Lynx Hilo Now Available

[pmoon]

Originally Posted by gearcurious

so, the hilo sounds fab. i'm happy to report that i agree with the early positive reviews.

It's good to hear the positive reviews on Hilo - we're all happy to see these.

Just a word of caution here. Lynx's warranty, as stated in our manuals, is a one year parts and labor warranty for the original buyer. It is not transferable. So any unit being resold, even if factory sealed, would not be covered by the warranty. To make sure that you get the full warranty and support, purchase a new unit from an authorized retailer.

Thanks,

Phil Moon
Lynx

[Red Baron]

Originally Posted by pmoon

one year parts and labor warranty for the original buyer.

So, after that one year warranty has expired, customers have to pay every cost if Hilo needs to be repaired.

Please Phil, correct me if I am wrong.

[nms]

Originally Posted by gearcurious

extra extra! if you're having difficulty finding a hilo in stock somwhere-

Yes. We caught that the first time. This isn't the classifieds, bumping your ad every 24hrs doesn't go over as well.

[jbuchholtz]

Slightly off topic, guys ;-)

[Jezzta667]

Originally Posted by gearcurious

lol, by now, i probably have you wanting this one over yours, jezzta! ha! just playing. i really mean it when i say i appreciate the concern.

Ok well, genuinely, best of luck to you. Just please keep the spam to a minimum. It's not really the purpose of this thread.

[Jezzta667]

Having said that, I admit that comparing my genitals to Lavry converters is not the purpose of this thread either...

[rrraaalllfff]

Hilo is here. Am I the first in Latin America to have one?

[Rev. Eslam]

That depends.
Are you in America and do you speak Latin?
If so, then I would hazard to reply in the affirmative.
;-)

[chilly7]

That is my Hilo

[Red Baron]

Hilo owners, if you have recorded something through it, would you share some samples; in that case, please, tell us the gear you used.

Up to now, we have being talking about Hilo, now we need listen to it, better said, through it.

Thanks

[Rev. Eslam]

I'm not certain how useful a "sample" recording will be.
However, I would be very keen to hear (or learn from a person with good listening ability) a comparison between the Burl Audio DAC and the Lynx HiLo.

[chilly7]

one note:
Hilo does not have mic and instruments preas so that's why to get the same qulity as Hilo u have to buy Avalon pres or other similar in quality pres...

p.s. Probabely the next Lynx Aurora will have exect the same quality of Hilo but just with more Imputs and outputs , so it might solve other proffesinal musicians needs.

what atracts me in Hilo that it has just a fwe but very high quality converters, and it does not have mic and instrument preams so i can get and connect my own selection of pres like Avalons one

[soundslikearecor]

+1 to avalon pres yum. hilo looks like a great box. to the folks who have gotten their hands on one, is handling routing intuitive? what about the touchscreen...is it a pain or delight for controling things? is there a software applet for control as well?

[chilly7]

Originally Posted by soundslikearecor

+1 to avalon pres yum. hilo looks like a great box. to the folks who have gotten their hands on one, is handling routing intuitive? what about the touchscreen...is it a pain or delight for controling things? is there a software applet for control as well?

As far as i knw there is no software to control Hilo, exept some very basic one.

p.s. I really like touch screen thought

[gregerlindberg]

Got a qoestion for more experienced users then me. :D
Forgive me if its not the brightest question out there.

Was woundering if there is any way to hook a FF800 up to the hilo, go acess more channels and preamps for recording?
I know there is one set of ADAT on that thing, and that brings 8 new channels into play. Just asking cause i have the Ff800 and want to upgrade, but i want to be able to record more channels now and then as well, and since i have the FF if its doable in some way. If not, i guess i sell it and try to find som adat options for more channels when needed.
And if so, what should one aim for? Price, high and low..

Thank you

Greger

[Emstar]

Folks got mine Monday and starting using it yesterday. Someone asked about the software and if its easy to use...The internal software and touch screen are very intuitive AS LONG AS you understand what this box is. A quick read through the manual makes it a synch to operate. My set-up, if I keep it, will be this:

USB in
Line out to Dangerous Liaison (to all my analog toys)
Line in from Liaison (from my analog toys)
Monitor Out for, well, monitoring
Dedicated Headphone out for...

So I’m using it as a dual stereo D/A and a single Stereo A/D. There are a massive number of permutations you can have because every input can be routed to specific outputs so you can really create many many routing matrixes. Because of this flexibility, however, the user should take 10 minutes to understand what this box is capable of. It is NOT simply a stero D/A - A/D But once you "get it" the user interface is as simple as can be.

More importantly, I had a chance to listen to it at length having run it all day while I was out. First: WOW! The clarity is exceptional and absolutely transparent. The imaging is actually incredible. I was impressed during a brief listen yesterday but today I'm experiencing a much much broader stereo image with no ambiguity in the imaging, and no smearing across regions. I'll state this claim to the headphone amp as well. (Speaking of which, I have very little time on the headphone amp but do find it so far to be very impressive.) The sound is very three dimensional (which has been a minor complaint of the aurora) And possibly among my biggest cheer is that the sound is very un-clinical, which is the most common complaint of the benchmark and sometimes the Lavry.

This box has the same converter chip as the aurora but as we know, this does;t mean much. I spoke with Lynx rep who discussed the improvements in the analog path. I can't point to what makes the difference but this box is a meaningful step up from the aurora in terms of both depth and imaging.

My initial impression is that this may be the perfect DA/AD system for a mid level dedicated Mastering room. At the end of the day, it comes down to what your ears like and work well with so I'll never say that this is the one. However, for a system like mine, where you'v got a stereo pair out to the analog world where it will stay and be routed around by a mastering console or something like that, this box gives you the out/in to and from the DAW/Real World, a separate DA for monitoring and a dedicated reference quality headphone amp. Ummmm?

I bought it for the functionality and its expected use with the Dangerous Music Liaison. I've got a lot of listing to do before I make a final decision, but so far, its earning its pace in a new home.

p.s. I'm trying to keep me excitement down because I only have about 2 hours of listening and comparing, but I am really really impressed!!

p.s.s: Today using Focal Solo 6 and Seinhesier HD650 for the HP amp.

More to come....

[soundslikearecor]

wow, emstar, uhh, that pretty much sells me on hilo! she sounds perfect for my application. my only question is where'd u get it so fast and how much? but i'll pm u for that!!!

[soundslikearecor]

well, that was easy. my hilo is set to arrive friday according to tracking! the guy i dealt with has another if anybody wants one fast-like and at a fair price too.

[Red Baron]

Emstar, thanks for your review.

I understand your main use of Hilo is Mastering, but, if you could record something like vocals and guitar, if not, whatever, it would be great.

[chilly7]

Originally Posted by Red Baron

Emstar, thanks for your review.

I understand your main use of Hilo is Mastering, but, if you could record something like vocals and guitar, if not, whatever, it would be great.

Hilo has amazing line imputs and outs, extremely high quality.
and also the headpones out is very-very good one.

But because Hilo does not have instrument and mic preamps u need external, so if u will connect some 80 dollars preamps to Hilo then u will not hear the true sound of Hilo.

I would recoment Avalon U5, or M5 if u want to hear the true Hilo Quality.

[nms]

Hey guys.. so which one of you swell owners can run the test file through your Hilo so we can get it added to the list?

The Ultimate Converter DA/AD Loopback Shootout Thread!

Eager to get it on there. I think it'll do exceptionally well.

[soundslikearecor]

you just made my day, chilly. can't wait for tomorrow! and i couldn't agree more about avalon stuff. it's amazing what some knuckleheads around here say about musical being boring. hello!: give me a loud, clear, dynamic sound overflowing with harmonics/pleasing distortion. better for it to fall on the performer to handle the rest, is my view.

[soundslikearecor]

got an audiophile'ish question for lynx and any other takers, please: i know hilo has dual 1/4-inch trs for monitors. but what if we wanted to monitor off the line outs? can we? is there something to be gained by that given the line outs have the double dac processes on'em? also, call me nutty, but, for some reason, connection-type has mattered to my ears. it may be weird, but somehow i think i can hear a difference between trs and xlr-terminated cables. things always seem to sound better terminated by xlr's (fuller maybe b/c they're quieter, if they are?). i'm also curious about this option for monitoring through hi-end phones, not just speakers (also off the line outs). please let me know if this is silly, unnecessary or whatever. and thanks! i could use knowing sooner than later as i'm trying to figure out whether it makes sense to order a balanced trs-terminated cable for a replacement cable for a pair of hi-end headphones or a balanced xlr-terminated cable (so a cable ending in 2 xlr's...1 for left and 1 for right headphone ears). in short: i'm wondering, if, for monitoring, how the line outs (w/double dac processes) stack up against the dedicated headphone amp (single process), or if i'm missing something that makes it dumb to try to monitor off the line-outs altogether!? the thing is: most of the time, i won't need the line-outs and so i could potentially use them for monitoring over the headphone amp. follow me? sorry everybody for the looooong question.

[nms]

I think you might have impedance issues if you go that route. The only reason you will ever be able to tell the difference between XLR and TRS is if you use a unit that does something silly. The MR816 for eg has an extra LF roll off on the inputs if you use an XLR in the combo jack instead of TRS. I certainly wouldn't expect anything like that here with the Hilo.

[soundslikearecor]

thanks nms. i remember going from monitoring on a duet (unbalanced) to using a balanced breakout (w/jensen transformer) added to the duet--it was a 3rd party add-on for duet--and hearing my quality cable and monitors come to FRIGGIN' life. it was such a stark difference i couldn't believe my ears and immediately threw my hands in the air in celebration. since then, even within balanaced rigs, when i've listened on monitors using the same quality cables terminating in trs vs xlr, i've still heard a subtle difference. it's made me think xlr is just quieter somehow and therefore gets out of the way of the signal moreso so that the sound is louder/fuller? so, when i saw the trs's for monitoring on hilo i immediately wondered if the xlr outs could be used for monitoring (when not being used to send audio out for analog processing). i hope to hear from pmoon on this, but thanks nms; i'm not surprised to hear there are other considerations that might thwart the value of my idea or just make it a no-go altogether.

[Ben F]

Originally Posted by soundslikearecor

thanks nms. i remember going from monitoring on a duet (unbalanced) to using a balanced breakout (w/jensen transformer) added to the duet--it was a 3rd party add-on for duet--and hearing my quality cable and monitors come to FRIGGIN' life. it was such a stark difference i couldn't believe my ears and immediately threw my hands in the air in celebration. since then, even within balanaced rigs, when i've listened on monitors using the same quality cables terminating in trs vs xlr, i've still heard a subtle difference. it's made me think xlr is just quieter somehow and therefore gets out of the way of the signal moreso so that the sound is louder/fuller? so, when i saw the trs's for monitoring on hilo i immediately wondered if the xlr outs could be used for monitoring (when not being used to send audio out for analog processing). i hope to hear from pmoon on this, but thanks nms; i'm not surprised to hear they're are other considerations that might thwart the value of my idea or just make it a no-go altogether.

You are hearing the transformer, not the connector.

[Jezzta667]

Soundslike, there's no problem with using the line outs for monitoring. In fact, I've been considering switching to those given that they do have the dual DACs. I just need to get around to making new cables.

And as far as using them for headphones... Wouldn't the thing you might be forgetting be the lack of a headphone amp?? The Hilo headphone amp is beautiful. You SHOULD be using it! Or are you looking to use the headphone amp and then run it out of the line outs? Because that isnt possible.

[soundslikearecor]

thanks ben and jezzta 4 the responses. ben: gotchya. i swear, i could have sworn hearing the xlr over trs thing, but u sound right and r definitely right about that jensen transformer. to anybody who liked the original duet--i dug it and really disliked the sound of duet 2, actually--that add-on jensen box balancing the signal...whoa!: immediately appreciable difference. jezzta: lol, you nailed it. at least i think you did. no amp! duh! wow: major oversight on my part. thank you for saving me the time bothering over that option. (some of the higher end headphones, as you know, have detachable cables. the audiophile crowd likes to replace them with beefier-sounding, better quality cables. and one of the upgrades is to get a cable that terminates in balanced xlr's instead of a 1/4 trs. some of the cables look comically monstrous (but sorta cool). especially the ones that end in xlr's. and w/my experience (thinking at least) that i like xlr's over trs, i'm curious about the sound. but yeah, jezzta...unless you're mistaken somehow--and you sound right to me--there's no driving the headphones off the line out's, right?

[soundslikearecor]

hey jezzta: what about
monitoring with active monitors? is it possible to use the line out's or the monitor out's? or just the monitor out's?

[soundslikearecor]

by the way, i received my hilo just as promised from that guy. it shipped wednesday and showed up today in flawless, new/sealed condition. if anybody wants one in a hurry, pm me for his contact info. good guy. at least 3 of us on here can vouch for him. worked out better than some shops i've dealt with, lol! gotta love gearslutz. he's got 2 left last i spoke with him. tomorrow/sunday, i plan on doing some serious listening/playing around. excited.