musician aquarius r2r dac any good?

@charles1dad I've heard Wavedream and La Scala MKII first during my search. I was more or less set on getting La Scala then I've heard the Lab12. The Lab12 sounded more detailed and musical than La Scala at less than half the price, it was a no brainer decision for me. (pro tip: insist on the coaxial input for Lab12, the USB implementation on it was sadly noticeably inferior).

I actually got around to listen to MSB Discrete earlier this week while checking out Vitus amplifiers. It was amazingly detailed and organic sounding as well, but I struggle to think how it was better than the Lab12. So I guess my next DAC upgrade if ever would probably cost $20000 upwards. 

@auroravengeance

I appreciate your additional comments.In what I consider not inexpensive but reasonable price with reported high performance value are

Abbas DAC 2/3/4 SE models.

Lab-12 DAC Reference

Merason DAC1

Musetec 005

These are all highly regarded for both high resolution and yet remaining very natural sounding. Not easy to pull off.

Charles

@viethluu ,just a thought. if you do not mind... You wrote ’But, I am looking for some DAC that can get close to the Bartok’ characteristic.’

I believe that it will be very hard to find some dac in that price range that you have mentioned (3-5tusd) that will give you what you seek (if Bartok is your reference) so, I wonder, why dont you try some DCS of previous generation, like Puccini or perhaps Debussy?

They are, indeed, still very capable players and despite the ’hype’ that every new stuff is marketed, I do not believe that new dacs in 3-5tusd range can ’beat’ them

I had Puccini with the clock and have heard some new dacs (ps audio, ayre and some others) in even higher price range from one that you are looking for and Imho they were not in the same league (personally I prefer cd players still and have Burmester 089, which has some traits that I like better than Dcs, but on the other hand, some things Dcs Puccini does better) You may find next link informative and there is also a part where Dcs people share their opinion about r2r dacs

I have the Musetec 005 that is mentioned above. I am a huge fan boy of that unit. I lent it to my friend for a month and he did not like it for the gear he was testing it with, the RAAL SR1a + CA-1a headphones and VM-1a amp.

I love the 005 with my 2-channel speakers (incredible sound) but once got the unit back I also started listening with my VM-1a. SR1a, and CA-1a and it was not good at all. My Benchmark DAC3B is so much better with this headphone gear.

It is all about synergy.