The DAC of the future just when we thought, that our current flagship DAC, the Pacific would be the end of the road for us, we decided to change the tactics concerning the improvements. Instead of making small incremental improvements of the Pacific, we decided to freeze it and instead - start a new project.

Little did we know about the coming future - about the covid, lockdowns and AKM factoiry fire. Starting from a blank sheet we tried to reinvent everything about the DAC that we know, while learning what we don’t. 



In 2019 we heard for the first time the prototype and frankly - we were shocked how much superior it is from what we are used to.

Thanks to a revolutionary chip technology, like nothing we ever saw before - it was possible to create a real monster.

It took almost one year to write a software that controls the DAC process, especially for DSD512.

By using our own custom firmware we made a DAC that nobody else has and nobody else will.

The engine code name is #19 Summarising, the DAC turned out to be incredibly good.

Hence the name THE HORIZON. It is something we look into while on the ocean.

It is where we are aiming. From the competitor's perspective - the Horizon is where they see us. It is also something endless, undefined, and desired.

That's where we wanna be.

This DAC has a very unique digital board, with power supplies so advanced that it is probably 4x more advanced and sophisticated compared to what the industry standard is.

From custom transformers , custom 4 layer PCB, 17 separate power circuits, completely insane music conversion topology, customized muting solutions, our proprietary firmware and software, the chip that probably nobody else is using in the industry at the time of writing, new tube scheme, new tube selection, TRP (tube rolling paradise setup), new chassis, new heating scheme, new superb volume control with bypass feature, new uber cool nixie display, elimination of knobs, elimination of LCD and OLED displays (noisy), elimination of visible screws and bolts, new USB solution, new superclock circuit with optoisolation and ultra high precision crystals, antivibration CNC milled support for PCBs, - everything about this DAC is new, rethought and redesigned.

In all 12 years of Lampizator we never took a leap that big, design so expensive and labour intense.

The resulting DAC is a true flagship. It has everything it can have, and we know for a fact that nobody else can use solutions that we use.

I can say with full confidence that you are getting a unique masterpiece of craftsmanship that will deliver top of the game sound for many years to come.

Who knows - chances are - it will never be surpassed.

UPDATE: August 19 2024 ANNOUNCING THE RELEASE OF HORIZON360 DAC

Horizon360 is our first ever improvement of our flagship Horizon DAC since its creation 3 years ago.

This move is mainly enforced by the chip availability limitations.

When our “magic” chip got almost depleted and also we started working on Taiko Olympus XDMI interface - we had to decide to make major changes and eventually find a different chip.

After searching the whole world for it and after endless experiments and prototyping that took 2 years - we arrived at a design that sounds better than the original Horizon with the same sound signature that we are famous for.

We decided to give the project a green light and we considered it worthy of calling it the new name - Horizon360. Business-wise, the original plan was just to overcome the parts shortage but as the Taiko Olympus story evolved, we saw a huge opportunity there.

Since the Olympus is challenging the status quo of the digital music industry, we joined that process by adopting the Olympus XDMI as the first DAC manufacturer in the world.

That is nice, but the market for Olympus is a limited one, by both factors of price as well as their supply output.

Therefore we wanted to give to all the people who will NOT HAVE the Taiko Olympus a nice boost in sound quality when the Horizon is used with whatever server / streamer people might have.

That means effectively that we put a 2 year research and development effort into improving USB and i2S and S/PDIF or AES/EBU inputs.

The new conversion chip required a completely new, “blank sheet” PCB design, with new inputs, new receiver, new power supply, new grounding, new multiplexing, new firmware and software that controls the conversion process.

The main differences (except increased sound quality) are: i2S via HDMI doesn’t need master clock and will work off 3-wire connection - versus typical 4-wire before. DSD now can be configured as 1024x versus 512x before (some of you will be thrilled) however for our internal reasons we decided to keep the maximum at 512x for the foreseeable future.

The same goes for PCM1536kHz sampling rate - the fastest in the industry.

PCM is now set at 768 kHz. ​ Taiko XDMI interface is now built-in and embedded in the design.

Every Horizon360 will be equipped with one.

For the older Taiko Extreme - the sound quality of USB difference will be magnificent. (as well as for the other non-Taiko sources) ​ The name Horizon360 was suggested by our experience with the first prototype sound: someone commented - WOW, this is like old Horizon only it is a 360 degrees now - meaning - the experience is much more immersive and three-dimensional.

It is sort of like the actual horizon when you are on the ocean.

We decided to handle our precious flagship DAC with extreme care and not risk any unnecessary changes just for changes.

We left the same tubes, same output circuits, same chassis and display.

We wanted to make sure that Horizon remains Horizon and when we are asked - we will answer with confidence that the new one is BETTER not just different and if you liked the H1 - you will love the H360 changes undeniably ! ​

Preliminary parameters: Weight: 33 kg / 70 lbs net, 50 kg / 110 lbs gross

Dimensions without tubes: 440 mm W x 550 mm D x 170 mm H (height with tubes 290 mm)

Digital inputs: 1 x USB, 1 x S/PDIF RCA, 1 x AES/EBU, 1 x TOSLINK, 3 x i2s, 1x Taiko XDMI 1 x analog input RCA, 1 x analog input XLR fully balanced 1 x analog output pair RCA and 1 x XLR balanced output and 1 x XLR subwoofer output - unfiltered)

Output level: 0DB full level @4V peak sinus 1 kHz m per phase, 8V p-p for balanced

Mains 110-115 - 220 - 230 - 240 V AC / power consumption 80 VA ​ Colors: (sorry: no gold, no anodizing, no car paint (like Mazda Red) Matt Black Hole Silver Sahara (very light, cold, aluminum-look grey with specs of shiny dust) ​

The dust cover plate around the tubes on top can be ordered in these colors: Copper - for the famous "Duracell look" (Black body and copper top) Stainless steel mirror-like chrome look Black Hole black matt Silver Sahara to match Semi Translucent Red These above top colors can be mixed and matched with the two basic body colors (for example black body with Sahara Silver top plate)

Packing in custom hand made flight case ​ ​

Tube compliment: 1 x 5U4G rectifier or equivalent, 274B, 5Y3, 5C3S, GZ34, GZ37, GZ480, 5AR4WGB 2 x 6SN7GT or adapter fitted 6N1P, ECC99, ECC40, VT99, 6F8G, ECC88, 6922, 6DJ9, E88CC, 6900, 12BH7, 5687, 6111 4 x EL34 or 6V6, 6L6, KT66, KT88, KT90, KT120, 6550, 5881 kt150 KT170

Remote Control - CNC milled metal "slab" remote, new model with AA batteries Footers: non exchangable but with M5 provision of threaded footer mounting holes

Display: 2-digit Nixie display - shows volume and input number, startup countdown DSD: 512x, PCM: 768k
 ​ ​ XDMI TAIKO OLYMPUS link - UPDATE Following the announcement of Taiko Olympus with new transmission protocol we release the upgrade path for current and future Poseidon and Horizon DAC owners. Lampizator will be THE FIRST DAC MANUFACTURER worldwide to offer Taiko dedicated link as well as Taiko will offer a dedicated Lampizator output card.

We decided to allow this development to be done only for our two top DACs - Horizon360 and Poseidon.

They both will get a retro-fit package allowing us to offer the solution to all existing users of Poseidon and Horizon.

All new orders introduced in our system from August 20 will have it already built in every Horizon360 (and Poseidons per request)

The retro-fit Taiko XDMI job will cost 10% of the respective DACs prices. (Not needed in H360)

The Taiko link has one EXTREMELY important feature - the cable. It's role is critical to maintaining low jitter, low losses and low distortions.

The absolute magic of the Olympus lies in these factors and we want to show the Olympus sound in all its glory.

We contracted KBL- high end cable manufacturer - to build for our clients such cable in the highest humanly possible quality and also we will make the second cable in house with very high quality but more "human price".

The choice is ultimately yours.

 No existing cables will work in this totally new DAC/Server scheme of things. It has to be Taiko/Lampi cable.

The maximum cable length will be 2m. (6 1/2 FT) but the standard will be 1,2m I want to thank Taiko team lead by Emile for being so helpful and creative, and also for PUSHING THE BAR of music reproduction to a new unheard levels.

I am extremely proud of having even a small part of this whole news. ​ SUMMARY: the TAIKO link will replace the RJ45 i2S socket in our Horizon-1 DAC and the Toslink socket in the Poseidon DAC.

The retro-fit MUST be done only in our factory as it is a multitasking and difficult job. Pacific, Golden Gate and other DACS will not have this link even as a paid option. In order to use the Lampizator DAC with the Taiko Olympus you must have also the dedicated XDMI Lampizator card in the Taiko server and the Lampizator-Taiko cable. We don't know of any other cable readily available that will work here. It is a double 5 pin male (both sides) XLR with dual digital connection similar to RS422 .

Taiko link and Horizon DAC will play everything that Tako server can play - All kinds of PCM and all kinds of DSD.

There are no restrictions. Taiko link does not affect the functionality of the other DAC inputs - the way they are. Taiko EXTREME users will get the external additional box upgrade from Taiko that will have the XDMI output with the same technical description as the Olympus described above.

All Horizon360 DACs will have Taiko XDMI input as standard.