Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

Great that @benzman  settled in with a DAC he really prefers and that seems to integrate well with the rest of his system.  And kudos to him for getting that fine DAC at an advantageous price.  No one has ever claimed the Musetec was the best DAC ever  and in all situations.  That being said, the Musetec used was not broken in fully and not used through its most advantageous input, USB.  But his money, his choice.  Now just to relax with the music.  Just a final word putting the return cost in some context.  Return privileges are all over the place.  The cost to return a Schiit Yggdrasil to California, for example, can be $148 plus transportation both ways.  The cost of returning a Wyred 4 Sound DAC within 30 days could be $675 plus shipping to California.

@sns uses a tube system that he says creates even number harmonic distortion that may account for differences in perception of a DAC as compared to benzman's solid state one.  Mine is also a tube based system, Rogue, but it is definitely known for NOT being "tubey" while still providing tube benefits.  As some of us, committed to the sound of acoustic instruments in real space have noted, our search is NOT for our taste in musical reproduction. We do not seek a DAC that sounds good.  A DAC is not a musical instrument.  Neither is an amplifier or a speaker.   We look for components that recreate our experience with unamplified music as closely as possible.  There are well known components DESIGNED to sound inaccurate and euphonic, certain British speakers being notable examples.  

@lordmelton, Very interesting.  If I understand you correctly, you're comparing the AES/EBU input port on the Musetec to the the spdif input and hdmi output of the USB to I2s converter into the hdmi input of the Musetec.  Is that right?  If so, what is the source that is outputting either the AES/EBU or the spdif?  Also, have you considered the LKS power supply made for the unit?  It costs a lot less than $1500 as would an excellent SBooster, for example. 

I had just sold my Rogue RP7 with NOS tubes prior to getting the 005

I miss it already. My Dac was my only source so it didn’t make sense to me to use a 5k linestage for one source. Maybe a tube buffer down the road  

I have a bunch of higher end cables coming in this week to hopefully fine tune the system  

@melm Hi, From my Aurender N20 I am feeding Digital XLR direct to my 005 and USB to the L.K.S. converter then I2s HDMI to the 005.

This enables me to switch on the fly between I2s and XLR using the 005 remote.

Yes I could have got the L.K.S. LPS but I really wasn’t expecting much here. So I borrowed what I needed. I’ll probably go for a three way DC LPS to save money on power cables because I want an LPS for my router and TV box too.

You don’t need any I2s cables for this setup just ordinary unmodified HDMI or Ethernet cables.

It’s like a component upgrade. I’s not subtle.

All my gear is solid state.

As some of you know, I had Singxer SU6, while lordmelton may be getting fine sound quality from I2s, I never felt a single urge to try I2s as I simply couldn't imagine I2s giving me anymore than what I had, have since sold SU6.

Adding the I2s to my system at the time meant giving up the SOTM SMS200Neo I was running as streamer at the time, powered by Uptone JS2, and AQ Diamond USB for the SU6 and it's inferior (to JS2) power supply, and inferior I2S cable, made no sense to even try.

Also, I never want to give up two computer and/or separate server/streamer solution with Roon. I find Roon to sound much better when separating core from endpoint. My next player experiments planned will involve Audirvana Studio, AudioLinux and Euphony Stylus. Each will be run on it's own PCIe SSD, comparisons will be easy since I have simple access to SSD in server. After recent conversation with Alex Crespi of Uptone Audio, I learned very worthwhile to experience different players and computer OS.

As regards flavor and/or getting full potential of 005, I know this has been mentioned previously, active preamp is a must, the higher quality the better. Pre's likely have more influence on sound quality of source components than any other component or wire in system. The gain function of 005 is essentially worthless due to bit stripping, may be ok at 90% of full volume, but anything lower and bit stripping will intrude. Even more important, pre's will definitely color source to some extent, the reason I suggest tubes here for the neutral to analytical inherent color of 005.

I feel I should expound a bit on above post. I stated 005 color as analytical to neutral. Ultimately, I feel the 005 is a neutral piece, with the possibility of sounding analytical, it will never sound warmed over. I'd describe 005 as a high strung machine, feed it well and it will perform, feed it poorly, not so good.

005 is high strung in the sense that it's resolving capabilities are still unknown to me. In the two plus years I've owned many upgrades and mods, each dedicated to max system resolution. 005 has exposed each and every single upgrade and mod, even down to the level of a few different caps and resistors in pre. Larger upgrades like MKII in Coincident Statement pre, boutique tubes in amps and pre, server and server OS mods, Jantzen inductors in speaker have scaled up sound equivalent to changes. I can't say where this all ends, the 005 continues to demand more from me in trying to realize it's resolving potential.

And probably the most amazing thing is, 005 also has SOUL. We often hear of components that resolve highly without soul, this is not that guy. I can't speak to the difficulty of reaching this characteristic with 005 as my system had soul prior to 005, based on most reviews I don't see that as issue. So, assuming one already has soul in their system, 005 is a no brainer, especially at it's price. Based on my experience, sky is the limit with resolving potential. I've reached many best sound quality plateaus since 005 insertion, the latest plateau has put my system within  realm of best I've ever heard, and I've heard many a system in nearly 30 years involved in high end audio. I'll just say the 005 is most interesting source equipment I've ever owned, not reaching what one feels is full potential of a piece makes this so.