I've contemplated selling two of my leisure only cars in this market and use the funds for audio upgrades. Originally the plan was to purchase dac in price range of $10-20K, no longer interested in using those funds on digital side of system, 005 goodness eliminates need or desire for that. Analog side needs expenditure in that range to catch up to digital. Modwright PH150 and $5k+ cartridge is what I'll need to compete.
Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC
Some history: I was the OP on a four year old thread about the Chinese LKS MH-DA004 DAC. It achieved an underground buzz. The open architecture of its predecessor MH-DA003 made it the object of a lot of user mods, usually to its analog section, rolling op amps or replacing with discrete. The MH-DA004 with its new ESS chips and JFET analog section was called better then the modified older units. It has two ES9038pro DAC chips deliberately run warm, massive power supply, powered Amanero USB board, JFET section, 3 Crystek femtosecond clocks, Mundorf caps, Cardas connectors, etc., for about $1500. For this vinyl guy any reservation about ESS chips was resolved by the LKS implimentaion, but their revelation of detail was preserved, something that a listener to classic music especially appreciated. I made a list of DACs (many far more expensive) it was compared favorably to in forums. Modifications continued, now to clocks and caps. Components built to a price can be improved by costlier parts and the modifiers wrote glowingly of the SQ they achieved.
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 $$ by research, and by satisfaction with the MH-DA004. Frankly, I have been overwhelmed by the improvement; just didn't think it was possible. Fluidity, clarity, bass extension. A post to another board summed it up better than I can after listening to piano trios: "I have probably attended hundreds of classical concerts (both orchestral and chamber) in my life. I know what live sounds like in a good and bad seat and in a good and mediocre hall. All I can say is HOLY CRAP, this sounds like the real thing from a good seat in a good hall. Not an approximation of reality, but reality."
Meanwhile, during the 4 years after release of the MH-DA004, LKS (now Musetec) worked on the new MH-DA005 design, also with a pair of ES9038pro chips. This time he used more of the best components available. One torroidal transformer has silver plated copper. Also banks of super capacitors that act like batteries, solid silver hookup wire, 4 femtoclocks each costing multiples of the Crysteks, a revised Amanero board, more of the best European caps and a new partitioned case. I can't say cost NO object, but costs well beyond. A higher price, of course. Details at http://www.mu-sound.com/DA005-detail.html
The question, surely, is: How does it sound? I'm only going to answer indirectly for the moment. I thought that the MH-DA004 was to be my last DAC, or at least for a very long time. I was persuaded to part with my $$ 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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@rsf507 and @sns 2019 Range Rover Velar with 32k miles sold for 52k and bought it 3 years ago for 70k, owed 30k on it. Got the same 2022 model for $2,500 mark up, but still walked away with money in my pocket, and a lower monthly payment after DP. Wanted my wife to buy a bigger car since we’re having our first kid (any day now). She refused and said she loved her car. Good thing we didn’t because I wouldn’t have been able to capitalize on the swap. I only really started looking into it when the dealer was unrelentingly calling me to almost daily to "get me into a new model" and wanted to "give me tope dollar for my trade". I looked online and my jaw dropped. One week after listing it, it was gone. Just a joke if you ask me, insane. My Ortofon Cadenza Blue MC and SU-R1000 DSP sounded better then my 005, just nuts. I love the cartridge calibration with the Technics MC XLR phono stage, one of the big reasons I got it. Even my vinyl is digital (some may not approve). I love it. |
@ja_kub_sz @lordmelton |
I am taking my Musetc 005 DAC this morning to a hardware vender/musician to listen to the 005 via my RAAL SR1a headphones. He is doing some repairs on a cable I own I want him to hear the 005 because he has a great ear and tends to know the musicians in the recordings we use to demo. For example, he has a buddy that has a deep baritone voice and when we listened to him on my old gear, he said that it did not accurately portray his voice. Changing to other gear showed me what he meant. If he does not like the sound, he tells me. Which was great for me in the past to get rid of some gear and make changes. The 005 was the end result of some of those early listening sessions with my older gear.
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I’d like to thank you all for bringing this DAC to my (everyone’s) attention. I’ve read all the posts over the past couple weeks <and have quite likely forgotten a lot of details 🙄>. I’ve got a couple questions if you don’t mind. Is output to one pair of connections at a time, or is it capable of feeding both XLR and RCA out simultaneously? Have any of you heard the Nuprime Evolution DAC in the same system as the Musetec? [They both use the same DAC chip.] If so, what were your conclusions? If not in the same system, but you have heard both DACs, how did they compare? Have any of you heard a SW1X DAC III NOS tube DAC? Are you able to tell me how its sound is different from the Musetec? For reference, I listen almost exclusively to Redbook CD quality music though I also listen to some hires music. I do not listen to DSD. I appreciate any help you can offer. Regards, Michael
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