New Luxman DA-06 doesnt sound so great. Will it get better?

Yes, I am using a Nissyo 550w converter to bring the voltage down to 100v.  The DA-06 is a dac and not a cdp.  

It doesnt have any tubes.  We had some storms down here in Texas but last night I left the unit on while looping a cd.  I will let it play 24/7 for the next month or so as long as the weather doesnt get bad.  So far I havent heard the lush magic that I have read so much that this dac can provide.  

Yeah I read much about using step down transformers.  Some say it degrades the music quality others say it increases it.  There are several transformers from the plant to my home, not sure why another one would degrade the quality.  I dont see how but I could always put a scope to the 100v to see if there excess noise or a distorted waveform.  I will do that during the week, we have some nice Tektronix scopes at work.  

100s of hours is what I read on forums with owners of the DA-06, not sure what Luxman's policy is regarding burn in.  Ive had very good luck with gray market imports.  There is no reason for me to believe that this is a counterfeit.  The build quality is outstanding, came with paperwork, and the insides are genuine.  Yes, I opened it up and took a good look inside.  Heck if this was a counterfeit, why would they waste their time doing that when they could be designing their own equipment because they are that good!  

Thats why all those caps are there for.  I completely agree that digital devices need very high speed instantaneous current delivery.  With the small power draw of the dac, I bet that those big luxman caps are never completely drained.  

I just did a compairson with my old Onkyo  C-S5vl player.  The Luxman sounds a bit better after about 20 hours of use when I compare it to the Onkyo (which sounds low end to my other dacs).  Im also using this Onkyo to loop a cd continously.  The Luxman still isnt anywhere near the level of what it should produce however.  

Thank you for all the replies - this was my first post on Audiogon.  Great place!

almarg:  The Luxman does have a 3 plug receptacle.  If you look inside, the 3rd or the ground wire is not connected to anything.  The Nissyo transformer that I am using is only 2 plug. If the ground connection was connected, I agree the voltage converter you are recommending could offer a better ground.

maxboy00:  Yes, I am stuck with sending the unit back to Japan for service if it requires it.  Shipping was less than $100 for 1 way and took less than 3 days including time in customs!  There was no customs charge as the seller devalued the item's value.

nirodha35: Thanks!  Yes I will have to accept any costs that occur.  The unit is under warranty in Japan so I would have to pay only shipping costs. 

dave_b:  You are correct!  There are many times that I just want to put some music on, turn off the lights and forget about the hardware.  I do like to tinker around and in the process have learned a lot.  Still lots more to learn though.  Sometimes it pays off and result in a more pleasing sound, other times it sets me back a step or two.   

nonoise:  I have read a lot on step down transformers.  There are so much information to sift through and a lot of it can be false.

casaross:  So far I have tried the coax and USB inputs.  Right now I am just feeding it directly from a cd player with the coax going through a reclocker.  When I tried it on USB, I was using Foobar.  I have tried upsampling to DSD and the Sox upsampler to 2x and 4x. 

gs5556: The seller supplied a transformer with the unit so I am sure it is the Japanese version.  I checked the voltage it is around 2.5V, varies a little bit because I am playing a cd.  It has been playing for 2 days and I agree it is going to sound very close to what it sounds like right now. 


I am now leaning toward that there is nothing wrong with the dac.  I purchased it without a listening demo (wish I could go some place close by to listen to another da-06).  I won't be giving up on it and will continue burning it in.  Perhaps my ears are just spoiled -  I have a Litedac 60 that I have modded heavily and I have been comparing all other equipment with it.  BTW, I don't have any buyers remorse - the seller does accept returns however I am not going to return it.  I would like to get to the bottom of this.  Anyone know where I could listen to another da-06 in the DFW area?

Thanks for your help Al, I am getting close to 2.3 volts.  Yesterday I went out and purchased a hdmi de-embedder.  I played DSOTM and the bells at the beginning of the song Time sounded simply stunning.  I've never heard them sound so accurate, pure, and "tight".  I am using an Oppo BDP-95 and it is able to convert DSD to PCM at 88.2khz 24 bits.  I do hear the relay click occasionally during the middle of playback at 88.2khz and less at 44.1khz.  I know that the Luxman is very picky at the cable quality for its coax inputs.  I will try some other cables that I have to see if that fixes the problem.  It is most likely losing sync.

About after over a week of burn in, the DA-06 now sounds "warm, dense, and clear".  It also has some magical sounding properties as the sound is very lush and polite.  I was laying down listening to some music streaming from my pc (Foobar using Sox upsampler to 174.6khz -> Schiit Wyrd -> Audiogd DI-2014 -> coax in DA-06, balanced out -> Goldpoint level controls -> Parasound A21 x2 -> custom speakers) and I was hearing sounds come from behind me.  I thought there was something outside but realized it was actually the music!  

It is an excellent dac that has a very unique sound but requires a very long time to break in.  I feel that there is no need to upgrade the transformer or the stock power cord (which is very nice btw) in my system.  Japan has both power systems 50hz and 60hz.  Consumer electronics will work on both.    

About the relay issue: it didn't like my Kanex Pro hdmi de-embedder.  Also on the USB input, the relay will click when skipping or fast forwarding tracks.  With the coax - there are 0 clicks.  I believe on the DA-06 the coax is treated as an asynchronous signal that further reduces jitter phase noise. Similar to the USB input.
 
Thanks for all the comments - I am a proud owner of a Luxman :).  

Wow time goes by fast...  Ive had everything packed up for the last couple of years due to moving around.   For the last year or so Ive just been using my bluetooth headphones - Sennheiser Momentum 3.  They actually sound pretty good for being wireless and it is also a relief to have things be so simple.  

Before you decide on Luxman, I would look at dacs based on AKM dac chips.  The sound is full bodied similar to the old BurrBrown chips but is clearer since they are newer.  

My DA-06 has been sitting for close to 7 years without use. I need to sell it. Honestly, it sounds terrible when compared to several other dacs that I have acquired over the years.

Since this tread is active again I will drop my thoughts.

DA-06 build quality is good but I was disappointed when I disassembled it many years ago and found a major part of the weight was due to a steel plate being mounted to the cover.

The PCM1792a dac chip is a hybrid design which is part r2r and delta-sigma. This was BurrBrown / TI’s attempt to produce a low cost to manufacturer chip than the PCM1704 r2r chip which to this day is still one of the top best sounding dac chips ever made for PCM. It was an expensive chip to make. I wish I would have known this way back then as I wouldnt have purchased thr DA-06 and would have gotten another implementation of a pcm1704 dac.  Even flagship dacs from ESS and AKM do not sound as good with this 30 year old PCM1704 chip for pcm. I think the $45k Trinity dac uses 8 of these chips.

I have multiple dacs that I have acquired over the years and here are some of my favs:

Holo Audio May KTE: I picked this up very recently for my main system and the other poster is correct. This dac runs circles around the Luxman DA-06. The DA-06 isnt even in the same league. The Holo May is probably my end dac because it is that good.  If you are looking for another dac, it ahould be on your list and if you are debating whether to get it or not, just get it. 

LiteDac 60 heavily modified by me and uses PCM1704 x2 dac chips. This one isnt as resolving as the May KTE but it has a better sound stage and instrument seperation. It also sounds more musical than the May. This is due to a battery powered Crystek clock mod and has tube out. I have about $900 invested in it and I would confidently let it compete with $10k dacs. Easily. This one is going to the grave with me.

Technics SL-g700. This sounds better than the DA-06 with a much bigger sound stage. More 3d sounding. It has more heft and body to the sound. It also is a sacd player and a streamer. Its a solid purchase and is in my bedroom system.

I always thought my DA-06 had something wrong with it but there was nothing wrong. It is at the limits of the PCM1792a chip. It is a good, probably one of the best implementations of that chip but it is bested by other dacs with different chips and also by discrete dacs.

I also have a couple of daps that sound better than the DA-06 from Cowon and A&K not to mention a RME all based on AKM chips.  The RME is used for digitizing vinly to DSD256.  The dsd files I create puts all pcm to shame.  My coworkers tell me they havent heard better sound ever when I demoed some select recordings I made from early 80s vinyl. 

The Luxman just is sitting there. I dont use it. It needs to be sold but Im lazy and also dont want to take on the burden if any issues arise in the sale.