[RobertTilson]

I recently came across a USB DAC on eBay for about $100; to me, this looks remarkably like the Aune amp which has received much acclaim elsewhere. To be honest, I haven't looked at the specs all that closely, and was wondering if anyone else on this forum has heard of this DAC-AMP, or seen a review of said device.

Here is a link to the eBay posting that caught my eye.

Here is a link to the Aune DAC-AMP (also on eBay).

 

[FraGGleR]

From what I understand, the Muse is a clone of the Aune design. That being said there is no guarantee it is using the exact same components outside of the chips it lists. There is a pretty decent thread on the Aune in the dedicated source forum where you can get opinions. Probably one of the best values in a desktop dac/amp in that range.

 

[pp312]

Just looking at the listings of these two amps, the only chip differences occur here:

Aune: "Headphone AMP: Burr-Brown OPA2604+TIP41C*2+TIP42C*2"

Muse: "HeadPhone: Burr-Brown OPA2604+BC550*2+BC560*2"

What difference this would make I have no idea. There are however a few visual differences, such as a cheaper volume pot and different colour power supply caps. Anyway, I've ordered a Muse and may post impressions later.

 

[bearmann]

The Muse seems to be the first generation of Hifidiy.net's Mini USB DAC. It's a very decent DAC and headphone amp.

 

[pp312]

"The Muse seems to be the first generation of Hifidiy.net's Mini USB DAC."

I think you mean the Aune.

 

[bearmann]

No, I don't. The Aune uses Hifidiy.net's Mini USB DAC MKII PCB. The Muse uses a slightly modified (optical spdif) MKI PCB.
Here you can find a review of the MKI revision. You'll see that it's PCB layout is similar to the one the Muse uses...

best regards,
bearmann

 

[devast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearmann /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, I don't. The Aune uses Hifidiy.net's Mini USB DAC MKII PCB. The Muse uses a slightly modified (optical spdif) MKI PCB. Here you can find a review of the MKI revision. You'll see that it's PCB layout is similar to the one the Muse uses... best regards, bearmann

Yup, the name "Aune" is just hifidiys brand for assembled units(sold international). The muse is indeed a sightly modified mk1 board, with cheaper components. You can easily save ~$50 dollar there hence the price difference. Actually, i'm more interested in this. Please someone buy one, it just looks so cool

Manufacturer seems to be cdream5,

 

[pp312]

"Actually, i'm more interested in this. Please someone buy one, it just looks so cool "

Well, I wouldn't buy it because the HP socket is too close to the volume pot, which I hate. Even more annoying is when they put the input on one side of the volume pot and output on the other, making it necessary to change volume with a pair of tweezers.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devast /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yup, the name "Aune" is just hifidiys brand for assembled units(sold international). The muse is indeed a sightly modified mk1 board, with cheaper components. You can easily save ~$50 dollar there hence the price difference.

I'm still a bit confused. Are these by the same manufacturer? Didn't someone ask the Ebay lister about the Muse being similar to the Aune and get the reply: "This is our own design."

Or did I dream that?

 

[devast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pp312 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm still a bit confused. Are these by the same manufacturer? Didn't someone ask the Ebay lister about the Muse being similar to the Aune and get the reply: "This is our own design." Or did I dream that?

Well, they may state that, but i think the hifidiy mini dac mk1 was there first. You can notice it's almost the same pcb, excluding the optical spdif input. The hifidiy is using wima film capacitors everywhere. The muse unit has a switch where the ground splitter should be. So basically, yes they can call that their own design, since they modified the hifidiy design by a bit, but it is very heavily based on that. I can't see what kind of volume pot they're using either...

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearmann /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Muse seems to be the first generation of Hifidiy.net's Mini USB DAC.

I think I mistook this quote to mean that the Muse is manufactured by Hifidiy, which is how it could be read; hence the confusion. Perhaps the words "seems to be based on the first generation..." might have made it clearer.

 

[bearmann]

Of course you're right, pp312. English isn't my native language. Sorry for the confusion.

best regards.
bearmann

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearmann /img/forum/go_quote.gif Of course you're right, pp312. English isn't my native language. Sorry for the confusion. best regards. bearmann

No worries, bearmann: you do amazingly well at English nonetheless. German certainly isn't my language, so I had to rely on a really bad Google translation to read your review. I think I got the gist of it, including your note of some of the oddities (that volume control is really strange), but somehow couldn't quite determine in any detail what you thought of the sound quality. I've ordered the Muse for use with an HD650 and am wondering whether it'll match, whether it might be too warm for the 650. Also, do you know if the HP dac in the muse is exchangeable like the Aune, and if so, what might be the best dac for a 650?

 

[bearmann]

Hi pp312,
in all my reviews my focus is on the technical construction of a gadget (If it's well constructed it should sound "good") . Because of that it's not surprising that you couldn't really determine wether or not the Mini USB DAC harmonizes with your HD650. (My thoughts on the sound of a device are always rather short in a review...)

If we assume that the developers of your Muse haven't changed very much of the Mini USB DAC's design and layout I would say that the Muse could be a good companion for your HD650.
The Amp is definitely on the bright side, not much but noticeable. So IMHO a perfect match for your HD650 and other "warm" headphones. IIRC there are at least two or three guys at hifi-forum.de that are using the Mini USB DAC with a HD650 quite happily.

The oddities with the volume control: If you switch to line out your headphone isn't really muted. You can still hear a very subtle signal (the music) through your cans. It's not a dealbreaker but in my opinion a little design flaw.

The opamps where in sockets in the Mini USB DAC so you were able to switch them. I can't really see if that's the case with the Muse.

IMHO both, the Aune (Mini USB DAC MKII PCB) and the Muse (Mini USB DAC MKI PCB) are more than worth their price.

best regards.
bearmann

 

[devast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearmann /img/forum/go_quote.gif The oddities with the volume control: If you switch to line out your headphone isn't really muted. You can still hear a very subtle signal (the music) through your cans. It's not a dealbreaker but in my opinion a little design flaw.

I can't speak about the mk1 board, but the mk2s line out is hardwired to the dac(without volume control). The headphone amp is switchable between the internal dac and the line in(A/D switch).

I don't know why, but for me it seems they degraded the design in the mk2 pcb compared to the mk1. I've only seen some screenshots about that, but i'm curious why did they miss some pretty important components, and why did they add a voltage regulator(marked 7806 on the board, but it's a 7808 in mine) when the voltage is regulated again later on(1117-3,3 and 5). About the sound... it sounds like the opamps you put in there... technically it's ok(i just can't figure out why the stages are dc coupled).