Emm Labs DV2 versus Tambaqui

I can only say I was financially prepared to purchase Mola Mola having read enough good reviews that conformed with the sound qualities I was desiring in new dac. In continuing my deep research I serendipitously discovered Mustetec 005 on Chinese website, was impressed enough with engineering I took flyer on it. I believe I was first in North America to purchase and post impressions on NA audio forums. DBB, I believe was second to purchase and publish impressions on forum. Anyway, after year and a half ownership, I continue to be impressed by this dac, enough to not have any desire to purchase Mola Mola, Merging Technology, Aqua or any of the other top dacs on my list. I've made quite a few upgrades on both my streaming network and Coincident Statement pre, and custom built 300B SET amps since getting this dac, 005 only continues to dig deeper and sound more analog with greater exposure. It has no definitive defects I've been able to uncover, and don't know there are any assuming one's system hasn't inherent defects.

Now, I'm not going to state this dac betters the other much more expensive dacs I mentioned above, but I simply haven't felt the need to compare. That will have to be up to someone else, I continue to urge others to compare 005 to the much higher cost dacs, I want to understand if this dac has liabilities I've yet to uncover.

@metaldetektor

I just looked up Ideon Absolute DAC, high praises all around. But at $34K, it’s target audience are definitely not your average joe’s :-) In comparison, my Merging +player with Roon core and end point proven to be quite a bargain at $14K. It replaced the combo of DA2 V1/Aurender N20 in my pursuit of next level of streaming experience.

I have heard @lalitk 's Merging dac at his house. As much as I like my Denafrips Terminator 2 dac, the Merging plays in a different league. I don't think the Terminator has any liabilities as such given the price, but Merging (and also MSB Reference DAC that another friend has) provides a much higher level of sound quality. It's one of those things that you won't know until you hear them in person. We can only extrapolate so much by reading reviews or looking at graphs. You really have to experience these high end DACs in person, provided the rest of the chain is at par as well. This does not make the Terminator ii (best DAC I've ever owned) worse, but I would never claim that it plays in the same league as a Merging, MSB, Emm Labs, or Playback design. Yet to meet a true giant killer.

A FYI, another company that had an excellent implementation of the ESS chip was

Resonessence Labs INVICTA Mirus Pro review | Darko.Audio

They are no longer in business as the CEO retired. The principles used to work at ESS and knew the DAC better than anyone. You sometimes see their DACs show up on the used market.

Resonessence Labs Invicta Mirus Pro Signature | DA Converters | Santa Rosa, California 95403 | Audiogon

WBF is by far the best resource I've encountered. A lot of experienced users there, and it tends to be friendlier...

What is WBF please?