[sarazen6]

You are so right about the Pegasus + A90 combo. Fantastic Value. If anyone is going down this A90 + Peg road, with the Pegasus being so smooth, I suggest a reference neutral monitor to go with it.

 

[sarazen6]

The usb implementation is suberb. I also have a Singxer su-1 so might try it via I2s at some point. Will also add that the driver is extremely stable, output upsampled pcm and dsd from Roon perfectly Or from Roon to Hqplayer up to DSD 512 and PCM 1536, no skips, interruptions etc..

 

[PopZeus]

There is very little point in describing verbose my perception of a dac's sound when someone has already done it impeccably well already. Might I add quite "accurately" too, if you prefer a word other than "true" I guess the poignant point for me when reading that particular review is that I agree that this Dac has a clarity and smoothness/lightness to it whilst having an enhanced level of detail and slam and sound stage that is quite special at this price point. This really borne out when listening to through a reference neutral monitor like my Final Audio A8000 which is what I use to open a window into my component's capabilities. Where the Ares was ever so slightly bright and unnatural, the Pegasus would ameliorate this whilst having a higher level of detail which made the music flow so much better. Please don't get this wrong, I am not bashing Denafrips here, I really like the Ares and will deploy it to another system.

Sure I will give you the benefit of the doubt when you say that you intended no racial overtones in using a villainous Asian moniker to describe someone who is undoubtedly Asian. So lets not let this descend into something that it is not. All I am trying to do is to infer that the Musician Pegasus dac is far from a rip-off - quite the opposite actually - and lets please not discredit people professional or otherwise who have actually heard it.

I dunno. I think it's hilarious to be called a sjw snowflake by someone who gets two polite comments calling him out, doubles down on his original comment, and then plays the "crucified" victim card. Such a martyr for the cause. Who's the real snowflake?

Anyways, back on topic.This company will eventually build a good rep or it'll fade out. Personally, I want more R-2R DACs out there in the mix. Denafrips has a good rep for quality and customer service. Hopefully Pegasus can eventually do that as well. It just takes some time and effort. I don't know what happened to Airist, if the RDAC drama ruined their rep or something, but they're no longer active.

 

[sajunky]

You are so right about the Pegasus + A90 combo. Fantastic Value. If anyone is going down this A90 + Peg road, with the Pegasus being so smooth, I suggest a reference neutral monitor to go with it.

When you have a chance, please report how Pegasus and Ares compare when driven by a quality low feedback solid state Class A or a tube amp. It should be a better match than A90 which according to this review is slightly enhancing sibilants when driven hard by R2R converter: https://www.avforums.co.za/index.php/topic,88010.msg1006168.html#msg1006168

A cheapest SS of that kind is Audio GD NFB-1AMP (~$480) or Master 19 I think.

 

[sajunky]

As for the perceived 'better sound quality', given the minute differences between dacs, the number I have compared and modified, i find it very unlikely that the 'improvements' are due to 'better power supply caps', or similar inputs. I can't corellate the tighter tolerance resistors to the 'huge improvements' either. What I do think is that it is very likely that 'better dynamics' and 'more punch' or how it was described is due to a different output (higher, amped). Higher output and exaggerated impulses are easily mistaken for 'better'. But if it goes into overmodulation on female voice or piano I don't like it. That is not true to life. That is not why I choose to use an R2R DAC.

I still take this "better dynamics", "more puch" assessment with reservation. How it can come out from a passive output stage (which is similar in both) is a mystery. They could set a different filter's cut-off frequency which I doubt.

Output impedance (SE/balanced):
Ares II - 625/1250 Ohm
Pegasus - 625/1250 Ohm

 

[tuyen]

That is interesting.. the Holo Spring 2 DAC has active discrete class A output stage with SE output imp of 200ohm. I did like the sound of the Holo. Anyone able to share some experience between the presentation of passive output stage designs like the Denafrips/Musician vs Holo DACs?

 

[sajunky]

That is interesting.. the Holo Spring 2 DAC has active discrete class A output stage with SE output imp of 200ohm. I did like the sound of the Holo. Anyone able to share some experience between the presentation of passive output stage designs like the Denafrips/Musician vs Holo DACs?

Adding my voice for a request. A typical active output stage is less than 100 Ohms. It is easily achieved with negative loopback amplifiers (100 times lower, even more). Non-feedback silicon or tube amplifiers are also able to conform to the established standard. Springs2 looks strange in that respect.

 

[cristian007]

Received my Pegasus yesterday. Sounds as I was expecting/hoping it to, based on the reviews - rich, fast and detailed, ultimately satisfying.

The only other R2R DAC I have heard previously was an Audio GD R1, a few months ago. Sound was lovely but I ended up returning it because it was not handling well some DSD tracks that I have. I would be tempted to say that Pegasus sounds "less coloured" (colder?) than the Audio GD but this might be just placebo based on what I've read. I wish I had them side by side for comparison now.

I'm not experienced enough to provide a proper review but can help with a quick test if anyone needs specific information about the unit. Test equipment I have at my disposal:
DACs: Musician Pegasus, MHDT Havana
Amps: Topping A90, Icon Audio HP8 MKII
Headphones: Audeze LCD3, HEDDPhone, Audio Technica ATH-AD2000

 

[tuyen]

How does it compare to the MDHT Havana?

what differences do you hear between OS and NOS modes?

Thanks!

 

[DarKu]

If you say I'm wrong, explain why Sandu claims that the Dac Pegasus is noticeably better than Ares II? (According to you, Ares II was not reviewed by Sandu), so how can you recommend one product over another without having tried it? (I attach the proof in the screenshot, taken from the comments section of the Pegasus review), in that comment Sandu responds referring to Ares I and II, if Sandu is "honest" in his comments, he has definitely reviewed the Ares II, and I swear I read the review of Ares II by Sandu, it was published this year, amazing that no one has noticed...

Dear Cat Music,
I never ever published a review for the Ares 2, only for the Ares 1. Otherwise I would have a Youtube video about it, a written article about it, an instagram post and a twitter post about it (which by the way cannot be deleted). You can think anything you want about me, you can call me names if you will, but please, for the love of Odin, don't spread misinformation and make me a liar. That I will never be. I never deleted an article/review and I will never do that. I stand by my words, If you don't agree with me that is perfectly fine, everyone has the right for an opinion. I am still one single person, my opinion is an opinion of a single man, take that into consideration. I'm not a higher being, I am still a simple and humble person. Don't show disrespect, you never know when karma will strike back. I am not defending myself, I'm only bothered by the spread of misinformation...

 

[Cat Music]

Dear Cat Music,
I never ever published a review for the Ares 2, only for the Ares 1. Otherwise I would have a Youtube video about it, a written article about it, an instagram post and a twitter post about it (which by the way cannot be deleted). You can think anything you want about me, you can call me names if you will, but please, for the love of Odin, don't spread misinformation and make me a liar. That I will never be. I never deleted an article/review and I will never do that. I stand by my words, If you don't agree with me that is perfectly fine, everyone has the right for an opinion. I am still one single person, my opinion is an opinion of a single man, take that into consideration. I'm not a higher being, I am still a simple and humble person. Don't show disrespect, you never know when karma will strike back. I am not defending myself, I'm only bothered by the spread of misinformation...

If you did not, then I apologize for providing information that I believed to be correct, regards

 

[cristian007]

How does it compare to the MDHT Havana?

what differences do you hear between OS and NOS modes?

Thanks!

Sorry, looks like I've been too optimistic regarding the time/ability I'd have for providing this feedback.

Musician vs Havana, not an apples to apples comparison as Havana is an older design that has been superseded by other models (perhaps Pagoda would make more sense for a comparison). Musician is more detailed and offers more insight into the music. Havana is very pleasant and musical but the sounds are slightly smoothed out in comparison.

OS vs NOS, the difference is very subtle to my ears, not sure I'd be able to tell them apart in an a/b test.

 

[Random Lunatic]

The reviewers are not posting reviews as a hobby. They are all in it to make money. Some are more honest than others. The majority are taking "gifts" from the manufacturer or outright getting paid. I read reviews and watch youtube reviews for general information. I have a very select few reviewers who's opinion I believe. I never make a purchase decision based on a review. Many people do and that is why a lot of reviewers are making a nifty profit with their reviews. Major magazine reviews are all about advertising dollars. I know I was in the business for many years. I own the Ares II and I can say as a lifetime audiophile that it is a worthy product that sounds far better than it should for the price. There are some things the Ares II does right that you cannot buy for twice the price.

I definitely know people who do reviews as a hobby, myself included - I certainly don't gain anything from it, other than a hole in my wallet and the odd entertaining comment. But people who do it as a hobby obviously aren't as consistent either, for, well, obvious reasons: Can only review what I actually buy.

 

[Baten]

On another note, I was watching Z Reviews (I treat Zeos more as a podcast to play while I'm working, and not so much as a guide towards my hobby purchases), and he mentioned in one of his videos that he has a Pegasus, but afaik hasn't reviewed it yet and mentioned he needed to send it back to the manufacturer as it had some production errors. This also makes me refrain from purchasing one so far, as I'm waiting to see if a silent revision gets released or has already been released...

Anyone knows about these production errors...?

 

[smallcaps]

Anyone knows about these production errors...?

Please let me clarify that this is pure speculation on my part, based on a single, flippant comment from Zeos. It could be any manner of error, and might be only for his review unit, so please take my comment with a grain of salt.