Now my 1st impressions had been posted here in musing section. And it were also the 1st words ever appeared which can be called formal review ,here in Britain on Wigwam pages
Preface :
Well, after I spent over a week now with LampizatOr 4 DAC I finally managed to formulate some initial observations. The problem is – that’s a really difficult job to do .As I mentioned before it has very ephemeral nature. Audio GD dac, Sabre based arrived on time ,which was good as it was my 1st choice to compare to from the bunch of other units. Ref 7 unit based on 8 1704UK chips did not make it ,so I used my Shanling spinner for direct comparisons as it is based on the same configuration of the dac part ,however with different PS it sounds a bit different than previously used dac – which was sharing PS and output stages with NFB one ,really worried just with digital pcb employed.
Anyway It was good to have them all when I was listening particularly to TranspOrt ,as it just helped me to make more observations from different perspectives. When it came to Lamp Lev 4 ,having on the hand my previous reference was really all I needed.To keep it clean and fair I used the same ic as I was using all the time and exactly the same SPDiF cord to keep all points I am referring to unchanged. For those who don’t know that – here is a list.
Equipment :
TranspOrt and Shanling CDT-300 spinner to LampizatOr DAC4 using
Stealth Audio Varidig digital RCA >RCA cable.
LampizatOr L4 directly to amps via Electraglide reference glide silver ribbons in Bi amping mode with :
DRD 45 DHT/Starchief amps on HF (from 500Hz to 24kHz) 1.8 W to 109 db Tractrix horns loaded with TAD 2001 drivers.
DRD 300b / Terraplane amps on LF (from 28Hz to 500kHz) 7 W to 99 db
Altec 416A units working in Onken petit bass bins.
All via passive AT based xover build to me by Herr Werner Jagusch ,possibly the biggest authority in this subject in Germany.
With Silver RAL Testament cables on the top and AN Lexus on the bottom .All powerd by Wireworld Electra pcs ,except DAC which was connected with Sablon Audio Gran Corona power cord.
Further explanations :
Before I start let me answer 1st couple of questions to come I believe. So what about preamplifier ,some one might ask ? Well ,nothing .As my unit has already VC on the board I took a chance to listen to it with all preamplifier which I had on the hand ,plus one I managed to lend and after 1st experiments results appeared to me clearly. Without putting the names on the shooting range there was simply no reason to use one from the up to £2000 market at all ,as built in VC took over it with a sonic advantage, saved ones to buy a pair of interconnects and most important – simplified signal path. Can’t put any comments about how more expensive units would act there having no chance to try it. Personally I know one person in Britain who sold out his Border Patrol pre with separate power supply after he bought exactly the same DAC + VC like mine .It saved him a lot, paid Level 4 Dac purchase and he did not sucriface anything in his rig as he clames.Have to believe ,what to do ?
But if somebody having some more sophisticated unit on the hand would like to pop up to my place I will be more than happy to give it a run as I am really interested to know that ,and share these info with other listeners.
2nd would me possibly how about other sources than digital then? No worries here as well ,as VC unit allows use of 4 inputs as well as selecting them via rc.The inputs more of that ,can be named and their levels can be programmed too ,so DAC really can handle the pre’s duty without sacrificing someones habits and technically available comfort.It is also possible to add unit into another existing rc teaching him codes ,and reduce further number of wands messing around.Number of outputs which is possible to add is only limited by the room left for on the back of the unit. Personally I need two for bi-amping ,but it can be 3 or 4 too. Sounds good then ,isn’t it ?
Well, again, like in my review of TranspOrt re CDT I need to to confess that I am and always was after using preamplifier ,as it is necessary tool for a proper impedance matching in first order,than for any other things mentioned above according to extras rather than a “must have” options. So I would not recommend to anyone get rid of preamp without checking results first. In my rig it works perfectly and that’s just great and it make a massive pay back to the price of the unit itself. And my preamp was not just any. I have chosen them for this reason ,and one of them was also specially designed to work together with my amps, so any mismatch is not an issue here.
Listening
So, when all details had been given it’s time to put finally some impressions about sonic experience. I used mostly same tracks as in my last review to make things easier and comments more clear. As some of these tracks are louder then another I was using VC unit to match output volume and make comparison fair. Also I wanted to be sure that using it is not bringing any kind of compression to the sound as it sometime happens. Just like it was with RA Cantata VC – there was nothing like that there .Even smallest traces.No lost of musical image appeared compared to full volume level. I found it true in both setups, with and without the preamplifier.
Listening to with preamp in the rig was an issue just during comparison to the Sabre based unit to make quick switch and volume matching possible as NFB 7 could not be used without not being volume controlled with its full output pushed out to horns. Let’s start from that point then. Even if I was listening to them in an opposite order needing some time to get used to L4 presentation. Switching inputs on the preamp gave me rapid results on demand and made some tests much easier { for example: high pitch moments in brass sections or complicated passages in symphonic scores }. Also switching during some vocalize ,mostly bell canto ,with raising momentum till the final expression gave me fantastic clue about differences which both units tends to present in the case of building tension when presenting recordings. Again using prepared play list made it easier, without swapping disc involved .But I am listening to CDs constantly as well as I simply adore the whole ritual. Call me old the fashioned one if you like 🙂
Even when NFB is the best known to me unit Sabre based the money can buy you w/o overpaying for- it simply can not stand against LampizatOr. I know sound of this chip very well – it replaced my previous favorites -Ultra Analog & TD1541 S1 ,giving a blend of both some kind together with better micro and macro dynamics.This comparison is not unfair in any meaning here even with Sabre DAC price tag as he did exactly the same to me before – cut off all competition available regarding the price, with only exception of Weiss unit ,but even here with such a little margin that was not worth a price difference. What he does not have then what L4 does ? In one world musicality. Next coming to mind are naturalness, pace, articulation, rhythm and finally ….ABSENCE . Yes that’s a key factor which I found during all the “switching between” procedures. What was most ear catching during it was not a difference in sound. It was there too, but let me point it later. Most visible attitude of Lampy was his acting like an unplugged event against amplified one if you understand what I mean. When listening to operatic Divas I was all ears on LampizatOr, when turning back to Sabre was like putting a mic ,between an artist an the audience. The little tension which just appeared and immediately killed that unique feeling of being there. It was not by subtle mark – it was a spectacular improvement,which car fanatics can possibly compare only with getting on speed with some AM sporty car to trying to do the same with V8 based full monty LEXUS. Doesn’t matter how hard you try – it just not going to happen 🙂
After further thinking about that it was not so subtle. Careful listening proved that quality is in details ,as always. Amplitude raising on brass was simply overwhelming .Transparency present on good recording marked exactly musicians location as well as made easy to count horns not just to hear them. With jazz vocals I found it same true as I did with operatic before. Chie Ayado voice was clear, deep and powerful.Young Korean singer Youn Sun Nah with her juicy and fresh voice timbre just stepped out into the room. Feeling was so strange it became scary at first You need to get used to it and rather not try in the darkness. I made some further experiments with it having few guests around in Sunday. I really had a big fun. With few very well recordings on my possession, done just with a 2 microphones, with no post prod manipulations I was staying in the front and watching them moving heads left, right or up- wherever sounds appeared from. Like in the cinema following an action on the screen or in front of the real act.
When it comes to the tonal balance, here is my favorite part. What was obvious previously on voices or winds became even more spectacular on the strings .Vibratos were brilliantly precise. And this is what made them so real. If you ever been listening to the music sitting few steps from an performing artist you know what I mean. Being a jazz events reviewer and constant visitor on the 5 festivals over the Europe annually I am spending quite a lot time with artist, being often very close during sound checks. It made me familiar to the live sound and improved my musical memory and ability to recognise tone ,pitch ,delay and amplitude of the sound very well. And believe me I never heard vibrating string sounding so real and three dimensional from any digital or analog device. On the air the sounds live their own life and their appearance in the surrounding space is very fragile and gentle.The balance between the pitch and an amplitude fall is directly related and transferring this quality into recording is a rare skill which only very few people posses.The other thing is the device making projection of that possible. Thinking strings I started with solo bass and guitar recordings.
Double bass players like Micheal Formanek or Glenn Moore are just mad about articulation.Their play is nothing just pure virtuosity. With first the attack on the strings and a hard work to shape deep dark tones of the base is so clear like pushing paint out of tube directly into the canvas.It has to be heard to be believed. I know these recordings very well and simply adore them. Was listening to them live as well and what I got from LampizatOr is that close to the original as it possibly could be. Mr. Moore on the other hand using an old Luther double bass build by Klotz ,a German master from XVIII century. He is the Stradivarius of the Double Bass.This Instrument is unique .I heard it live too and I easily recognize it from recordings every time. Moor’s brilliant technique makes it shining like a Luxor Temple’s pillars in 500 years B.C. His Arcos showing not only his mastery ,but also perfect resonance of his instrument .The best comes however on recordings made with amplification. It had been carefully made for him by some company in States and the way that it made possible to present rich and vibrant tone of its resonating box is just overwhelming. Pure heavens for every double bass enthusiast.
Anyway have a look here : http://www.mjbl.co.uk/restoration.html . If you know nothing about it helps you to understand the scale of the subject better. I have to stop here as with my fanaticism about a double bass I could write a book here multiplying examples and sharing knowledge coming from long time lasting fascination.
With guitar richness throw the whole acoustic range ,well – almost ,even more appeared.The same qualities of articulation and dynamic graduations were still there,nothing changed. But with the richer and full bodied sound coming out of guitar all became ever more obvious and noticeable. The sound of the modern masters like ,Leo Brouwer, Aniello Desiderio or Roland Dyens the attention to the tempo and vibrant articulations had been showed amazingly. As the latest used to be both pupils of Brouwer ,spotting what they adopted from an old Cuban master and blended with their own style was a refreshing discovery on the Lampi as it was never so easy to get on recordings before. In comparison the previous great masters of this instrument, like Andreas Segovia
or Narcizo Yepes, both greatest Spain ever got, presented their repertoires in completely different way. First is that they both got completely different kind of respect to timing than the modern school shows. It does not means slower or anything like that .They all played what is on the score. Just the way of executing compositions in respected rhythm as it had been written between the bars on manuscript paper.The way of supplying sounds without smallest trace of rush, and a difference balance between the tone and the dynamic. So fascinating was listening to that I just stopped switching dacs and simply sticked up with Lampi as it was the one giving me all these observations possible.
Next to come were obviously different pieces of chamber music presenting the beauty of tonal articulation and a charm of master crafted instruments sound. Period instruments posses this mature tonal balance which is both pure and slightly restricted on the same hand. The way of building instruments changed over the centuries obviously ,and that’s why their sound differs too . The same apply to the evolution from harpsichord to modern grand piano. Listening to the same compositions performed on old instruments bringing better understanding of pace and tension less performance which came after latest reading developed by “new wave” conductors, as a result of newest discoveries and researches throw the treasures kept in the libraries ,after they had been revisited.Sensitivity to the tonal balance and a careful attention Lamp pays to the micro and micro dynamics and overall harmonic richness again made it so easy to spot and possible to understand.Obviously a pleasure to listen was the biggest point here.The art of Fabio Biondi, Giulliani Carminiola, Rinnaldo Allesandrini ,their achievement to the Baroque Music and virtuosity of musicians playing in orchestras they led on this recordings became so obvious and listening to them ,again brought me back my memories of a live performances of my idols which I always trying to make in 1st order to buying records.This comes after naturally, it is as it should be .
Going closer to the end it finally came to Grand Piano ,and Church Organs.The Kings of all and always hardest and most difficult to reproduce at home .With last one I dare to say that without full horn set up and a proper room it is not possible to make it right to the end . With piano however most gear works. On my set up I never had reason to clime.Piano always had a full size presence and distinguish sound giving it proper authority. But improvement which came with LampizatOr made me smiling wide and joyfully. Hell of me.What a sound is that .I never had a problem to recognise Bosendorfer piano from Steinway one .The firm sound of both appeared clearly and without questions ,but I never ever experienced this feeling in such a manner. There was like between green and red. Or tenor and baritone.More of however came from directional characteristics,What caught me immediately was the position of the instrument on the stage .The angle of it was not only possible to hear- it was like you just watching it with your own eyes. Watching live events hardly one thinks about that as visual contact cancel such a need .Listening at home bringing more concerns about.On the very few great piano recordings is not difficult to spot it either .But not lots of them exist. Here it is like a seventh sense .I kept swapping discs with different piano recordings and I was simply amazed.Usually I was experiencing such a feeling after upgrading components in my amps.It just brought new level of clarity and dynamics to the performance .But never to that level.There was no issue. The piano position was always precise and clear ,even on old noisy recordings. On the top of the cream however was a distinguish tone coming out of the instruments.
Vibration of the strings ,chord articulations ,artists fingering work over the keyboard. Were all like watching piano lessons on the screen from camera put over the player.The most touching were however final peak of hammers attack on the strings .They kept resonating long to the end of amplitude ,and on the few recordings
I heard like they had been brutally cut off on the end of tune just before they naturally disappeared by careful less engineers ,who probably didn’t hear that the wave was still on. The result similar to some of us remember from old tape days and recording from the broadcasting when the tape run not always covered song to the end.
summary
This review brought much more troubles to be written that any other I did in the past .Simply because every time I believed I got it ,it was running away again. This DAC seems to avoid any descriptions.It changes character rapidly ,depends on what you play using it .And it is still new unit to me which need more time to put on it I believe.It settles up quickly .Good PS indeed as in 20-30 minutes sound becomes stable and not changing any more. It also uses top quality rectifier { Philips jan 5y3 valve } as it makes a massive improvement over the 5c4s used as a standard in Level 3 DAC.All this states on the back of the unit. The output valves are easy to access so ,it is possible to use damping rings with them without opening unit. Rolling them is not an issue here as there are no other replacements available .According to information about voltages Lukasz set them up to work with ,looks like there won’t be a soon action necessary .Same applies to the price.Being a cheap valve it makes another nice pay back if compared to crazy prices for most popular ECC family units.Another good thing I can say about PS is that what changing power cords does.There is no improvement over the tonal balance of the unit run on a pc power cord ,but all the strenght of it are amplified ,presented with more vivid manner and extended in range. But it is not like a heavens and earth .Gentle rather. So cheap start means no sacrifice- good news.
Sound is very involving and it is really new and fascinating to me how this device just calms me down and connects to the music I have chosen to listen. Does not matter what music I stream or play from the spinner ,this feeling is still there.I took me a while to get used to it .Otherwise I still believe I need to revisit this review later and add some new thoughts after putting more hours on my listening sessions .But as I promised to publish initial thoughts before bringing it to the show so I wanted to be a man of my word. Hope that it gonna make more wammers to come and listen to this set up and all others which suppose to be presented by fellows.
Hope that guys ,you like my writing.I did it as good as I only could in such a crowded time schedule I already got. THANKS
