Golden Gate DAC arrives.

CGabriel said:

Has anyone here compared the Lampizator to the SOTA DACs? MSB, Trinity, Vivaldi etc.

We have a GG on order and are looking forward to hearing what it can do.

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One more for you

Elberoth said:

The Lampi Big 7 is much better than the The MSB Diamond DAC IV (even the plus version, with Galaxy Femto Clock option). I had both (and still own Lampi).

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And now there is the Balanced edition of the Golden Gate to consider....
http://lampizator.eu/Fikus/TRUE_BALANCED_DSD_DAC.html

Hi yes, the Lampi changes character based on the power cord which makes it more enjoyable. Adding mooks under it also transforms it tremendously. What I like about it is that not only does it sound great out of the box, but is also a tweakophile's wet dream with tubes, cords and isolation all affecting its sonics in a big way.

Blue58 said:

GG breaking in nicely with PCM now sounding even better than the AA, the initial smooth character has ameliorated and replaced by greater clarity and deeper soundstage. DSD still sounds the same, ie. Analogue like and immediately apparent to all who heard it today.

Bonzo and Spirit just popped over and I believe they were happy to have heard it. Not sure I changed Bonzo's view of the Duo's but at least it gave them a good workout today. The Duos not B and S.

The more I listen the more I want it. Sure wish I had a Uptone Audio Regen to play with. Mine due mid June.
Anyway, back to the music.
Cheers
Blue

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Yup,

Greg told me that the Mundorf caps are known to take up to 5 months to break in fully. Thus many months of the PCM improving is what you have to look forward to in the GG.

Here is a Big7 with the regen in Munich: http://www.audiostream.com/content/lampizator-hq-player-audiopax-avante-garde-digital-done-right

That is the Regen with Tellurium Q USB cable.

I have a Regen with the Corning Optical USB cable and stock SMPS powering the Regen on my Big7 and its a WOW! I cant wait for the upgraded AMBER Regen to use "normal" USB cabling and compare to the Corning.

Blue58,
Me too. Very interesting read. Have to approache " Mr Sablon" . Btw, do you have any experience with top acrolinks powering lampi and La Fontaine?

Wisnon,

I wonder if this Uptone Audio Regen device may improve the sound if usb cable is only one strand transmitting only data but not the 5v supply.
I am using a custom version of jcat reference and when connected to big 7 I switch off the ps of the usb audio output from the aurender side.
What's your opinion?

marslo said:

Wisnon,

I wonder if this Uptone Audio Regen device may improve the sound if usb cable is only one strand transmitting only data but not the 5v supply.
I am using a custom version of jcat reference and when connected to big 7 I switch off the ps of the usb audio output from the aurender side.
What's your opinion?

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Marslo, in a word…YES.

Clean power is just a side goal of the Regen, not the main one.
It doesnt improve the sound of the cable per se.

JS did his experimentation and found out that USB packet noise is not a continuing stream, but rather a relay. Packet noise causes low signal integrity and that causes the PHY (physical layer of the USB receiver apparatus) to work harder and create ITS OWN noise downstream, eg in the Dac itself. So the noise you experience in the dac didnt come from upstream, rather the upstream noise dies, BUT, it induces the Dac's USB receiver to create new commensurate noise. These noises have at least 2 sources, in the PHY and the MAC. Regen does nothing to the MAC and that noise continues unabated. Not much can be done for that at present by any developed system. However, the PHY noise can be and is addressed by the Regen. In optimizing the Power Distribution Network (PDN) in the Regen (which is basically a specialized/high quality USB hub), carefully matching impedance (with the multi layer PCB plus carefully inserted resistors) and finally running separate power (this is about having a different grounding pathway from the Dac), the Regen causes a significant decrease in induced packet noise generation in the Dac. You block the handovver of the baton in the noise relay. He also somehow manages to lower the overall impedance in the Dac itself, which he asserts is a very good thing.

In summary, given his objectives and the fact that the Regen is placed as close as possible to the Dac's USB receiver (solid metal adapter is best), then the USB cable coming from the source to the Dac is less important and separate from the "magic" of the Regen itself. Of course, the better the upstream components, the less the Regen has to work and the better the overall result. The Regen has its own PHY, dont forget.

The working theory of why the Corning Optical USB cable was so good with the original GREEN Regen, was that it introduced more than 3 ohms of resistance to the Regen and that seems to improve the bass a lot. The new AMBER Regen incorporates similar resistance in the Regen PCB itself andf so is more cable agnostic than the Green.

Better explanations can be found at the Uptone site in the FAQs.

Thank you very much, will try amber for sure.

Blue58,

Pls keep me updated once you receive amber regen. I will try to borrow a standard version from Elberoth , I know he has just received one.
I tried to find more informations about Sablon Reserva but it seems that their website needs an update. Is Reserva much more expensive than Gran Corona?

From the Uptone Audio Website:

"The USB REGEN takes the digital audio stream from your computer or other music streaming device, and generates a completely new USB data signal to feed to your DAC. It accomplishes this by combining a carefully chosen USB hub chip with an ultra low-noise regulator and low-jitter clock. Importantly, it does so with ideal impedance matching—right at the input of your DAC."

I'm interested in this device but I am wondering what's the purpose of the low jitter clock? Does this clock override the DAC clock, which in some cases is extremely high quality? Does this device work with asynchronous USB?

Thanks,
Ken

It's depressing.

I thought the GG would just be a blingier version of the B7 with a few minor improvements here and there. Initial opinions seemed to confirm this, but we all forgot that brand new - unbroken - GGs were being compared to 1 year old B7s and it was not a fair fight. Now that GGs have a month or 2 on their clocks, they seem to be blowing away the B7. Unbelievable. All the minor parst upgrade seem to be more than the sum of their parts and redefining Lampi SoTA performance.

This has really taken a bit of shine off my B7. Sigh.

Oh well, cant stop progress.

marslo said:

Blue58,

Pls keep me updated once you receive amber regen. I will try to borrow a standard version from Elberoth , I know he has just received one.
I tried to find more informations about Sablon Reserva but it seems that their website needs an update. Is Reserva much more expensive than Gran Corona?

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Amber is standard. Green was the first batch of 100 and is officially obsolete. There is an upgrade program for us in "the 100".

I use the Corning cable with the Green and just SMPS at the moment. Solid adapter as provided.

wisnon said:

Amber is standard. Green was the first batch of 100 and is officially obsolete. There is an upgrade program for us in "the 100".

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I am one of the 100. Haven't tried it yet on the Lampi though.

Alpinist said:

From the Uptone Audio Website:

"The USB REGEN takes the digital audio stream from your computer or other music streaming device, and generates a completely new USB data signal to feed to your DAC. It accomplishes this by combining a carefully chosen USB hub chip with an ultra low-noise regulator and low-jitter clock. Importantly, it does so with ideal impedance matching—right at the input of your DAC."

I'm interested in this device but I am wondering what's the purpose of the low jitter clock? Does this clock override the DAC clock, which in some cases is extremely high quality? Does this device work with asynchronous USB?

Thanks,
Ken

Click to expand...

Yes, it is async.

To completely regenerate the signal, and keep Signal Integrity (SI) high, you need clean power, low jitter clock, impedance matching and optimized PDN. These are the supporting pathways for the main objective....HIGH SI! These are necessary but not by themsleves (in isolation) sufficient conditions for high SI.


When you pass on the high SI to the Dac USB receiver, then you cut down packet noise and all else functions as as one would desire. Dac clock takes over, etc.

"It's depressing."

Wisnon,
Maybe we should be addicted to " good enough" instead of " the best " ?

marslo said:

"It's depressing."

Wisnon,
Maybe we should be addicted to " good enough" instead off " the best " ?

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Yes, I am sure I am not upgrading from B7 - else I will get stuck on the dac upgrade path forever without upgrading speakers etc

marslo said:

"It's depressing."

Wisnon,
Maybe we should be addicted to " good enough" instead off " the best " ?

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LoL...

YES!