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."

melm05-23-2021 4:05pm

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kairosman Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 259 posts 04-15-2022 at 06:16am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete @milpai one look at the internals of each DAC should give you somewhere to start answering your question why the Musetec is comparatively expensive. Parts, topology and build quality are on another level entirely. RE: Amir and the ASR cult - it's so ironic that they "believe" current measurements tech and methodologies capture all relevant audible parameters despite the fact it is common knowledge that scientific method ensures new tech and methodologies that will reveal heretofore unrealized parameters.
lordmelton Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 877 posts 04-15-2022 at 07:19am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Amir was on here last December, using a woman's name. I think he identifies as a woman because he uses a woman's avatar on ASR. Funny, Ted Denney from SR was posting at the same time. Amir's Anti Christ..lol. Amir created mayhem with his insane, delusional rants for weeks. I just checked and all his posts have been deleted. I will stick to my long held belief that some people just can't hear the difference. The rest of us are either gifted or cursed by being able to appreciate what a $5k cable can do.
ja_kub_sz Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 254 posts 04-15-2022 at 05:35pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete @kairosman agreed with your "measurements cult" comments. I whole heartedly believe that old technology used to measure new technology still leaves some grey areas where unexplained occurrences, where the sum total of measurements is eclipsed by the end product.
milpai Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 2,322 posts 04-15-2022 at 08:37pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete @kairosman there are certainly differences, but not more than twice. I am sure the Musetec is a fine DAC.
melm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 1,057 posts 04-15-2022 at 09:14pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Someone once said, there are fools and then there are damn fools! The Musetec is a DAC; that’s all. Show us the inside of the Okto you’re writing about. That’s also just a DAC. Most of the inside space of the much smaller Okto case is, in fact, empty. The Oppo looks busy because it does a lot of things. But is does NOTHING really well. I own an Oppo. The Oppo is good mid-fi. People spend thousands of dollars modifying Oppos to get them to sound really good, typically twice what the Oppo originally cost. The Oppo also was a mass produced player and achieved economies of scale that no high end producer can match. What the pictures don’t tell the uninitiated about the Musetec is the cost of the transformers particularly the large O-Ring transformer, the SOTA capacitors, the 8 transistor (FETs) analog section which is covered, the custom femto crystal clocks, and the super-capacitor network all of which contribute to SQ. The two capacitors seen just below the analog section cover probably cost more than either of the two principal boards on the Oppo.