It’s not often that we test a device twice at LowBeats. Back in December 2019, I tested the then new Lyngdorf TDAI-3400. But like an AV processor, such a completely digital streaming amplifier consists of at least 50 percent software in terms of function and quality. And over the years, it has constantly evolved in this young-at-heart product, just like the plug-ins for analog signals and HDMI. A lot has also been developed in streaming, but above all, we wanted to take a closer look at the current version of the RoomPerfect room correction. We can already say at this point: It’s pretty good and much better than previous versions. To prove it, our colleague Jürgen Schröder recorded various room situations: with RoomPerfect, without RoomPerfect, etc. You can find the result at the end of the test, where you can use the LowBeats sound oracle to hear for yourself how well this system now works.
The hardware and its slots
Let’s stick to the hardware for now. Here, in fact, practically nothing has changed. The no-frills Scandinavian industrial design looks timeless and everything is impeccably crafted. One special feature: the TDAI-3400 is completely enclosed. There are no cooling fins or grilles here. This is possible thanks to the Class-D amplifiers, which, thanks to their high efficiency, emit little heat but still deliver a total output of 800 watts. However, the machine should still be well ventilated so that the surfaces, such as the massive lid, can actually get rid of their heat. So please don’t place anything directly on top of it, unless the device has really high feet.
New, and not yet on the photo of the back of the Lyngdorf, is the analog board that replaces a high-level input with an – analog, mind you – phono preamplifier. This was not available in the test device, but it would surprise me if the phono input were to fall behind the rest of the TDAI-3400 in terms of quality. Those looking for maximum phono quality will always use a separate phono preamplifier that can be adapted to their own pickup in all parameters anyway.
The latest version of the HDMI board was integrated into the test device, with full bandwidth and (as far as I could test) also flawless operation up to 8K, and ARC sound from the TV via the HDMI output. And the HDMI interface seems to be implemented very cleanly and is therefore low in jitter.
One thing was clear: all the signal paths in the TDAI-3400 sounded almost amazingly similar in character and quality, from RCA analog to USB audio, from Roon Ready to HDMI. If a gradation beyond the subjective is allowed at all, then Roon Ready (RAAT protocol) sounded the cleanest and most musical, always assuming identical source quality.
Handling and software functions
Most people will probably use the remote control for the Lyngdorf as long as it is a matter of selecting an external source or just changing the volume. There is an interesting feature for headphone lovers. Although there is only a mini-jack socket on the front, there is a very potent, separate headphone amplifier behind it. And the volume of this can be adjusted independently and it can also be used in parallel with the speakers. That’s why there are separate mute buttons for headphones and speakers. The only drawback of the excellent-sounding headphone output is the lack of tone control, and unfortunately the voicing profiles cannot be applied either.
If you have your smartphone in your hand all day anyway, you will love the app, which is clearly focused on the essentials. In the view with the large volume wheel, the signal type can be displayed and the virtual control dial behaves like the real one on the amplifier: it turns a little further when you push it. If you prefer to have a large view of the cover art when streaming, you can switch to the large cover view with a small volume wheel.
For more in-depth settings, the app switches to the default browser in the web view. This is where you can access the setup for configuration and calibration. This applies to any browser in the same network. I recommend using a larger screen, such as a laptop or tablet, for calibration and basic settings – simply because it provides a better overview.
How well does RoomPerfect work?
For the integrated RoomPerfekt room correction, Lyngdorf includes a professional measuring microphone with the TDAI-3400 along with a very long cable and a stand that can be flexibly aligned. This is really commendable. The design and the very good – English – instructions in the web menu should enable anyone with even a basic technical understanding to calibrate the system properly. A long-lasting low-frequency and a high-frequency multi-tone are used as measurement signals. It sounds a bit like someone has fallen asleep on an organ manual. However, the long measurement tones allow the drone frequencies in the room to “build up” acoustically, so that distortions can be analyzed and short interfering noises (neighbor’s dogs barking, car driving past, …) can be eliminated.
It is important to position the measurement microphone correctly. Contrary to previous RoomPerfect instructions, Lyngdorf now advises that after the Focus measurement has been carried out as precisely as possible at the listening position, additional measurement points should be selected close to this position: sometimes on a neighboring seat on the sofa, a little above and behind it, a little in front of it…
The progress bar in the menu shows the “Room Knowledge” as a numerical value in percent. This indicates whether enough different but also common measured values of the loudspeaker and room acoustics have been recorded to calculate the compensating EQ curve. Above 90%, the collected data can be used with confidence. In practice, this was achieved after five, sometimes only after six measurements (including focus). Lyngdorf uses a second, manually editable filter level called Voicing for taste or desired corrections.
The focus of the RoomPerfect algorithms is on linearizing the so-called energy response. Put simply, this means that the combination of direct sound from the speaker and the room acoustics remains the same at every pitch. In the Worms listening room, which is quite heavily and broadband damped, RoomPerfect has correctly raised some frequency ranges in the bass by a few decibels and lowered some loud pitches – especially in the fundamental. The first harmonic cross-mode also disappears at 74 Hertz, as can be impressively seen in the waterfall diagram. It is easy to see in the waterfall what can also be clearly heard: the music is given substance and the somewhat forward range around 150-400 Hz is slowed down. There is also a defined high-frequency decay.
The second series of tests with the speakers positioned lengthways in the room, i.e. speakers and sofa at the narrow ends of the listening room, with a listening distance of around 4.5 m, supplemented the two Canton Townus 90s with a powerful Velodyne Deep Blue 15 subwoofer. The TDAI-3400 can be configured quite freely for four output channels, but only for stereophonic subwoofers (left/right assignment) or monaural. More specialized multi-subwoofer installations are not provided.
Please note: Unlike the fully automatic systems of conventional surround receivers, the TDAI-3400 requires the bass management to be configured completely manually. Fortunately, this is easy to do thanks to the freely adjustable and selectable filters, level and time alignment as distance specifications. All filters and phase transitions (via delay) and levels should therefore already be set before the RoomPerfect calibration. Pleasant: The graphic displays in the menu for frequencies and connection diagram. Note on this: RoomPerfect correction only ever works in stereo, i.e. before bass management. The subwoofer does not receive a separate filter, but is processed proportionally for speakers and subwoofer in the same way as the music signal in stereo.
Again, with RoomPerfect it sounded significantly more balanced and fuller in the bass. And good bass clears up the mid-range in terms of aural physiognomy, because there are fewer and fewer masking effects. The audibility increases. And the current RoomPerfect version doesn’t sound dynamically slowed down like it used to. Rather the opposite. Especially with the subwoofer, which had previously been well adjusted manually, the set sounded more dynamic, deeper and yet more spatial and finely resolved and was also able to play considerably louder.
We carried out a further series of tests with the speakers positioned across the room. This resulted in a perfectly geometric stereo triangle with an edge length of just over two meters. The more distant boundary surfaces for the speakers and the higher direct sound component result in a completely new acoustic situation.
The results were comparable to the previous situation: with RoomPerfect, it simply sounded more balanced and musical, with better audibility of details. In addition, we carried out another experiment because access to our listening room is through a door in the corner, i.e. at the pressure maximum of the room modes. All previous experiments were carried out with the door open. With the door closed, RoomPerfect’s algorithm was actually able to correctly analyze the changed acoustic situation without manual intervention and to extend the low bass correctly – and not inconsiderably. To rule out a coincidence, we repeated the calibration several times and the different results with the door open or closed could be reproduced exactly.
Listen to the RoomPerfect room correction
For the differentiated RoomPerfect listening comparison in the following player, we have recorded the ultimately better transverse setup using a binaural artificial head. This means: For the most authentic, immersive sound experience possible, you should definitely use headphones and not loudspeakers (especially not the ones in your computer or smartphone!).
We recorded an uncorrected pass (Bypass), a calibration for the listening position (Focus) and a more global calibration for the entire room (Global). In addition, LowBeats sound engineer Jürgen Schröder added the original music without the RoomPerfect pass. You can easily compare the different calibration recordings by clicking on the four different curves.
Click on the button to load the content from w.soundcloud.com.
Conclusion: Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 is getting better and better
Peter Lyngdorf was right to insist on a consistently digital, modular and flexible design. Thanks to this principle, the TDAI-3400 is so efficient that the machine, with its timeless design and no visible cooling, can be operated with high-quality switching power supplies and output stages. On the other hand, it is easy to keep up to date with the latest technology and standards thanks to HDMI and analog slots. Last but not least, the consistently digital signal processing with up to four channels enables the use of a subwoofer and, finally, RoomPerfect, as the name suggests, ensures a coherent adaptation to the room. Streaming music sounds extremely good, thanks in part to the Tidal Connect, which was recently added with a firmware update.
Above all, however, the room calibration seems to have improved, as it always brought about a noticeable improvement with a more balanced sound in all tests. Particularly recommended is the use with a subwoofer. Criticism: You have to set up the subwoofer manually and precisely and adjust it to the speakers. Praise: Thanks to selectable filters, finely adjustable delays and levels, everything can be set wonderfully precisely and flexibly. What always resulted was a sound that was full, yet precise and smooth, with beautiful, dark colors. Anyone who still associates “digital” with harsh and edgy will quickly be disabused here. The Lyndorf TDAI-3400 is more of a softie, but with a lot of power and a crisp attack, never aggressive. This earned it an additional half star in the sound evaluation compared to the first test.
Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 | 2024/08 |
 | |
Very good | |
Sound QualityUsabilityWorkmanship QualityTotal |
| The rating always refers to the respective price category. |
| | High performance, rich sound colors |
| | Bluetooth remote control, app, web interface |
| | Modular structure, timeless design, precision workmanship |
| | Configurable outputs incl. bass management |
Distribution:
DREI H Vertriebs GmbH
Stormsweg 8
22085 Hamburg
Germany
www.3-h.de
Price (manufacturer’s recommendation):
Lyngdorf TDAI-3400: 5,799 euros
incl. HDMI module 6,599 euros
incl. analog MM 6,299 euros
incl. HDMI + analog 7,099 euros
Plug-in units separate/retrofit:
Analog module MM 649 euros
HDMI 2.1 module 790 euros
Previous Lyngdorf tests:
Test: Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 – Room correction & streaming
Test streaming amp Lyngdorf TDAI 1120
News: Lyngdorf Cue-100: danish design goes high-end
Technical data
| Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 | |
|---|---|
| Output power: | 2×400 W RMS 4Ohm / 2x200W RMS 8Ohm |
| Streaming: | Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, DLNA Support (uPnP) Airplay, Local file playback (USB), Internet Radio (vTuner, airable) |
| Dimensions: | 45 x 10.5 x 36 cm |
| Weight: | 8.2 kg |
| All technical data | |
