Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

This damn dac just wants to lead me down this path where everything feeding it needs to be SOTA.

Yes it will and it can, with ease. I am currently testing a SOtM USB Ultra with the 005.

However to get the most out of digital you need a master clock, I believe that's what you're missing.

I'm extremely leery about clocks after experience with the audiophile switch with OXCO clock, excessively precise sound staging and imaging, the very things clocks are supposed to improve. I assume my clocking is sufficient at the moment what with clocks in OpticalRendu and 005 usb board.

At this point, reducing noise is where my focus is, you'd think the better clock in audiophile switch I tried vs generic crap one in my router would have reduced jitter, resulting in better sound staging. My unique setup, no server rendering with server ethernet direct into streamer may have bearing on this.

I also have issue with external master clocks connected by cable. Ed Meitner of EMM fame claims its a joke, states all clocking should be done internally, closest to components, circuits it controls. IOW, all discrete clocking. I also understand the argument that a master clock ties everything together, still not sure how that works when you still have all these discrete clocks within the individual components.

I still see the Pink Faun, JCAT cards with atx boards as probable ultimate renderers. These board have great on board power supplies you connect to external lps, great clocks, optimized rendering with direct connection to dac, The best of these cards are likely superior to any external streamer at any price. .And with no need for separate streamers and attendant cabling,  RFI  rejection is theoretically superior.

The other great thing about an atx build is the versatility. You have choice of highest quality rendering via usb, I2S, spdif cards, and highest quality network porting via optimized ethernet or optical card. One can have it all in one single server. Between Pink Faun and JCAT you have two companies that understand streaming perhaps better than any other.

@debjit_g Very interesting. Assuming you have atx board, why don't you try Pink Faun I2S board to compare with Jcat usb?
 

if I (or anyone) want to try a Pink Faun, you need to try the one with ultra OCXO clocks, otherwise a Jcat is far better sounding at much lower price point. The ultra ocxo is also very expensive and at almost 1600 eur, cost half of what 005 does. The PF I2S is also limited in bandwidth I think (or at least when I looked at getting one couple of yrs back). I would probably get the PF USB if I get one at all but the key is whatever you get, you need to feed it with the best regulated power supply you can and sometimes they can cost more than what the card does.

@debjit_g  I believe you're talking about atx board power supplies when you mention cost of ps for pf or jcat boards, Certainly these are pricey, JCAT Optimo would likely be my choice at around $5300. But the lps for individual boards can  vary greatly in price, can probably range from $100 to $1k or more for best.

@sns  I am talking about the power supply feeding the PF/Jcat usb/I2S card. The network card (I use Jcat net Xe as well) is equally important. The ATX power supply is a whole different ball game and that power supply is as much critical in the equation. My server is a 3 box solution and I have invested a lot across all these power supplies alone. I don’t want to deter too much with server discussions in this thread but from experience what I can tell is the quality of power supplies rules the digital world.