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Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

Some history: I was the OP on a four year old thread about the Chinese LKS MH-DA004 DAC. It achieved an underground buzz. The open architecture of its predecessor MH-DA003 made it the object of a lot of user mods, usually to its analog section, rolling op amps or replacing with discrete. The MH-DA004 with its new ESS chips and JFET analog section was called better then the modified older units. It has two ES9038pro DAC chips deliberately run warm, massive power supply, powered Amanero USB board, JFET section, 3 Crystek femtosecond clocks, Mundorf caps, Cardas connectors, etc., for about $1500. For this vinyl guy any reservation about ESS chips was resolved by the LKS implimentaion, but their revelation of detail was preserved, something that a listener to classic music especially appreciated. I made a list of DACs (many far more expensive) it was compared favorably to in forums. Modifications continued, now to clocks and caps. Components built to a price can be improved by costlier parts and the modifiers wrote glowingly of the SQ they achieved.

Meanwhile, during the 4 years after release of the MH-DA004, LKS (now Musetec) worked on the new MH-DA005 design, also with a pair of ES9038pro chips. This time he used more of the best components available. One torroidal transformer has silver plated copper. Also banks of super capacitors that act like batteries, solid silver hookup wire, 4 femtoclocks each costing multiples of the Crysteks, a revised Amanero board, more of the best European caps and a new partitioned case. I can't say cost NO object, but costs well beyond. A higher price, of course. Details at http://www.mu-sound.com/DA005-detail.html

The question, surely, is: How does it sound? I'm only going to answer indirectly for the moment. I thought that the MH-DA004 was to be my last DAC, or at least for a very long time. I was persuaded to part with my $$ by research, and by satisfaction with the MH-DA004. Frankly, I have been overwhelmed by the improvement; just didn't think it was possible. Fluidity, clarity, bass extension. A post to another board summed it up better than I can after listening to piano trios: "I have probably attended hundreds of classical concerts (both orchestral and chamber) in my life. I know what live sounds like in a good and bad seat and in a good and mediocre hall. All I can say is HOLY CRAP, this sounds like the real thing from a good seat in a good hall. Not an approximation of reality, but reality."

melm
melm OP
1,057 posts
 

@boxer12
As compared to other DACS I have used, the Musetec seems to have what I would call a fuller treble that’s a bit hard to describe. It’s not a tipped up top end, but rather a fullness that has the effect of filling out the overtones of instruments. I wrote about its ultimate effects here.

Nice that you have found a USB cable that works for you. I have experimented with cables of all sorts. The DAC seems to respond to cables: the power cable, the XLR cable and the USB cable. I have used silver cables with success on other DACs, but I have found that at the moment copper cables are the most natural sounding with the Musetec. I continue to use Pearl USB. I went to a chamber orchestra concert last weekend so my ears are calibrated. What happens when I substitute a silver cable (either USB or XLR) is that a couple of my very best recordings sound extra specially good. I’m coming to think of that as a super pleasant (euphonic) surreal effect. However many, many of my recordings then seem a bit strident. Back to copper and everything is back to comfort--back to natural. I know it’s all extremely system dependent and especially due to my close listening space, roughly an 8 foot equilateral triangle--speakers facing forward. I keep looking for something that might add just a tiny bit of that silver magic while maintaining the natural quality and the great sound stage of the Audioquest. However I am aware that solid silver USB cables have worked very well for others here.

@jjss49
I confess to having contributed to the boredom. The good doctor is happy with the Topping and we shall move on.

boxer12
8,654 posts
 

@melm - I agree it is very system/room dependent. 

rrboogie
43 posts
 

My experiences with the Musetec and silver (USB cables only) mirror that of @melm. I tried the Audioquest Diamond and Supra Excalibur and I prefer copper USB cables such as the Acoustic BBQ Helix and Sablon 2020.

sns
3,003 posts
 

If one dislikes sound quality with AQ Diamond its due to some coloration elsewhere in system. AQ Diamond is probably the most forgiving of top echelon usb cables, this based on many comparative reviews I've observed over the years, and my personal experience. The added bonus of Diamond vs lower AQ models is increased transparency, resolution.

 

Get your timbre, tonality, harmonic development right, only then will higher resolving, transparent cables show their full capabilities. Towards that end, recent replacement of Audyn True Copper Max and Miflex KPCU coupling caps in 300B amps with Duelund CAST PIO tinned copper has provided both greater resolution, transparency, but more importantly more natural timbre. Harmonic development with these caps has really turned the corner, 005 is now moving into REAL SOUL territory!

 

Further major changes coming in form of near SOTA custom build music server, power supply and install of Euphony Stylus Version 4. This is not just music player, but full operating system for music servers. This will be tested along with Roon for best sound quality. I'm expecting these purchases in home by next week.

melm OP
1,057 posts
 

From recent comments here it looks like I am not the only one here experimenting with cables of all sorts.  Like may high-end devices I find the Musetec to be very sensitive to cables: power, USB & analog.  I noted that in my particular set-up silver USB cables that had been very effective with other components seemed to give a surrealistic (and sometimes very pleasant) sound to many recordings used with the Musetec.  Similarly recently with silver XLRs.  That's uniquely what I hear in my own system and I am persuaded that there is no cable that can be optimal in every quality system.  I know some will think otherwise.

In my last post I said I had "calibrated" my ears by going to a concert given by a small orchestra in an appropriately small performance space.  I had missed concert going during the Covid period.  When I go to a concert like this I can't help comparing it to listening at home.  Calibrating one's ears is not a bad way to put it.  When The Absolute Sound was run by Harry Pearson and was worth reading, each of his reviewers was required to attend concerts of unamplified music on a regular basis, to "calibrate" their ears.

The possibility of making a component sound better-than-real reminded me of how friends in the past had sometimes remarked that classical concerts sounded dull compared to their stereo systems.  Of course anyone can make their system sound any way they wish.  Unfortunately though, I don't think any reviewers these days, print or video, are listening for accuracy to the real thing, rather than simply expressing personal likes and dislikes in audiophile jargon.

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