Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

@sns My experience with network switches has been very good. I owned an Innuos PhoenixNet switch and I liked it very much. The improvements I heard were obvious. I demo’ed the Synergistic switch as well but the PhoenixNet had a more relaxed sound. I sold the PhoenixNet recently not because I found something better but because I wanted funds partially to buy the 005 and also because I thought I might get similar performance from a slightly cheaper switch. My current switch is the Paul Pang Quad (still breaking in) and so far it’s sounding good but the true test will come when I connect the streamer straight to the router to compare. In between owning the PhoenixNet and the Quad, I had in the system a $16 D-Link DES 105 switch that was powered by an iFi iPower and grounded to my Shunyata Everest power distributor. This little guy did not embarrass itself. I could tell it was not as refined as the PhoenixNet but I still enjoyed it. It’s definitely the best bang for your buck switch I’ve tried. In all cases an ENO ethernet filter and cable connected the switch to streamer.

Yes, I’ve only tried the AES input of the 005. However, even though it’s not optimized for USB, my streamer has the ability to output USB . I still have the ISO Regen, a Cardas Clear USB cable, and a good power supply so I will connect all of this to the streamer and give USB a try this weekend. If this USB solution comes close to my AES solution, then I will have some thinking to do. The Grimm MU1 streamer has some tricks that it does on the AES output such as up-sampling all redbook tracks to 176.4K/192K 24bits so it won’t be a fair fight. This up-sampling in theory allows the DAC to not work as hard (because all DACs up-sample internally) and therefore the DAC should sound better. Less activity is less noise/distortion.

I liked the Terminator Plus when I had it. It had an amazing open sound that is unlike anything I’ve experienced. I didn’t keep it because the DAC3 performed better on 70% of the other musical qualities that I listen for. I briefly thought about keeping it but I had to sell it because improving my system elsewhere was much more important than having a secondary DAC.  I haven't looked back.

@sirnui It seems I have pretty unique setup in that I have second ethernet port on my server, therefore: modem>router (powered by over spec. lps) via short run of Audioquest Vodka ethernet>server, via another short run of AQ Vodka>FMC (powered by lps) via second ethernet port of server through another short run AQ Vodka>Opticalrendu via optical cable>005 via AQ Diamond.

Using a network switch only adds more complexity to my chain, requires another AQ Vodka from router to switch, then switch circles back to server. I thought switch would help with network cleaning and superior clocking vs. router, instead it only added complexity. My second ethernet port in server makes all the difference!

Vast majority of streaming setups are single computer where server outputs usb (in your case AES) directly to dac. The only place where network can be improved is upstream of server, the reason you guys like audiophile network servers. With my two computer setup where I have network out of server I can upgrade network DOWNSTREAM of server, this is where my optical comes in, I completely eliminate noise from entire network upstream of server and server produced noise. I stay optical all way into steamer (opticalrendu) where network is further clocked, usb cleaned, usb clocked into the wonderful clocks of 005.

Sound quality with this setup is incredible, far superior to a number of previous network setups. With 005 and recent upgrade to opticalrendu(powered by Uptone JS2, quality of lps important here) substantially better resolving and MOST IMPORTANTLY, 005 has become incredibly relaxed, sense of EASE or illusion of listening to really top flight vinyl setup. This setup has finally put to rest my single last reservation as to 005 sound quality. Up to now, I had considered 005 overall gestalt as somewhat analytical, or at least slightly to analytical side of neutral, it had clearly defined digital signature. I'm now hearing analog sound signature, not really sure I could determine sound as digital if I came to listening session blind to source.

@sns Your server is in some ways acting like a switch. It sits in-between the router and the streamer and it re-clocks the ethernet packets. And perhaps most importantly, it must be isolating the oR into its own little network. So in other words, the oR won’t be receiving multicast messages, for example, from any other network device outside its own network. So repeating what I said earlier, less activity is less noise/distortion. My PhoenixNet dealer once had a dual switch network and similar to your experience, he found that removing the first switch sounded better. And isn’t it great to know that removing a component does that? It’s a win for the music and we get to put money back into the pocketbook for a change.

From your experience and others, the 005 seems to improve as the rest of the system is upgraded. It shows that the 005 is not the weak link. The Benchmark DAC3 shares this trait and it’s a big reason why the DAC3 has been with me nearly since inception.

I don’t have optical isolation anymore in my system but that will change in a few weeks when the Ediscreation Fiber Box II will come in. It will sit in-between the router and the switch. If it makes a difference, I will share the results. But before then, I have a QSA Yellow fuse for the 005 coming in a few hours. I’m hoping this fuse will not make an appreciable difference. I don’t like the idea of fuse rolling $700+ fuses.

@sirnui You're correct in how router is acting. I still have my audiophile switch and want to experiment with replacing router with switch. I presume the switch will be quieter and know it has superior clock, in fact I did hear a bit more detail when adding switch. The issue is while this could work short term, I do need wifi in house, not running exposed ethernet cable through house.

With recent changes I've been able to remove one generic FMC along with it's lps, Uptone usbregen with it's lps and one ethernet cable.

I also have at least 2500 cd rips on NAS, streams virtually indistinguishable from streams. Network upgrades especially benefit streams.

I'd be interested in your results with Ediscreation, unaware of this up to now. If your results positive I may try between router and server. I've been looking for network upgrades upstream of server, this may be just the ticket!

I use Synergistic orange fuse in 005, never heard it without this fuse, thought about upgrade to purple. Hard for me to swallow $700 fuses as well, seems like a lot to spend for possible marginal gains, but who knows?  Keep us informed on this as well.

I placed an order for a silver colored one today with Midwest Audio in Indiana.   After reading this thread and the one on Headfi I decided to pull the trigger.  I'm currently using the internal DAC card in my Aesthetix Mimas integrated amp. It sounds pretty good, but I was curious or  wanted to see how a top of the line separate DAC would perform in my system.