Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

I suspect that part of why the guys on the ASR forum excoriate guys like me with "too much money and not enough brains" is that they don't have the money to buy higher end gear. This might sound unduly snobby but IME, system resolution generally gets better as you spend more on gear. A truly high end system very noticeably reveals component shortcomings. They probably know that, but are too embarrassed and envious to admit it.

I use a Lumin U1 as source and a Singxer DDC to run I2S into the 005 and have zero DPLL problems, I can use almost any DPLL setting I want. A/B testing the USB/I2S inputs has me undecided about which I prefer, but I am leaning I2S. The 005 is a bit better than my Hermes DDC/Terminator II stack for most music I listen to, but with vocals it is a very close thing. Regardless the 005 is a fucking insane value, period. Just wish non Chinese manufacturers would produce this kind of quality product for less money than the Weiss, dCS and MSB folks apparently feel they can get away with charging.

@milpai I didn't "bad mouth" anybody - I just voiced my frustration with folks who haven't heard the Musetec in their system opining about it. I recommend just trying it in one's rig to see if it synergizes. After all, it's affordable (for me at least) and easy to sell.

I don't post here often so maybe I don't know and therefore miss as many "trusted" AG folk as you apparently do. Seems to me the dudes who are posting in this thread who actually own the DAC in question are credible despite not being among the dudes you trust.

As for you implying I had once posted my rig here (wrong!) and then took it down so I could bullshit about the cost of my rig, dude, SERIOUSLY?

Just, wow.

But let's leave that ugliness aside and end on a more gentlemanly note... I suggest that since your sleuthing has revealed the Okto as more likely the real deal given its scarcity and positive reviews, not to mention 50% of the price of the Musetec, I'd advise you to buy it and feel happy you made a smart choice.

@turcoda it seems your unit must be somewhat defective. When I got mine going first time with DSD the lock with the standard DPLL settings didn't work consistently, I tinkered and found settings that did work, and my unit improved in 24 hours to the point it became a non issue. Chances are good you can get Jinbo who has been responsive to me to respond if you email him and share this forum so he is incentivized to help you out. 

@melm sorry I meant no disrespect towards Jinbo, I was just trying to say (and apparently badly) that a little extra incentive might help move things along, as mentioned all my dealings with him have been entirely satisfactory.

@milpai one look at the internals of each DAC should give you somewhere to start answering your question why the Musetec is comparatively expensive. Parts, topology and build quality are on another level entirely. 

RE: Amir and the ASR cult - it's so ironic that they "believe" current measurements tech and methodologies capture all relevant audible parameters despite the fact it is common knowledge that scientific method ensures new tech and methodologies that will reveal heretofore unrealized parameters.

@melm yes the Musician operation is undercutting Denafrips’ worldwide distributor Vinshine (Singapore based) on price/performance/build in cahoots with Denafrips. As in Musician is Denafrips’ B brand and another means of creating work and revenue for the Denafrips crew. I have always been treated well by Alvin the boss at Vinshine and feel sorry for him as his margins are most likely thin to begin with.

I just bought the Topping D90SE (ASR's darling DAC) as a baseline means of a/b comparisons between my Musetec, Lumin P1, and Terminator II, will be doing this experiment for some time probably before I will have something meaningful to say, will come back here to post impressions, most likely will avoid doing so on ASR. Last time I did that regarding my impressions of my new B&W 804 D4s in response to the Stereophile review was a rather unpleasant experience.

As per some others here I feel that Jinbo should only publish consistently reproducible measurements, otherwise it is difficult for potential new customers to trust him otherwise. I get the temptation for a small company to publish attractive specs, but these days with the ASR gear measurements making their way through the hifi forums, it is better in the long run to be accurate. 

Btw I have been listening to the measurements champion Topping D90SE all day and so far I have no complaints. It is many hours away from completing burn in, but I gotta say so far it is clean and yet not harsh sounding. 

Err my last post which contained an expletive was deleted by the moderator, the main point of that post was to support @toddk31 and his return of his 005 on principal based on the fact he purchased it partly?/mainly? because of the Jinbo’s published measurements, which ASR’s measurements have revealed to be "optimistic". IMHO Jinbo must have known his measurements were "optimistic" given the quality of his DACS and his recent correspondence with @melm - no? Jinbo and his distributor have so far responded properly and that is to their credit, but now the cat is out of the bag it should be clear to them that it is in their interest to supply more realistic/accurate/reproducible measurements on the Musetec website and marketing materials moving forward - or "fix" the problem WITHOUT ruining the 005’s secret sauce. As for my own 005 versus the D90SE that the ASR crowd adore, my listening tests so far have me feeling it is indeed difficult to hear a qualitative difference between them via 2 channel listening. Headphones are next. But it is still early days. Btw @yyzsantabarbara which D90SE PCM/DSD filters do you like the most?

@lordmelton no offense taken, you could be right, I might have old-man hearing (I am 59). The guys over on ASR certainly have suggested as much more than once. BTW the dude on here who has returned his 005 is not a hero over on ASR, all he has said there is that he was disappointed that the ASR measurements revealed Musetec's published measurements as overly optimistic. Whether Amir burned in the 005 prior to testing and whether his testing regime is fair are other matters for discussion, agreed. Just to be clear which side of the fence I am on, I am all for listening over measurements, but I am also for truth in advertising and feel like Jinbo will be doing the right thing by addressing the issue of his optimistic measurements head on... it could very well turn out that Amir's testing regime is the culprit here and NOT Jinbo's pecuniary ambitions!

@sns agreed it is indeed a small box with mostly poor sounding gear although i will admit the D90SE sounds good just a little sterile.

@yyzsantabarbara ya the 005 so far in my system is a big winner on par with my Terminator II albeit with a different flavor.

I am having issues with the 005 unable to lock on DSD 128 below BW06 DPLL, do I have a ethernet streaming rate bottleneck? I am at 150 Mbps which is max over copper in my building/neighborhood.