[palmfish]

Has anyone looked at the Teac units (HA-501 and UD-501)?

The HA (headamp) is dual mono with large transformer, Muses8920 opamps, etc. The UD (DAC) is dual mono with DSD support, dual Burr Brown PCM1795 DAC chips, and Muses8920 opamps.

They seem similar to the Essence One in general thought, component quality, and engineering, etc. Of course the Teac DAC alone wont have the power to drive like the E1, and adding the amp makes the Teac solution twice the price of the E1 Muses (although I would expect it to perform better too).

I just see quite a few similarities between the Teacs and Asus. Perhaps a new "benchmark" for mass produced consumer electronics quality is emerging?

 

[DMax99]

I've actually seen 101, I'm told the one I will be receiving are 20x and they are used. Maybe I should of mention that. How did you go with consumer ombudsman Gandah? I'm still no luck sourcing the pot. I think I'm going to email Alpha directly. Anyone know the suitable email contact to this Taiwanese company?

WHAT!! $120 sorry man but that doesn't sound right are they new or used?

NJR have stated that digikey.com is the primary seller which at the moment only sell muses01 in quantities of 100 at $56 per unit

Also you want to buy your muses at the one place, at the same time because you want all the opamps out of the same batch, so far I've seen 901, 201, and 204, for example my muses01 are batch #204 if one opamp was 901 it would still work but may compromise SQ



Do you mind (or anyone else) post photos of your Muses01s? I want to compare the PRINTING colour on them to mine...THANKS!!!

 

[ROBSCIX]

You will see many similarities in higher end gear as many companies follow similar design ideas and reference designs from the companies that make the DAC's opamps..etc.  Why reinvent the wheel when great sounding circuits are easy to find?

 

[Quaintative]

General note to all:
 
Has anybody checked out/used the new Firmware and Driver for the E1? It's dated 6/19/2013.

 

[Gandah]

Quote:

Ok...I finally got the time to change the stock NE 5532 op amps to the Muses01s.

Firstly I must said that Asus has done a really good job on designing this unit for amp rolling because the screws were so EASY to come off and the case also slides off very easily. The op amps themselves were a pain in the butt to take off though and in the process I have bent the legs on quite a few of them

. I have taken the advice of previous posters and put them all on an adapter so it will be easier for me to change them again and again in the future.

To compare the sound of these 2 different op amps, I have been changing them back and forth with listening to the same song.

This is what I think of the sound differences and I hope those of you that also have the muses01 can tell me if you think the same:

At first I was really DISLIKING the sound of the Muses01 (still not liking them very much atm), I thought they sounded a bit less detailed compared to the stocks?? However, for some reason I also think that the stock has better sound stage, with more details. I could hear much more details on the little things such as the voice echoing in live concert songs. The Muses01 makes the sound feel like its closer to my ears than the stock.

I have decided to keep the Muses01 in for now because I want to see if I would grow to like them or not. If not, I am going to SELL them!!!

Oh yeah...and about the thingy behind the volume knob, unfortunately I have the B10K version too and I could also see the gain switch jumper next to it

but can not be changed

ps. I wonder if there's a way to check the authenticity of these Muses01, maybe the less sound stage and detail is because they are fake??
 

Hate to break this to you but they look fake the white painted logos looks way too bright, but hey I'm not 100% sure as photos can change colors......however going by your sound impressions really gives it way to think there not real
 
what headphones are you using?

 

[Mach3]

Quote:

(B10K and gain Switch)

DMax99 Seem like you have the latest revision of the standard XE1. I bet you if you solder on some double row pin headers. You got yourself a bargain MUSES edition.
I'm currently waiting on my high end desoldering tool to arrive. If you want I'll be more than happy to do it for you. Also, I'll bring my XE1 to the 13th meet at Noisy Motel. That way, you can do a comparision on the NE5532 and the MUSES01. 

 

 

[DMax99]

Hate to break this to you but they look fake the white painted logos looks way too bright, but hey I'm not 100% sure as photos can change colors......however going by your sound impressions really gives it way to think there not real

what headphones are you using?

Yeah...that's what I was thinking last night too after doing some research on how they look.

What do yours look like? Where did you buy them from? How much?

 

[Gandah]

 
 
I got all 6 muses01 off this ebayer in China
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1PCS-MUSES01-High-Quality-Audio-J-FET-Input-Dual-Operational-Amplifier-/320862379536
 
Very expensive but well worth the money I feel

 

[Mach3]

Quote:

Yeah...that's what I was thinking last night too after doing some research on how they look.

What do yours look like? Where did you buy them from? How much?

You can always confirm by emailing JRC who makes them.
 
http://semicon.njr.co.jp/eng/MUSES/MUSES01.html
 
Select contact to send them a message.

 

[Gandah]

I maybe selling those muses if the replacement unit still has the imbalance problem or if I end up getting a refund
 
The supplier sent a email saying asus is unaware of a channel imbalance in regards to the Essence One. LoL yeah right....... then they sent another email asking for links. like What seriously
 
Quote: "Hi Steve
           do you have any web links for the issue you are having as our supplier cant find an issue."

 

[DMax99]

I got all 6 muses01 off this ebayer in China
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1PCS-MUSES01-High-Quality-Audio-J-FET-Input-Dual-Operational-Amplifier-/320862379536

Very expensive but well worth the money I feel

So in your opinion, they definitely sounded better than the stock?

What was your exact impression of their sound compared to the stock?

Ps. How much are you looking to sell them for?

 

[DMax99]

You can always confirm by emailing JRC who makes them.

http://semicon.njr.co.jp/eng/MUSES/MUSES01.html

Select contact to send them a message.

Yeah.. That's actually an awesome idea. Thanks.

Just hope that they will be bothered to reply! ;p

Btw.. When are your muses01 coming?

 

[DMax99]

I had another good listen today comparing the muses01 and stock with the song you're beautiful by James blunt. I must say I'm starting to like the muses01 very much.

Op amps DO make a difference to sound (to whoever out there that don't believe it). The two sound signatures are definitely different!

I think I'll quickly describe the difference here (I was concentrating on his vocal most of the time) :

Stock NE5532:

Sounded more airy, that's probably why I could hear high echoing of his voice at different places within the track. This is what I enjoy most about this amp, make it feel a but more detailed and sort of a live concert feel to it.

Muses01:

The vocal of James blunt sounded more solid and strong. It also sounded closer to my ears. I think overall the sound was but more defined too!

So, at this stage I'm quite impressed with them again! It's quite fun to swap op amps and hear the different sound signatures.

Ps. I've also put them all on adapters so making the swapping really really easy!

 

[Mach3]

Quote:

I had another good listen today comparing the muses01 and stock with the song you're beautiful by James blunt. I must say I'm starting to like the muses01 very much.

Op amps DO make a difference to sound (to whoever out there that don't believe it). The two sound signatures are definitely different!

I think I'll quickly describe the difference here (I was concentrating on his vocal most of the time) :

Stock NE5532:

Sounded more airy, that's probably why I could hear high echoing of his voice at different places within the track.

Muses01:

The vocal of James blunt sounded more solid and strong. It also sounded closer to my ears. I think overall the sound was but more defined too!

So, at this stage I'm quite impressed with them again! It's quite fun to swap op amps and hear the different sound signatures.

Ps. I've also put them all on adapters so making the swapping really really easy!

I think people need to stop knocking the NE5532 for a 30 year old chip. It's done extremely well for the first opamp design for audio use. Don't believe me, even the highly praised Benchmark 1 DAC uses these 50 cent opamps. They are mass produced, that why they are so cheap compared to the MUSES01. Huge demand = Ultra low cost (NE5532). Niche demand = Ultra high cost (MUSES01)
 
MUSES01 imo is sonically better than the NE5532 due to implementing pure copper internal connections and current technology design. But 1000x better base on price. NOO.... Much more closer to 5-15% in difference (varies from person to person).

 

[DMax99]

I think people need to stop knocking the NE5532 for a 30 year old chip. It's done extremely well for the first opamp design for audio use. Don't believe me, even the highly praised Benchmark 1 DAC uses these 50 cent opamps. They are mass produced, that why they are so cheap compared to the MUSES01. Huge demand = Ultra low cost (NE5532). Niche demand = Ultra high cost (MUSES01)

MUSES01 imo is sonically better than the NE5532 due to implementing pure copper internal connections and current technology design. But 1000x better base on price. NOO.... Much more closer to 5-15% in difference (varies from person to person).

Yeah I agree, even though they sound different, I really enjoy the airyness of the the NE5532

They are both different and good sounding amps!