[Mach3]

How did you order (I could not make heads or tails!) from there site?

I got a japanese friend to translate and help me register an account.

 

[Mach3]

  Has anyone installed the Asus DSD expansion kit on E1? I looked it at their site and saw that in the kit is included 2pcs of muses02 instead of muses01 opamps. I wonder where they are meant to be installed headphone or LPF section and why did asus choose them over muses01 in dsd kit? That leads me thinking how they would sound if I would place them in my muses editions headphone section?
 
http://www.asus.com/fi/Essence_HiFi_Audio/Essence_One_DSD_Upgrade_Kit/

 
IMO it not very good value at $119.99 Euro. It only add DSD64 not DSD128 (Not sure why Asus didn't implement this in the first place). Sure you get 2 x MUSES02, they're like $50-60 Euro for the pair. Almost $60-70 for EEPROM chip is highway robbery. Not to mention the PCM1795 is capable of DSD128 just not supported by TI
 
http://e2e.ti.com/support/data_converters/audio_converters/f/64/t/278973.aspx <- Read this link
 
I'm just worried Asus will release Essence One DSD Upgrade Kit MKII a year later with the statement "now support DSD128" LOL

 

[dmbr]

What does DSD do, exactly? All it says on the Asus page is that it provides a ridiculously high sampling rate...but anything above 44.1khz is overkill and should provide no improvement at all to sound quality...

 

[Mach3]

What does DSD do, exactly? All it says on the Asus page is that it provides a ridiculously high sampling rate...but anything above 44.1khz is overkill and should provide no improvement at all to sound quality...

It's the digital audio format developed by Sony and Philip (Because audio purist complained vinyl's offers better sound quality than CD). It was first used in SACD (Super Audio CD) 1999. To give you an idea how overkill we're talking about. Basic single data rate DSD (Aka DSD64) is 64x the upsample rate of the standard redbook/Audio CD @44.1khz. DSD128 is 128x, DSD256 256x and DSD512 512x, you get the picture.
 
I had a looked around the net and have not seen any native recoding of DSD512 (correct me if I'm wrong), just DSD256 upsampled to DSD512. Weather or not DSD512 is 512x better than audio cd is very trivial. One thing is for sure. I'm not jumping onto the DSD band wagon anytime soon. Why, you ask? How about 6min of DSD512 takes up 2GB of storage space.
 
Kind of Blue recorded from vinyl at 5.6 mhz DSD, then stripped to the below sample rates.
16/44 - 486 MB
24/96 - 1588 MB
24/192 - 3176 MB
2.8 DSD - 1946 MB (DSD64)
5.6 DSD - 3892 MB (DSD128)
11.2 DSD - 7784MB (DSD256)
22.4 DSD - 15568MB (DSD512)
 
Argument against DSD (Taken from Wiki)
In 2001, Stanley Lip****z and John Vanderkooy from the University of Waterloo stated that one-bit converters (as employed by DSD) are unsuitable for high-end applications due to their high distortion
 
http://sjeng.org/ftp/SACD.pdf < Read the full paper here. I've read it twice and I'm still don't understand fully. I'll leave it to the expert and take their words to stick with PCM.

 

[Hopup]

About the Essence MK2. Is it basically the same as E1 but with dsd in it? The pcb layout must be little different but is there any major hardware changes?

 

[Mach3]

About the Essence MK2. Is it basically the same as E1 but with dsd in it? The pcb layout must be little different but is there any major hardware changes?

It's basically the original MUSES Edition without the MUSES01 and with DSD64 EEPROM. Oh I forgot a love badge that say MKII
 
MKII is Non MKII with DSD64 and gain jumpers, volume pots are A10K like the original MUSES fixing the volume imbalance issue with the headphone.
 
ASUS Essence One - B10K Volume Pot (Volume imbalance issue), No gain jumper, No MUSES01, No DSD64
ASUS Essence One MUSES Edition - A10K Volume Pot (Fixed Volume imbalance issue), Gain jumper, 6x MUSES01, No DSD64
ASUS Essence One MKII - A10K Volume Pot, Gain jumper, No MUSES01, DSD64 EEPROM
ASUS Essence One MUSES Edition MKII - A10K, Gain jumper, 6x MUSES01, DSD64 EEPROM

 

[Hopup]

  It's basically the original MUSES Edition without the MUSES01 and with DSD64 EEPROM. Oh I forgot a love badge that say MKII
 
MKII is Non MKII with DSD64 and gain jumpers, volume pots are A10K like the original MUSES fixing the volume imbalance issue with the headphone.
 
ASUS Essence One - B10K Volume Pot (Volume imbalance issue), No gain jumper, No MUSES01, No DSD64
ASUS Essence One MUSES Edition - A10K Volume Pot (Fixed Volume imbalance issue), Gain jumper, 6x MUSES01, No DSD64
ASUS Essence One MKII - A10K Volume Pot, Gain jumper, No MUSES01, DSD64 EEPROM
ASUS Essence One MUSES Edition MKII - A10K, Gain jumper, 6x MUSES01, DSD64 EEPROM

 
Thanks. I wonder if it would  be possible to use some other EEPROM in E1. But I guess you would have to make new drivers or something to make it work.

 

[Hopup]

Does the sound of the E1 Muses change much after break in? My purchase was delivered to me today and so far it sounds very nice with hd800.

 

[Mach3]

I think you should just stop thinking about it and enjoy the music
 
Where did you place the MUSES? MUSES01 or MUSES02?

 

[Hopup]

  I think you should just stop thinking about it and enjoy the music
 
Where did you place the MUSES? MUSES01 or MUSES02?

I bought E1 muses edition. I will order couple muses and burson opamps (should be perfectly safe) to test how it affects sound when I place them in headphone section.

 

[Mach3]

 
I bought E1 muses edition. I will order couple muses and burson opamps (should be perfectly safe) to test how it affects sound when I place them in headphone section.

 
I'll be very surprised if the Burson opamps doesn't sound sterile and flat. Let us all know the results when you compare the two. I have faith in Asus sound engineer and hope they did their homework by suggesting the MUSES01.

 

[Hopup]

   
I'll be very surprised if the Burson opamps doesn't sound sterile and flat. Let us all know the results when you compare the two. I have faith in Asus sound engineer and hope they did their homework by suggesting the MUSES01.

 
Actually I saw picture in bursons site with somebody who had replaced all of his opamps with bursons opamps. So atleast he liked them, but I quess only way to find out if they are good is to test them.

 

[Wage]

 
 
Only the MUSES edition should have the pot with the gain jumpers. If you get a MUSES Edition unit that does not, then it needs to be sent to ASUS for a swap. The pot in the MUSES edition has a different scale to suit use of the gain jumpers. If you buy a standard it will come with the same pots they always have. The pot was never changed for imbalance, it was a change made to accommodate the gain jumpers in the MUSES Edition units only.

Not sure if you're still active, but I sent you a PM since I found out my E1 MUSES is missing the gain jumper and has the wrong pots (B10 instead of A10)

 

[turokrocks]

 
Not sure if you're still active, but I sent you a PM since I found out my E1 MUSES is missing the gain jumper and has the wrong pots (B10 instead of A10)

 
 
I kept mine (same like the one you have) after trying 2 Muses E1 (which were sent to me to replace the one I had without the gain jumper) I noticed a change in clarity and details in Music.
the one I had, was more musical and enjoyable to listen to, it was almost .
 
The other 2 replacements sounded less accurate and missing the prat I was getting, so I ended keeping it, FYI.
 
 
Just enjoy listing...

 

[Mach3]

I kept mine (same like the one you have) after trying 2 Muses E1 (which were sent to me to replace the one I had without the gain jumper) I noticed a change in clarity and details in Music.
the one I had, was more musical and enjoyable to listen to, it was almost .

The other 2 replacements sounded less accurate and missing the prat I was getting, so I ended keeping it, FYI.


Just enjoy listing...

If what you say is true. Does that mean, the cheapest option to get good sound would be. Stock E1 plus 6x Muses01?