Listening with the LHY Switch
Contents
Turning to Tindersticks, it’s immediately obvious. The bass is tighter, deeper and sounds fuller, the reverb (sustain) of instruments is much longer, which is especially audible in the guitar. The treble sounds rich, but not intrusive or bright. If you listen intently, you hear all sorts of things that otherwise wouldn’t be noticeable. You can hear that the backing vocalists did not sing in at the same time as Stuart Staples and that their contribution was added later with the mixing. The level of detail you hear is awe-inspiring.
With Ofeliadorme, the stereo image grows especially in depth. A class better than with the iFi or LHY power supply. The warm hum of the synthesizers is even more humming and hugs your ear. But most noticeable is the lack of any kind of stress in the soundstage, it is so calm and stable that you feel the relaxation in your body. Ofeliadorme does sound very nice!
With Morphine, it is different. The texture in the bass is nice, the drums have a lot of depth and stand out nicely. The saxophone also sounds fuller. It adds up to a balanced and natural sound. Only it doesn’t swing as much anymore. The urgency is out of the music. This is supposed to sound dirty and grimy and it is now full, impressive, but also a little polite.
With Mahler, there is absolute silence. You get the urge to listen with bated breath, afraid of disturbing something. The voice is full and rich, but the flute solo is less impressive than with the LHY power supply. The stereo image is nice, placement of instruments and voice is very precise, but compared to the iFi and the LHY PS, the difference is smaller than you expect.
Very small details in the recording become audible. For example, how the microphone picks up the singer’s voice and carries away reflections from the hall the moment she sings louder.
I notice that it leaves me a little cold, it sounds a little distant. You start listening more analytically. This is obviously a very subjective observation, but I’m trying to point out what the differences do to you.
A benevolent calmness
The LHY switch smooths everything out a bit. The sound is polished, making recordings that have an “edge” to them more pleasant to listen to. You experience an enormous calmness in the sound, making every detail easily audible in a recording. Especially in bass sounds. Acoustic basses and cellos get more texture from the bowed or plucked string, even in very soft passages.
In addition to the test list, we noticed that solo piano sounds very good. Combined with the absolute quietness and stress-free sound, this is a beneficent listening experience, you are immersed in serene sounds. This is the effect of a streamer and DAC doing exactly what they are supposed to do, without anything in the electrical signal interfering. You hear sounds in a way you didn’t know was possible with a digital stream. Especially in a (solo) piano, you can always hear very well when something is not quite right. The smallest deviations are audible or cause a restless feeling.
But there is also a downside to all the good. The sense of rhythm and timing is different. It seems like everything slows down a bit; it all doesn’t feel so acute. This is mostly a matter of taste, of course.
Hello,
question probably asked a thousand times,
I have the choice of upgrading my system with either a LHY SW-8 switch (replacing a Dlink GS105) or a set of Ricable Magnus Power+XLR cables (replacing HMS Quartetto XLR and Audioquest Z3) for headphone listening (Matrix audio mini i-4, Violectric DHA V590², Hifiman 1000SE).
Which would be the best choice for my system?
Best regard
Hello Jacques. that’s impossible to say. It depends. Let your ears make the decision.
I hav3 the LHY SW-8. And speaking with the engineers
The ocxo clock takes roughly 300 hours to fully run in
I just let music play 24-7,
2 things to mention that gave it a solid added5+% was a decent power cord ,I used the Pangea awg14 sig mk2 , and Hifi tuning supreme 1.25 amp slow blow fuse better then both the Sonore deluxe Ethernet to fiber which imo bleaches the sound
And better then the ether regen both we used a 7 v fared LPS
This is made by Ja yes Audio , streaming now is far better sounding , my brothers Innuos Ethernet switch is far better
And will get one for Xmas ,one mentiin the T+A200 dac exceptional and = or beats dacs at 2x it’s $7200 cost a great dac to look out for.