LAIV Harmony

I recently came across feedback from a user mentioning that the resistors used in the LAiV have a 0.05% tolerance, compared to the lower tolerance resistors (0.005%) used in other designs like those from Musician.

Could the company’s designer (if you’re following this thread) provide some clarification on this information and explain how resistor tolerance might affect the sonic performance of the R-2R DAC?

For reference purpose, here is some more information provided from google search.  The typical tolerance of resistors varies depending on the type and application:

1. General-Purpose Resistors:

   • Carbon Film Resistors: Usually have a tolerance of ±5% or ±10%.
   • Metal Film Resistors: Often have a tighter tolerance of ±1% or ±2%.
   • Thick/Thin Film Resistors: Typically range from ±1% to ±5%.

2. Precision Resistors:

   • Metal Film/Metal Oxide Resistors: Used in precision applications, with tolerances as low as ±0.1% or ±0.5%.
   • Wire-Wound Resistors: Can have tolerances of ±0.01% to ±1%, often used in highly precise applications.

3. High-Precision Resistors:

   • Vishay Bulk Metal® Foil Resistors: Can achieve tolerances as low as ±0.005% or even lower.

The choice of tolerance depends on the application's required accuracy and stability. Lower tolerance resistors are used in circuits where precise resistance values are critical, such as in high-quality audio equipment or precision measuring instruments.

This DAC is most likely priced right amongst it’s competition.
Steve Huff is very influential and people tend to forget to put a big grain of salt on a dish he serves when they consume it.

Dismissing neutral and negative reviews is just doing yourself a disservice. This thing is hyped up. That much is clear.

Here’s another take on it that brings it back to earth:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc_v6xwLrnc&si=xSd3kaqV2iX6wQ-X

@lanx0003 You've pointed out one of my concerns with R2R dacs, that being performance could vary over time as these resistors could drift in value. R2R dacs are reliant on relatively large number of resistors compared to other audio components, so odds of individual resistors drifting over time is more likely. It would be interesting to see a direct comparison of a well used R2R vs. new example of exact same dac. Has the sound quality changed in any way?

My other issue is the quality of those resistors. I've long used point to point wired, minimalist SET amps and pre's, can hear the difference in changing out resistors. I'm sure your listing of tolerances is generally correct, although there are boutique resistors out there that have closer tolerance within a category, such as Takman carbon film.

So my question is, does the quality of resistor make a difference in R2R dac? Take for example, the TotalDac's, which use the Vishay nudes, which are the gold standard for resolution/transparency. I'd expect TotalDac's to outperform R2R dac with lesser resistors. And it should, as the Vishay nudes far, far more expensive than any other resistor.

Based on my observations of R2R, Holo May KTE seems to be highest resolving/transparency for reasonably priced r2r. If Harmony outperforms this pretty good achievement.

Finally, I've found the ESS Sabre dacs I've owned extremely enjoyable, generally these chip dacs are relatively high resolving/transparent. Implementation of these chips is highly variable, these dacs can be extremely musical or irritating depending on that implementation. Anyway, it would be nice to see a comparison of the Harmony to first rate, newer 9038pro ESS chip dac\.

So I'm in market for new dac, this may be contender, although I remain biased against R2R because of the possible resistor issues

@sns Thanks for sharing. I am used to hearing capacitor leaks but not resistor drifts. There are a few hundred of them in r-2r dac. Time/effort measuring and replacing them might be overwhelming. I am no expert in this and definitely not custom to learn r-2r dac might become a potential maintenance item after one spends a few thousand dollars with it.

In term of sigma delta dac, my preference is always Akm over Ess primarily because the two Akm based Dac I had sound more smooth than Ess-based.  And ironically the only Ess-based one I had is the most expensive one which sounds a bit dry and edgy.  I knew the implementation determines the SQ not the chip itself. Hope the 9038pro chip which can only be found in higher end dac will sound better.  But I were sort of leaning toward r-2r dac when it comes to higher spending on a Dac until leaning drifts issue from you...

Well, the Harmony DAC has a resistor bank that you could just replace them all in one shot for each channel. A lot of DACs use surface mount resistors and they would be very difficult to measure, and almost impossible to replace on the main board.