Lampizator Horizon DAC Announced

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by ogodei, Nov 28, 2021.

  1. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,764
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Chicago
    Copied from the "whats best" forum...

    "
    Horizon


    The DAC of the future

    Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC

    [​IMG]

    Just when I thought that our TOTL Pacific DAC would be the end of the road for us, we decided to change the tactics concerning the improvements. Instead of making small incremental improvements of the flagship Pacific, we decided to freeze it and instead - start a new project. Little did we know about the coming future - about Covid, lockdowns and the AKM factory fire. Starting from a blank sheet we tried to reinvent everything about the DAC that we know, while learning what we don’t.

    In 2019 we heard for the first time the prototype, and frankly - we were shocked how different it was from what we are used to. Thanks to a revolutionary chip technology, like nothing we have seen before - it was possible to create a real monster. It took almost a year to write software that controls the DAC process, especially for DSD512. By using our own custom firmware we made a DAC that nobody else has and nobody else will.

    Summarising, the DAC turned out to be incredibly good. Hence the name THE HORIZON. It is something we look at while on the ocean. It is where we are aiming. From our competitors perspective - the Horizon is where they see us. It is also something endless, undefined, and desired. That's where we want to be.

    The resulting DAC is a true flagship. It has everything it can have, and we know for a fact that nobody else can use solutions that we use. I can say with full confidence that you are getting a unique masterpiece of craftsmanship that will deliver top of the game sound for many years to come. Who knows, chances are it will never be surpassed.


    Key highlights include:

    • Proprietary, firmware driven conversion process with 760kHz PCM and DSD512.
    • No silicon anywhere in the signal path.
    • Silver wiring inside.
    • Copper sheet, true metal capacitors in the signal path.
    • CNC milled chassis.
    • 6SN7 conversion tubes.
    • EL34 output driver tubes.
    • Volume control of the highest possible caliber in every unit, featuring a full bypass function.
    • All units are true balanced and SE at the same time.
    • Zero feedback, either local or global.
    • Zero opamps.
    • Tube rectified power supply.
    • Thousands of tube rolling permutations.
    • Unit weight 72lbs.
    "

    Loving those nixie tubes...

    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  2. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    Yes, those are gorgeous to look at.
     
  3. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,773
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    small island claimed by China
    So either the chips aren't silicon based, or they're not in the signal path?
     
    • Like Like x 4
    • Epic Epic x 1
    • List
  4. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,693
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    I'm expecting a roughly $1000/lb pricing pedigree with this thing.
     
  5. Soups

    Soups Sadomasochistic cat

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,598
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    WA
    Will all "DACs of the future" have prominent blue balls?
     
    • Like Like x 7
    • Epic Epic x 1
    • List
  6. Garns

    Garns Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,483
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Sydney, AUS
    Think their dealer chain prefers to price by the troy ounce.
     
  7. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,115
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A Cell
    I wonder what they would have written if they had failed to better their as of now best DAC. The promo speak in the industry is getting sillier and sillier. They have improved the looks but in Lampizator gear is not easy on my eyes. The nixies are a redeeming feature.
    They have replaced the silicon in the chips with little impish pixies who have been secretly trained in order to master their task. Half the weight of the DAC is pixie food. Once the DAC has lost 40 % of its weight you need to resend it to Lampizator so they can replenish the pixie food. It is like getting your Bentley serviced (probably the same price, too)
     
  8. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    14,134
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    India
    Do they still use hot glue for assembly?

    Probably not. Looks like they are just not the old wooden-box Lampizator we used to know and... know.

    CNC-milled blah blah
     
  9. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    LampizatOr's DIY days are over it seems, at least (subjectively speaking OFC) that newcomer looks better than anything they did in the past.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,777
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Don't get the EL34s for output. Does this drive headphones directly? I'd get it if it were a DHT for good coloration, but EL34?
     
  11. Kashalott

    Kashalott New

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2020
    Likes Received:
    42
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    Europe
    From the lampizator post on the "Whats Best":

    "The 7 tubes work in a new way, never seen before in any DAC. The pentodes provide power supply regulation, active anode loading and cathode buffering - all at the same time - thanks to their 3 grids. The dual triodes provide voltage amplification and current conversion in the DAC process"
     
  12. Beefy

    Beefy Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2021
    Likes Received:
    1,738
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Canada
    Perhaps I'm stepping out of line.... but has anything Lampizator ever done made sense? For as long as I can remember, they throw a bunch of technical nonsense into a box, throw around some buzzwords, slap on a huge pricetag, and call it a day.

    That said, they've been around for years, have a heap of lifelong fans who swear the gear sounds phenomenal, and seemingly make a heap of sales. So, eh, who am I to argue?
     
  13. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,693
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    I've only heard their stuff at shows, so more than a grain or two of salt tossed. But! the rooms where I heard Lampi gear did not sound bad. In fact, the last time i heard one of their DACs it was in (arguably, very much so) my personal "best of show" at the now eons ago 2019 CAF in the Spatial Audio/LTA/Lampi room. The price tho? completely not worth it to me.
     
  14. Polygonhell

    Polygonhell Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2019
    Likes Received:
    73
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Redmond, WA
    His tube selections have never really made sense in the traditional amp design sense, I own one of their DHT DAC’s and it’s stunningly neutral, if you swap the tubes it’s using you can juggle the balance between dynamics and midrange weight, 242’s make them dynamic, 300B’s less dynamic, more weight, it never really get’s bloomy or what a lot of people expect from tubes. If they didn’t stick out the top most people wouldn’t identify that they have tubes in them.

    i love mine, it’s the best sounding DAC I’ve ever heard, but they are silly expensive, mine replaced a Chord Dave, and to my ears it was night and day better across the board.

    But it does seem odd to go to EL34’s from DHT’s, though they have trended more neutral with pretty much every releases.
     
  15. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    Although many DHTs sound great, they're noisy and expensive. If just one of KR tubes (as often seen in Lampizators) goes bad in a balanced DAC, the entire quad has to be replaced most likely.
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2021
  16. Koth Ganesh

    Koth Ganesh Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,637
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Chennai, India
    Hi:

    Do you by any chance own a Big 7? I have one with the 300B EMLs and I am looking to replace them with the KR PX 25s.
     
  17. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    14,134
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    India
    It's a brand I never knew whether to take seriously or not. I was inclined not to. Interesting to see good impressions here, although, as mentioned, they always had their fans.
     
  18. Polygonhell

    Polygonhell Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2019
    Likes Received:
    73
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Redmond, WA
    I have a Pacific, I spent a long time looking for a Golden Gate, but couldn’t find a balanced one at the right price, and when the pacific showed up it was something of a “f**k it” moment. I run it with 242’s because I like the dynamics, PX25’s are a really nice balance, 300B’s and T100’s on the warm midrange side. I’m running KR Ricardo Kron SE tubes in mine.
     
  19. Polygonhell

    Polygonhell Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2019
    Likes Received:
    73
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Redmond, WA
    It’s just odd they’d worry about cost in a DAC that will likely cost more than a fully specced Pacific, which is in the $38000 range. My assumption is it probably has more to do with Lukasz Fikus’s preferences, or a desire to separate it from the existing product line, than cost.
     
  20. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    Most likely it has less to do with manufactuing costs than having customers satisfied with tubes that are less troublesome than DHTs. Besides, that new DAC shapes up to be the new flagship product and Pacific will remain as their second best for those who are fond of DHTs.
     

Share This Page