Can I run the Lavry DA10 single-endedly?

[Shiki]

Hi, I'm thinking of getting a Lavry DA10 but from the pictures I see, it only has XLR outputs.

Can I connect it to my single-ended amp using XLR to RCA cables? Will there be any problems in doing so?

Also, I don't need the headphone out on the DAC. Is there any DAC with equivalent quality but doesn't have a headphone out (and cheaper)?

Thanks!

[tkam]

Sure it'll work just fine using xlr - rca cables.

[slwiser]

I use the XLR-RCA cables.

[Shiki]

the Musical Fidelity X-DAC V3, the Stello DA-100, and the Channel Islands VDA-2 would all fit the bill, i would think.

Thanks for the list!

From what I've read, the VDA-2 has a analytical sound similar to the Benchmark DAC-1 so it's probably not well suited to my K701 and W5000...

Will look into the other 2 compared to the Lavry.

[Iron_Dreamer]

The DA100 is probably the best flavor of sound for those two phones. And it's cheaper than the DA10. And it's built quite a bit better to boot.

[Shiki]

Ok, last question:

Are the X-DAC-V3 and DA100 considered a step up from the E-MU 1212M and Corda Opera DACs?

[Shiki]

It looks like the X-DAC and DA100 don't have balanced out. Since I'm planning to go balanced in the future, I think I'm going back to the Lavry again...

[n_maher]

It looks like the X-DAC and DA100 don't have balanced out. Since I'm planning to go balanced in the future, I think I'm going back to the Lavry again...

It probably would have been helpful to mention this in your first post.

[lupus]

i've been looking hard at the DA100 for some time now.

i'm currently working overseas and audio gear regularly gets marked up 50-100% in these parts. way too expensive.

the stello however is the one bonafide bargain i've been able to find locally (around $200 less than the north american price, depending on the fluctuating currency exchange rate). i'm really trying to avoid large, heavy components though because i want to avoid paying the freight and dealing with customs when i do make my way back home. in fact, a guiding principle with me for purchases has been, can i fit it into my laptop knapsack and carry it onto a plane? a flawed way of thinking perhaps, but it is what it is.

still, the DA100 seems like too good a deal to pass up.

that is, until the pico made it's appearance and threw a wrench into the works. the tiny size is very appealing, it's been favorably compared to the other dacs mentioned here, and the headphone amp and possibly pre-amp capabilities (with mini-monitors) sound perfect for a computer-based setup.

without a true line-out (only a 1/8" headphone out), i'm just wondering if this would hinder it's useage as a standalone dac.

can anyone explain if there's any technical reason why this shouldn't be used to feed another amp?

i'd like to get into the pre-order lineup, but only if i'm certain that it could function in this role without any compromise. otherwise, i'll probably be leaning towards the DA100 again.

[Shiki]

It probably would have been helpful to mention this in your first post.

Oops, sorry. I totally forgot about that.

i'm currently working overseas and audio gear regularly gets marked up 50-100% in these parts. way too expensive.

Same here! Audio equipment is just so expensive and I end up having to import or buy used. I've been looking at the Pico too, Head-Fi'ers are going ga-ga over the DAC, but I wonder how good the amp section is compared to a desktop-sized amp.

[Shiki]

I just found out that I can get the Cambridge 840c at around the same price as the Lavry here. Since I'm also somewhat looking for a CD player, it seems like a bargain if the DAC matches or exceeds the Lavry's.

[PFKMan23]

Given that the 840c has a transport in addition to the digital in options, which are all but unheard of at it's price point, if space isn't an issue, then I'd go for the 840 over the Lavry in a heartbeat.

[lupus]

Same here! Audio equipment is just so expensive and I end up having to import or buy used. I've been looking at the Pico too, Head-Fi'ers are going ga-ga over the DAC, but I wonder how good the amp section is compared to a desktop-sized amp.

yup, except for the DA100, i've never considered buying anything locally.

the only comparisons i've read of the pico's amp have been of it stacked up against other portables. i doubt many would give it even odds against a desktop, though.

maybe others who have heard it can offer more information about the amp section, as i have been mainly focused on it's dac.

[Filburt]

I don't personally hold the DA10 in particularly high regard. I've used it a few times now, and every one of those times I've come away unimpressed and with a general sense that it has a rather "off" sound to it; it's got that OP275 (the op-amp it uses for the output) awkwardness, and it seems like the AD1955 converter is not being used to great effect. K701 is my main headphone, and I've used the DA100 and VDA-2 with it. Both did a good job I think; substantially better than the DA10. The DAC1 sounds OK, but a bit sterile.

Overall, I'd probably go with either the DA100 or VDA-2 out of what I saw mentioned. I like the PCM1794 (what the VDA-2 uses) better than the AK4395 (what the DA100) uses, but the DA100 does appear to have a more sophisticated output stage design, and it seems to help.

[Shiki]

I don't personally hold the DA10 in particularly high regard. I've used it a few times now, and every one of those times I've come away unimpressed and with a general sense that it has a rather "off" sound to it; it's got that OP275 (the op-amp it uses for the output) awkwardness, and it seems like the AD1955 converter is not being used to great effect. K701 is my main headphone, and I've used the DA100 and VDA-2 with it. Both did a good job I think; substantially better than the DA10. The DAC1 sounds OK, but a bit sterile.

Overall, I'd probably go with either the DA100 or VDA-2 out of what I saw mentioned. I like the PCM1794 (what the VDA-2 uses) better than the AK4395 (what the DA100) uses, but the DA100 does appear to have a more sophisticated output stage design, and it seems to help.

Ok, so the DA100 and VDA-2 don't sound too cold with the K701? Out of those 2, which do you prefer? I'm going to be using either the Corda Opera or ATH-HA5000 amp (still deciding which one I like better).

Also does the VAC1 actually makes a noticeable difference with the VDA-2?

[deepak]

I didn't think the DA10 was that bad, sounded pretty linear to me. However it really wasn't that musical (pro DAC/opamp output stage???) compared to my current DAC, and like people have said in the past it lacked dynamics. Microdynamics were buried and undetailed/hard to differentiate from the rest of the music. Macrodynamics were ehhh...bleh.

[slwiser]

Everyone seems to be talking about having a musical DAC and that the Lavry is just not musical. Well how much EQ or sound modification does a DAC need to provide?

[humanflyz]

Everyone seems to be talking about having a musical DAC and that the Lavry is just not musical. Well how much EQ or sound modification does a DAC need to provide?

Musical does not equal non-linearity or EQ.

[slwiser]

Musical does not equal non-linearity or EQ.

Can you be more specific? It would seem to be some mystical something otherwise!

[humanflyz]

Can you be more specific? It would seem to be some mystical something otherwise!

All I can say is that it's not a strict, zero-sum choice: I've heard plenty of good sources that is both musical AND linear. Granted, those sources are pretty expensive, but I believe such a balance can be achieved.

I just don't think you can get that at the ~$1000 level

[slwiser]

...I believe such a balance can be achieved.

I just don't think you can get that at the ~$1000 level

So it a faith thing after all; mysticism after all, indeed!

[humanflyz]

So it a faith thing after all; mysticism after all, indeed!

Take it in whatever fashion you want, but I've extensively heard several "popular" choices in the ~$1000 segment: the DAC1, Lavry DA10, the VDA-2, a Stello DA100, an Arcam CD73, etc.

They all had strengths and weaknesses and trade-offs, which is expected. I never said they all sucked; I just said that the higher up you go, the less compromise there should be. Is that supposed to be "faith-based" and "mystical"?

I just think you are working under a false assumption, that there must be some kind of dichotomy, i.e., bright = detailed, euphonic=mushy, which I think is crap, because an ideal source wouldn't have these either-ors.

[slwiser]

All I ask was for you to be more specific in what being more "musical" is considered to be; a definition so to speak.

Maybe someone else will come in and help out. I Google it without any success. I gave my take on it as something like an EQ or a non-linearity and you suggested nothing in return that was descriptive and a belief and a thought that it could not be that a unit in the 1000$ could be "musical" I guess.

[humanflyz]

All I ask was for you to be more specific in what being more "musical" is considered to be; a definition so to speak.

Maybe someone else will come in and help out. I Google it without any success. I gave my take on it as something like an EQ or a non-linearity and you suggested nothing in return that was descriptive and a belief and a thought that it could not be that a unit in the 1000$ could be "musical" I guess.

I never said that the ~$1000 are not musical. I just said that it's hard to achieve the right mix of musicality and resolution in a $1000 package. I just don't see why that is a controversial statement. The most musical source I've heard in that price range is the Stello DA100. It had great PRaT, decent dynamics, and conveyed the essence of the music reasonably well. But it also had a mid-bass bump, the soundstage is somewhat constricted, the treble is slightly rolled off.

If you think your Lavry is musical, then enjoy it by all means. I've owned the Lavry before, and in comparison with other sources I've encountered in that price range, it wasn't particularly musical to me, meaning that I thought it sounded kind of sterile and flat (not in terms of frequency response, but in the more descriptive term).

All I'm trying to say is that as I went up on the ladder, I've encountered sources that sound more musical to me while not having the same kind of deficiencies that I heard in the lower segment. That isn't to bash the lower segment; it's just saying that sometimes you get what you pay for.

[deepak]

Everyone seems to be talking about having a musical DAC and that the Lavry is just not musical. Well how much EQ or sound modification does a DAC need to provide?

My take on musical is when a DAC is able to sound effortless and realistic (and the closest I've heard to this is a very nice vinyl system- sound that was able to fill the room without being placed on a 2-D plane). It should have a deep sounstage, good imaging, and NOT be bright. The Lavry erred toward the sterile, slightly brighter sound, lacked dynamics, drier midrange, and little depth to the soundstage; this is why I did not call it a musical DAC. So it's not purely a measurement of frequency response. I did a comparison somewhere on Head-Case between the Lavry and my North Star and I was going to sell the one I liked less, the Lavry was gone in two days.

It was obvious with my K1000 and HP-2 system. I did not get to hear the DA10 with speakers, but in my experience speakers are more revealing of sources than headphones since they have to make it sound like the musicians are playing in the room instead of inside a smaller space (which is in my opinion easier to do).