Considering LavryBlack DA-10

[macc]

Magic.

Seriously - thanks a lot!

EDIT - a bit of cheeky googling turned up this;

The Lavry DA11: For your ears only - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Dan Lavry says;

Note that I am not suggesting that all inputs are the same:

XLR: for very long distances, even 300 feet, the XLR digital audio it is best due to higher power signals, use of balanced transmission and also transformer coupling.

RCA: weak signals, single ended, no transformer coupling. I find RCA to be the most fragile, but it works just fine if the cable is short enough and of reasonable quality.

Optical: I find it to be more robust then RCA, less robust then XLR. There are no ground loop current issues.

USB: Works fine at low distances, similar results as the optical.

My advice is to always try and use a short cable or optical link. I am not suggesting altering a studio or a living room setup. But say you have say a 5 foot cable that will do the job, and a 20 feet cable, use the 5 feet... Short is good. It may improve things, and it does not help, it certainly will not hurt.

Each of the four connection types has maximum cable (link) length specifications. I would certainly try and stay within those specifications and again, the shorter the better, for any type of quality cable. That rule is iron clad. I would choose a 3 foot mediocre quality cable over a 10 feet highest quality cable.

Interesting.

[arf]

I'm running all inputs with proper cabling and distances within spec. Can't hear a difference between them.

[macc]

That's good enough for me, at least for the time being - thanks a lot for the help!

[Getafix]

For those of you with DA-10's. Is there a need for a separate monitor controller with the DA-10 or can you use the volume switch for analog volume control.

[Delta Heavy]

Originally Posted by s-cube

For those of you with DA-10's. Is there a need for a separate monitor controller with the DA-10 or can you use the volume switch for analog volume control.

yeah you need a seperate monitor controller imo, the fiddly little lever isn't adequate for constant use

[Nordenstam]

Originally Posted by s-cube

For those of you with DA-10's. Is there a need for a separate monitor controller with the DA-10 or can you use the volume switch for analog volume control.

Got the DA10 connected straight to the amps. It's more cumbersome than a normal level knob, but it'll do fine if you can't afford something more convenient. The optical input is left unused, so it doubles as a mute button. That's important since I sometimes do dumb things that sends way to much sound to the speakers.. The level switch thingy is too slow to cut level fast.

No speaker switching though. Have NS10's on a separate DAC as a temporary solution while waiting for a proper controller.

[theskids]

Originally Posted by Ashermusic

I have used my DA-10 with several different audio interfaces and its sound is always stellar.

Totally Agree, I'd get the DA-10 and go from there, say away from the USB thing, at least until USB 3, I sold my Benchmark after hearing the DA-10.

Good Luck....

[Nordenstam]

PS: the Lavry gear is very resistant to jitter. If there's any such trouble with the USB interface, I'm quite sure the DAC will happily neglect it!

Did a RMAA loopback test where I tried to force errors on the digi transmission by using faulty cabling. The only way I managed to create a measurable difference was by having two cell phones on different networks calling each other right on top of an unshielded (speaker!) cable. In that worst case scenario, the effect was drop outs.

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by Lupo

PS: the Lavry gear is very resistant to jitter. If there's any such trouble with the USB interface, I'm quite sure the DAC will happily neglect it!

There is no reason for there to be any jitter from the USB connection: It isn't clocked. The clock should be in the DAC itself. The USB cable should just feed a buffer in the converter. (No different than any other type of audio interface for PC really).

Alistair

[P Sound]

Originally Posted by s-cube

For those of you with DA-10's. Is there a need for a separate monitor controller with the DA-10 or can you use the volume switch for analog volume control.

The Volume control of the DA10 or DA11 can be used as monitor volume control.
Delta Heavy wrote:

yeah you need a separate monitor controller imo, the fiddly little lever isn't adequate for constant use

This is a matter of opinion, because some people are OK with using the switch for this purpose. Mechanically, it is certainly up to the task, but some people may find it less comfortable for constant use than a rotary type of control.

One could also point out that the DA10 does not have analog inputs and is therefore not suitable as a preamp, but it was not designed to be a replacement for a preamp or full-feature monitor section.

There are many advantages to the approach Dan Lavry took with the Volume circuitry in the DA10 and DA11, which he discusses in post 21 of this Forum:The Lavry DA11: For your ears only - Page 2 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

One other thing to keep in mind- the DA11 has more features including Infrared Remote capability in addition to the USB input and >PiC< Playback Image Control™ , so with the DA11, you can use an infrared remote to adjust the Volume instead of the front panel "Up/Down" switch.

[nitsuj]

Originally Posted by Table Of Tone

I've never tried the lavry blacks.

Any good?

Can you hear the difference over just the motu on it's own?

I run a lavry gold AD and that is my master clock.
Really solid for sure!

I did one week of listenings with the Lavry through Genelec 8040s. When I put the MOTU back on again, I could make out the difference.

The Lavry DA10 brings out clarity and an airy high end to all the songs played. It comes alive and I start to hear details of instruments that I've not noticed before. I find the imaging better too. It isn't harsh sounding or fatiguing at all. At least now I know how converters are when put to work and how they contribute to audio fidelity.

Having said that, the MOTU isn't that bad. It is decent just that the Lavry's are a big step up towards a more pro sound.

Also, I've realised that by selecting the Lavry as clock source over the MOTU's internal clock, the playback recordings are a little crispier sounding. The difference is subtle though but it is there.

[Table Of Tone]

Apparently the power supply is also more reliable on the DA11.

[tonmeister]

can you plug 2x da11's into 2 usb ports and have your DAW sucessfully use both together?

[1945MF]

lavry black AD sounds phat for me.. cheers..

[P Sound]

Originally Posted by tonmeister

can you plug 2x da11's into 2 usb ports and have your DAW sucessfully use both together?

It appears that a single USB controller is not capable of handling the "bandwidth" required for 96 kHz operation on two USB devices. In a test involving a number of Windows PC's, the error message appeared that said (in so many words) "...the USB bandwidth has been exceeded" when I tried to play two separate stereo audio streams out through two DA11's.

So at least theoretically, if you had a computer with two USB controllers that were not connected to other high-bandwidth devices, it would be possible to use two DA11's connected via two USB busses. Otherwise, it looks like a multichannel digital audio interface would be the way to go, connecting to the DA11's with AES or SPDIF.