Make your post shorter and to the point.
looks like jibberish.
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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@romazicon good post and thanks for the details. I have gone through Amanero usb board in some DACs, like earlier Lampi, and do prefer the XMOS in certain aspect of details and clear sound it provides. There was some explanation (I forgot where) a while back by T+A why they choose Amanero over XMOS in their DAC8 DSD purely for sound quality reasons but at that time the XMOS was lagging behind their next gen processors. I have seen folks chasing infinitely on details (and more details) but in most cases they seem to come at a cost of being musical. I am not trying to judge 005 by any means but trying to see where it fits in the spectrum as you and another person are the only ones I am aware of who preferred other DACs. As for the Taiko Extreme (which I am very familiar with as I have build my DIY music server using Taiko ATX), you should see this video from Jay. It really tells something very fundamental.
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@laoman Have you bought your Mola Mola yet? Or any DAC in fact? |
@romazicon When someone writes a huge Advertorial Diatribe on why I settled for Weiss, well it's just promoting a second rate product using a 10+ year old chip and just as old tech. Lots of people like the Weiss sound, because they have a house sound, but they are not accurate. That's all I said and it's true. I've demoed the 005 against the Medea and it was like night and day when it came to soundstage. The Medea had no advantage over the 005 and it costs over 10x more. The Taiko is like the Ferrari of the streamer world and it's complicated (for me) to operate. Aurender is like a Merc, you can use it every day, play golf and shop. Aurender is Linux based. The Aurender N30 and W20 SE will hold against the Taiko. My personal preference is for the N20, 005 and a custom 10Mhz clock. In my system the 005 punches well above it's weight because it's surrounded by quality cables and components. BTW thanks for the post and your detailed explanation and Eggleston Works have always promoted themselves on their perfect piano re-production. I own three pairs. |
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