First impressions of new MH-DA006, Musetec flagship

@melm  This will explain, https://www.denafrips.com/gaia Hans B. also has youtube video.

Custom termination I2S cables available at https://audiolund.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooxNn3WUk6YELU-7beiANY2By6w0AmymaEPdGRGGa84ZK9NN_Y2 These are I2S cables, only 9 pins wired, no video use.

OXCO clocks are temperature control in enclosed ovens, these highest quality femto clock, next comes TXCO, temperature control, no oven, then plain femto clock, no temp. control. Even within these clock types, quality varies. The OXCO clocks require relatively complex power supplies in order to supply constant temp control of clock, stability and precision of these clocks requires constant precise control of temp., this not easily or cheaply implemented.  You may be able to upgrade your clocks with better non temp control femto, perhaps TXCO femto, the OXCO would require power supply upgrades.

@audiostick I originally ordered Tubulus Concentus I2S, @audioman58  gave me heads up on new reference Tubulus Ximius which I went down the rabbit hole with, this $1500 cable, Concentus $700. All Tubulus cables hand made in Netherlands, pure silver, air dialectic, no dialectic best, air closest to no dialectic. For more down to earth, presently using Jieotwice oxygen free copper $70 I2S. Obviously no complaints with this cable, Harmony/Gaia combo with this cable beat out 006.

Ugh I'm so ticked, had an in depth review of nearly completed and my tab crashed, frickin Firefox!

Now I don't feel like starting all over!

For now, suffice to say what I'm hearing with Gaia/006 combo is totally freaking amazing!

First off, I'm a relatively seasoned, somewhat jaded audiophile, decades of changes has informed me vast, vast majority of changes are only incremental, they can be negative, lateral, in that change is simply that, or positive. The way it normally works is many positive incremental changes add up to sea changes, these happen almost without notice. And then we have the rare change so profound it  imposes an entirely fresh perspective. Adding the Gaia has been one of these rare changes that results in new insights.

The first thing I'll mention is the sheer resolving power of what I'm hearing, a noise floor that seems to subside into infinity or the blackest of black holes. I now hear the slightest inflections of voice, the touch of strings and the movement of the bow across those strings, with woodwinds the slightest intonation of breath. The result is a newfound intimacy with performers which brings about greater emotional involvement with the music.  Allied to that is a more expansive sound stage with these fully developed dimensional ethereal images. Hate to use this word, but organic is what comes to mind. The illusion of live performers in my room comes so easily, no need for trickery of the mind to get here.

Crash tab break, in troubleshoot mode in order to try to alleviate.

So now we come to presentation, 006 more natural than 005, Laiv Harmony more holistic than 006, this all via usb. Laiv/Gaia combo via I2S beats out 006 via usb, and now we have 006/Gaia combo beats out the Laiv/Gaia. The most noticeable thing here is newfound sense of ease and refinement, music seems to just flow. I'm now into full analog mode with this, I could fool myself into believing I was listening to vinyl minus the surface noise. Allied to this is more natural timbre, especially noticeable with both individual  and massed violins. I've long thought digital really misses out to vinyl with violins, digital processing these into homogenized blobs, same with trumpets. Now I hear  newfound texture and harmonic development that both individualizes and more naturally presents these instruments.

Crash break

I may be forgetting something? In any case, nothing is ever perfect. I'm still hearing just a bit of flatness or lack of micro dynamic expression with 006, I continue to hear just the slightest improvement here, long, long development phase here, probably around 350 hours, I know these caps in 006, they can easily take 400 hours or more depending on the amount of current running through them. Also a bid of mid range excess, like a small frequency boost in this area, this likely due to cheapo copper I2S cable or new power cable (williewonka Helix design I use my own recipe on) I just finished assembling for Gaia. Burn in, especially with the Rhodium plugs can cause this as well.

More development with Gaia coming, custom made Tubulus I2S cable in Monday after 3 week wait. More burn in of Gaia and the power cord, perhaps new setup with Gaia, at present stock feet on Baltic Birch platformx, have many solutions available to me if I need to adjust presentation.

Bottom line feelings on I2S vs usb interfaces. I now believe usb is inferior to I2S by a relatively wide margin. I could more easily understand it with the Harmony, but the technology Musetec expended on usb in 006 made me doubt it.  While I can't make this statement universally, any streamer I would possibly purchase in the future would have to include an optimized I2S out, one coming off motherboard doesn't count. All this optimization of usb is needless IMO. This all on streamer manufacturers, I2S inherent to dac's, I don't get why there isn't both standardization and optimization of this interface in streamers.