LAiV Harmony DAC is a beast!!!

Use these affiliate links if you want to help the channel:

00:00 Intro
00:59 About Laiv
02:17 About Harmony DAC
07:36 Sound
12:24 vs Gustard R26
14:53 vs Lampizator Baltic 3 and Lampucera
18:41 S tier product?
19:38 Final thoughts

Room test system:
Eversolo DMP-A8, Allo DigiOne Signature
Dual Mono Acoustic Invader amps (IcePower 1200)

#hifi #audiophile #dac #stereo

[larryh]

Your sense of humor is appreciated. Lord of the DACs was priceless.

[Cirillion]

Your review is as always honest, transparent, understandable, funny and simply…GREAT! Thank you so much for that!!!🙏🏻

[exlipse]

Congratulations on your review! The sense of detail that you output when detailing and comparing various DACs is just mindblowing! You are one of the most if not the most comprehensive reviewer online with regards to audio equipment. Congratulations is just not enough of a word to describe the level of gratitude that we have for all you do! Thank you!

[edogawa]

I'm hoping you review the new Holo Cyan 2 and compare it to this Harmony DAC. I enjoy your work! And have no problems with the nose .

[bagrubmeister]

Got mine 3 days ago. I agree 100% with your description of the sound, you nailed it, Rich, detialed spacious, bass is with authority not boomy, and vocals sound so good and real, like they are in the room. not forward or edgy just sweet.

[mariodrv]

How come you haven't rewiewed your countrys own Pedja Rogics Audial S5 yet?

[metinfps]

Here's the review I've been waiting for. Thanks a lot for the comparisons and details. I can't wait to order.

[karlhinchliffe]

This is the first review of yours that I've seen, and have to say it is impressive - thorough, detailed, and highly descriptive. The comparisons were particularly helpful. You put into words the sound experience you have felt far more eloquently than most others here on the tube, and I come away from it feeling like I was the one doing the listening ! Top effort.

[sloboat]

I wish my Tradutto didn't sound so good, it would make it easy to replace it. I'm thinking the CEC DA5 to go with my TL5 transport. Not in a hurry though. Anyway, I watch all the dac reviews I'm interested in, but yours, i look forward to the most. Cool runnings

[francois]

Here from Montreal to Serbia, all my kind regards to your openness, your fresh look on things and very informative reviews. I will certainly give this new DAC a closer look.
And ohh yes, difficult times… and I like your t-shirt!

[expletve]

Thank you for all of your great reviews! Word of CAUTION, when I connected the Laiv to my Eversolo DMP-A8 via I2S using the auto "Laiv" mode, it FLIPPED THE LEFT AND RIGHT CHANNELS. I had to use mode 5 for it to map the channels correctly. I used an Audioquest Carbon 48 HDMI cable. This may have been just my unit(s), but this may not always be obvious to folks listening as it still sounded great, but some of my reference tracks have very clear Left and Right panning so it was immediately clear to me. Good news is if anyone else has not noticed this there is still another level for this DAC to go for you as it sounded better when I sorted this out. - John

[rafalbroncel]

I hope this doesn't sound like Denafrips Terminator which I don't like very much. Sounds edgy and clinical/technical to my ears. I hope is more like Holo - dens, highly musical..

[garymalone]

Lord of the DACs lol. Love it.

Not usually a fan of gold accents, but I love the design. That knob in the corner is awesome.

[michaelsparrow]

Great review. LOVE your genuineness and down-to-earth style!

[paulhester]

Love your reviews. Honest and straightforward with "hi end humor"; not over the top, and not a schtick or act; just well-timed HQ humor. THANKS!
The remote's buttons are likely anodized aluminum, not brass...hopefully type 2 or 3. If type 1, the color can wear off rather quickly. Unit looks superb. Keep on keepin' it real!

[downnoutdubin]

Have you considered reviewing the Holo Cyan 2? I currently have a R26. Although I'm not 100% happy with it. It's not quite there for me. Feels more like a chip based dac with a little R2R flare. I had a Musician Pegasus for awhile, and miss some of the magic it had. I've found the Pegasus had better imaging, depth of stage, and natural decay. Also I've never heard such oustanding texture on the higher freqencies w/o sounding as sharp/detailed/OS. I just didn't care for the recessed mid range on the Pegasus. Vocals always seemed so far away in the staging. It also made my HD660's sound like it was serverly flat due to being underpowered (even though It's being driven by my Burson Soloist 3xp). It may end up being a top contender for future entry level mid tier R2R DAC compairsons in that price range. Seems the design philosophy was to put R&D into the interal architecture and no expenses spent on anything other than making the best type of true NOS R2R dac for the money.

With that aside. Love your content and reviews, and what you constantly give to the coumminity. I've found you're my go to person for a oustanding objective, and honest takes on your reviews. Looking for the positives for whomever might enjoy those attrabutes. While not overly trashing the negatives, to allow the viewer to make the call on that sacrafice. No other reviewer gives me the final confidence needed to buy a product without hearing it yet.

[williammilligan]

Thanks for your review, always interesting to hear comparisons with Gustard R26, which I have. What power cord were you using?

[robanderson]

Thanks for the video. Not sure if you check out "do it yourself" kits or not but Ian Canada makes kits for dacs, streamers and class D amps for a fraction of retail prices. I got the Acoustic Invader power amp and preamp after your review. I'm very grateful for your reviews and your ears.

[toddt]

Thanks for another great review! Looks like this could be a great DAC to replace my Pontus 2. Currently I am running a Denafrips flagship Apollo amp and Athena preamp, with Tekton Double impact speakers. Pretty sure that my current DAC is a limiting factor in my system, however I was having a hard time considering spending another $5k plus to get a Terminator or Terminator Plus...so the Laiv DAC could be the perfect sweet spot for me to be satisfied long-term with all my gear. I also love the fact that it has a remote control, as well as a large, easily legible display that shows sample rate and bit depth.

[connorduke]

Excellent review as always. I do believe there is a similarly priced dac which can match it on most dimensions and most likely beat it on dynamic weight: Teac UD-701N for 3, 000 Euro with dual mono design, four toroidal transformers and proprietary Dac chips. Would be greater if a friend can lend you that review as Teac tends not to loan their gear out I understand.