Anyone upgrade to the Merason Dac1 mkii?

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,
Choice Audio

@ricco275 - Unfortunately, I've never heard the LaScala dac. I've had a sense that it might be one of the dacs suited for me, though. At least based on what I've read about it. 

I'd recommend taking Choice Audio up on his offering to provide his personal opinion on both dacs via PM. It turns out he carries a lot of the gear I own (Audio Hungary amp, Innuos products, Merason DAC1, and QLN and Dynaudio Heritage Speakers) so he was able to give incredibly useful advice with knowledge of my components. All my interactions with Choice Audio have been superlative. 

I have bought a DAC1 demo from a retailer in Paris. They say it’s a mk1. I think it’s a mk2 since it has the aluminum chassis in brushed grey. 
the sound is as widely described by user and reviewers. 
I had read the DAC1 was superior to the MSB discrete, which I own. Unfortunately that’s not the case. The comparison is not apple to apple as my MSB has the streaming renderer module and the DAC is connected to the router via Ethernet and talking to the Nucleus without usb. The Merason is connected straight to the Nucleus via usb. 
it may be the reason for my disappointment, however, details, clarity, precision, soundstage width are much lower vs the MSB Discrete. It is like the typical feeling of a blanket thrown on the speakers. My speakers are TAD ME1 and the amp is a Vitus RI101mk2.

will a dedicated streamer make such a big improvement to deliver results equivalent to the MSB discrete? Obviously a richer and fuller sound won’t easily bring a precise and detailed sound presentation with strong dynamic. Or so I thought. 

I have the La Scala in my system now for an audition and it's an absolutely spectacular DAC. I have an MSB discrete for 4 years and this is better by a good margin...I've also heard the Merason (not in my system) and I don't think it compares to the La Scala, different flavors and to me I pick the La Scala all day over the DAC1. 

Dynamics and voices, musicality and the overall tone is dead on to the real thing. 

@ricco275 

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.