Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

It was a truly difficult decision in buying another DAC. I purchased a Gustard X26 Pro and found such an amazing improvement that I thought, hmm.... what am I missing out on with an even better DAC. I was living in a cocoon I guess as I'm a pretty tech savvy guy, or at least I used to be. Regardless, I ended up purchasing the 005 over the May as I felt I could return it with a minimal rental fee if needed.

My ONLY stop gap was this thread. I found the most prevalent people here to be more than evangelists, but rather salesmen. Do some of you get $$$ from Musetec? I post and have questions, but mostly move on to listen to music. I follow forums now to be better informed and try and share info, but found the obsession on some people's parts to be disconcerting. I just found it weird.

So, I got the 005 after PM'ing a few folks that seemed to be a little less intense about it...

My take, yup, the 005 is the real deal. At least for neophyte me. I started with Logitech streamers, Logitech Transporter, Cambridge 200m, then Gustard X26 Pro and 005. A little stop with my Krell Vanguard DAC... I find my subjective opinion to be that I am getting a lot more detail out of, especially, my red book discs than previously wit the 005.

I like the DAC. PM me if you have any questions. However no evangelist here. I apologize, but I found it weird and off putting and almost made me not buy it.

@btscott No one is getting paid or rewarded here to give their opinions on the 005. It is just such a quality DAC for such a reasonable price, I believe the recommendation becomes contagious.

It goes well beyond R2R vs Chip DACs and Western vs Chinese DACs. It's just superb.

The only issue here is Musetec doesn't support it in any way, whereas most other Chinese DACs seem to have quite a bit of representation.

@btscott When it is fully broken in, maybe you can share more details about how you are using it i.e. with a transport, streaming from a laptop or dedicated streamer, etc. Also, which inputs sound best to you? I have shared some of my findings in this thread and still experimenting with different inputs and reclockers. It is truly a great DAC. No relationship with Musetec except as an owner ;)

There is no doubt the 005 has elicited more posts from me than probably all my other audio components put together. I simply can't find a single error of commission with it, that's unprecedented for source equipment in my experience. I'm still waiting for negative review or report of some deficiency with this dac.

No agendas with me, I purchased through retail dealer, Black Friday sale price. A new much higher price dac is coming into view for me, curiosity as to what sins of omission 005 may be committing is occupying my thoughts.

@btscott

Thanks for your forthright appraisal, both of hte Musetec and of this thread. I also thought my $1500 DAC (LKS 004) could not be improved upon THAT much by a $3000 DAC with a similar architecture. I bought the Musetec after a lengthy PM exchange with sns on another board and some research. The DAC came as quite a nice surprise, actually a pleasant shock.

For the record, everyone here, AFAIK, has purchased his DAC and no one gets any $$ from Musetec. My only interaction with the maker (and I believe it is through Google translate) is as a customer. When I sent my 004 board in for an update almost 2 years ago and offered to pay, the update was done gratis. We exchanged some very brief pleasantries, mostly about taking care regarding Covid, then a larger factor in China than in the US. I recently sent him a happy Chinese new year email (Year of the Tiger). I’ve always been impressed by the honesty of his operation, especially how the DAC insides and parts are shown and described completely (except for the 8 FETs on the board’s underside). That is VERY different than American and European makers.

As for this thread, I started it soon after receiving the DAC, just trying to give it some exposure. I thought that when dbb wrote his comparison with the Holo May this thread was done. But for some reason a couple of new buyers responded here and it grew. As the OP, when there is a new post here it is my email that is notified. I have tried to help with any questions.

After reading your post, I went through page 1 (Newest first) of this thread. You couldn’t pay me to read stuff back further. I didn’t see anything out of line. For a long time, I think, most of the DAC complements have come from new buyers like yourself. We’ve even gotten some thanks.

Anyway, you did your due diligence and it seemed to come out just fine.