LessLoss Discrete Precision Resistor R2R Ladder DAC Redefines what is Possible in Digital

At True Audiophile

Like many Less Loss products this is well thought out and executed. We have a special price on our demo unit. Call for pricing - Mini review by True Audiophile 

Available for Audio Concierge (in Home Demo)

We have  listened to audio gear in a quest to find the ultimate performance for price. We've known about the vaulted LessLoss line for a while and now we have become one of only 2 dealers in the U.S. to be given the  to offer the full line. A little much gushing? You won't think so when you hear them. -- TA

"The LessLoss Echo's End converter turns out to be a superb musical companion.

The final positive impression comes from the naturalness of a liquid restitution combined with great precision.

The top of the spectrum, silky and modulated, gives a lot of presence to voice thanks to its nice clarity of the high-medium range. We are delighted with a very pleasant open sound and the presence of a lot of air around the interpreters. 

The perfectly homogeneous medium-low register also reveals a lot to hear, especially with bass that goes down very low, without exaggeration, even on the first octaves. The dynamics are surprising not because they are expressed dramatically, but because of their fine revelation of the ringing and vigorousness of percussion and plucked string instruments. 

Here is a device that has a sense of rhythm and that will take you beyond the audiophile aspect of music. The sound image overflows the speakers to make them disappear, with an ease worthy of what you'd expect from a high end product range. 

Width, depth and even height, everything is there, and the very precise focus confirms a sound aesthetic with character. You really feel like you're in the middle of the orchestra, without the need to resort to intellectualization. But above all, and this is perhaps the highest quality of this converter, we remain very pleasantly impressed by the naturalness that emerges from this device like no other. It has proved surprisingly tolerant of all the files or discs that we have given it to transcribe.

The LessLoss Echo's End is undoubtedly one of the most musical devices, offering nuances and expressiveness that will charm the music lover looking for an opportunity to listen for a long time without suffering ear fatigue. Furiously attractive, as much by its aesthetics as by its singing and musical character, the LessLoss is a well-designed device that deserves to be listened to without preconceptions of its origins, thus demonstrating that we are dealing with some of today's most creative designers.

This converter's sound reproduction is particularly pleasant and relatively addictive. This softness, this fluidity, and this ability to immerse yourself very deeply into the heart of recorded music creates its own category. This will obviously not be the choice of the general populous, but rather of the already seasoned music lover who is looking for a product capable of transcribing the heart of digital files as faithfully as possible, revealing the substantial marrow."

hifiknights review excerpt:

Each time the Echo’s End was on, I was instantly immersed in its reality and always had a blast, whereas its inherently forgiving approach towards repertoire of lesser quality enabled struggle-free ventures beyond my usual musical diet. If after switching from a product five times as costly – that would be my DAC –  all this remained, then that’s pretty much all there is to be said.

LessLoss Echo’s End also shows us how far commonly available components inside it can be pushed if merged with this operation’s current-art silencing treatment. If this product’s value is judged by its individual parts instead of major contributors located in-between them, the whole point is missed. That’s why I strongly suggest to view Echo’s End’s external and internal measures as essentials behind its truly stout performance. All things considered, if a plug & play brilliantly voiced minimalist DAC is on your hit list, then this report’s LessLoss DAC fits the profile just perfectly. That’s the target right there.

theaudiobeat review excerpt

As I listened to Chet Baker’s Chet [Riverside/Concord RCD-30183] through the stock Echo’s End, connected with a Shunyata Research Sigma Digital power cord, I kept thinking of three words: clean, quiet and vivid. Those are not words that normally come to mind when I listen to this CD. I also noticed how much depth there was in the soundstage and the clarity of Baker’s tone. When listening to the same CD through my reference DAC, the three words that come to my mind are: colorful, romantic and glowing. I also tend to notice how wide the soundstage is and how deep and brassy Gerry Mulligan’s baritone sax can sound.
emotionally involving, but they are clearly coming at the music from different perspectives. The LessLoss approach is more about space and ambience. I have no means to measure, but I suspect the Echo's End with the additional 5x Firewalls has a slightly lower noise floor

The folks at LessLoss have profited from that lesson by reaching back to an older technology and refining it with something new and modular. The Echo’s End is a thoroughly modern DAC that manages to sound both detailed and remarkably natural, but there are two things in particular that it does better than any DAC I’ve had in my system. First, its stage via USB presented music in a far more organic and three-dimensional way than what I’ve come to expect from this interface. I’ve never had so much fun streaming Roon from my 2011 MacBook Pro. Second, the Echo's End's timing and pacing are downright addictive. Its above-average performance in this particular area meant that groups of musicians sounded especially in sync, resulting in an emotional, visceral reaction to the music. The Echo's End is a real charmer.

Meet Echo's End: LessLoss new discrete precision resistor R2R DAC with multiple integrated Firewall technology

In the early 90’s, Sony and Philips were advertising “perfect sound forever,” yet today, don’t you feel cold, empty, and tired from the mechanical sound of digital?

Does your digital experience lead you to question the “numbers race?” Isn't it suspicious that, under proper conditions, standard resolution can actually sound better than high-res? If so, Echo’s End is for you.

What we're going to describe is not hype or a re-seller opinion, this is the opinion of actual owners.

The Echo's End has a sound so smooth, so liquid and organic, that you’d no longer even know, or even care, whether it's digital other than the immediacy.

Sampling rates mean nothing. Only the intimate and intricate feeling of the emotional of every performance. There’s an audiophile saying that goes, “never blame the source material.” Echo’s End is the DAC that lives up to promise.

LessLoss has been perfecting the art of digital conversion for decades. They never take part in the corporate rat-race of chasing popular fashion. They always know that sonic performance has primarily to do with Jitter reduction, and that Jitter is always going to be contended, since it is impossible to measure with authority. LessLoss works by ear where the lab equipment can’t follow.

As a result, LessLoss has over 5000 satisfied customers in 65 countries.. and counting. This is because of real experience in real-world systems by real-world people. LessLoss hardly advertised. They don’t really have to.

Echo’s End is the perfect DAC when you want music to flow just as it does in nature. You don’t get harshness or masking by digital “same-ness.” What you do get is an easy-to-use, fully automatic digital-to-analogue converter whose sole purpose is to provide the best possible audio quality. You won’t find external buttons, nor lights, nor animated display screens.

Echo’s End is fully automatic. Just connect a digital source such as USB, S/PDIF, or AES/EBU, and Echo’s End will automatically find the signal and convert it to beautiful analog sound. At the outputs you have directly converted analog signal, with absolutely no components in the signal path. No chips, no op-amp buffers, no caps, no transformers, nor any tubes.

The sound quality described by customers is fantastic. LessLoss incorporated on-board Firewall modules, a special technology for conditioning power developed and manufactured exclusively by LessLoss. This raises the sonic performance to unbelievable levels. All parts in the Echo’s End, both mechanical and electrical, are fixed directly to wood, and point-to-point soldering allows for the smoothest possible signal flow, ensuring the most liquid audio reproduction imaginable.

With Echo’s End, you get four digital inputs and two types of analogue outputs. You can play any PCM audio up to 192 kHz, and even DSD.

Echo’s End is a great tool for those who want to simply “set it and forget it.” You don’t have to play around with menus, settings, or remotes. You get top performance and peace of mind knowing there are no unnecessary features. Echo’s End is pure and simple, and this is part of what makes it sound so good.

The DAC ships in a water-tight, custom padded flight case and arrives by courier in 3 days or less. You have our 30 day return policy which guarantees your satisfaction. It is easy to purchase right here. You know you’ll be in good company because we are audiophiles, just like you. We don’t make new gadgets just because they are in style. The junkyards are full of disposable gear as it is. Our creations have a lot more soul. Everything we do is born of personal passion.

Read the independent reviews, and see what impact Echo’s End has had on others. Then come back and order yourself one fantastic audio machine. We’re in it for the sound, and we really mean it. Join us. You won’t be disappointed.

You deserve your Echo’s End DAC today. 

FEATURES

The idea behind the name Echo's End is where hearing transforms into listening.

With most any DAC, you can hear everything. With Echo's End, you can listen to everything. Echo's End goes well beyond hearing sensation and affords best conditions for listening.

With other DACs, you can hear good things in a technical sense. With Echo's End, you can listen to the best humanity has to offer.

During testing, listening sessions became difficult because we kept losing track of time. After all, we are supposed to be at work here... Never has it been so difficult to peel ourselves from the desire to continue to listen for pleasure alone. It seems all critical faculties melt away and fail. Something else seems to take over, completely. One cannot help but marvel, and continue to marvel. (And no, we will not be held responsible for loss of sleep!)

Echo's End represents a new performance proposition, completely unique in this world. We are way beyond hearing new notes in chords, new subtly revealed accents and minute gestures of expression. We are now listening to and easily comprehending intent, ambient reality, a clear record of past events, to the actual meaning conveyed to the audience. A single historical performance can be described by a thousand critics' reviews, but now we can actually experience what they meant.

USB-ready; a new USB raised to audiophile standards.

LessLoss can now say, for the first time in history, that USB is acceptable as a digital source suitable for audiophile playback purposes. No amount of digital smudginess or smearing remains in the sound. We now have a purity and clarity of tone previously only ever achieved by interfacing with well-shielded S/PDIF, AES/EBU, or even I2S. This opens the door to affordable audio well within, if not defining, the highest performance class. A cold-sounding, unmodified(!) computer can now convey authentic human emotion. There is nothing smudgy, fuzzy, or harsh remaining in the sound. Time passes smoothly as if from a reel-to-reel tape machine, less the noise. One is transported into a feeling of decades past, even before the rise of digital audio.

Echo's End Original

    Cryogenically treated, solid copper, gold plated power inlet.
    Most precise resistors available (we only ever use the very best ones with the very best specs available).
    Three Firewall modules onboard.
    DSD (2x) ready over USB.
    Plays up to 192 kHz sampling rate PCM data.
    Ships in a LessLoss branded water-tight flight case


Echo's End Reference ($19,628)

    Solid Panzerholz enclosure (it does the same thing for sensitive gear that it does for natural sound used for speakers).

    Grounded custom hand made carbon fiber transformer shroud (really lowers the noise floor down to incredible stability at very high frequencies, important for Jitter reduction).

    Cryogenically treated, solid copper, gold plated power inlet (Sound is smooth and dynamic as a result.)

    Most precise resistors available (we only ever use the very best ones with the very best specs available).

    Dual power supplies, dual Soekris boards, reprogrammed by LessLoss for dual mono configuration (this provides amazing stereo separation and a whole lot of nuance in terms of spacial presentation. Everything becomes more 3D and liquid. It is really nice when compared to a single  board in normal stereo mode.)

    XLR output derived from four mono channels of resistor ladders (output buffering schematics completely bypassed. This is possible because one board's Right channel converts the signal in phase and the Left channel converts the same digital signal out-of-phase. The phase reversal is done still in the digital realm, so the balanced signal is digitally perfect, without noise from an output buffer. This provides amazing clarity, transparency; a holographic sound and a super low noise floor.)

    LessLoss special custom S/PDIF - I2S conversion schematic (developed and manufactured by LessLoss, it is much better than Soekris onboard solution).

    LessLoss controlled automatic digital input selection (Soekris boards receive only I2S from LessLoss board)

    LessLoss unique 3.3V generation for internal I2S (The USB 5V supply is discarded; and the 3.3V is made with our own power stabilizer and Firewall 64X technology. It is super smooth and stable. Makes you forget you are listening to a computer USB source!)

    All floating bolts point-to-point star grounded (you can see this in the picture as silver looking wires coming from bolt to bolt throughout). This lowers the internal noise reflections and makes it dead silent inside.

    New integrated Firewall 64X technology (6 units implemented here. This is brand new technology, the best we ever made.)

    C-MARC™ internal hook-up wire (All power and analogue signal leads are C-MARC™. This takes a lot of labor to prepare but we feel the results are so organic and natural with great speed but never getting tiring to the ear. Well worth the extra effort.
    DSD (2x) ready over USB.
    Plays up to 192 kHz sampling rate PCM data.
    Hand polished 100% natural beeswax impregnated (Looks very beautiful in real life, even smells really good, too, though never overpowering.)
    Will have a precision engraved brass placard on the front of the unit, with model name engraved by laser on top.
    Ships in a LessLoss branded water-tight flight case


Echo's End Reference Supreme Edition ($34,000)

    Two separate Panzerholz enclosures, one for power supply, one to house the DAC process and additional Firewall modules.

    Two transformers, one for digital input schematic separately

    Potting of transformers in LessLoss special high negative ion content epoxy compound

    Additional power stabilizer schematics for digital input schematics with 30X dynamic headroom.

    Two grounded custom hand made carbon fiber transformer shrouds (really lowers the noise floor down to incredible stability at very high frequencies, important for Jitter reduction).

    Cryogenically treated, solid copper, gold plated power inlet (Sound is smooth and dynamic as a result.)

    Three separate LessLoss C-MARC™ XLR DC cables based on Triaxial cable, length 1.5m each, to connect the two units.

    Most precise resistors available (we only ever use the very best ones with the very best specs available).

    Dual power supplies, dual Soekris boards, reprogrammed by LessLoss for dual mono configuration (this provides amazing stereo separation and a whole lot of nuance in terms of spacial presentation. Everything becomes more 3D and liquid.)
    XLR output derived from four mono channels of resistor ladders (output buffering schematics completely bypassed. This is possible because one board's Right channel converts the signal in phase and the Left channel converts the same digital signal out-of-phase. The phase reversal is done still in the digital realm, so the balanced signal is digitally perfect, without noise from an output buffer. This provides amazing clarity, transparency; a holographic sound and a super low noise floor.)
    LessLoss special custom S/PDIF - I2S conversion schematic (developed and manufactured by LessLoss, it is much better than Soekris onboard solution).

    LessLoss controlled automatic digital input selection (Soekris boards receive only I2S from LessLoss board)

    LessLoss unique 3.3V generation for internal I2S (The USB 5V supply is discarded; and the 3.3V is made with our own power stabilizer and Firewall 64X technology. It is super smooth and stable. Makes you forget you are listening to a computer USB source!)

    All floating bolts point-to-point star grounded, including the housing bolts. This lowers the internal noise reflections and makes it dead silent inside.

    14 units integrated Firewall 64X technology. The best we ever made.

    C-MARC™ internal hook-up wire (All power and analogue signal leads are C-MARC™. This takes a lot of labor to prepare but we feel the results are so organic and natural with great speed but never getting tiring to the ear. Well worth the extra effort.
    DSD (2x) ready over USB.
    Plays up to 192 kHz sampling rate PCM data.
    Hand polished, 100% natural beeswax impregnated (Very beautiful, even smells really good, though never overpowering.)
    Precision engraved brass placard on front of both units, with model name engraved by laser on top.
    Ships in two separate LessLoss branded water-tight flight cases

SPECIFICATIONS

Digital inputs
The unit supports USB, S/PDIF, and AES/EBU digital inputs.

Analogue Outputs
- 2 Channels Unbalanced (RCA), straight off of the Ladder DAC resistor network at 1.4V RMS. You can even drive many headphones directly.
- 2 Channels Balanced (XLR), at ~2V RMS. You can drive most any headphone through this output.

Digital formats converted to analogue
- PCM up to 24/192 kHz
- DSD 1x and 2x on USB input

Dimensions
- Width 375 mm
- Depth 230 mm (add a few mm for the connectors at the back)
- Height 55 mm (add 38 mm to the height if you use the Bindbreaker equipment feet)