Lampizator questions.

[neac1976]

Hello everyone,
I hope to be purchasing The Lampizator, balanced G.G., engine 11 that is posted for sale on this forum. I have looked at The Lampizator website for a description of this piece but I still have a few questions that I am hoping the forum members can answer.
1. The owner of this dac has told me that "it has been upgraded to an Engine 11, so I think it is comparable to the Series 2." Is this statement correct?
2. My questions are;
a. I know that this is a balanced dac. My system is single ended based. I don't mind paying extra for this balanced option that I will not use (if indeed it is an upgrade).
b. However, am I "loosing anything" by utilizing only the single ended connections of this dac?
3. Does anyone have recommendations for a streamer to go along with this dac?
Thank you for your assistance,
Mark

 

[cpcat]

You can run it single ended without problems but if you have a single ended system, and you don’t plan to ever go balanced, then you should buy a single ended version- they are purpose-built.

For streaming - it depends on what you want to do- you can build your own or buy a streamer box-options go from modest up to esoteric e.g. -Aurender. LDMS. Taiko.

Building your own is more flexible/customizable. You could start simple for example with an NAS with minimserver and a control point app- for example bubble upnp or JPLAY iOS. A little more sophisticated would be Roon core installed on the NAS -but also at little more cost. If you don’t mind tinkering then Daphile is a free program that is excellent but would require another small PC on your network.

Another upnp control app is mconnect, you just need a server on you network somewhere that is upnp capable.

Finally, you could add a PC with some processing power and install HQPLAYER if you are interested in upsamplimg to DSD.

 

[neac1976]

Thank you cpcat.
Mark

 

[cpcat]

I did this quick last nite- sorry. If you don’t have a dac with integrated upnp renderer capability over usb - which the GG doesn’t -and you don’t plan on a streamer box , you will need to figure that in. Typically, this means a small fanless mini pc that you can place behind your DAC somewhere With Ethernet in and usb out. Options are fitlet 2/3, up squared, ultrarendu, rasberrypi, holo red, etc. There are other options as well like a fan-less or very quiet NUC. You will need to jump in and do your research a bit if you want to go this route.

This is what is meant by building your own. It’s a very broad topic.

I could certainly guide you in how I did it initially if you want, would be simpler.

I started with a program called Daphile on an old PC in my audio room closet and the eventually went to mini pc behind the DAC. You can load it on a small fanless pc -fitlet 2 for me. You download it, flash it to usb with a program Like balenaetcher, then boot it from USB. You then access it via web interface in your network. There are instructions for it on https://daphile.com/. This is a program based on LMS (Logitech media server) and it provides both server and renderer/player capabilities. With its upnp plugin, it also provides upnp capability.

I used this for several years and provides both local network streaming/renderer over usb, tidal, qobuz, spottify, as well as uPnP capabilities if you want to go that route. It also has network library management for NAS if you need that.

From there, I entered the hqplayer universe - added a relatively high power PC on the network, and continue to use the same fitlet 2 behind the DAC .