[JecklinStax]

In case anyone interested in Musetec MH-DA005, I have one in house for a few weeks. Also have in house stock 004 and Auralic Vega for comparison. In a word, 005 is quite a dac, can't understand lack of interest and zero reviews.

Hi sns109,
You are the first source on the DA005 besides the seller! Can you share your impressions of the sound?

 

[sns109]

Hi sns109,
You are the first source on the DA005 besides the seller! Can you share your impressions of the sound?

Ok, nice to see some interest.

First some context. Audiophile for well over thirty years, churned through much equipment over the years. I'm also a modder, so I've been following this thread, would have made same parts substitution. I will only touch on my setup, if interested check virtual systems on audiogon under sns. All i's dotted and t's crossed, everything very well thought out. New here because I'm not really into headphones.

I exclusively stream digital from Qobuz and Tidal through Roon, never any DSP. At least 2500 cds ripped to my Synology NAS though Roon. All dacs listened exclusively using Coincident Statement preamp, only Vega was ever tried direct to amp, and then years ago. I've used either my custom buillt 300B SET monoblocks or Coincident Turbo 845 SET amp with all dacs.

First off. Vega vs. 004. I've had the vega in system for around six years, based on reviews I determined it was likely one of best sabre chip dacs. Its only been in last two years or so, I thought vega technology getting long in tooth. So I purchased 004 based on reviews, technology and relatively low cost. I always thought Vega to be a musical dac with decent resolution, just got bored, desired more resolution. 004 definitely filled the resolution need! To sum up my comparison, I heard Vega as the more musical, could play lower sound quality recordings without bother. 004 intrigued me with the added detail, always kept me interested in good recordings, always hearing new information in well known recordings. Over time as I got over the novelty of new information, began to listen more critically. I would describe 004 as a literal dac, exciting but not really moving me emotionally, Vega even with the missing information was more involving. This due to inferior timbre of 004, while vega timbre not exactly great, still better. In my system its easy to track timbre as I have a pretty nice analog setup to keep it real. Another weakness of 004, dynamically inferior to Vega. So, 004 was giving me more info but lacking dynamics, especially micro, missing the breath that gives recordings a sense of life. It seems to me its the micro dynamics of audio equipment most important to replicating living breathing musicians, equipment lacking those micro dynamics flattens the breath, performers become merely information. Final analysis. Vega-superior micro and macro dynamics, more musical because better timbre. 004-superior resolution (detail), soundstaging, imaging, equal transparency, better tonal balance, vega excessive loosey goosey bass in my sytem, 004 more articulate bass albeit less weighty.

At the end of comparison, decided to keep 004, thought I could mod out deficiencies just as you guys are doing. I modded/parts substitution in a couple previous dacs with good results.

So now 004 vs 005. One word could describe overall experience, transformative. 005 is not simply an improved 004, it is an entirely new experience. 005 resolution is on a whole other level, the black background sensation, sound emanating from the ether. Images simply pop, startling at times, wholly three dimensional images. And individual performers within complex music are so easy to discern, no longer a mash up of sound or wall of sound coming at you. So, soundstaging and imaging amazing. Another area of excellence is dynamics, both micro and macro. Performers sound like flesh and blood because of the superior nuance or breath micro dynamics allow. Again, I need to emphasize this, superior micro dynamics allow the tiny incremental changes in dynamics that is more true to life. Superior macro dynamics means much less compression on transients, I used to think my 300B amp was somewhat lacking in macro terms, nope, its been the vega and 004. Transparency is also amazing. Nothing stands out in tonality, dark recordings sound dark, bright sound bright, seems to be in proper balance. And so now we come to only problematic issue with 005, although I don't think its a dac issue at this point. The issue in question is can there be anything like too much resolution? So, with audiophile and good recordings 005 is simply sublime, real flesh and blood performers in room with me, so organic and real! And then we come to merely decent or what I would call middle of the road recordings, which are probably the vast majority of recordings. They have both good and bad aspects, generally I find these recordings to have some performers, usually the singer, recorded without overdone compression while the instrumentalist are much more compressed and either hard panned to right or left speaker or centered way in background, unbalanced recordings. Another generalized issue with these recordings can be tonality, some way too bright, others too dark. And there can be timbre issues, instruments don't sound like the real thing. 005 extreme resolution brings out the good and bad on these recordings into stark relief, you can choose to listen to the good or bad. Up to now (about 40 hours of detailed listening), my attention generally goes to the good aspects. Over time will my attention go more to bad? And then we had bad recordings. Two types generally fall into this category; digital masters prior to around the year 2000, digital to analog converters pretty bad early on. The other generally fall into the loudness war category, I find many of these to sound big in soundstage sense and transparent, but they have virtually no micro, let alone macro dynamics. Take that away from the 005 which excels in dynamic expression and you're left let down! The humanity of these recordings is lost!

So we come to a final analysis of 005. A high resolution piece determined in it's goodness by recording quality. If one listens only to audiophile and good recordings, a transformative experience! Middle of road recordings, interesting, involving, can be transformative if one focuses on good aspects. Bad recordings, forget about it!

Will 005 be long term solution for me? Again, at question is, can there be too much resolution? Are sabre chip dacs too detailed without soul as detractors say? I would say no, recordings are the problem! But then, there is a lot of good music recorded poorly. I could stand, even have some involvement with the vega on some of these recordings, the 005 precludes this. As far as sabre based dacs, I suspect 005 is state of art or close, Wyred4sound anniversary or Mytek Manhattan are likely competitors. R2R dacs another possibility, Totaldac and the top of line Mojo audio dacs most interesting to me as they both use Texas Components TX2575 (nude Vishays) resistors. FPGA dacs are interesting, assume designers can voice anyway they like, Mola Mola dac would be my choice here. Bottom line, I place 005 in the higher realm of dacs, only the high priced dacs I mention here are possible replacements.

Sorry I've rambled on here, long read. I just want 005 to get it's fair due, no hype or other reviews anywhere.

One other thing I've forgotten. I have a Singxer SU-6 in house to be powered by my Uptone JS-2 lps in order to try HDMI/I2S on 005. Still, worth trying in spite of upgraded Amanero USB in 005. Also, its possible 005 performance could be improved by more burn in, aprox. 200 hours, previous experience with silver in audio has determined up to 400 hours burn in could be beneficial.

 

[JecklinStax]

Thanks a lot for your comparison. Your description of the 004 sound is on the button, and the 005 is obviously a huge improvement. I am getting one.

 

[sns109]

Thanks a lot for your comparison. Your description of the 004 sound is on the button, and the 005 is obviously a huge improvement. I am getting one.

Glad to be of service.

 

[moss]

Yes, thank you for the comparison. I've been waiting for someone who has both the 004 and 005. Are you using a computer for your source, or a dedicated streamer / digital player? I am using an Empirical Audio Off Ramp 5 and HDMI I2s to my 004.

 

[sns109]

Yes, thank you for the comparison. I've been waiting for someone who has both the 004 and 005. Are you using a computer for your source, or a dedicated streamer / digital player? I am using an Empirical Audio Off Ramp 5 and HDMI I2s to my 004.

I'm using mac mini with Uptone audio MMK power supply with Uptone JS-2 lps, only essential services activated on mac mini. USB out into Sotm sms200 neo and/or uptone regen, both powered by lps. Have you compared HDMI to USB?

 

[b0bb]

Connector upgrades.

WBT MS210Cu Next-gen RCA
Neutrik NC3MBH-E with enhanced grounding contacts.

WBT does not go on sale too often, PC Connexion had the WBTs at 40% off.
Plating on the stock Cardas started to peel off, I took the opportunity to swap out the connectors

The Neutrik works with shielded XLR cables to keep RF pickup down to a minimum

 

[b0bb]

This mod replaces the galvanic isolator on the 004.

Isolator is the chip below the Amanero card

The existing isolator has 2 specific issues that can be improved
1) High jitter about 300ps
2) Noisy, data is sent over a modulated data carrier, LKS did not take steps to deal with noise coming from this.

This creates a bottleneck that limits the performance of the Amanero interface.

The replacement:
1) 3x less jitter, pulse jitter about 100ps
2) Uses different isolation transport, Giant Magneto-Resistive (GMR) vs capacitive, data carrier not required. Much less noise to deal with.
3) Better dielectric isolation, 6kV vs 4kV

Device is the IL715V from NVE Electronics.
Replaces stock ISO7640

This effectively puts the Amanero performance well above that of the SU-6 running stock I2S over HDMI receiver.
The Sipex RS-422 receiver improved things over the stock setup but it still left a lot of room for improvement.

IL715V jitter performance is 3x better that both of the I2S receivers used previously.

It will require changing the I2S receiver to LVDS before the performance of the SU-6 can catch up

 

[b0bb]

This is the mod to convert I2S HDMI input to LVDS specs.

The high-end audio industry is adopting LVDS as a de-facto standard.

LKS for reasons known only to itself, decided to use RS-422, a different transport method running higher voltage levels.
This caused LKS to use non-standard I2S signal termination, this limited the performance of the SU-6.

Device is the DS90LV032A, pulse jitter specs match that of the IL715 used with the Amanero.
Replaces stock DS26LV032 part.
This is 3x better than the stock part LKS used.

The other part of the mod is to use LVDS termination, the green rectangular packages in the photo.
100 ohm Vishay PTN Tantalum Nitride resistors.
Non inductive, 0.1%, high stability (10ppm) .

This mod brings I2S performance back to parity with the Amanero USB interface.

 

[moss]

I'm using mac mini with Uptone audio MMK power supply with Uptone JS-2 lps, only essential services activated on mac mini. USB out into Sotm sms200 neo and/or uptone regen, both powered by lps. Have you compared HDMI to USB?

I did compare the USB to both BNC and I2s. I preferred both BNC and I2s to USB, but the USB was the first type used in early 004s.

 

[piaseczek]

This mod replaces the galvanic isolator on the 004.

Isolator is the chip below the Amanero card


The existing isolator has 2 specific issues that can be improved
1) High jitter about 300ps
2) Noisy, data is sent over a modulated data carrier, LKS did not take steps to deal with noise coming from this.

This creates a bottleneck that limits the performance of the Amanero interface.

The replacement:
1) 3x less jitter, pulse jitter about 100ps
2) Uses different isolation transport, Giant Magneto-Resistive (GMR) vs capacitive, data carrier not required. Much less noise to deal with.
3) Better dielectric isolation, 6kV vs 4kV

Device is the IL715V from NVE Electronics.
Replaces stock ISO7640


This effectively puts the Amanero performance well above that of the SU-6 running stock I2S over HDMI receiver.
The improved Sipex based receiver performs slightly worse

Jitter performance is 3x better that both of the I2S receivers.

It will require changing the I2S receiver to LVDS before the performance of the SU-6 can catch up

b0bb,
thanks, another great mod to improve the USB input
Unfortunately there is no NVE IL715V in Mouser.

 

[b0bb]

b0bb,
thanks, another great mod to improve the USB input
Unfortunately there is no NVE IL715V in Mouser.

Get it from Digikey UK
https://www.digikey.co.uk/products/en?keywords=il715v

 

[b0bb]

...but the USB was the first type used in early 004s.

The old Amanero USB interface is a well designed piece of hardware and represents significant improvement over the reference design from Amanero.
The main improvement here is the card has a dedicated voltage regulator for each of the active devices on the board.
The regulators play an important role to isolate the devices from power supply disturbance from nearby devices on the board.

In this design, there is a dedicated regulator for each active load

1) Individual regulators for each of the crystals. Total of 3
2) 1 regulator each for the Xilinx CPLD and Atmel Microcontroller. total of 2
3) 1 regulator for the galvanic isolator

Grand total of 6.
The regulator is the low noise ADP151 200mA regulator from Analog Devices.
Marked with a yellow [X]

The new version looks like a product of cost reduction.
The number of regulators have been halved and the job got a lot harder for the regulator as it now has to service demands from more than 1 load device.
Larger capacitors and higher power handling is a poor substitute for an active voltage regulator.

Below is a more detailed markup
Notice that the Xilinx [Xy] chip responsible for the output is about 5x further from the connector compared to the old board
The unshielded traces [T] run between 2 inductors [L] and the magnetic field from the coils does no good to the I2S signal integrity.
The inductors appear shielded to reduce the magnetic disturbance from the coils but they should have avoided the problem with a better layout.

When it comes to LKS and their attempts to update the USB interface, the end result has not always been for the better

 

[oldearwax]

The old Amanero USB interface is a well designed piece of hardware and represents significant improvement over the reference design from Amanero.
The main improvement here is the card has a dedicated voltage regulator for each of the active devices on the board.
The regulators play an important role to isolate the devices from power supply disturbance from nearby devices on the board.

In this design, there is a dedicated regulator for each active load

1) Individual regulators for each of the crystals. Total of 3
2) 1 regulator each for the Xilinx CPLD and Atmel Microcontroller. total of 2
3) 1 regulator for the galvanic isolator

Grand total of 6.
The regulator is the low noise ADP151 200mA regulator from Analog Devices.
Marked with a yellow [X]


The new version looks like a product of cost reduction.
The number of regulators have been halved and the job got a lot harder for the regulator as it now has to service demands from more than 1 load device.
Larger capacitors and higher power handling is a poor substitute for an active voltage regulator.


Below is a more detailed markup
Notice that the Xilinx [Xy] chip responsible for the output is about 5x further from the connector compared to the old board
The unshielded traces [T] run between 2 inductors [L] and the magnetic field from the coils does no good to the I2S signal integrity.
The inductors appear shielded to reduce the magnetic disturbance from the coils but they should have avoided the problem with a better layout.


When it comes to LKS and their attempts to update the USB interface, the end result has not always been for the better

Each regulator in 005 has more pins ... My *guess* is that it is a multi-channel linear LDO serving CoolRunner's multiple IO bank.
The long power line running from the transformer is gone, double decker no more.
Are these good things ???

 

[b0bb]

Each regulator in 005 has more pins ... My *guess* is that it is a multi-channel linear LDO serving CoolRunner's multiple IO bank.
The long power line running from the transformer is gone, double decker no more.
Are these good things ???

Need to see pictures of the 005 regulator, need to see device part numbers to comment.
Double decker places regulator closest to the USB interface.