First impressions of new MH-DA006, Musetec flagship

@dbb if you prioritize max(bandwidth), max(info retrieval), min(noise floor), then I invite you to obsess over an autoformer!  Never heard this one, but I'd love to hear someone's impression

https://rambleaudio.com/en/products/design-by-mr-k-ppa-01-passive-preamplifier

@sns Yes changing LOCAL to I2S says "No compatible i2s clock is available", then reverts to LOCAL, which doesn't sound as going straight USB.  My Rockna can lock on the source clock, so who knows.  If anything the Laiv taught me to love spdif again after many years of i2s.  Doing Gaia AES into Rockna right now.

For those doing i2s it's very easy to flip absolute phase when configuring DDC jumpers for your DAC.  But if you play this track...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCif9K8EdJY

...while pointing this $13 sound meter at the speaker diaphragm, then the red/green LED should match the polarity from the youtube link...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B13ZSDV?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1_0

Test all drivers to confirm the xovers are wired correctly.  It can read my compression drivers through a screen, but I need to crank it louder to read the tweeter.

sns, with the 006 are you running pin mode 5 on the Gaia?  And, is the pin mode the same on the 005 if you know?

I believe I've answered my own questions--yes, and yes.

@car123 Obviously you can change or conform modes on either the Gaia or 006. At present I'm running mode 0 on Gaia which conforms to code M1-D, M2-A, M3-D, M4-A, M5 is for DSD. I believe Mode 0 on Gaia is the PS Audio standard which many products conform to. You can use any variety of codes pairing Gaia and 006 together, just make sure you have left and right clocks and data runs matched, easy to get this mixed up and still have sound.

I received the 006 several days ago, and the Gaia a day later.  Immediate impression of the 006 with the lks 100 was that the 006 provided a wider more distinct soundstage and more defined images than the 005 but was somewhat less involving and musical that the well broken in 005. I remember the same initial impression when the 005 was new in contrast with the internal DAC in my aurender A10, but that the 005 became more engaging and involving as time went on.  It;s really a stunning DAC.  As time went on and the 005 settled in, it far surpassed the aurender.  It also took hundreds of hours to fully settle in.  I have since passed the A10 on to a friend and bought an N200, which I love.

Inserting the Gaia definitely elevated the 006.  The Gaia really seems to be quite an exceptional DDC even though brand new.  Incidentally, I ran a $10 HDMI cable for a day until I finally found a Wireworld silver cable (2 meters long) I had buried in a cable box and that cable improved the presentation.  I will likely get a 1/2 meter tubulus.

I am, however, having a pin issue that has me stumped.  The default pin mode on the 006 is AAAAB.  This coincides with mode 5 on the Gaia.  However, when running these modes, the channels are inverted.  I tried sns's settings and again the channels are inverted.  I can correct the inversion by switching LRCK settings.  However, I am worried this may be introducing timing errors, which is one of the reasons to use a DDC.

I have checked my interconnects from the 006 into my preamp (and from preamp to amp) at least a dozen times and they are correctly configured.

Thoughts?