^ +1 @sns
Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC
Meanwhile, during the 4 years after release of the MH-DA004, LKS (now Musetec) worked on the new MH-DA005 design, also with a pair of ES9038pro chips. This time he used more of the best components available. One torroidal transformer has silver plated copper. Also banks of super capacitors that act like batteries, solid silver hookup wire, 4 femtoclocks each costing multiples of the Crysteks, a revised Amanero board, more of the best European caps and a new partitioned case. I can't say cost NO object, but costs well beyond. A higher price, of course. Details at http://www.mu-sound.com/DA005-detail.html
The question, surely, is: How does it sound? I'm only going to answer indirectly for the moment. I thought that the MH-DA004 was to be my last DAC, or at least for a very long time. I was persuaded to part with my $$ by research, and by satisfaction with the MH-DA004. Frankly, I have been overwhelmed by the improvement; just didn't think it was possible. Fluidity, clarity, bass extension. A post to another board summed it up better than I can after listening to piano trios: "I have probably attended hundreds of classical concerts (both orchestral and chamber) in my life. I know what live sounds like in a good and bad seat and in a good and mediocre hall. All I can say is HOLY CRAP, this sounds like the real thing from a good seat in a good hall. Not an approximation of reality, but reality."
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@agentwja There is a great effort by the industry to promote the differing technologies in the digital realm. Whether they promote the R2R technology, the ESS9038pro or other chips or the chips they develop themselves using FPGA chips. Two of these technologies are relatively expensive to produce. That would be today’s R2R technology and the FPGA chips. The R2R technology of today is a discrete one. It is made of many individual parts, including lots of precision resisters. In parts and labor, that is expensive. Some time ago R2R chips were easily available so all of these parts and this labor were collapsed onto a relatively inexpensive chip. And in the digital realm, it seems, chips work as well as discrete. But these chips are no more, but for some NOS. Programming an FPGA chip is an alternative to paying anywhere from $20 to $95 (in small quantities) to companies like TI, AKM or ESS for their chips. It takes many man-hours to do it. That costs money. Whether the result can outperform the three decades and three generations of ESS chip development, for example, is a question that has not been answered, for me anyway. But it does give companies that do it the promotional possibility of differentiating their product. "Our chip is better, like no other, and it can be updated!" All of which leads to my personal conclusion that none of this matters as much as the more important considerations of a DAC. Makers who purchase the relatively inexpensive chips can put their resources here. They are: (1) Power supply and (2) analog section. There are some very well known and very expensive DACs that use cheap power supplies. There are some very expensive and very well known DACs that use cheap analog chips as the basis for their analog section. IMO one of the reasons that the DACs in the two comparisons above sounded both very good and very much like each other is that they both have fine power supply sections and fine discrete analog sections. How can you tell when a DAC has a good power supply and/or a good analog section? You must look inside and see. Or find a review that does that for you, rather than just recite a list of audiophile platitudes and call that a review. I’m not here to denigrate any brand, but two you list have been around for a very long while and one of them, at least, is well known to have a sound signature particular to the brand. Also, look inside and compare. This is a fast moving segment. |
@melm @jc4659 -Just an update on the thrill I am having pairing the Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 and the Musetec DA005 DAC. I believe the synergy between the two is perfect to my ears, using the AES//EBU connection. I've had the DAC long enough to be well through the burn-in period, over 400 hours, and am enjoying the "new sounds" I'm hearing from oft-listened to CDs. As an aside, I have a Aurender music server with a USB connector that sounds terrific because the DAC is USB optimized. When I get time I'm going to venture into CD burning because of what I've been reading on this thread. |
Musetec saves the day. A post I made on the bedroom SR1a headphone system (or 2 channel for my ears). Raal Ribbon Headphones - SRH1A | Page 316 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org Yesterday, I called Shenzehn (sp?) about getting the same discount as I got the first time, to buy a second 005. They gave me one, but I could not pull the financial trigger. Got to wait until Black Friday 2022.
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