Has Anyone Auditioned an LKS MH-DA004 DAC?

@smodtactical
The upgraded Amanero board is excellent with its own power supply (though drawing about 5V from one of the 50W transformers). It also has two femto clocks on board.

The Schiit unit is not at all comparable as the Amanero board is a USB to I2S board, not a USB to coax. Major difference, and much in favor of the Amanero.

As for the input, you use the Amaero board if you want to go in via USB. That would depend upon your source.

As for a US review, I believe that they can sell all that they make and mostly in Asia. It’s supposed to be a favorite in Hong Kong. So no American marketing. Anyway, why would you believe an "official" reviewer more than the dozens of users who offer opinions on the various ’net sites? I don’t think a commercial reviewer would write that a $1500 Chinese DAC could compete with the major players who offer a lot of advertising. Just my personal $.02. Also US mags usually don’t review components that don’t have US distribution.

Stumbled upon this old thread doing some research looking to upgrade.

@ricevs Looking for clarification on this statement. Do I understand correctly that your opinion is the modded Sonica Dac sounds better than the modded LKS?

And this is with a stock LKS. Modified it is mucho better. Modded Oppo Sonica DAC even slightly better.....now I will finish the Oppo 205 mods.....that will, I am pretty sure, be as good as the Sonica. Good time for great digital sound without spending a fortune.

Thanks in advance.

@stray_cat

It looks like you may not hear from Ric.

I would read what he wrote to mean that the modified LKS is better than the unmodified LKS and that the modified Sonica is also better than the unmodified LKS.  But I take that with a grain of salt.   I think I have read everything written on the net about the LKS, and in more than one language. I have never seen a comparison of Ric's modified to an unmodified LKS written by a user.

Read above in this thread what Ric wrote about the unmodified and the modified LKS in the What's Best Forum.  

Keep in mind that Ric's modification market for the LKS is infinitesimal. Not only are there very few, but it has been much praised in unmodified form, surpassing its predecessor (LKS 003) as modified substantially.  Moreover due to its very large size, quality parts, functional simplicity (compared to the Sonica) and very simple layout it is relatively easy for hobbyists to modify on their own.  The unmodified LKS is already like a Sonica on steroids!

The modification market for the Sonica (and 205) is much larger.  So a little puffery on Ric's part can be excused.

I’m just curious if the LKS would benefit from the use of silver transformers like the Kitsune modded Holospring Level 3 has, or are the existing transformers that are in place the best option?

An unanswerable question.

The LKS has two 50 watt toroidal transformers.  One is for the digital circuits; one for the analog circuits.  The Holospring appears to have one transformer about that size (Is it, in fact?) and one quite a bit smaller.

What would be the advantage of a silver v. a copper transformer of the same power?

In any event, to answer your question I suppose you'd have to buy an LKS and substitute in a silver transformer.