Horizon Fitness LampizatOr User manual

the horizon
LampizatOr DAC – User Manual
Revision Beta 00 - January 2022

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LampizatOr- The Horizon DAC Manual
WARNING: as every DAC comes with a 7 days testing period (please to confirm it - ask
your dealer first), during this time it is not allowed to open the DAC. The screws are
protected with a seal. You have to decide, if you like the sound and you want to keep it.
After the 7 days period expire – your DAC is a keeper, and you may open the hood. This
does not invalidate the warranty, however – any modifications – no matter how small –
invalidate the 5 years warranty. Changes, upgrades and mods must be pre-authorized in
writing, even tube change. DACS returned during the test period with the seal broken will
not be refunded and will be sent back.
THE SHORT MANUAL
1. Plug in the mains, digital source input and analog (amplifier)
output cables.
2. Switch the red rocker switch near the AC inlet at the back side
3. Press the middle button on the front panel for 3 seconds untill
click of the relays confirms the power
4. Observe the Nixie display come alive 5 sec later
5. Watch calmly the countdown of 30 s warm-up period
6. The DAC is ready to play.
Enjoy !!
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From the designer:
I am so extremely happy to introduce to you my brainchild - the Horizon.
Thanks to a revolutionary chip technology, like nothing we ever saw before - it was possible to
design a DAC that creates a class of it’s own. "Never in the twelve years since
LampizatOr's"founding"have we taken on such an ambitious, expensive and labor intensive"
project.
From custom transformers, custom 4 layer PCB, 17 separate power circuits, ultra high end music
conversion topology, customized muting solutions, proprietary firmware and software, the chip that
revolutionizes the industry, new tube scheme, new tube selection, TRP (tube rolling paradise
setup), new chassis, new heating scheme, new superb volume control with bypass feature, new
uber cool nixie display, elimination of knobs, elimination of LCD and OLED displays, new USB
solution with super-clocking, antivibration CNC milled support for all PCBs, elimination of visible
screws - everything about this DAC is new, rethought and redesigned."
The resulting DAC is a true flagship. We can say with full confidence that you are getting a
unique"masterpiece of craftsmanship that will redefine what you believed possible and may never
be surpassed.#
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Contents:
The description of REMOTE CONTROL unit 5....................................................................
Tube positioning 6.................................................................................................................
A quick guide to a smooth start 7........................................................................................
THE BUTTONS 7....................................................................................................................
Introduction 8.........................................................................................................................
Horizon design 9...................................................................................................................
Data formats 10......................................................................................................................
Audio volume level 10...........................................................................................................
The heat issue 11...................................................................................................................
Optimal placement 11............................................................................................................
Power on-off cycle 11............................................................................................................
Cabling and cable handling 12.............................................................................................
Tube rolling and replacement 13.........................................................................................
Tube ADAPTERS 13...............................................................................................................
Rectifier Rolling 15................................................................................................................
Aging problems 17................................................................................................................
Fuse Change 17.....................................................................................................................
Volume control 17.................................................................................................................
COOPERATION WITH THE PREAMP 19..............................................................................
DIGITAL INPUTS 19...............................................................................................................
The TOSLINK connection 20......................................................................................
on HDMI 20...................................................................................................................
USB playback 21.........................................................................................................
i2S PINOUT 22........................................................................................................................
MAC OS operation of USB output: 23.................................................................................
LISTENING TO THE MUSIC 25..............................................................................................
SOME Q & A 28......................................................................................................................
I PLUGGED EVERYTHING BUT I GET NO SOUND 29........................................................
The special footers: 30.........................................................................................................
The Rear Panel (inputs and outputs) 32..............................................................................
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The description of REMOTE CONTROL unit
functions for “Kallas” systems as used in the PACIFIC DAC.
Our remote control is made of metal and is custom made for our
volume control system. The batteries are of “coin” type and do not
live too long, it is advisable to keep a fresh unopen battery type
CR2032 in your storage, we think the batteries need to be changed
once per year.
Batteries are accessible after un-screwing the bottom of the remote
unit.
ON powers up/down the whole DAC but the Remote Control
processing circuit remains powered even after switch off . If you
switch off by the rear power button - it also powers down the remote
circuit therefore it will be impossible to switch the DAC on via remote.
VOL+ VOL- changes the volume from complete MUTE (-63 dB) to
complete bypass - 0 dB in 64 smooth steps.
On the Horizon’s Nixie display - the 00 represent muting, 01 is minus
63 dB sound and 62 is the loudest volume setting. One step up - 63
means full gain, volume bypass mode. The absolute volume level
depends on the tube choice and may vary from model to model.
Input - and Input +- changes the analog and digital inputs to the tube
section.
1 = SPDIF, 2 = AESEBU, 3 = Toslink, 4 = USB, 5 = HDMI i2S, 6 =
RJ45 i2S, 7 = Analog RCA input, 8 = analog XLR balanced input
MUTE does just that - mute. After pressing again - the DAC will go
back to the last volume used. Touching the Vol-Up and Vol Down
functions will un-mute automatically.
The volume levels (last used) are remembered.
The DAC by default will start on USB (number 4) input.
Changing the input will switch the display for 3 seconds to the input mode, and then it will
jump back to showing the volume.
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IN—
IN +
MUTE
VOL -
VOL +
ON/OFF
Lampizator

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Tube positioning
Left channel - positive phase, Right channel positive phase, Left channel - negative phase,
Right channel negative phase, are the power pentode tubes (must all four be equal and
the same). The basic tube there is EL34 or KT88
Small 6SN7GT is a dual triode and works for two phases of one channel as DAC
conversion input.
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L-POS
R-POS
L-NEG
R-NEG
L Neg And
POS
L+R
RECTIFIER
FRONT
R Neg And
POS

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A quick guide to a smooth start
THE BUTTONS
The whole DAC can be operated simply by the three buttons on the front.
Left and right button are simply VOLUME UP and DOWN.
When you hopld the button the volume change will accelerate to the end of the scale.
Middle button is a POWER ON while DAC is in STANDBY mode and it is input selector
when the DAC is in the operation.
The Nixie display will show the selected input number for 3 seconds. After that it will jump
back to showing the volume level.
1 = SPDIF, 2 = AESEBU, 3 = Toslink, 4 = USB, 5 = HDMI i2S, 6 = RJ45 i2S, 7 = Analog
RCA input, 8 = analog XLR balanced input
MAINS VOLTAGE: All DACs are shipped with the voltage of MAINS according to the
country of destination. If you bought the DAC second hand and you are in different voltage
zone - the DAC can be converted by a switch at the bottom, allowing user to select mains
voltage.
It requires placing the DAC on the side and sliding the 115/230 switch to the oposite
position, firmly to the end of slide.
POWER CABLE (MAINS)
It is not necessary, but advisable that the power cable used is a quality one, not simply
a computer cable. It is also advisable to use some kind of AC filter – in many cases this
brings nice results. Generally under-filtering is better than over-filtering.
Due to multitude of AC plugs around the world - we dont supply any AC cable at all.
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Introduction
Thank you for choosing Lampizator HORIZON DAC. We created it with huge research
effort to deliver not only world class musical performance, rivalling the most expensive
DACS money can buy, but also to offer very long life of the product. Simply speaking –
if you adhere to some basic precautions listed below – the product should last a lifetime
and hopefully in this period – will never be outperformed by a competing product.
“Whose lifetime?” one might ask – well – let’s not go into details – enough to say it
should work flawlessly for the foreseeable future.
The DAC should be future-proof. Shall we ever launch a major upgrade to the digital
part – you can get the upgrade at very reasonable cost. Shall you decide you need
some added features – you can also get them at reasonable cost anytime in the future.
We can’t be 100% sure, but it is extremely unlikely that the market and the industry in
the future will embark any technology of music storage faster than 192 kHz and with
more resolution that 24 bits. We already hit the human ear limits, not to mention the
real needs of mass consumers. It is good to know that we out perform the music
industry file resolution by the factor of 4 (400%).
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Horizon design
This DAC is like no other, mainly due to the fact it is using dual triodes as DAC output
converters to voltage and power pentodes as triode loads, triode buffers and voltage
stabilisers at the same time. The power pentodes seem to be much too large and much
to expenceive to be used as “small signal” tubes. Thats why the decision to use them is
so beautifully radical and extreme, worthy of high end status.
Big power pentodes like EL34, KT66, KT88, KT120, 150 and 170 are ridiculously
overspecified for the job in this circuit but thats the key to this big, bold, effortless sound
that noone else can match, they offer in return a sound signature that is simply craved
by high end audiophiles and music afficionados around the world. The sound
becomess effortless, powerful but delicate, smooth but detailed, well controlled but
musical, three-dimensional and gorgeous at the same time. This is partly due to the
fact that the radiation and absorbtion areas of these triodes are tens of times larger
than those found in small tubes, making electron density much smaller and the flow is
much easier. This for some reaqson sounds better.
The Heaters of our DAC are AC type, precisely controlled and safely limited in both
voltage and current. Our heater circuits provide good protection for long life of these
tubes..
The Anode High Voltage is supplied with our propriatory tube power supply, consisting
of a very gigh grade toroidal transformer, one EI-transformer, Dual Diode directly
heated rectifier, a choke and capacitor filter and passive filtration and energy storage
stages. After the rectifier diode tube - the supplies split into dual mono. (in fact into
quad-mono considering the two phases per channel)
Balanced Operation is possible because we employ a fully balanced digital engine that
produces 4 analog outputs simultaneously:
Left Negative, Left Positive, Right Positive and Right Negative.
All four outputs are treated equally, get their individual volume control ladder, individual
filtering, signal shaping, and amplification by one tube each. Thats why we have 4
triodes per DAC and additional 4 big pentodes for Anode Loading.
Triode, pentode and Rectifier swapping (rolling) is described elsewhere in the manual.
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Data formats
The DAC is capable of automatic recognition of all sampling rates from32 to 768 kHz
and bit rates from 14 to 32. Since few if any transports offering S/PDIF format of the
192 kHz exist in the consumer market, it is hard to guarantee the operation but on the
professional ones which we tried – it worked. From our experience the transmitters of
S/PDIF are incapable of making good square wave over 48 kHz, so if you play a 192
kHz file, be aware that on one hand you “play” more detailed data, but at the same time
your signal is waaay more distorted so at the end of the day for this reason alone it
may not be worth it to chase the hi-rez rabbit via S/Pdif. USB is made for that.
If you use USB connection, all our DACs will play up to 768 kHz and 32 bits. This
theoretical limit does not imply that you need RECORDINGS of that resolution, which
don’t exist by the way, but that you can use up sampling to play regular files. We
however listen to all recordings at the resolution settings they were recorded.
By PCM files we mean all known file formats like: MP3, MP4, Aiff, Flac, WMA, WAV,
Ogg, and many more less known types. PCM abbreviation stands for pulse code
modulation.
DSD
Direct Stream Digital, also known as DSD format - this format is not new as many
people think, it is as old as digital but it wasn’t used for consumer audio or home audio
- before. It became very popular after 2010 and continues to make its way into our
homes. It is VERY different than our well known PCM format as found in our CD files,
MP3, FLAC or WAV - AIFF. It encodes the music in the data stream differently, looks
different and sounds different. It is the format in which the SACD discs were recorded
and a format in which the analog master tapes were backed up by record companies. It
is currently the format in which the master recordings are made in record industry.
In Horizon DAC - we use AUTOSENSING and automatic switch from DSD to PCM and
back. User doesn’t need to do anything, just enjoy.
Our DAC will automatically recognize and switch all DSD speed rates from normal 64
SACD format to 2x (128x) and quad 256x format or 512x shall you need it.
Audio volume level
Tube technology allows us to set practically unlimited volume level at the output, up to
3 x higher than from a normal CD player. We have decided to adhere to one internally
set standard: the test tone of 1 kHz at -20 dB produces an output of sine wave 300 mV
AC under the amp load of 47K. Thats equivalent of circa 3 V pp. Balanced signal is
double that.
Generally - we prefer the sound of the DAC with high output levels, and most amps
don’t have any problem with that. A simple potentiometer or stepped attenuator in the
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amp’s input stage takes care of that. Only solid state chip based preamps will saturate
and distort.
LampizatOr DAC should not be used with opamp based preamp, no matter how good.
Because the op-amp feedback loops will remove the whole joy of music as delivered by
the tubed DAC. The horizon is simply speaking way too good for that.
The heat issue
Many people are concerned about the heat inside the player.
We want you to relax about it - that this is NOT an issue. The DAC operates well below
half of its maximum allowed temperature. Tubes are DESIGNED to be hot, this is their
very nature. Thats why they have internal heaters and when they are not at optimal
operating temperature – they sound bad.
The other components are guaranteed up to 105C and we are expecting no more than
45 degrees Celsius in the air inside the DAC.
Our only advice is do not heat the box additionally by placing it - for example - on top of
a hot class A amplifier. Give it some space around to allow free air flow and adequate
cooling.
Optimal placement
Apart from the heat issue as described above, the DAC has no special placement
requirements. Just remember to keep the S/PDIF cable not longer than 1,5 m (5 feet)
and RCA chinch cables – not longer than that either. USB cables should not exceed
2m and MUST NOT have ferrite filters on them.
Since tubes are microphonic, they hate vibrations. Therefore it is forbidden to
place the dac on top of the speakers or a sub. Choose least vibrating location,
preferably one foot behind the plane of the speakers.
Power on-off cycle
The tube lifetime, almost like the life of a car engine in cold climate – is determined
largely by the on-off cycle. The heat expansion coefficient of the glass is so much
different than that of the metal, that the air-tight seal of the metal pins can leak oxygen
inside the tube and eventually kill it. Even if it is just one molecule per day. So in other
words it is better to keep the DAC always on, than to switch it on and off more than
necessary.
The lampizator DAC with tube rectifier has a slow start feature which brings the high
voltage supply gradually up, at the rate of two- to five volts per second. The PSU
reaches 275 V DC after 60 seconds. This helps to extend tube life. The DAC is also
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equipped with voltage down feature (bleeders) which reduce the power voltage upon
switch-off at roughly the same rate.
On top of that – the tubes are operated around 25% of full nominal power, which
greatly increases their life expectancy. Combining all the factors together, the tube
lifetime should be anywhere between 10 and 20 years, assuming the player is switched
off only once per day, for the night. Our circuit goes way beyond the tube datasheet
recommended protection. It extends the tube life at least double to tenfold versus the
datasheet specs.
Cabling and cable handling
Just to be sure that we know what we are doing:
- AC cable can be freely plugged and unplugged during operation. It is OK for the
DAC but NOT OK for the amplifier and speakers. A loud thump may appear after
switch off. Please use standby off before switching off the DAC from power cable.
- S/PDIF cable should be plugged and unplugged when the transport is powered off.
The DAC can be on. However doing it on „hot” when all is working – is not
dangerous for the DAC as long as the AC power supply has the GND for all
products (DAC, transport, amps).
- RCA Signal cables can be plugged / unplugged with the amplifier volume turned
fully down. XLR cables can be unplugged and plugged at any time because it is in
their professional nature to do so.
Please use a decent AC cable. We suggest spending around 100-500 Euro for a good
AC cable, not much more but not much less. The free AC “computer grade” cables are
not good enough for serious audio.
Please use a decent digital interconnect. In our DAC it is completely unimportant what
is the wave characteristic impedance of the cable (the famous 75 Ohms). Just use the
cable that sounds good to you. Analog as well as digital interconnects can be tried.
Best results are obtained with silver cables. Let your ears decide, not specs of the
cable.
Lampizators produces all types of cables for audio systems - you can order
them from us with confidence of tremendous value for money. To beat our
cables you need to spend 2000 Euro per one. !
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Tube rolling and replacement
W took an expensive and painful decision to sell the DAC with the best tubes we can
find in consistent sustainable supply. Therefore we feel you should not be tempted to
change them for any reason. If you feel that you must try tubes other than supplied,
please follow the guidelines below.
Generally, among our tubes the level of significance for the sound quality is: Rectifier
10%, Small dual trioded 6SN7 = 40%, pentodes 20% , synergy between pentodes and
dual triodes = 30%.
The sign that the tube nees changing is that there is no sound and/or the tube is cold
and doesnt glow red filiaments in the dark,
White powder inside the glass means oxygen
inside = dead tube.
Tube ADAPTERS
The pentodes and rectifier generally dont need
adapter.
We can find adapters straight to Octal, like
12AU7->6SN7, or double adapters like for more
rare tube - ECC182 - we need following
adapter: first 5687 to 12AU7 and that goes into
12AU7 to 6SN7 Octal.
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Here are some GENERAL practical tips for tube rolling:
1. Tube compatibility- many people ask “is the tube X compatible with Y?” and the
answer is of course - it depends. Tubes can have completely different bases but be
compatible by parameters and can be swapped by means of an adaptor. A good
example are ECC40, and 6SN7GT - different bases but very close parameters. Or
ECC88 and 6DJ8. Or 6H8C and 6N1P.
2. Other scenario is when the tubes have same base (say - noval) but they have
different pinouts. So we CAN NOT inter-change the two tube types but we CAN use
an adaptor. Same base type and same pinout DOES NOT MEAN that the tubes are
interchangeable - best example is cc81 and cc82 - same base, same exact pinout
but completely different parameters. Or octal 6SN7 and VT99 - both octal, same
parameters, different pinout.
3. Some tubes can have same base, same pinout and same parameters except the
different heaters. Best example is ECC82 and 12BH7 - the former uses half heating
of the latter. They can be used with a switch or within limited timing or with extra
care, depending on the heater arrangement in our DAC. Another example are
completely different tubes that miraculously are perfectly interchangeable - like
E182CC with 5687.
4. Pentodes used in ourHorizon DAC are yet another can of worms. Most Pentode
tubes have the same base (Octal) and the same pinout (Heaters on 2 and 7, anode
at 3, cathode at 8) The problem is that these tubes have completely different heater
demands. Our DAC is designed to accept ALL KNOWN pentodes from this group.
People keep discovering more and more compatible types every month.
We supply the tubes that are purchased new from reliable sources. They are tested
and matched.
WE DO NOT DEAL WITH NOS TUBES, leaving this fun entirely to YOU.
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Rectifier Rolling
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Table 1
Tubes for the Horizon - input
conversion - TWO tubes (dual triodes)
SOCKET /
adapter
NAME
5687
6922
12AU7
VT99
E182CC
6922
12AU7
VT99
ECC182
6DJ8
ECC82
6F8G
The name of the Horizon default
socket is OCTAL and the pinout is
6SN7.
7119
Ecc88
ECC802
5687
E88CC
12BH7
6900
6N1P
ECC99
6H1(pi)
ECC81
6N23P
ECC180
6N6P
12AT7
6H6(pi)
6N30P
6H30(pi)
WITHOUT ADAPTER fits:
6SN7GT
VT-231
6H8C
6N8S
CV181
Two dual triodes are needed.
Output buffer pentodes (no adapter)
6L6
EL34
6CA7
KT77
6550
6V6
KT66
KT88
KT90
5881
KT120
KT150
KT170
With
adapter
EL84
Rectifiers - no adapters needed
5r4WGA
5Y3
5C3S
274B
5U4G
GZ480
GZ34
GZ37

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Rectifiers are generally less rolled but many customers report that huge leaps in synergy
can be achieved when, after choosing the optimal music tubes, we also choose optimal
rectifier.
Directly heated dual diodes are older in design, physically larger, and have 4 pins versus
5 and use 5V heaters versus 6,3 compared to Indirectly heater rectifiers.
PINOUT: 2-8 is heater 5,0 V AC. Pin 8 (or 2) is also cathode. Pins 4 and 6 are two
anodes. To test - just use a meter and check resistance in ohms between the pins. IN A
RECTIFIER THE ONLY TWO PINS WHICH SHOW ANY OHM READING AT ALL, ARE
HEATER PINS. THE READING SHOULD BE IN SINGLE OHMS like 2 Ohm.
Some people report back that the directly heated diodes sound better than their indirectly
heated counterparts, but this hasn't been verified in any semi scientific way. Generally we
expect the directly heated diodes to have up to 400% higher current capability as well as
voltage max. It al depends on the DEMAND of our circuit. Some Lampizator tube stages
demand only 2 mA in total, some can demand 40mA and more. Horizon DAC demand in
total for 2 channels is 80 mA.
Rectifiers compatible: 274B, 5c3s, 5Y3, 5r4, 5U4G, GZ34, 5c4s, 5u4c
To change music tubes you must switch off the amp. DAC can continue to work.
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Aging problems
As already explained above, the DAC should age very very slowly.
The digital PCB should last a lifetime. The transformer, the paper in oil caps, the
cables, plugs, sockets – should last a lifetime. There are electrolyte caps which we
selected from premium brands and they should last circa 25-30 years. Other than that
we suggest to change tubes every 10 years.
So - short of a thunderstrike – we expect no failures or ageing problems before 20
years.
Fuse Change
The DAC is equipped with a non-repairable 20 mm glass fuse circuit breaker inside the
IEC-AC socket at the back. There is also one spare fuse provided in the little drawer
removable when changing the fuse. The fuses are 2A (or 3,15A for USA/Japan/Taiwan)
they are slow blow, and overrated by the factor of 2. Therefore it is impossible for the
fuse to blow without a specific reason - a failure inside the player. Consequently, if the
fuse burns, it is a signal to send the dac for service and NOT change the fuse.
Obviously the second fuse will burn as well.
WE ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ALLOW changing the fuses for any larger size than 2A
(3,15) or installing the “audiophile silver bolts” in place of the fuse. Fuses are there
mainly to SAVE YOUR LIFE. And we mean that. You can experiment with audiophile
grade fuses but not DEAD BOLTS please.
Volume control
The volume control is an extremely nice module, that changes the way we use the
DAC. The module consists of 5 elements:
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1. Power supply with the DAC power management relay, allowing to switchON/OFF
the whole DAC via the remote while keeping the volume module powered.
2. The display - nixie pair which is our GUI.
3. The microprocessor board with memory, firmware and the chip that controls the
relays
4. Two dual Relay volume boards with resistor ladders. The microprocessor connects
the resistors in such way that they form a resistive attenuation L-Pad with 63 steps of
logarithmic attenuation. The overall impedance is held at almost constant 30k and
the steps are calibrated in 1 db distances. The accuracy is less than 1%
5. The virtual potentiometer with push action called the encoder.
The module is capable not only of volume adjustment but also of the input selection-
both analog inputs as well as digital.
Using the volume module: Press the volume button down for 3few seconds and the
display will show you the current volume and will start changing .
The input selection is available from the remote in direct mode - just press the remote
INPUT to choose input or use left - right panel buttons.
MUTE function: this is useful to use instead of turning the volume all the way down.
Available ONLY via remote.
POWER OFF - the DAC will be switched off fully but the remote module will be always
alive to enable you to power it ON again.
0dB operation: at full volume - 0dB the DAC operates as if there was no volume
module. This position is recommended for systems with own volume control: preamp or
integrated amp. The resistor ladder is completely by-passed.
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COOPERATION WITH THE PREAMP
The DAC with volume control should sound audibly cleaner and more direct without
any preamp between the DAC and the amp. The preamp, however good, will veil a lot
of the DAC’s natural clarity, speed and directness. If you feel you need the preamp
nevertheless, use DAC at the full volume with bypass (63 on the display).
The load presented by the preamp or amp or simply the next analog component that
the DAC sees, should be as high as possible. It is measured in kilo-Ohms and 100Kilo
Ohms is a perfect ballpark value. More is VERY rarely seen. 47 K is next common
value, and it is great too. 20 K is kind of on a low side, but we can handle that. Lower
than 10k is bad news. The bass extension may suffer a few hertz of the lowest octave
The DAC will not be damaged in any way, but at around 6K of load the dynamics of the
dac will start to fade away.
Having said that - every properly designed amp or preamp keeps the load value above
40k. And if it doesn’t - we simply don’t choose such amp because it was not designed
with audiophiles in mind.
DIGITAL INPUTS
There are three data types that our DAC can read internally: biphase, i2s and USB.
The bi-phase can come in many forms, but the most common are:
S/PDIF (sony/Philips data inter face) by means of single ended square wave of
amplitude around 0,5 V pp
AES/EBU - the same as S/PDIF but the signal is a mirrored (balanced) pair of square
waves around 2,5 V pp (max. 5 V pp)
TTL - just as S/PDIF but 5 V pp
TOSLINK - a fiber optic transmission of S/PDIF producing at the DAC the 5 V TTL
electrical signal.
RS422 - it is practically the same as AES/EBU
The i2S is the same as biphase but separated into 4 signals - each carrying only one
type of information. Biphase encodes 4 groups of informations in one signal stream.
Specifically they are: System Clock, Bit Clock, Left/Right Clock and Data. We can
install these four in any type of connector, because there is no standard. Most
customers use HDMI, or RJ45 LAN socket or simply four RCA sockets just like in TV
RGB.
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The TOSLINK connection
Is toslink bad or not ? That is the question. Like everything in life - it can be bad or it can
be good.
By using own experiments and oscilloscope observations we concluded, that Toslink is not
bad and not inferior to RCA SPDIF if implemented properly. Toslink is EXTREMELY
demanding about the power supply quality. That’s why we build for toslink separate
dedicated power supply and with this supply the response is instantaneous and there is no
deformation of square wave. Usually Toslink ports are installed in cheap low end gear and
the power supply to Toslink is completely neglected. Not in LampizatOr DAC. If you have
Toslink in your DAC you can be sure it will sound good and not degrade the sound. Of
course providing that the transmitter part of the link is at least semi decent.
NOTE: All Apple products which have headphone output (iMac, MacBook, Power MAC,
MAcMini, iPhone, iPad, iPod) - have a secret toslink transmitter hidden inside that port.
Just buy the special cable - Toslink Minijack and when placed in the headphone output of
an Apple product - will emit light with SPDIF in it. That is a very good way of using MAC
computers as transports.
on HDMI
It is important to understand, that HDMI is a special digital connection standard for mainly
TV and Video applications and what is used in audio world IS NOT REAL HDMI, We only
use a convenient plug, socket and cable from HDMI but the information transmission is
completely different and it is called i2S
Our i2S can be balanced or single ended (data transmission, not audio system) and it can
be high level (5V pp) or low lever 0,5 V pp. In addition, pinouts differe between
manufacturers of transports.
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