Long story short, this DAC was distorting on hot recordings. In my initial review, I did not really listen to hot recordings, because I generally gravitate towards better recorded stuff when I review.
Anyways, I had to break out the soldering gun and make two small modifications. Basically, the DAC's were not getting enough juice, so they were distorting. The reason why this DAC is so good is because the chinese copied this DAC design from some expensive piece of equipment, then toned it down to fit in a small enclosure, and somewhere in the mix decided to tone down the DAC voltage to prevent the chips from heating up. Anyways, failure on their part.
Had to piggyback two 1/4 watt resistors on two circuits to lessen the resistance. Did this so taking out the old resistors isn't necessary. Anyways, after the mod the DAC has no distortion and sounds great. So, firstly, I can't even recommend this DAC to anyone who doesn't want to poke around in electronic innards.
For details on what I did to mod it (with pictures) go here:
soldering fun Here's my review:
The Lite DAC-AH provided a slight edge on performance. To be honest, I could barely tell the difference - if at all. However, that statement comes in a mixed bag.
I also tried my UHA-3 going directly into the Yamaha. It was a few baby steps behind in fullness and detail, but for the most part it could have sounded the same to my ears. This was the DAC my Lite DAC-AH DESTROYED!
This even questioned my belief so much that I went back and listened on my headphones, again. No, there was a difference. In Beethovan's 5th Symphony, I envisioned myself as the conductor, and with the UHA-3 I'm like, where is the PASSION? give me MORE! C'MON!. Lite DAC-AH, I'm a happy conductor immersed in the music.
Therefore, I have come to many possible conclusions:
1) To hear the difference in speaker setups, one must spend much more money on sources/amps to hear a difference. The intimacy with the music is unparalleled in headphones. However, the gusto and power in speakers is unparalleled.
2) The Yamaha amp was a limiting factor. Good possibility, who knows.
3) M22's were the limiting factor. Doubt it, but really really high end speakers would probably make a difference.
So, in conclusion, be happy with whatever receiver DAC you have. If I had a super-expensive speaker setup, I have no doubt a difference could be heard between the setups. Otherwise, invest in those hefty mono blocks to give some raw power to your speakers and enjoy the sound pressure of good sound coming from your axioms.
I hope you enjoyed the review and experience :-)
