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Author Topic: Lynx Hilo Curious?  (Read 2718 times)

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burnspbesq

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Lynx Hilo Curious?
« on: December 26, 2012, 11:48:32 PM »
I'm picking a demo up from a pro-audio place in LA on Friday (the A/D functions are what pushed me over the edge, as I am in the midst of a multi-year vinyl-ripping project).

If you're in OC and are interested in hearing it, PM me and we'll see if we can work something out.

Could be  :-DD.  Or it could be   :)p18.

Only one way to find out.
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Anaxilus.

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2012, 05:43:36 AM »
Will do, maybe next week when I have more free time.
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burnspbesq

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2012, 02:45:36 AM »
Getting acclimated to the Hilo. The feature set is dauntingly long, and the manual isn't the best I've seen. However, with a little trial and error I got it going as a USB DAC/headphone amp, a 192kHz ADC for ripping vinyl, and a pure analog system if I want to listen to vinyl.

Just listening for fun now. Won't do any comparative listening vs. the incumbents until Monday, at the earliest. So far, I am liking what I'm hearing.
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burnspbesq

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2012, 09:00:29 PM »
Didn't take long to decide.  The Hilo stays.  The Bryston goes on the market.  The Concero goes to the office, the Arcam rDac goes from the office to the family room, and the first-gen DACMagic gets retired.

The remaining question (and if any of y'all have any thoughts on this, please weigh in): for ripping vinyl, do I take the phonostage out of the signal chain and do RIAA equalization in software?
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Anaxilus.

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2013, 09:31:09 AM »
Might have to a side by side w/ the PWD.


So does the amp section actually compete w/ the BHA-1?
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burnspbesq

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2013, 06:11:55 PM »
Using the single-ended output, it's the first time I've ever heard the Bryston sound dark and closed-in by comparison to another amp. The Hilo is, above all else, precise and revealing. Some might find it a teeny bit bright, but not in an unpleasant or fatiguing way. It's certainly not "etched."

Might it come out differently if I had swapped cables on the 800s and compared the sound of the Hilo (which has only a single-ended HP jack) to the sound of the balanced outputs of the Bryson? Yeah, it might have.

One thing about the amp section of the Hilo: it doesn't have huge reserves of power. It's got plenty for me, using 800s at my usual relatively low volume. But I would expect it to be unsatisfactory for hard-core head-bangers with orthos.
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Anaxilus.

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #6 on: January 01, 2013, 07:05:25 PM »
SE out of the BHA1 is a mistake.  My Leckerton sounds better than that thing SE.  The O2 might even be better. 
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zerodeefex

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2013, 05:15:57 PM »
Has anyone heard the Hilo stacked against the PWD yet?

I have no way to easily demo the Lynx locally. I'm hoping someone else had done a head to head to get some relative comparison on a resolving rig.
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Solderdude

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #8 on: March 06, 2013, 06:38:19 PM »
Quote from: burnspbesq on December 31, 2012, 09:00:29 PM
The remaining question: for ripping vinyl, do I take the phonostage out of the signal chain and do RIAA equalization in software?

The phonostage is not only there for RIAA equalization but also to increase the voltage level (few mV to volts for MM and hundreds of uV to Volts for LO-MC) AND correct loading of the cartridge which the ADC most certainly will not do correctly as the input resistance and capacitance play a large role.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2013, 06:47:18 PM by Solderdude »
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Anaxilus.

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Re: Lynx Hilo Curious?
« Reply #9 on: March 06, 2013, 07:03:20 PM »
Quote from: zerodeefex on March 06, 2013, 05:15:57 PM
Has anyone heard the Hilo stacked against the PWD yet?

I have no way to easily demo the Lynx locally. I'm hoping someone else had done a head to head to get some relative comparison on a resolving rig.
Would be nice. Burn is pretty local but I think he has it tucked away where it gets used almost daily.
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