Lampizator Golden Gate Balanced Playing DSD256 and DSD512

I've been running an Atlantic Dac for the past week or so, upsampling all files from PCM to DSD using Audirvana, have to say it's bloody impressive to say the least, the soundstage is incredible and combining that with an incredibly musical Dac it's a bit of a killer, this is only the standard model with no tube rectification or super clocks by the way and does DSD 256

I'm going to get the opportunity to compare this with a Lite 7 soon as these are both in my budget so will report back in due course

Lee

Very interested in hearing the results of that test, Lee. A DAC is definitely my next purchase.

Diapason said:

Very interested in hearing the results of that test, Lee. A DAC is definitely my next purchase.

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I'd definitely put the Atlantic on the list mate, it's astonishingly good

Just to be clear, this demo Atlantic is souped up option-wise.
No preamp/remote option, BUT everything else for a SE dac!

Tube recti - Check (5c3 soviet)
Separate chipless DSD option - Check
Superclocked USB - Check (though not sure if just for 44.1khz family or also includes 48hz family)
Dual voltage switchable - check.

Physical comparison to the GG dac
The case weighs little comparatively, its the BIG iron underneath...chokes/transformers/power supplies, etc.

I picked up the units from the home of some pretty elderly friends and even they said the box, though huge, was light! Its true, its a double box and the inner box is tiny compared to the outer one. The GG weighs probably 3 times as much!

Anyone who knows Lampi knows that there are no fluff parts in any of his devices, quite the opposite. His philosophy is to jettison anything absolutely not necessary. Simplest signal path is best...that is his key design mantra.

B7/GG weighs THAT much because he went ballistic on the power supply design. The Atlantic is by comparison, just "significantly overspecified". He hit a sweetspot of SQ vs modest componentry with the Atlantic and that makes it a superb value. The GG is a more a "no holds barred" approach, but within the bounds of "sanity". No substitute for "big iron" though.

First listen

Very first impression:
The Atlantic is physically like a "toy" compared to the GG. Its about half the volume and 1/3rd the weight.

The GG is like the weight of a decent monoblock while the Atlantic is more like the weight of a relatively robust CD player. Clearly, the power supply in the GG is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude more hefty and (I assume) refined.

I just played a few tracks via CD transport and I really do like what I hear. Mind you, with the Atlantic being so light and easily manhandled, I started off with the 2nd hand Shun Mooks I bought from someone in Canada, so maybe that was not the wisest course for an evaluation. I have not used the SMs before on the GG.

This comment is pretty useless as I have not been using the system for a couple weeks (auditory memory faulty and all those diclaimers, yadda yadda), but the Atlantic (with Soviet 5c3 recti) did strike me as a bit more SS in that the highs were extended and crisp, but still retained the midrange lushness. I think this may be a supreme bargain from Lampi and a great intro to their Dac range....but I would say its a suped-up street car that kicks the butt of most anything street legal, while the GG is a Formula ONE beast with all the ability to fine tune to the extreme...all the Tools needed to gain access to the podium. Kinda like Ferrrai where the Enzo/La Ferrari are supreme road supercars, but would be crushed by the Formula one car that Vettel drives. Very preliminary, so take with a grain of salt.

Amber2+DSD512+Superclock in place. Amping with Lyr 2 + Telefunken NOS Ulm/Diamond. All devices brand new, only a few hours burn in (+what they were tested with).
Listening with Sennheiser HD600 (Noble Katana customs on order). Playing with foobar2000/foo_dsd_asio on Windows 10 (mb asus Z170I-PRO-GAMING). Software is my long-time profession so my Windows 10 is slightly gutted/optimized.

What surprised me:

- the double-box damped packaging
- the flawless setup from box to smooth DSD512 (Amazon Basics USB cables thru a hub)
- the Lampi box styling is actually great + the black color slightly sparkles and the red eye I chose reminds me of HAL9000
- the fact how the HD600 just have become a new set of headphones
- the way DSD native tracks just "transport you there"
- all the "new" lyrics in the songs I know I just couldn't help notice (oh and much more)
- small tempo changes in some songs that I didn't notice before (superclock?)
- Guns n' Roses (and others; redbook FLAC->DSD512) for the first time in 20 years reminded me of the analog cassette sound I grew up with (this is a big one!)
- the fact that my Lampi beats my vinyl but if the source is a vinyl-ripped FLAC then things may be over-vinyled (same with over-mastered redbook which sounded better on solid-state)
- (lampi unrelated) Lyr 2's volume button gets HOT (will be awesome in winter though)

All-in-all super-happy.

Yes, I hear that the Amber 2 blows away the original Amber.

For completeness I should also state that my main by-then dac/amp was the iFi iDSD micro -- so I guess that's what I was comparing the Lampi to, mostly. I still think the iFi for its size and price is incredible.

Also, the 200mV output from the Amber2 is on the higher side for headphone amps, but I just realized I can lower the volume in foobar2000 on the PC, thus influencing how much of the resulting sound is the DAC and how much is the AMP, in my theory at least.

wisnon said:

...Kinda like Ferrrai where the Enzo/La Ferrari are supreme road supercars, but would be crushed by the Formula one car that Vettel drives..

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Nice analogy. Also La Ferrari may be cheaper/easier to maintain and more comfy to ride. I guess the Amber2 is "just" a Porsche 911 GT3 RS then

I feel like my Amber2 lampi setup sounds better and better by the day. Very happy. Don't know what portion of the sound is Lampi and what the finely-tubed amp, but I ordered RCA stereo->female audio jack cable so that I can try the lampi directly with headphones. Curious about its natural sound.

Also I tried Blu Ray -> Amber2 PCM yesterday, very satisfying.

How is everyone? My incursion/intrusion to the borderlands of audiophile continues. Yesterday I plugged in the fat 200 eur PSU cable that came as a gift from Lampi for an upfront payment and it did improve the sound quality further - I was shocked.

I'm surprised how good the (non-R2R) PCM sounds. It "feels" sweeter, lower res, less analytical, more melodic than the DSD conversion, but really it's just another (fully legit) representation/sound signature to choose from. However for USB PCM I have to have the back face button flipped from "DSD512" to "Coax" and the front face button pushed in - my unit doesn't autodetect/autoswitch -- but not an issue for me at all. I understand I can't really compare DSD 256 with 512 as I have the 512 board.

@wisnon how is the Atlantic? Does it give GG run for its money? (just kidding, well sort of)

I'm thinking to pair my lampi up with this new design amp, when available: http://www.theaudioguild.com/the-jo...o-model-535se-headphone-amplifierpreamplifier

The Atlantic is a bad ass, but I have not compared them yet. The GG does not have Superclock or updated firmware, but it is Glorious nonetheless.