Monolith by Monoprice Liquid Platinum Balanced Limited Edition DAC by Alex Cavalli (AKM4499)
Product # 38966
UPC # 889028131190
$299.99
$799.99
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Am I the only one having trouble finding an 3 Pin XLR Balanced male to male cable to hook this up to the Alex Cavalli headphone amp? Any recommendations?
Andrew M
on Dec 12, 2022

Monolith by Monoprice Liquid Platinum Balanced Limited Edition DAC by Alex Cavalli (AKM4499)

Monolith by Monoprice Liquid Gold Balanced Headphone Amplifier and DAC by Alex Cavalli
BEST ANSWER: After reviewing the pictures I can understand your confusion. I have the liquid platinum DAC & amp, and you just need the standard xlr interconnects (male to female).
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- Inaccurate
- New User U on Dec 13, 2022
- Purchased on Mar 9, 2022
BEST ANSWER: After reviewing the pictures I can understand your confusion. I have the liquid platinum DAC & amp, and you just need the standard xlr interconnects (male to female).
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- Inaccurate
- New User U on Dec 13, 2022
- Purchased on Mar 9, 2022
You can find several different 3 pin xlr cables at Monoprice to suit your budget. Have a look at their Monolith xlr cable, It is a very well made cable. If this is a little too much $, they have others that may suit your budget.
You can find this style of cable almost anywhere cables are sold, from Amazon to Periapt, etc., etc.
You can find this style of cable almost anywhere cables are sold, from Amazon to Periapt, etc., etc.
- Reply(1)
- Inaccurate
- New User U on Dec 12, 2022
- Purchased on Aug 14, 2022
The Monolith XLR Cable is a Male to Female. The Liquid Platinum DAC and the Liquid Gold Headphone Amp both provide female connectors on the unit. So, how does one go about this, unless I also need to purchase Male to Female adapters. And I would love the Monolith cable, I am looking for a high quality cable to use to connect these two. (And the Platinum Amp appears to provide a similar (if locking) female connector, so the question is the same there.)
You should be able to easily find a XLR male to male cable on amazon. However, my unit came with XLR male terminations -- as expected in any DAC with balanced outputs -- so I can use any standard XLR cable to hook them up.
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- New User U on Dec 12, 2022
- Purchased on Aug 26, 2022
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Asking for someone to confirm. Does the unit ship with Female XLR Outputs or Male XLR Outputs on the back of the device. In the sites photos I can see it displays Female XLR Outputs?
A shopper
on Jan 23, 2023
BEST ANSWER: I have the unit and it has Male XLR outputs, the website photo is incorrect
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- Steve H on Jan 25, 2023
- Purchased on Oct 31, 2022
BEST ANSWER: I have the unit and it has Male XLR outputs, the website photo is incorrect
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- Steve H on Jan 25, 2023
- Purchased on Oct 31, 2022
Item ships with male Xlr outputs* disregard the previous reply typo
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- Zack z on Jan 25, 2023
- Purchased on Dec 25, 2022
I own one. It’s female XLR outs :)
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- Daniel L W on Jan 25, 2023
- Purchased on Jul 2, 2022
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Is this still on target for a June 24 launch? Trying to decide between this and the Topping D90. If this launches in June, then I’ll just wait.
A shopper
on May 26, 2020
BEST ANSWER: This is looking to have a more Aug/Sept timeframe.
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- New User U Staff on May 27, 2020
BEST ANSWER: This is looking to have a more Aug/Sept timeframe.
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- New User U Staff on May 27, 2020
Certainly Go with the Topping D90, it will mop the floor with this Overpriced mediocre poj.
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- IRVIN P on Apr 2, 2022
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This has balanced outputs.. Why can it only be used with a headphone amp and not a pre-amp audio controller?
A shopper
on Apr 12, 2023
BEST ANSWER: It can absolutely be used with a preamp. I have it connected this way.
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- Inaccurate
- L U on Apr 12, 2023
- Purchased on Nov 23, 2022
BEST ANSWER: It can absolutely be used with a preamp. I have it connected this way.
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- Inaccurate
- L U on Apr 12, 2023
- Purchased on Nov 23, 2022
Do not think that balanced or single ended makes a difference. This is made to be paired with an amp and provides a fixed voltage. The amp has a volume control or if used with an amp that has no volume you must have a preamp to change volume.
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- John K on Apr 12, 2023
- Purchased on Jun 14, 2022
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Will this have Parametric EQ and Dirac Sensurround II (or better), like in Monolith THX 788 DAC/AMP?
A shopper
on Sep 11, 2019
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does this work with mqa?
A shopper
on Nov 17, 2019
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Any chance of a case that matches the new 887 Amp? Or will it be as pictured on this page?
New User U
on Nov 19, 2019
BEST ANSWER: Since it is Cavalli, it will match the Cavalli amplifier aesthetics.
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- New User U Staff on Nov 19, 2019
BEST ANSWER: Since it is Cavalli, it will match the Cavalli amplifier aesthetics.
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- New User U Staff on Nov 19, 2019
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Does it have a USB connection so I can hook it up to a laptop or something?
MRFUTURE T
on Nov 24, 2019
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How would this DAC pair with the Monolith THX AAA 887?
If not this one, what is a good DAC for this amp?
If not this one, what is a good DAC for this amp?
G
on Feb 27, 2020
BEST ANSWER: At the moment I would recommend Topping D90, which also uses AKM 4499, and is a brilliant device which is just $100 pricier.
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- Leonid G on May 15, 2020
BEST ANSWER: At the moment I would recommend Topping D90, which also uses AKM 4499, and is a brilliant device which is just $100 pricier.
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- Leonid G on May 15, 2020
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Will this use tubes in the output buffer stage?
New User U
on May 5, 2020
BEST ANSWER: There aren't any tubes being utilized in this product.
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- Inaccurate
- New User U Staff on May 5, 2020
BEST ANSWER: There aren't any tubes being utilized in this product.
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- New User U Staff on May 5, 2020
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Any info on whether the DAC will have preamp out capability so it could be used with powered monitors? A picture of the back panel would be welcomed.
A shopper
on Jun 3, 2020
BEST ANSWER: No pre for this DAC. 100% output signal all the time.
- Reply
- Inaccurate
- New User U on Sep 9, 2022
- Purchased on Aug 26, 2022
BEST ANSWER: No pre for this DAC. 100% output signal all the time.
- Reply
- Inaccurate
- New User U on Sep 9, 2022
- Purchased on Aug 26, 2022
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Is it possible to select which outputs are active, i.e. only balanced, or only unbalanced A, or B? Is the digital volume control of the AK4499 active? Is there a remote?
A shopper
on Nov 27, 2020
BEST ANSWER: Outputs are active all the time. There is no volume control within the DAC nor remote control support.
- Reply
- Inaccurate
- New User U on Sep 9, 2022
- Purchased on Aug 26, 2022
BEST ANSWER: Outputs are active all the time. There is no volume control within the DAC nor remote control support.
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- Inaccurate
- New User U on Sep 9, 2022
- Purchased on Aug 26, 2022
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What makes this "limited edition"?
Jordan H
on Mar 17, 2022
BEST ANSWER: The AKM factory burned down and AKM is unable to manufacture the AKM4499 DAC, their best DAC.
- Reply
- Inaccurate
- New User U Staff on Mar 17, 2022
BEST ANSWER: The AKM factory burned down and AKM is unable to manufacture the AKM4499 DAC, their best DAC.
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- Inaccurate
- New User U Staff on Mar 17, 2022
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Spec's... spec's... where are the spec's?!
A shopper
on Mar 21, 2022
BEST ANSWER: While on the Monoprice page, in the search bar type 38966. All the pictures and details are there.
- Reply
- Inaccurate
- David R L on Mar 21, 2022
- Purchased on Mar 9, 2022
BEST ANSWER: While on the Monoprice page, in the search bar type 38966. All the pictures and details are there.
- Reply
- Inaccurate
- David R L on Mar 21, 2022
- Purchased on Mar 9, 2022
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I want to use the unbalanced output for my home audio amplifier. What's the maximum (clipping) output voltage? I use a room correction system before DAC so sometimes the signal can be as high as +10dB or 6V RMS.
New User U
on Oct 29, 2022

Monolith by Monoprice Liquid Platinum Balanced Limited Edition DAC by Alex Cavalli (AKM4499)

Monolith by Monoprice Liquid Platinum Balanced Headphone Amplifier by Alex Cavalli
BEST ANSWER: The RCA unbalanced output should be around 2 Vrms for this DAC. Always fixed.
- Reply
- Inaccurate
- New User U on Nov 4, 2022
- Purchased on Apr 24, 2020
BEST ANSWER: The RCA unbalanced output should be around 2 Vrms for this DAC. Always fixed.
- Reply
- Inaccurate
- New User U on Nov 4, 2022
- Purchased on Apr 24, 2020
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Does this use a single AKM4499 chip, or dual AKM4499’s?
Sam S
on Sep 10, 2019
From the description: ”Featuring single ended and balanced analog XLR inputs“ - I’m presuming you mean outputs?
A shopper
on Nov 18, 2019
Can us as the customer have the full spec to look? And couple photos of it. It supposed to come out a few months ago, so I bet the photo and spec have to be ready.
New User U
on Apr 27, 2020
Monoprice liquid platinum dac is the stage output analogue class A ?
A shopper
on Jun 26, 2020
Is dual Akm 4499 & dual mono class A output stages ?
New User U
on Jun 28, 2020
Will the Liquid Platinum amp perfectly stack on top of this? No heat issues?
A shopper
on Jul 9, 2020
Is this dac ever going to be released? If so, when? The eta date seems to be continuously pushed back....
A shopper
on Oct 20, 2020
Will this support DoP (DSD over PCM?)
Anonymous S
on Nov 13, 2020
When do you plan to release this dac/have it in stock?
A shopper
on Dec 30, 2020
What kind of "options" does this have? Is there EQ of any kind?
Travis B
on Jan 1, 2021
I have a Monolith HTP-1 and want to use the high-end Monolith headphone using its RCA analog audio-jack. Do I need both the Monolith DAC & headphone preamp or only a preamp? Thx!
Thomas H
on May 1, 2022
I'm not able to locate the user manual pdf in the support database. Can this be posted? Thank you.
A shopper
on May 27, 2022
Reviews
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Rated 5 out of 5
Very good Dac.
This is one of the best Dac at this price point($300). It's very musical and love the vocal, string.... Compare to my Gustard X26 Pro, the music is fuller and Bass is stronger, but have to pay 5X$300.
It's better to contect with Monoprice Liquid Platinum Tube headphone Amp( bought for $290)and balance xlr output, make your music very anolog, not digital. These audio gears are high quality and reasonal price.
Thanks Monoprice!
It's better to contect with Monoprice Liquid Platinum Tube headphone Amp( bought for $290)and balance xlr output, make your music very anolog, not digital. These audio gears are high quality and reasonal price.
Thanks Monoprice!
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Rated 5 out of 5
Warmed things up
I was using a 3.5 to dual XLR input from my pc to a Monolith Alex Cavalli Amp- with a pair of Monolith AMT headphones. I added this DAC - balanced Mogami from DAC to amp. Monolith XLR finished
headphone cable.
Everything is much better- detail, clarity- warmth. Bass is actually decent (headphones). I might move this to my main stereo- it is really good. The sound is not colored- it sounds very accurate. The ring of acoustic guitar notes -piano-superb.
headphone cable.
Everything is much better- detail, clarity- warmth. Bass is actually decent (headphones). I might move this to my main stereo- it is really good. The sound is not colored- it sounds very accurate. The ring of acoustic guitar notes -piano-superb.

Added Jan 15, 2023
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Rated 5 out of 5
Major Upgrade to the Liquid Gold X
I gave this to myself for Christmas to upgrade the DAC in the Liquid Gold X (which I love the Amp in). This pair is driving a set of ZMF Vérité Ltd (Stabilized). The two are hooked up with with a pair of Monolith XLR Balanced Audio Cables, the headphones are connected via a ZMF Balanced Cable with the Auteur Suede Pads. Man I love this setup. It's an incredible value at full price. The Monolith stuff I got on sale making it a total steal!
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Rated 5 out of 5
Finally completed the stack
Took me a while but finally completed the stack. XLR out goes to either Liquid Platinum or Liquid Gold X, and the RCA out is going to the Liquid Spark.

The stack is now completed
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Rated 5 out of 5
sounds good
works good sounds very clear and detailed runs cool easy setup
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