# Say Hello to my Leetle Friend... The Lynx Hilo-



## Golden Ears (Jul 18, 2010)

Ok , so what do we really need in car audio....as compared to home audio?
WEll certainly things are different in a car.

So we need custom passive crossovers, or electronic crossovers, multi amping, precise EQ, and quality amplification and as a little icing on teh cake,,, excellent speaker drivers also properly EQ'd (Yes I know a crummy driver with great EQ will often sound better thana a poorly installed high quality driver with poor EQ..no news there).

But as I have said before... the source is CRITICAL. And IMHO that is what has always hampered car audio.

So GUNS A BLAZING, no more FU^*ing around.

I sold my Apogee Mini DAC which already sounds amazing with 119 db S/N ratio with the same converters as the 16X Apogee. (now discontinued but it was.. one step down from their flagship Symphony Converter).

I bought the Lynx Hilo.

So what does it offer us?

1. The Hilo runs off of 12 volts.
2. I can be expanded to 32 i/o
3. It has a touch screen (Yes you can use it in a dark car. You can dim it or turn the display off.
4. it has USB in as well as Coaxial and optical S/Pdif and in
5.it can do balanced out as well as single ended out.
6. Voltage of the outputs is configurable 1,2,4,etc volts out!
7. It can run mains, monitors, and headphones. The headphone DAC is very high quality so if your GF wants to hear something else she can...ie Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and all crap boy bands.
8. You can have up to 6 "Scenes" for quick comparison of different adjustments.
9. You can use it as an A/D converter to digitize all your vinyl (Yes I am old).
10. You can connect a wireless Mic up to one of the inputs and tell other cars to get the hell out of you way.
11. The unit of course runs off of 220 and 110 so you can run it in your car as well- or even take it to work with you for a great cubicle survival kit.
12. And, my friend Pascal will be delighted to know it is open source.
13. Lots more DSP will be implemented in this unit over time.
14. It can be a master digital clock.
15.it can convert different digital bit rates (nice of you ahev high rez files you need to downconvert to 16/48 for IOS devices.
16. It has lots of digital outputs.

the cons.

it draws 30 watts.

Its 10" deep

Costly... $2500. I was my own Santa this year. 

but when you consider... it is a high quality high value per dollar Studio DAC that can be used for Studio work, Home DAC, office DAC, HOME digital PRE-AMP, Surround sound in a pinch , CAR DAC and pre-amp, balanced line driver, Headphone amp with about $1500 quality level, and if has Meters that look like VU meters..I think it is pretty cool. It really makes my car a rolling studio.

Introducing the Lynx Hilo: their finest sounding audio interface yet. - YouTube

this, is the future ...today.


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## oca123 (Aug 16, 2010)

Wow.

I just saw this post now. I've been sick (cold) then busy with work stuff, then sick again (flu) and today is the first day I feel somewhat normal.



> 12. And, my friend Pascal will be delighted to know it is open source.


Well, it saves the hacker community a few months, because they dont have to break into the unit to customize it. Other than that, I'm not an open-source nuthugger, but I can appreciate it when it is convenient 

I will have to read about this Hilo unit, or perhaps you can give me a demo one of these days....

As to its size... With all of your giant McIntosh amps, where is this thing going to sit? I'm not criticizing, I have no trunk space either.... and at least I don't feel bad for wanting to put a Dolby Lake processor in my car.


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## Golden Ears (Jul 18, 2010)

The dolby lake processor... is that like the dbx driverack? I have used the dbx drive rack before, allows you to control compression and EQ, levels and presets slopes...just about everything off of one box, which I used for night clubs in Aspen, but never got the hang of it, mostly because the interface was always in another room making tuning difficult.in a car however... That should be nice.

So I have had the Hilo for about 3 weeks, I had just bought it online from Florida when I started this post.

The sound stage width, ...well it is super wide, depth is excellent . I have not put it in the car yet, but on the Chapman T-9MKII speakers in my modest living room running a Audio Research VS 110 amp with some upgrades ... I get detail that I do not hear in other systems.

Playing albums that I thought were not particularly great recordings previously...like The Doors LA woman...(granted I now have a better 24/88.2 file) using pure music...hearing "riders on the storm" is a different experience. The rain sounds real and appears to be cascading off a small overhanging roof... The initial thunderclap unfolds diagonally from high in the sky...earthward to the left....and ...you almost feel that thunderclap shockwave blast which you often mistake for a blast of air.

Sounds pretty real. Feels pretty real. Nice.

So sound staging is excellent and low level detail. In vocals.. This Hilo DAC falls short of the Wadia 860x with Great Northern Sound Statement level upgrade in terms of vocals and overtones, but that is one of my all time favorite CD/DACs and cost nearly $10k when new in Mid 1990's and weighs about 55lbs. 

Feed the Hilo well recorded 24/192 files and watch out...it's a stunner. The Wadia fairs a bit better with redbook cd that is well recorded...except on a few tracks where the Hilo allows you to distinguish between different cymbal hits...and types of cymbals easily.. The Lynx Studios Hilo is a "Tweeter lovers dream" and also handles low bass well. The Wadia does well with the highs but is a champion in the midrange department and produces a solid unwavering bass foundation with excellent control and delineation, the Wadia 860 x almost makes 16/44.1 files sound like 24 bit...somewhere between a 24/48 and a 24/88.2 file.

The Apogee Mini Dac has its vocal moments ( sadly only female vocal moments- Leonard Cohen and Sinatra, Louis Armstrong are not at their best in their vocal ranges with the Apogee Mini DAC) but also does a great job with guitar...piano can sound flatter dryer a Steinway Grand almost sounds like a baby grand...but a lot of DACs.....well they can make Steinways lose their overtones and timbre ...almost making it sound dull like a Yamaha...) the Apogee has fewer overtones when compared to the Wadia.

The apogee Duet 2 was not as good as the Apogee Mini DAC. Those spine tingling moments from female vocals ...were now... Completely absent. I returned that unit to the apple store..the unit had about 3 days of being plugged in..and apogee typically doesn't need burn in like a Wadia.... So I did not feel I would hear much of a difference with burn in, I might be wrong, but for a piece that is supposed to power up and sound good instantly.... I figure...no burn in is ok.

So for now, the Hilo will stay... Unless someone offers me a Macbook 15 retina laptop for it in trade. I am not sure we can do better than a Hilo for sound stage in a car..which typically suffers from a compressed stage. I might be able to Parametric EQ the Hilo to get the vocals to sound more like the Wadia and have a best of both worlds scenario.

So where will this Hilo fit in my car? I am not sure.

It's a problem.

I decided to mount my MC443M's in each rear quarter panel ( no loss of space) , the MC4000M goes up against the rear trunk wall ( minimal loss of space about 4 inches) , the MCC 82 goes in the parcel shelf bottom mounted on the detachable rear deck speakers ( I need one more MCC 82 for this.- anyone got a MCC 82...No loss of trunk space) and the MC440M and MEN 456 crossover EQ go on a slide out drawer suspended from the roof of the trunk. So I still have the NAKAMICHI TP-1200 special shop remote pre-amp to stash ( spare tire center?) ..The Hilo might have to get a custom made center console box ( years ago I had planned to make one for the NAKAMICHI MUSIC BANK MB-1000...so it could suspend from a fatter deeper armrest which I had to do for the Apogee mini DAC anyway.

Now..those MPM4000 meters... Wtf does that go? I did locate a taxi center console for my car which has an extra near Single DIN slot for a two way radio... But I have to bring that over from the UK.

A boom box tossed in the back seat might be the fastest DIY solution.

At least my MC443M amp racks are nearly done....

Oh someone told me IOS now can do 24/96 and is not hardware limited as previously thought...before you had to do home sharing to make an IOS ipad output a 24/96 or higher file.


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## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

no photos makes ultimateherts cry


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## Golden Ears (Jul 18, 2010)

Just sold it - I need to buy a 15" macbook Pro retina laptop with 768Gb of ram loaded...anyone got one?

Selling a nearly unsused (12 battery cycles on it) Macbook Pro 15" 2.2ghz 16GB ram, 500GB HD original box in perfect shape as new no scratches. for $1400 to raise enough cash.

And... Now I either have to buy another Hilo...tempting because the soundstage width is the widest I have ever experienced as well as sound stage height...(When playing Pure Music through a Macbook pro into my home speakers LA woman "riders on the storm" by The Doors is like an entire new song... ...just crazy detail- you hear the thunderclap way up high in the sky going diagonal across the room and nearly feel the shockwave as a blast of air- I have Chapman T-9 loudspeakers).

Budget might force me into an Apogee Duet 2 or back to the Mini DAC. Budget???? WFT? Did I really say that? I spend all my available cash on car and home audio.


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## oca123 (Aug 16, 2010)

Golden Ears said:


> Just sold it - I need to buy a 15" macbook Pro retina laptop with 768Gb of ram loaded...anyone got one?
> 
> Selling a nearly unsused (12 battery cycles on it) Macbook Pro 15" 2.2ghz 16GB ram, 500GB HD original box in perfect shape as new no scratches. for $1400 to raise enough cash.
> 
> ...


Did you already sell it?
Dou really need a new Mac?


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## Golden Ears (Jul 18, 2010)

I did sell it... odd thing is...I might want to buy it again.

I did get the new Macbook Air 13" for the 12 hour battery life and portability ... but I need to use Solid works now so I sorta wish I got a macbook pro retina... but I can always sell it and buy the Macbook Pro retina.

I could never get vocals on the Hilo to NOT sound recessed. yes I know I could hit it with a little boost at 2.5khz... but I really want DACs to sound good flat before I start messing with them.

I Got a Wadia 121 to replace that.... and found it to be a bit to grainy and it had a PITA 3 voltage power supply so forget using that for 12 volts. Also it boots into default settings every time..annoying.

Then I bought a DAC on a recommendation from a skateboard fan who owns a high end stereo shop..got the Meridian Explorer.

now... I have a a great home DAC- a Wadia 860x with a Great Northern Sound statement level upgrade..

So it's always been a good reference.

I compared the rDac from Arcam (junk), The Chordette Qute (very colored boosted mids) , The Lavry Da-11 (clinically miserable), the Apogee Mini DAC (good on female vocals and drums only limited air and soundstage).

In comparing the Qute MSRP $1795 and Wadia 121 MSRP $1299 I used a burnt in $15,000 MIT Oracle MAX interconnect I had on hand after an Audio show and MIT USB cable. This went into my Great Northern Sound V-cap upgraded Audio Research VS-110 (sounds like ref series). (The Oracle cables do make an audible difference)

The Meridian Explorer in contrast ran some freebie no name USB cable it came with and some junk Monster Cable RCA to Mini cable $20. MSRP $299. 

The Meridian Explorer was smoother, more balanced, with much less grain, and had decent bass- a sort of thin veil in clarity...but all in all completely listenable.... and this was with crap cable. Of course you have to be able to live with just USB inputs. but it will work computer-less with the apple CCK and iPad/iPhone/iPod touch.

No power supply issues... though without a computer you need to give it a powered USB hub in between the CCK.


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