We carry the Merason DAC's - the difference between the Mk1. and Mk.2 are pretty big - as soon as I put the Merason Mk.II in the system it was a big change. Dynamics and sound stage were noticeable/remarkable. Even my wife said, what did you change?
Anyone upgrade to the Merason Dac1 mkii?
I was wondering if any Merason Dac1 owners have upgraded to the Mkii version?
If so, I’d love to hear your impressions. How would you describe the audible differences? Would you recommend doing it? Was it an improvement or simply “different?”
Showing 5 responses by choiceaudio
The Aqua La Scala is a wonderful DAC. Both the DAC1 and LaScala check that musical foot tapping, get lost in the music box. If you want my opinion of the differences, feel free to email me or PM me. james@choiceaudio.com They are both great, a lot depends on your associated equipment, if you have tubes already, you might want to lean towards the DAC1, if you are 100% solid state and want a little tube feel sprinkled in, then maybe the La Scala. Here is a quote about the DAC1 mk1 from one of my customers in MN.
“I sold my mojo audio mystique v3 over a year ago and have been on a constant search trying to replace it. I’ve tried many dacs, many more then I care to admit and finally found a dac that just plays beautiful music. No fatigue, no bloat, no fireworks, just good warm and at the same time detailed and dynamic music. No MQA, no DSD just 16/41 to 24/192. It’s the Swiss built Merason Dac1. The dac has a huge soundstage deep and wide, never ever bright with the perfect amount of detail. Bass is full sounding which helps to provide a great foundation of the music. This dac is very large sounding with plenty of meat on the bones. If anyone is shopping for a dac in the $5000 to $6000 range this is a great very musical fun dac to audition and own. Some of the dacs I’ve tried are the Denafrips Terminator, Holo Audio May kte, Sw1x tube dac, Sonnet Morpheus, Metronome Le Dac, Aqua La Scala Optologic, and a couple more lesser dacs. The Merason Dac1 is a better fit in my system to my ears than any of these and of course others mileage may vary. Blaine” Cheers, |
It's not really a fair comparison until you get a decent dedicated streamer. The renderer module from MSB is quite good for the price tag. You would probably need a streamer the quality level of the Innuos Pulse, Aurender N200, etc. to make a fair comparison. The streamers make a big difference. We carry MSB, so I'm familiar with their renderer module, but I have never compared the DAC1 to the Discrete DAC. I have vs the Premier DAC and the DAC1 holds it ground vs the Premier DAC, but the Premier DAC is better in every facet of comparison.
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Yes, that would be the fastest way to make sure. @ricco275 Thanks for sharing the update of the changes with the new preamp. Your findings are concordant with what I have observed over the last couple of years, especially since we started carrying some of the very high end DACs. The perceived differences between DACs are very dependent how resolving your system is as well as how dialed in your system is from a proper set up. The more resolving your system is, the easier it is to hear the differences and the improvements. If your system is set up properly, it is easier to hear the improved imaging and spatial information that a better DAC can provide. Component synergy also plays a role. That's why we feel the best way to know is audition the gear in your own home and in your own system. |