Massdrop Liquid Carbon X + SDAC DAC/Amp Reviews | Drop

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Massdrop Liquid Carbon X + SDAC DAC/Amp

Audiophile

FULL DISCUSSION

minmsee

Sep 27, 2018

Verified Buyer

Excellent headphone amp! The sound is crystal clear, dynamic and filled with musicality. We don't need other headphone amps. If you feel like wanting different sound signature, you should change your headphones, not LCX.
My rigs: iMac + JRiver MC24 + iFi audio iDAC2 + LCX (this amp) + Elex / HD6XX(DMaa mod)

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Andrewabc

Sep 27, 2018

minmseeHow about the dac inside this product? Does it stands out at this price range?

Sep 27, 2018

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minmsee

Sep 27, 2018

AndrewabcThe internal DAC is not bad but I can't say that it stands out. Actually the sound via iFi audio iDAC2 is clearer and more impressive at both clearness and soundstage. Of course, we have to keep in mind that iDAC2 is much expensive than LCX itself. But as I said, the DAC is not bad as we can use it as a conventioanl digital input even when we don't have external DACs. Its sampling spec is limited to only 24/96 PCM but it is not a big problem. As for bitrate, I believe PCM96 is enough and best balance point among price, file size and sound quality. I admit that sound quality of DSD64/128/256 is slightly better than that of PCM96, but I usually buy FLAC 24/96 even if DSD is provided, except extremely excellent recording albums. From another point of view, this internal DAC has one major issue. It is that it does not have a digital filter selector such as sharp, slow and short. In my opinion, DACs must have digital filter selector as it determines the charactor of sound and soundstage of CD quality files. If you have only >PCM96 files, it won't be a problem. I recommend you to enjoy LCX with internal DAC first, then buy some external DAC. By taking this step, you can enjoy the change of sound charactor. It's one of big pleasures for audiophiles.

Sep 27, 2018