The Cavalli Liquid Carbon

Just received my Carbon and immediately dropped it into my chain and started to listen. Pure balanced mode with DeadBeef playing 16/44.1 FLACs through USB exclusive mode into Gungnir Multibit. Gungnir Multibit to the Carbon through balanced XLR. Carbon outputs through self-made (Mogami) balanced cables. I can only easily compare between Realtek/Soundblaster Z/Gungnir Multibit DACs. Comparing between my old Nakamichi and the Carbon is pretty much impossible until I make a XLR to TRS adapter.

Immediate impressions
Everything seems to have opened up. A sense of increased soundstage in an 180 degree arc in front of me. Everything else... sorry, but I have nothing to really compare to and I would not trust my audio memory at all. Gungnir Multibit seemed to have made some difference in crispness, but the Carbon seems to have made music even crisper to a greater degree. Plenty of power to drive the HE560s to full potential at 10 o'clock at 1x gain. At 3x gain, "Loudness" button found! At just under 9 o'clock, really opens up the 560's and seems to provide a more "fun" sound (V-shaped but with more "open" sound).

Miscellaneous Impressions: The Carbon is very light. I'm kind of afraid the 14AWG power cable and the XLR connectors will unbalanced it enough to tip backwards. Gungnir Multibit runs warmer than the carbon. Gungnir Multibit is running at 101.4 F (38.6 C) while the Carbon is at 97.7 F (36.5 C). From the manuals, Gungnir Multibit dissipates about 20 W while the Carbon dissipates 8 W... The amp uses less power than the DAC!

Go! Go, confirmation bias!

 

I'll have the LC in 2 days to pair up with my as-yet unused Gungnir Multibit, and so far I've read very positive impressions so I'm psyched about that. I know it's not endgame/TOTL, but is the LC resolving enough to really make changes in DAC appreciable, like something "inferior" --> Gungnir Multibit?

I'll be able to test for myself between the Theorem 720 and Gungnir Multibit, but still taking in others' experiences with the LC in different chains.

 

I have same question. My LC was supposed to have shipped by now but hasn't but hopefully I will have it when I get back from vacation. Wondering if i would see the benefit of the Gungnir Multibit over the Bifrost MB with the Senn HD 600 (and to lesser extent my Oppo PM-2).

 

I think that question will be very hard for anyone but yourselves to answer. It's funny, I'm playing Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag and my first time limited event pops up. Literally the very first major thing I did after installing the Liquid Carbon was to hunt and skin "The White Whale". Unlike Captain Ahab, unless there is something out there that will blow my socks off, I'm 99% sure that I am 95% done reaching the top 90% of sonic nirvana. I might pick up an HD650 and maybe build a DIY tube amp, but that is more for color.
Happy Hunting! I will enjoy reading your adventures.

 

I don't have too much experience with different DAC choices, but I can say that I certainly hear differences between the amps at my disposal here. I have a Headroom The Max, TTVJ FET-A, and the LC. The LC sounds more impactful to my ears, with faster bass and more precise cymbal decay than my other two amps. Despite my amps all being solid state, the FET-A has a smoother, tube-like sound to it. Notes seem a bit more smeared with the FET-A. I've level matched the amps and used the same mid-fi headphones for my testing (Headroom edition DT880, Mad Dog Pro, Grado SR225).

My main DAC is an Emotiva XDA-1, with a back up Modi v1. I believe these two DACs are roughly in the same class, though I prefer the optical out to the XDA over USB to the Modi.

Anyway, I hope this helps provide some context to answer your questions Rott and Colgin. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts once you receive the LC. I'm trying to decide if I should upgrade my DAC next because I'm very happy with my other components. Thanks,

 

I don't have an issue with the balanced cables coming from my Gungnir Multibit to my carbon. I understand though how light the carbon is, and have been careful not to do too much moving around while on it.

Also enjoying the combo with a balanced out HE 560 and an SE HD 650.

 

Here is my Carbon, behind my 2 monitors, on top of Gungnir Multibit. Look at the dust! Look at the "lesson on what not to do to make a cable" cable.
!
Another pic, closer up.

 

Received mine a day early yesterday, nice surprise. Letting it burn in using CD player RCA out, but taking a peak with HD650 SE, initial impression put a smile on my face.

Will go balanced with Gungnir Multibit (warming up since Tuesday) and HD6x0 / LCD-X this evening or tomorrow.

@Xen at least you took the effort to make a cable, so kudos to you. I found a reterminated stock HD650 cable on ebay.

 

How are you finding LC? I heard it driving HD650 out of Gungnir Multibit today and was pretty astounded...

 

Astounded is a description that I can relate to as well, balanced HD650 being the key. Hard for me to imagine the HD650 sounding better than this, suffice it to say that I'm very happy with this combination. I find myself getting sucked into well-mastered redbook music.

Really the only concern I have right now (as I posted in the Gungnir Multibit thread) is that I found the USB input to be just slightly inferior to coaxial RCA SPDIF. A negative for me because USB is my primary use case, but a plus for the LC because it allowed me to hear the very subtle difference.

 

@rott , get a Wyrd (or Regen) for your Gungnir Multibit.. all the cool kids are doing it.

 

Yup, pretty sure I'll be ordering a Regen very soon. Have been reading up on it and was debating on whether going for it vs. a USB-SPDIF converter, but that would probably be another rabbit hole with too many different sonic characteristics and especially mucho $$$ for a quality one.

My CD transport is actually a Toshiba HD-XA2 HD-DVD player, so at least it's getting some love these days. Good stuff via its coaxial SPDIF.

 

Have been using the LC with the Bifrost Multibit and Fostex TH-X00 (exclusively of late). I tend to favor the Fostex and most orthos (certainly the Bill-P LCD 2.2, the Paradox Slants, heck the LCD-X) with the LC. I like this amp less with the high impedance Senns. This amp has a heft to it that is very pleasing. The power on tap is plenty for most orthos although I have not tried my HE-6 (and frankly I won't bother to do so). 9 o'clock on the dial is plenty enough for me. Neutral enough but pleasing low end. With the TH X00, it is "doubly pleasing".

 

Anybody heard both LC and BW? Would love to hear a small comparrison.

 

Gravity: IMO, LC has a little more heft and bottom end compared to the BW. If you want one amp for any type of non-electrostats, get the BW. If you use only high impedance HPs (Senns) use the BW.

 

What is heft, and don't you like the bottom end on LC since you recommend BW for anything?

 

Are these impressions using balanced output or SE for the headphones you tried?

 

Let me preface my remarks by saying that I have 41 year old ears that don't hear well over 12 KHz.

I enjoy the LC in balanced mode for my Mad Dog Pros. The amp/headphone combo has good slam and I never feel like the bass is anemic.

I also enjoy the LC in SE mode with my 250 ohm Beyer DT-880. With these phones I prefer the 3x mode.

You mileage may vary, but I really enjoy the LC.