和谐 DAC

Hi Weng,

Just want to let you know that I’m enjoying the DAC tremendously. This, I’m saying, coming from a Denafrips Venus 12th II. The improvement in sound quality is close to being dramatic and in a very good way. We were completely happy with the Venus but was intrigued by the extremely positive reviews on the Laiv Harmony DAC, with Steve Huff and moon audio making it their reference DAC. At $2700, i just thought it’s worth a try. I’m so happy I did. The burn in time of 100hrs ended a few hours ago. We’ve been listening to the DAC all day. Started even before the 100 hour mark. Even then, the sound was already impressive. And we feel like the sound is improving and getting better by the minute. Detail retrieval is impeccable without being harsh or fatiguing. There is an airiness to its top end and the notes hang a bit and stays smooth throughout. The mids are so clear and transparent yet they retain a certain amount of fullness and warmth that makes it inviting and present. The vocals sound live and natural. The bass is tight. I somehow thought that the Venus’ bass sounded a tad bigger , but after a few hours of listening, they’re just as big but more textured. defined. Faster and tighter. The soundstage depth is as deep as the Venus but the width is expansive. Way beyond the speakers borders. There was a track I was listening to earlier which made me check my downstairs media room door coz I seriously thought someone had opened the door. Come to rewind the track to find out it’s within the music :). I just had to laugh and be in awe:). This DAC is very special indeed. What’s scary is I know that as I use the DAC, it can only get better. It’s one of the best hi fi equipment I’ve ever owned and I know it’s only been a day, but that’s going on a full day of listening to every genre of music i can play on it. I just wish your Network streamer is available coz I’m about to pull the trigger on a Hi fi Rose RS130. Please convince me to wait for it and I will:)

Again, Thank you very much. I am so grateful for the brains, the hands and the heart that created this wonderful DAC.

Have a wonderful day and looking forward to whatever hi fi wonder Laiv will come up in the future.

Sincerely and with much gratitude,

Arnold

In short, this DAC is a very impressive piece of equipment! I expected it to be slightly heavy and solid, but the build quality and solid feel exceeded my expectations. I was not a fan of the gold/black coloring in photos, but it looks better in person than I expected.

Moving on to the most important aspect of the DAC - the sound quality - I am extremely pleased! I purchased this DAC to replace a delta-sigma chip based Topping D70 DAC. I have always been happy with that DAC until I got Susvara headphones, which resulted in a slightly artificial sound. In general, I have been a believer that DACs do not make a huge difference in general sound to justify large price premiums. I now know that is because of the headphones I had been using were not transparent enough to fully exposes the differences in various DACS.

My current setup where the Harmony DAC is being used consists of a Burson Soloist 3XP amp, the Harmony DAC and Meze Elite or Hifiman Susvara headphones. The Susvaras clearly sound significantly better with the Harmony vs the older Topping D70. The sound is smooth and the lows, mids and highs all sound perfectly balanced to each other. Bass slam/punch is signficantly higher with the Harmony which my Susvaras lacked with the D70 for some reason. Detail retrieval and stage also improved. Moving the Meze Elite headphones, I also noticed an improved sound quality vs. the D70, but not to the same level of the Susvara, mainly because the Elite excels in making everything you put into it just sound well balanced and enjoyable. The Elite could probably best be described as exhibiting improvements is separation and pulling out nuanced elements of the track hiding in the background vs. a change in the presentation of the bass, mids and treble.

I have used both the OS and NOS modes. They both sound great to me. They are noticeable different, but not so much that they are worlds apart. My take is the OS pulls out background details a bit more, making them more front and center. It also makes the mids more transparent and forward. The NOS is a bit warmer with some of the details more recessed. I originally gravitated towards OS, but am now using NOS. I can't say for sure if one or the other will win long-term for me. My take is NOS is more appropriate for more instrumental materials. I really like the NOS for EDM/Electronic styles. Both NOS and OS work well for all music types I've thrown at the DAC.

In short, I fully recommend the Harmony DAC.

I received my Harmony DAC a couple of nights ago. I have listened to a couple of hours of music on it and I am delighted.

To start, even the packaging is awesome. As I opened each section of the package it became better. Lots of attention to little details.

The remote is a piece of art, sturdy, elegant, comfortable and easy to use.

The DAC feels solid, and it is heavy. The template for setting the shoes/cups for the spikes is a welcomed addition that honestly should be included on all other pieces of equipment. I also see built-in shoes for other future LAiV units.

The aesthetics of the Harmony are great. It is a statement piece, and the finish does not show fingerprint marks (if it did, LAiV included a cleaning cloth!). The controls are intuitive and easy to use.

Initial listening impressions:

For context I must first describe my equipment and where the Harmony DAC comes in.

My sources are a turntable, streamer (mostly for Qobuz), and SACD transport for DSD over i2s, 3 CD transports and an SACD/CD transport.

For DACs I use a Theta Gen V Pro, a Topping D90SE and the onboard DACs of my (modded) Sony ES and Oppo players and the onboard DAC of the streamer. Plus, now the LAiV which is plugged to the DSD transport (i2s), the streamer (digital coax) and the CD transport via optical.

Outputs are fed to an Allnic line stage connected to Threshold SA12e amps for bass, Manley Snappers for mid/highs on my Infinity IRS Beta speakers.

I plugged the Harmony DAC to my SACD transport via i2s and to my streamer on coax digital. Set it to NOS and went through some of my “test tracks”.

Initially I wonder if it was a “placebo effect” but I hear clearer lows and mids with a great soundstage. Also, not as much sibilance on some vocals as I get with my other DACS.

Now during the second long listening session, my initial impressions are confirmed as I found myself reducing the bass gain on the Infinity’s Servo Controller. The bass is fast and deep.

One thing I noticed is that I did not find the music fatiguing as it has happened with my other DAC when streaming.

I then changed to Over Sampling mode (CD and stream) and tried the same tracks. I have to listen to it some more, but some passages seem more musical.

It has become my main DAC. Very pleased with the sound!