First impressions of new MH-DA006, Musetec flagship

Agreed with the post above, the USB format still offers SOTA sounds. I have owned all 3 of them and from my listening, I found this in order of preference for the Pink Faun bridges:

1. Ultra USB bridge (built in OCXO and UC power)

2. USB v2 bridge (with the new firmware)

3. USB v1 bridge with OCXO card plug-in

I've also listened to the PF i2S bridge too but not in the same system. I think it slots in around the 2 level. i2S is good but is apparently very sensitive to connection disturbances. 

To get the most out of USB, one has to experiment with external power and cabling, both of which makes a difference.

I've optimized every single thing in my streaming setup from modem to dac, every single piece of equipment (each piece has been comparison tested vs others) using lps, top flight cabling (also comparison tested) which means ethernet, optical usb, I2S, DC, AC,  AC conditioning. I have optical conversion via Sonore OM, OR, AfterDark optical cabling, Finisar 1475 transceivers. Custom build streamer using all the best ATX build components, also includes JCAT Netcard XE powered by Uptone JS-2 choke based lps, streamer itself powered by JCAT Optimo ATX, a $6k lps, running Euphony OS, which means 7 cores running below 1% of resources virtually all the time, this with Roon core. Low latency name of the game here. And so I have all bases covered, usb streamer is top notch, 006 usb top notch. And still my I2S setup provides meaningful improvement vs usb.

And it only continues to improve with burn in time. Got tired of dealing with inconsistent performance so ran Gaia, Tubulus Ximius 24/7 for a week, New power cord on space heater for a week. Gaia now on much better isolation platform with Stillpoint footers. Result is presentation even more relaxed, refined, flows exactly like my very nice vinyl setup (think I have more money into it vs digital). And resolution/transparency up a notch, performers in room effect has been there for some time, now reach out and touch imaging. Based on my own experience with my own digital, and my memory of both other in home and audio show digital, this is best digital I've ever heard, right up there with best vinyl setups ever heard.

So bottom line, I agree every single aspect of streaming chain needs to be optimized, no ddc, I2S cable alone is going to extract max potential from any dac, its an added benefit.  The most important added benefit I expect the Gaia is providing is the OXCO clock and power supply to that clock, the diminished jitter provides this new level of ease and refinement. I also suspect usb is being further optimized even after the OpticalRendu's optimization?

Excellent report, sns, appreciate the thoughts.  Enjoy!

@sns looks like you have put a lot of effort in your digital frontend. Bravo!

I would like to know how critical are upstream components to Gaia. I suspect better the upstream, the better Gaia performs. Would it be possible to use a laptop or some generic computer/pc connected to the Gaia and give us some feedback when you get a chance ?

I am finding that the USB sounds better and better as you optimize more and more on the networking side of things. My very recent mods has been to modify the Fiber network card with an aftermarket ocxo clock and the audio quality went up couple of notches without touching anything on the usb side. It’s still burning in but I am already hearing the benefits - their is a sense of tempo, timing, calmness, relaxed sound. My next mod will to do something similar on the switch side and maybe stack two of them together. I have a complete separate network for audio which has also helped to reduce home traffic polluting the audio network and hence improving SQ in the way.

Streaming is a very good word for this method of transmitting music in that one can make a very good analogy to a stream of water, any contamination upstream will affect water downstream.

I've found clocking extremely important for network, usb and I22, this affect mostly presentation. Jitter is the cause of what we hear as digititus. Jitter another good name for what we hear as nervousness, With each move towards quality clocking we should increasingly hear a more analog presentation. Analog presentations sound continuous and flowing, this is how I want my digital sources to sound.

@debjit_g While I haven't done a direct comparison pc to present setup, my initial foray into streaming was via laptop. I progressed from laptops to Mac Minis to modified Mac Minis to extensively modded Minis, every step up was easily heard. I doubt there's anything to learn from using Gaia with laptop vs my present setup. I'd suggest it silly to spend $1800 on ddc with laptop, use that $1800 to purchase a proper streamer. Also, I have experience with audiophile switch vs router, audiophile switch lost out to router, now this a single audiophile switch tested so I can't make overarching conclusions. My experience with networks is the following:

Moved modem (BroadCom chip only for these, powered with lps) close to stereo system, this means extending coax cable rather than running inexpensive ethernet cable from modem>router, this is gaming router with 1gb service, I can tweak this router with quality of service bias to audio system, wifi disabled, this router daisy chained to another router using it's wifi to service rest of house, ping test for fastest processing/low latency, again lps power>custom server/streamer, JCAT power> JCAT netcardXE, excellent clocking here, latest Netcard Evo has even better clocking, may get at some point>Sonore optical conversion, this end of network chain.

My contention is a fast processor/low latency gaming router powered by lps and wifi disabled is superior to adding audiophile switch post whole house router. In my estimation you've contaminated the entire downstream with that noisy upstream router. Point being you can never recover what has been lost upstream, start with clean at the source, and keep it clean until you reach streamer interface to dac. Clock and clean whatever interface used, voila, you have clean, pollution free streaming chain.