What’s new in the Tube DAC world.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by russk, Dec 2, 2019.

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  1. russk

    russk Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    Say from 2017 till present. Is Line Magnetic coming out with a new one soon? Looking for info and options in the under 3K range.
     
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  2. OC Zed

    OC Zed Bludgeon Riffola

    Location:
    Costa Mesa, CA
    PrimaLuna has their tube DAC listed at $2,999. I haven't heard it myself, but there has been some nice press around it.
     
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  3. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    Border Patrol DAC?
     
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  4. Melvin

    Melvin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    MHDT Lab Orchid.
     
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  5. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    Old is new again.
     
  6. russk

    russk Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    I’ve heard the Boarder Patrol DAC and it wasn’t for me. I missed the Primaluna and never heard of the Orchid. They look interesting.

    Any other suggestions ?
     
  7. displayname

    displayname Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas
    The PrimaLuna is probably getting the most press recently. I have heard the Musical Paradise MP-D2 and every time I've heard it I enjoyed it, often more than solid state well regarded DACs. It's under your budget even when fully upgraded. If I was upgrading the digital end right now, that would be on my short list. But my budget would be under $2K as well.
    MP-D2 MK3 DELUXE ES9038PRO AK4497 AK4490 TUBE DAC
     
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  8. russk

    russk Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    Looks very interesting. I take it that it is a Chinese company? Not saying that in a bad way.
     
  9. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    The tube in the Border Patrol is in the power supply, not the signal path; it also does not have to be activated-- that is, you can run the unit without turning the tube on.
     
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  10. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Suggestion to forget the tubes and get a Mytek Brooklyn. Best sounding digital have ever heard, lives up to the hype and then some.
     
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  11. mreeter

    mreeter Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kansas City
    I've had a Lampizator Amber 3 in house for a couple of weeks. Its a great sounding DAC, that has put my Vinyl set-up on notice.

    Tube Rectified with one driver tube and one tube in the Output Stage, so rolling is easy on the bank, and in your price range @ $2750.

    Amber 3 DAC — LampizatOr North America

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2019
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  12. Subagent

    Subagent down the rabbit hole, they argue over esoterica

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    I can't seem to find any detail (technical or otherwise) on the Amber DAC at the link you provided. Am I missing it?
     
  13. mreeter

    mreeter Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kansas City
    Click on Digital Converters, shows the different models.

    Also,https://www.lampizatorpoland.com
     
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  14. Subagent

    Subagent down the rabbit hole, they argue over esoterica

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    I suspect that it's the hour, or perhaps Chrome, or possibly the Universe keeping me safe, but I cannot find one single technical description or even a just a simple description of the technology used in the Amber DAC. I'm tempted to rant about useless websites but as soon as I do, I'll notice the link/dropdown/flashing neon button that leads to what I'm looking for.
     
  15. kstaken

    kstaken Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, Az
    Line magnetic is shipping their updated lm-32 DAC now.
     
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  16. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I am not terribly interested if a thing happens to be SS or Tube just whether it does the job of being musically satisfying - I just reviewed a great sounding integrated amplifier - one of the best i have ever heard and it happens to be a Solid State amplifier. And that would apply to a DAC or CD player. It's just that I tend to speak in generalities where generally speaker the best tube amplifiers are better than the best SS amplifiers (or I maybe should say most expensive versus most expensive).

    And then what is it doing in the rest of the system. ArtK who posts here sometimes and I both have had Line Magnetic - I have their DAC and he had their top CD player and we both had their entry CD players. He wound up buying the Border Patrol and I bought the Audio Note DAC 0.1x both of which use the same converter chip and no oversampling approach - both of us think the NOS DAC sounds better than the Line Magnetic units - though they are all quite good compared to most of the stuff out there. And the LM 502CA DAC sounds much better in tube mode than Solid State to the point that the Solid State mode must be there as simply to illustrate how much better the tube stage is??? The tube stage in the LM serves more as a buffer which ultimately lessons its appeal and has a sort of sound that never goes away - like an imprint of tubeyness.

    As usual what DAC works in one system may or with one transport may not work in/with another.
     
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  17. displayname

    displayname Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas
    Canadian company but Chinese manufacturing.
     
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  18. mreeter

    mreeter Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kansas City
    This Review also has the specs included.

    LampizatOr Amber III Hi-Res DAC - Positive Feedback
     
  19. Subagent

    Subagent down the rabbit hole, they argue over esoterica

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    mreeter likes this.
  20. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    details?


    i'll bite. what was the SS integrated amp?
     
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  21. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    The LM 32DAC is somewhat similar to the previous dac. They have added DSD capability to the new unit.

    - Inputs: 1x AES/EBU, 1x Coaxial, 1x BNC, 1x Optical, 1x USB-B
    - Outputs: 1x RCA, 1x XLR
    - Sampling Rate PCM: 44.1KHz, 48KHz, 88.2KHz, 96KHz, 176.4KHz, 192KHz, 352.8KHz, 384KHz
    - Sampling rate DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256
    - Frequency Response : 15Hz-50KHz
    - S/N Ratio : 92dB(tube) / 98dB(solid state)
    - THD: 0.5%(tube) / 0.02%(solid state)
    - Digital Input Impedance :75Ω
    - Output Impedance : 2KΩ(tube) / 600Ω(solid state)
    - Dynamic Range:120dB
    - Output Level : 3V±0.5dB (tube) / 2.5V±0.5dB (solid state)
    - Dimension(W*D*H) : 430mm*325mm*105mm
    - Power Consumption: 24W

    $2195 retail in the US.
     
  22. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    nice, thanks. any idea if the CD player with the digital inputs is going to see similar updates? I do like the option to be able to pop in a CD when not feeling lazy.
     
  23. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    I've not heard of any forthcoming updates to the LM-24 to make it's dac DSD capable.
     
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  24. russmac8

    russmac8 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chandler, AZ
    Really enjoying the new Line Magnetic LM-32. I did not hear the previous version but a friend had it and hears good improvements in this new version.
     
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  25. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Review is coming. It is going through editing. Drum roll....
     
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