LAIV Harmony

I ordered mine May 3rd and got a notification it shipped today and should arrive on June 20th (direct from China) via FedEx.  I've been searching for non-professional reactions and comparisons all over and it looks like the YouTube reviews coincided with a soft product launch, with only a handful receiving units prior to the wider release that began shipping ~2 weeks ago.

Lots of hype, but the sober take from GoldenSound on that HeadFi thread sounds like it's a solid DAC for the money, but not on par with a Holo May or better.  Good to mention he's running his through HQPlayer and seems to prefer native NOS, which isn't what the Laiv was designed for.

I was actually considering cancelling and going with a used Holo May or stepping up to a MSB Discrete, but Weng has been very responsive and a pleasure to deal with.  It's also hard to ignore that there isn't a single negative comment from the handful of people that have gotten a chance to listen to one and the price is fantastic.

I received my Laiv Harmony!

Very, very initial first impressions out of the box:

• Very rich, full, detailed and natural sound signature.  Compared to ESS DACs I've tried, the Laiv doesn't have any harshness on the high end (without dulling anything).
• USB connection from a PC registers in sound options at 32bit/384kHz on an AMD-based PC.  (Bit depth isn't documented anywhere.)  I believe this is the max possible on AMD's chipset.
• Vocals are more forward than other sources I've used.  My listening position is very close to my speakers and will take a bit of getting used to.
• I noticed a few audio dropouts with OS up to 768kHz after initial hookup.  Will keep an eye on it, but could be I need to clean out my old drivers or something to solve with a future firmware/driver update.  Played with some settings and haven't noticed it during the past few songs I played.

I don't have a ton of DAC experience, so please don't take my words as gospel, but I have nothing bad to say about the Harmony during first impressions.  My unboxing experience was excellent.  Everything was plug and play, but I had to install the drivers before Windows 11 recognized it.

@soix - ...definitely not for me and I don’t have any issues with sound quality. For reference, the Laiv is running into my MBL 6010D.

I’m running my system as a high-end desktop workstation and have a beQuiet Dark Power Pro 13 PSU in my system (certified 80 PLUS Titanium efficiency) and would be extremely skeptical of any sound improvement claims a streamer would make. I also prefer running software direct from my PC.

The only thing I’ve considered is HQPlayer for its upsampling ability, but would have went the Holo May route if I had. I also considered the MSB line for their USB converter running into fiber, but also skeptical I’d notice a significant improvement.

My update ~2 days in... 

Had to make some adjustments, but it's sounding really good.  Easily the best value DAC for the money.

• How it sounds so far:  Best I can describe is that no particular frequency stands out for me, everything has an excellent balance to it.  It doesn't have the hard edges from the ESS DACs that give a bit more 'definition' to vocal placement for my MBLs, but it also makes it much easier to listen to.  Imaging extends well beyond the room and no particular complaints.  Undecided on NOS/OS and phase, but left it on OS and positive phase for now.
• Initial Issues: 
  • Forwardness - I've seemed to tame this with some tweaking or, perhaps, my ears have adjusted. 
  • Stuttering / Dropouts - Seems to have been caused by my router (Netgear RS700s) which is in its infancy and buggy.
  • Unresponsive Remote - Reinstalling the battery and flipping the triangle/square selector a few times seems to have resolved this.
• Will I keep it?  Yeah, I think so.  Barring any issues, it's a great all-around DAC for my needs.  Rocka is coming out with the new MKII version of their Wavedream Signature and I anticipate Holo and MSB will follow with updates so I'll keep an eye out and possibly consider/audition in the future, but the Laiv Harmony will hold me over for a while (and be great in my spare systems if/when I upgrade).

Here's a pic of the Harmony in its new home, but please excuse the cable mess:

I thought exactly the same thing having a little DAC around is a great utility I think I’ll eventually put it into my video editing system until I find my tube DAC.

I connected the Harmony DAC to ch 1 (I2S ) and my PSA MK 2 (AES) to to ch 2 on my Boulder preamp so I could go back and fourth instantly, there was less difference than I thought when evaluating the Harmony this way. I did like the slightly more analytical presentation of the Harmony better. 

@donavabdear - That's a great point!  It's something I wanted to hold off saying until I had more time with the Harmony, but the initial reviewers made it sound like it's a life-changing experience, which it is not.  I think the words 'inoffensive' and 'enjoyable' come to mind.

Sadly, my preamp only has 1 pair of balanced inputs, but doing an imperfect comparison led me to the same conclusion, which is that it's very, very, slightly different and does its job very well.  This also makes me wonder if spending any more on a DAC wouldn't better spent elsewhere.

After a bunch of system troubleshooting and tweaks (unrelated to the Laiv Harmony itself), I feel the Harmony sounds absolutely fantastic and is an excellent value at its price.

In case anyone is curious, I'm running DH Labs' Revelations (XLR) with Analysis Plus' Pure Silver USB cable direct to PC with fantastic results.  I did test DSD512 in JRiver, but preferred the sound of PCM from Amazon Music (with Windows sound settings maxed and OS enabled).  I also noticed a pretty big difference with the Harmony connected to my Furman's balanced outlets rather than not.  In regards to OS/NOS, the only difference to me was a very small difference in OS giving a tiny bit more extension to highs.

After about 50 hours in, my take is that aside from being very balanced, it's transparent and able to present layers and dimensional space very well.  I'm noticing some subtle details that weren't apparent with delta sigma DACs (or perhaps hidden behind a bright edge).  I still stand behind what I mentioned earlier that I don't think it'll necessarily transform someone's system into something it's not, but it will allow it to shine if everything is sorted.  It took me about a week to really dial in everything, but was worth it.

Favorite current demo tracks:

• Bombo Drum by Demfire Creation on Tribal Drums album - (excellent demo of timbre and space)
• Settle by Vera Blue on Fingertips album - (3D presentation)
• Smile (Acoustic) by Gorgon City [featuring Elderbrook] on Smile (Acoustic) album - (layering)

Regarding Hans’ review... The only time my Harmony sounded remotely close is during testing when I plugged it into the high current outlets of my Furman IT-Reference 20i. Going back to the balanced outlets marked a huge improvement for me within my system (so much so I just ordered an Audioquest Niagara 7000). I’ve mentioned this previously, but my experience is the Harmony is extremely sensitive to system issues and will happily expose them, so my best guess is there’s something in Hans’ chain that needs tweaking.

There have been some reports on Head-Fi in regards to testing NOS/OS and the consensus is there’s some high frequency roll-off with NOS so the "sibilance" claims are very puzzling and I’d again point to one of the many upstream device Hans has piping music into the Harmony. Some users have reported excellent results with NOS and HQPlayer, which I’m tempted to try, but personally, Harmony in OS has been very impressive.

I'm with Jason on this one... Resistor drift is a non-issue for modern electronics and should easily expect a ~20+ year lifespan unless there's some serious abuse involved.

Drift Calculation for Thin Film Resistors

There's much greater precision required in other applications (such as automotive/aerospace applications) and somehow the world still turns:

Resistors in aeronautics applications: Meeting the new performance requirements

I was seriously considering a MSB DAC and in one of their design videos, they state that their typical product cycle is 7 to 10 years.  I can't imagine they'd expect someone to buy their $100k+ R2R DACs expecting it to sound poorly before they replace it with a new model.

@tkrtrb125 What data are you using to back this claim?  So far, I've only seen 2 failures out of an estimated few hundred owners (including myself) reporting overwhelmingly positive experiences across various forums.  I've owned the Harmony since launch and hadn't had a single hiccup, despite using it almost daily.

That's an extremely low failure rate.  Check out a new product launch from a major company like Samsung or even Nvidia to compare.  I actually went through 3 returns on a Samsung TV a few years ago that had the same defects before giving up.  Nvidia literally had meltdowns and fires due to their connector design.  I've since bought another Samsung and they no longer have the issue, but the point is that failures (especially with electronics) are common and expected regardless of the manufacturer or product, which is why warranties exist.

Laiv gives a 3 year warranty and is very responsive.  My credit card doubles that and the DAC itself sounds wonderful.

Your argument is that a ~1% failure rate makes it a bad product that should be avoided?  That's insane.

knock on wood. Stand by what I said, hope you are right and I am wrong. Not sure where you are getting your data on ownership and failures. Couple of forums is not a valid comparison. Enjoy your DAC and keep a fire extinguisher close by.

@tkrtrb125 Modern electronic devices have a very low probability of starting fires as the failure modes are designed to be rather uneventful. You have a far higher probability starting a fire with tube gear (just from the tubes producing heat alone) than a device based on modern surface mount components failing. I’ve repaired my share of PCBs following failures to have zero cares about this...

If you’re kept up at night about a DAC causing a fire, might as well remove the stove, furnace and electrical wiring in your home as those are listed as the top causes of residential fires by the National Fire Protection Association.

@audioman58 Why didn't you disclose that you're an authorized Denafrips dealer?

The other nit with Laiv concerns a certain loss of composure, organization or ability to individualize performers during complex passages.

@sns - I heard similar with certain cables.  I've since upgraded my power conditioner to the Audioquest 7000 and experimented with power cables, settling on a DIY AC cord consisting of Supra silver plated LoRad SPC terminated with Oyaide Armored AP-004/AC-004 (close 2nd are IeGO's 8085) and feel everything is dialed in very well.  Just my experience, but it seems Laiv's power input is quite sensitive.  Might be worth experimenting with cords after some additional burn-in to see if you also notice a difference.

Extremely unlikely power cables, any cables or my modified BPT 3.5 Signature power conditioner at fault.

You got me to thinking about my power cables and it just came into my mind I can change bass output with my pc recipes (been a while since I had need to build one). I generally use Take Five Audio cryo'd silver plated copper on neutrals, I can change bass output by changing out number of runs and/or gauge, can also do this to some extent with number or runs on hot with the VH Audio AirLock, further adjustments also possible with gauge of ground wire.

 

Quite sure I can get the bass in proper tonal balance with rest of frequency spectrum with some adjustments here. Thanks for knocking on my brain door!

No problem!  I think you've hit the nail on the head...  Maybe not a "fault" as much as a tweak.

Interested in hearing your impressions after further experimenting!  Amongst my worst combo (aside from a few bad cables) included Furutech's gold plugs and reminded me of the same negatives you've highlighted.