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LKS AUDIO MH-DA004


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  • 1 month later...
On 9/17/2017 at 7:20 PM, bibo01 said:

With DSD (64, 128, 256) what is the lowest DPLL you can have on your device?

 

With DSD what IIR filet do you use? 40K, 50K, 60K or 70K? 

 

good morning bibo01, did you ever manage to gather info on this?

 

I have been playing with the bandwidth settings for a while now, whenever I think about it anyway... and have found that even when set to 15, there are times when the DAC will lose lock on high rez files--both flac and dsf

 

That has me wondering if there isn't some other settings magic that I am missing...

 

thanks and any thoughts appreciated,

 

 

rikm

 

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2 hours ago, rikm said:

 

good morning bibo01, did you ever manage to gather info on this?

 

I have been playing with the bandwidth settings for a while now, whenever I think about it anyway... and have found that even when set to 15, there are times when the DAC will lose lock on high rez files--both flac and dsf

 

That has me wondering if there isn't some other settings magic that I am missing...

 

thanks and any thoughts appreciated,

 

 

rikm

 

I always output at DSD256 with BW set at 11. I never have unlocks. I find it odd that you do even in PCM with BW set at 15. Perhaps you should check your house voltage. I say this because I use to have this problem related to voltage causing unlocks even when no music was playing.

 

With DSD you can use 70K as filter. 

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14 hours ago, bibo01 said:

I always output at DSD256 with BW set at 11. I never have unlocks. I find it odd that you do even in PCM with BW set at 15. Perhaps you should check your house voltage. I say this because I use to have this problem related to voltage causing unlocks even when no music was playing.

 

With DSD you can use 70K as filter. 

 

good morning bibo01 and thanks for your reply,

 

...well there are 2 layers of power conditioning in place and the DSD filter is set to 70k at the moment, although I have tried the others as well...am wondering now if it is overheating...it usually plays for an hour or so and then static until the USB source is stopped and restarted...maybe a test with a USB to I2S converter should be next...

 

Do you know of an easy way to ID the modified units from the original production runs?

 

thanks again, and any thoughts welcome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, rikm said:

...well there are 2 layers of power conditioning in place and the DSD filter is set to 70k at the moment, although I have tried the others as well...am wondering now if it is overheating...it usually plays for an hour or so and then static until the USB source is stopped and restarted...maybe a test with a USB to I2S converter should be next...

I doubt that it's overheating. Newer LKS units have solved that problem. You mention "static". I have the same problem because I have upgraded Amanero firmware for Linux DSD native playback and it's still a bit unstable, so I have to restart playback too from time to time. Have you upgraded firmware too?

 

Quote

Do you know of an easy way to ID the modified units from the original production runs?

If you are referring to the solved heating problem, I do not know unless you open the DAC and look underneath the mainboard. Perhaps, if you supply serial number, LKS Audio will be able to tell you which run it is. 

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2 hours ago, bibo01 said:

I doubt that it's overheating. Newer LKS units have solved that problem. You mention "static". I have the same problem because I have upgraded Amanero firmware for Linux DSD native playback and it's still a bit unstable, so I have to restart playback too from time to time. Have you upgraded firmware too?

 

If you are referring to the solved heating problem, I do not know unless you open the DAC and look underneath the mainboard. Perhaps, if you supply serial number, LKS Audio will be able to tell you which run it is. 

 

...well it's been playing .dsf files all day without phase lock problems thru an XMOS bridge to the I2S port, so it doesn't look like an overheating issue any more--even tho my unit dates back to July--but maybe something directly related to the Amanero board...have been periodically reducing the BW setting from 15, it is now at 8 and have not had any sign of static

 

...have also flashed the Amanero firmware--to the 2003BE build for linux--and am interested to hear that you are seeing what sounds like similar but less severe USB/DPLL behavior...so maybe it's the firmware then, if not a faulty Amanero module, because the PL static issues definitely preceded the firmware update

 

Also sent an email to the bleerock address this AM, maybe they will have some info to share

 

 

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Out of interest, can anyone explain why the 004 can struggle with a lock initially, but then be ok after warm up? I don't use my unit much these days, but I remember that I would have to leave it on 15 for about 5 minutes after startup, and then I could change it to 1.

 

I only play Redbook, for the record.

Front End: Neet Airstream

Digital Processing: Chord Hugo M-Scaler

DAC: Chord Dave

Amplification: Cyrus Mono x300 Signatures

Speakers: Kudos Titan T88

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  • 6 months later...

I ordered one from Senzhen Audion through Amazon.  I found that the coaxial plug is larger than standard size and won't fit my cable. My CD player only has coaxial output. This is a big problem for me. Even if I can manage to get a cable with large plug, it will only fit the DA004 but won't fit my CD player or any other source with standard coaxial plug size. I am wondering why this hasn't been mentioned. Is there a solution to this problem?

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Seems odd. I've had two MH-DA 003's and still own an MH-DA 004 and have never experienced cable issues. Maybe it's something to do with the latest batch?

 

FWIW, I'll be putting mine on e-bay shortly. Lovely unit, but it has been replaced recently with Chord M-Scaler/Dave. (Gives them a good run for their money though, and at a fraction of the price.)

Front End: Neet Airstream

Digital Processing: Chord Hugo M-Scaler

DAC: Chord Dave

Amplification: Cyrus Mono x300 Signatures

Speakers: Kudos Titan T88

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  • 3 weeks later...

New member here, Question I'm an old school Audiophile that really has no interest in computers but would like to use the lks 2004 dac with a old pioneer pd-65 as a transport and possibly with my laptop on Tidal. How difficult is this going to be with my limited skill set in computers? I can handle downloading some drivers but beyond that I don't understand most of the lingo. Will I have to plug and unplug every time I switch between the two? Once set up is there a lot of fine tuning required? Am I barking up the wrong tree? If so would anyone care to recommend a more user friendly alternative dac that would suite my needs? Thanks guys. Arken  

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9 hours ago, Arken said:

New member here, Question I'm an old school Audiophile that really has no interest in computers but would like to use the lks 2004 dac with a old pioneer pd-65 as a transport and possibly with my laptop on Tidal. How difficult is this going to be with my limited skill set in computers? I can handle downloading some drivers but beyond that I don't understand most of the lingo. Will I have to plug and unplug every time I switch between the two? Once set up is there a lot of fine tuning required? Am I barking up the wrong tree? If so would anyone care to recommend a more user friendly alternative dac that would suite my needs? Thanks guys. Arken  

Hi, you connect your Pioneer with coax cable and your laptop with USB. Usually a dac has a switch for the input else one gets preference when both inputs receive data. So it's never a problem you can keep both connected. But first, does your dac has an USB input? 

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Sorry I was considering the lks 2004 dac, hear lots of good things ? Getting it from china from a dealer on ebay makes me a bit nervous. I'm always a little skeptical about what I read ? I bought the chord mojo because of rave reviews and I really don't get what the hype is about.? It's ok?

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On 12/20/2018 at 1:02 AM, Arken said:

Sorry I was considering the lks 2004 dac, hear lots of good things ? Getting it from china from a dealer on ebay makes me a bit nervous. I'm always a little skeptical about what I read ? I bought the chord mojo because of rave reviews and I really don't get what the hype is about.? It's ok?

 

Getting it from China is indeed somewhat worrying, as it's hard to get it repaired if it goes wrong. I've had a number of DAC's (still have 6!) and so have learned the sonic signature of quite a few of them. I've also listened to DAC's up to around the 8K GBP range, so have a good idea of the differences. The LKS Audio MH-DA 004 is the best chip-based DAC I have head. It's not a surprise because it uses a very well implemented dual mono architecture, and discrete output components (rather than cheap IC op amps).

Front End: Neet Airstream

Digital Processing: Chord Hugo M-Scaler

DAC: Chord Dave

Amplification: Cyrus Mono x300 Signatures

Speakers: Kudos Titan T88

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Good stuff.

 

It's not in the manual, but be aware that the DPLL has 15 settings. I think 1 is the best quality setting IIRC, however it doesn't work well until the unit is warmed up. I used to start on the lowest quality setting, and then after 5 minutes move it to the highest setting. It's controllable via the remote, which simply changes the settings directly on the twin DAC chips (it's a Sabre pin option).

 

To be honest I could scarcely hear any difference. It's the same with the digital filters. Lots of choice, but I'm not sure I noticed any difference.

 

If my unit had twin BNC inputs I might be keen still to keep it, as I would be able to use it with my M-Scaler.

 

Enjoy when it arrives. If you feel brave, open the top and marvel at the engineering inside - a really nice job.

 

Any questions, post here. I don't log in much these days but I do get alerts on this thread.

Front End: Neet Airstream

Digital Processing: Chord Hugo M-Scaler

DAC: Chord Dave

Amplification: Cyrus Mono x300 Signatures

Speakers: Kudos Titan T88

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On 12/22/2018 at 12:28 AM, Arken said:

Should I be investing in a lineal power supply? Care to recommend one? Thanks 

 

Not sure - probably best asking someone with more knowledge in that space.

Front End: Neet Airstream

Digital Processing: Chord Hugo M-Scaler

DAC: Chord Dave

Amplification: Cyrus Mono x300 Signatures

Speakers: Kudos Titan T88

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I got the dac Friday! The cd player didn't work right the first day or so but after it was good and warmed up it seems to be working fine. Surprisingly tidal (in master)sounds better than using the pioneer pd-65 as a transport running through the dac. Does anyone know what battery goes in the remote? It didn't come with one and I don't see it in manual? It's not even broke in and it sounds great. The absence of sound when it's supposed to be silent and dynamic range are the first things that are apparent. The low end is incredible. Thanks for your help guys!!  

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Hi,

I can't remember for sure what the battery type is - I think it was Triple A.

Yes, it sounds very good out of the box. I don't remember it changing much after break-in.

The discrete USB section (Amanero board, IIRC) is supposedly galvanically isolated, but Toslink may sound better due to full isolation. Worth trying both. I think I did but couldn't discern any obvious difference. Try the filters also. My ears didn't detect much difference but yours may, and there is a good range of choice.

Glad you are enjoying it. Twin 9038 Pro ESS chip architecture is the way forward - I'm surprised everyone isn't going down this route (or maybe they are - I've shifted my attention to the FPGA world these days).

Front End: Neet Airstream

Digital Processing: Chord Hugo M-Scaler

DAC: Chord Dave

Amplification: Cyrus Mono x300 Signatures

Speakers: Kudos Titan T88

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I replaced the inexpensive cable (coaxial cable)between the Dac and the cd player. I found a MIT shotgun cable for a fraction of it's original price on eBay. Now I'm not really a big cable guy but this really made the pioneer pd-65 come alive. It is an excellent cable that you slide on and tighten. The whole soundstage came alive. I would have never gotten this cable if I had not got it at such a great price. When I first started using the pioneer as a transport it wouldn't even play.After 10 hours or so of use it started working but didn't sound as good as playing tidal on my laptop through the Dac. Now it sound great! I couldn't be happier with this Dac!!

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