might read the thread or be interested in Lampizator DAC's it could be helpful to show where the line begins, that one don't have to spend five figures to get their feet wet.

Gopher · May 25, 2018

Mr Peabody said:
Gopher, is the Amber still current, if so, what's the price these days. For anyone who might read the thread or be interested in Lampizator DAC's it could be helpful to show where the line begins, that one don't have to spend five figures to get their feet wet.

Good idea, Mr. P.

Yes, there are indeed several more affordable options for the Lampi DACs coming in under 5,000 Euro

The Amber 2 is indeed still in the line up and is an absurdly nice piece. It starts at 2000 Euro and like the rest of our lineup, it is competent as is, but could be configured to meet ones needs (volume control, fully balanced, tube rectification etc.)

The Atlantic is a step up from the Amber. It starts at 4000 Euro and can also be configured to meet ones needs. It also comes in a Golden Atlantic "statement" which is what the Golden Gate is to the Big 7 line

From there is the 7 series (DHT DACs) which made the brand famous and starts at 5000 Euro

Alrainbow · May 26, 2018

Stay tuned part two coming shortly .

Alrainbow · May 28, 2018

PART 2:

It's been more than three weeks since the Pacific was installed in my system in this time I have played my now all new music hours each day . My comment of all new music is for me the most dramatic part of this dac. What I mean by my music is all new is a window into reproduction that seems correct and untainted by a house sound of the dac. No dac I have ever had in my system nor ever heard did not have a house sound. Many post of the virtues of a great dacs' house sound . In the past I too was onboard with this concept as a virtue as well. Over time a good audio bud has helped me bring my system to a new level of transparency . Let me describe transparency because some use this very needed word with varying interpretations.

For me it's a clear window , with glass so clear that any changes are observed without having to look for it. For me changes that are not noticed immediately are ok as some changes for me need a few mins to a few hours to really be digested. Once I learn it , it now becomes one more facet in pursuing better sound. There are many aspects of sonic change that's good , bad and ugly but any change must be heard and understood. Have you ever played a song perhaps on Tidal and now remastered on MQA . At first play it may wow you or underwhelm you. This is the immediate reaction and this may be the final one, but it never should be the only one used for final judgement. What this means is that time is needed for our brains to learn what's new to your senses. I have many times loved or liked fast, but always over time there is more depth underneath this initial reaction. A transparent system allows for minute changes to have layers or levels of details that produces an end result of "like or not".

My perspective of perceived changes may not bethe absolute reference, due to many reasons: systems vary greatly as does our own hearing . So how does one person write a review that can be read and then fully appreciated by others? My answer is a deep explanation of each change, and my own explanation of the words I use. After all, there really is little in audio we all agree on and even the words we use to describe are heavily debated.

Listening to the same music on multiple systems is essential for me. So how does one accomplish this large task? For me, I use various forms of playback systems I own and know very well. Headphones are a great tool and of course I also enjoy them. Only a few headphones I own or have heard yield sound I feel is like my massive IRS V sound . No headphone gives the wall of sound or the "you are there" illusion like these speakers. However, some get close enough in staging, but more important is the varying transparency that I use as a tool/guage. I define a varying transparency as the varying levels of details each system yields, but even in this variance there is enough commonality to show me what’s real and what’s made up. Some dacs add bass on every song. Some add false dynamics as well. Playing my known music on many setups gives me views I need to show me a better truth in what’s real or not.

The most speaker-like headphone I own is the Hifiman HE6. A great headphone that is very difficult to make sound right. A big amp (far more than most headphone amps) is needed. Once you have it done right it's a whole new vista into the music layering that gives me many details I can use to compare to my speakers . So why use headphones or even more than one system or amp? This is far more important than you may think! The Pacific dac in my opinion has little to no "sound" of its own and just by rolling tubes shows any variation in reproduction . The answer is to confirm what the music has that is common to more than one setup. This shows me more of what is originally there and less of what is put there subsequently. Are there parts of the music put there by the playback chain? This method and others are used as a baseline for any dac I use. Using this method with other dacs, amps, headphones, CIEMS gives me much more details to judge by.

Each song has its own mix of sound and album to album must show very prominent changes. Have you ever played a few songs from one album and noticed big changes from one track to another? Well, any one track to the next should have changes, some even as the mix is changed during the song. Transparency and playing this music in different setups shows me what's really common to all music. Many dacs pick and and choose what we hear. My conclusion is the Pacific does not intrude, it simply passes through only what's in the music. In many ways the dac is passive; this is a word I'll bet no one may have used in a description yet it's a very big virtue to have. Passive does not mean it does nothing. In my terms, it's the ultimate of non invasive sound reproduction . After all, we want to hear our music reproduced without a flavor. In using many forms of playback and many dacs I can better confirm just how transparent or passive this dac is.

Tube rolling any Lampi is a virtue that may seem complex and one could even ask why do I need to do this. When you go to a steak house and order your steak, do you let them pick the cut or how it's cooked and what sides it comes with ? In owning many dacs over the years each having a steadfast sound always puzzled me and using an EQ is just too dark a path to go down . So all that is left is the sound THAT manufacturer feels is best for all. That alone is scary for me. Now as I have said the Pacific is so transparent, it can have a varying sound scale by rolling tubes . Each set of tubes has its own sound, not massive, but enough to vary the sound to better tailor to anyone's system . We all have varying likes and playing varying genre some may feel needs an appropriately matched tube type. Tube rolling yields a treasure trove of sound changes that is very rewarding.

In the next installment I will delve into tube rolling with previous Lampi dacs and with the Pacific . The Pacific brings tube rolling to a new level of refinement .