First impressions of new MH-DA006, Musetec flagship

Two perspectives here, money vs value. Sometimes money ceases to lose much of it's value when meaningful change comes. I consider the 006, Gaia and Tubulus Ximius I2S cable as a downright steal at their full retail prices.

Obviously I can't tell you if slightly less money spent on a ddc or quality I2S cable provides greater value since I'm not using money as part of the value equation here. I could choose to speculate endlessly when it comes to value equations based on money spent, all I know is what I hear and what I hear far exceeds my expectations going into these purchases. Beyond that, these three components will be my reference digital source for some time to come, not bothered there may yet still be better digital sources. Fully expect I'll have an itch to change at some time in the future.

And if we want to go into value for money evaluations, I'd likely tell you the Laiv Harmony dac is the better value, slightly less resolution may not be exposed in all systems and some may prefer the presentation.

Has anyone had the chance to listen to a 005 or oo6 Musetec and a Mojo Audio Mystique DAC.  Both of these DAC's intrigue me and I would like to here what someone has to say if they have had the chance to listen to these DAC's.

I had an SU6 and sent it back.  Sonically in my system, the LKS bested it.  I had them both at the same time and spent a fair bit of time swapping and listening.  The LKS has been in the system for several years at this point.  I'm very interested in trying the 006 and gaia together.  But, after property taxes, helping my daughter buy her first piece of real property, and needing a new furnace, it might have to wait for a little bit. 

My earlier post on DDCs referred to a report of perceived performance, not value. Notwithstanding, I have learned over the years that anything is possible in audio and only your ears can be your guide.

And now @car123  says that his LKS USB-100 outperforms the Singxer SU6. Yet the USB to I2S within the 005 (or 006) uses the same Amanero technology and seemingly has better clocks and probably better power supplies than the quite old USB-100. Yet the ear always rules.

Time was when most hobbyists used computers to manage the feeding of the digital data into the DAC. USB was the best option most of the time. USB filters of various sorts (We called them decrapafiers.) sold well. Modern DDCs have taken decrapafication to a new level, no doubt, but can it be better than taking USB out of the system entirely? Possibly so.

At some point this winter I'll likely purchase Pink Faun I2S card, or hopefully JCAT comes out with I2S card.

Comparison then becomes:

1. Present setup is server-Roon core, streamer-Sonore OpticalRendu-Roon endpoint. Server>Sonore OpticalModule>Optical Rendu>Denafrips Gaia via usb>006 or Harmony via I2S (all components fed power from external lps).

2. Server/streamer with JCAT or Pink Faun I2S card-now contains both Roon core and Endpoint>006, Harmony via I2S. The Pink Faun or JCAT card will be utilizing external lps vs motherboard supplied power.

So No. 2 setup so much simpler, get rid of three components and their attendant lps and cabling, no more usb.

Question is simpler better? Less complexity means less chance of added noise, but then optical conversion completely eliminates transmission of upstream noise. How does Pink Faun (or possible JCAT)  I2S compare to Gaia I2S?  Gaia has added burden of optimizing usb.