LAIV Harmony

@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.

Guys, this is an excellent DAC, i have had many before and this dac but this is by far the best balanced for my system.  Great depth and soundstage, very holographic.  Everything is natural, and sounds real….hard to explain other than nothing is exaggerated. Voices have a great clarity and smooth naturalness. For me…. Its my end game dac

@solarjam  @koestner

Thanks.... but ah a $3000 dollar preamp to control the volume of a $2700 DAC seems like a misappropriation of resources to me.  I too am running my PSAudio Directstream directly into m y amp.  I've tried a SS preamp to increase the gain which made it louder but it pushed everything forward. My preamp does have  a passive mode but not a remote which makes it a no go for me.

It looks like quality passive preamps can be had new for as little as $850 to $1200 which means the Harmony is really a $3500 to $3900 DAC.  Still less than the a Sonnet Pasithea (and a whole lot easier to remember the name  Harmony) but now there are more power cords and interconnects to deal with.

I'm sorry I took this post off the track of comparing how it compared with other DACs but while the Harmony looks fantastic and has great reviews for me at least it has drawbacks.

Check out the Schiit SAGA+ remote preamp for only $399 new. It's way better than its price may suggest.

@danager  Understand that no volume control is a no-go for your current set-up, but for those of us with more "traditional" audio systems, adding volume control to a DAC adds cost and another potential failure point in the unit.