Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

In past week I've received a package of two tubes shipped directly from Shenzhen China, Fedex seven days, another single tube from Hong Kong via DHL, six days. Over thirty years I've shipped or received much audio equipment to/from Asia, Europe, Canada, only recall single incidence of having to pay duty. With DHL,UPS, Fedex, shipping company is the broker, never extra broker fees. If import/export documents filled out properly should never have problem. It would be rare occurance if merchadise shipped was opened by customs, found to be severly undervalued and seized or demands for higher duty. Electronics purchased from China valued up to $800 are exempt from duty.

Now, all bets off with postal services, they don't act as broker, may or may not go through without problem. Couple years ago I had turntable power supply I purchased from Australia sit in US customs for over two months, no tracking documents, no answers from US customs. Figuring it lost or stolen, purchased another ps, the original shows up without notice just after 2nd ps purchased, over $500 needlessly spent. Not having shipping company acting as broker leaves you at mercy of customs in all countries. Answer, never ship out of country with USPS unless low value item.

I posted this question on the May vs 005 thread. I should have asked here instead. I unexpectedly received my 005 today. I was expecting it next Wed.

Question: I am wondering what the DPLL settings are for?

An interesting initial observation. I am now on my 3rd Stones album streaming via a Sonore OpticalRendu into the 005’s USB. The unit is no longer ice cold and has warmed up temperature wise. So far it sounds like a mix between the now sold Gustard X26 Pro and my Benchmark DAC3B, which was what I was going for. The interesting part is that this unit is giving me some serious ear fatigue. There is definitely some stronger output from this DAC.

In the past, I have used a Convolution filter (running on my ROON Core) to tame my digital streaming in my small room. However, with changes in rack positioning, changes in a large computer monitors positioning, and the addition of an acoustic panel in front of a rack of CD’s, I was able to enjoy my system without the Convolution filter (naked).

Now with the 005 I am getting what seems like an overload of frequencies. Something similar to what I had prior to acoustically treating my room with GIK and using the Convolution filter. I will give this 400 hours before I make any conclusions. I was planning on getting a new Convolution filter professionally done sometime in the future (just to try with the new arrangement), I may move that up if the 005 is still giving me issues after 400 hours.

The DPLL setting tells the LKS how long to examine the pulse timing on the digital inputs (spdif/usb).  The lower DPLL numbers will result in higher resolution and higher sound quality, but your digital transport/source that connects to the LKS better have a damn good clock and power supply.  If you have a poor transport, then you may have to increase the DPLL number setting.  You can tell if you have a problem because the music will have skips/dropouts/chirps every so often.  I would recommend starting at DPLL 01 and work up one at a time from there until your music is able to play without these skips/chirps.

On my system I am able to play PCM up to 24/192 on DPLL BW01 perfectly.  When I do DSD over the USB input, I have to switch up to BW03 or BW05 depending on the bitrate (DSD x2 or x4).

@auxinput Thanks. I was at 01 and then flipped it to 15 thinking it may help my issue mentioned above. I will try 01 again.

Well, I may have discovered the source of my ear fatigue. My wife's dog happened to come over to my office and layed down next to my audio rack. My CODA 07x preamp has a push button mechanism on the volume control to change to Speaker Balance adjustment mode. I noticed that the setting was moved from 0 to a messed-up value. It is easy to change by brushing up against the volume control. I am now assuming this was the cause of the ear fatigue.

Unfortunately. I cannot raise my CODA preamp higher on the rack. I will try my Benchmark LA4 preamp next to save me the hassle of worrying about the dog.

@yyzsantabarbara

Glad it came so soon.

As for DPLL, others can probably better explain exactly what it is. Since I play a lot of DSD files, I set it at the lowest number that can receive those files cleanly. Theoretically a lower number is better SQ. I cannot discern differences among reasonably closely placed numbers. If you play just PCM, you can probably keep it at 1

Make sure you bypass the volume control, unless you want to use it. It is a digital volume, so it will cut into SQ if you use it.

Some people keep the DAC on all the time. I put it into standby after each use and wait for it to go through its charging routine each time I turn it on.

I’m holding my breath until you get rid of the dog and start enjoying that DAC.😄 You won’t have to wait for 400 hours to see what it can do.