musician aquarius r2r dac any good?

Check this

The Chinese gods are laughing in the skies 😂

This is the Gaia

And this is the Phoenix

The good part is that the Gaia is available on the used market for about $1500.

@viethluu 

In the Musician Phoenix DDC Review Sandu Vitalie compared the I2S vs USB on the Musician Aquarius DAC.

II. Musician Phoenix + Musician Aquarius via I2S

The audible difference wasn’t only immediate and apparent as it was with a Singxer SU-6, the difference was actually bigger to my expectancy levels.

On its own, Aquarius is a mighty fine sounding DAC, certainly up there with some of the nicest R-2R DACs I’ve tried to this point, but when locking the signal via I2S from the Phoenix, there was a serious jump in resolution and ultimately, dynamic range.

I would never call the Aquarius as muddy, grainy or soft sounding via USB, but it felt that way when I started my comparisons. 

I2S is better than USB in the Aquarius.

I have already known they come from the same designer. Where else can you buy this quality of r2r for this low price?

@tjag

@tjag 

i2s should be better than usb for sure. But, I am out of $$$$ for a good DDC now. Let’s wait for next year tax return season!!

For most DACs it seems that I2s or Coaxial are always better than direct USB.

I have been using this with my former Pegasus and current Lab 12. It’s the cheapest and fuss free way to provide I2s and Coaxial from a desktop.

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Interface-Coaxial-Optical-Audio/dp/B08HN3VSF8/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=2XEK9R0XJT293&keywords=douk+audio+mini+xmos&qid=1661048048&sprefix=douk+audio+mini+xmos%2Caps%2C366&sr=8-2#