[Matthew Willims]

Ok, I thought I'd start up this thread for discussion of the Musician Aquarius R2R DAC. I've had mine burning in for a few days now. Upon first turning on, it sound broken.... Your average $30 DAC off eBay sounded better. After 4 days it is in many respects rivaling my previous Mutec MC3+USB + AfterDark Emperor Double Crown OCXO clock + Abbas Esoteric Audio DAC 2.2SE combo. I did briefly try it with the Mutec (right before I sold it) and can confirm that a DDC does give a considerable improvement in sound quality (more spacious, more natural sounding) also so I've a Gustard U18 on order which will be used on the i2s input along with my OCXO clock.

Fine detail in terms of cymbals etc still not quite up with what I was getting from my previous combo though plenty of burn in needed and it must be noted that I'm running the USB input on the DAC presently. Detail in the bass regions is superior to what I'm accustomed too and it is giving hints of that same lifelike presentation I was getting with the Abbas along with at times a sense of huge scale with large orchestral pieces. Still, a long way to go with burn in yet.

Given my previous experiences where some DAC's (The AKM4497EQ based Gieseler Gross for example) benefit from a DSD input (erven if just up-sampled) I have experimented with letting Roon up-sample to the highest possible DSD and PCM rates and I must say..... It made absolutely zero audible difference. Based on that I'm just letting Roon play files and streams at their native resolution. There appears no point in up-sampling with this unit, as it should be.

So yeah, awaiting a 1m Gothic Audio Semperfi "The Outsider" USB cable (sold my 30cm cable with the Mutec, currently using a Curious Evolved), a 1m WireWorld Starlight 7 HDMI cable for I2S (the flat, red cable - Sold my Duelund silver SPDIF with the Mutec) and the Gustard U18 DDC from China. Then those will need burn in as well. Another thread noted about 3 weeks for the U18 and previous experience tells me about a week for the USB. Hopefully similar for the I2S cable.

 

[Palyodgree]

Thank you Matthew for starting this thread !

SoundNews was right about the Musician Aquarius , I had a brief listen just a while ago ,.,,,,.”It Sounds Awful” ..…Well until it gets a good run in , if I understood correctly ,..two weeks plus about 400 hours according to Sandu the Romanian reviewer and owner of SoundNews . His YouTube review is what grabbed my attention of the Musician Aquarius including an extended well written version on his web page ,,,exceptional reviews,
And for any interest his current review of the HiFiman Susvaras is by far the best I have read to date.

 

[Matthew Willims]

Actually the sounding awful bit only took a day or so to go away.... After 4 days it's not quite up with the best I've heard though it's very close. It is presently every now and again hinting at where it will end up with glimpses of incredible sound stage, a massive scale while orchestral pieces which I've never heard before.... But kind of hit and miss. It's that added meat and body and dynamics which in my experience comes with burn in thats needed. That said, I can hear it improving though at the slowest pace I've ever experienced with a piece of equipment. I can already tell that it will be well worth the wait though.

I just added a Musical Paradise MP-T1 balanced isolation transformer to the mix today. Incredibly well built unit. 27kg's of power filtering goodness

 

[okan]

Did anyone get chance to compare it with pegasus? I have pegasus and I am very happy with it. I am curious about the differences between pegasus and aquarius.

 

[Matthew Willims]

Sorry no….. I moved across from an Abbas DAC 2.2SE.

 

[zima500]

Matthew, can you edit your first post to look something like the following? It makes it easier to get general info and also looks cooler.


MUSICIAN Aquarius R2R DAC

Detailed Review:




https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/musician-aquarius-r-2r-dac-review/


Product website:
http://www.musician-audio.com/en/col.jsp?id=134


Technical Highlights

Proprietary R2R + DSD Architecture True balanced 24BIT R2R + 6BIT DSD (32 steps FIR Filters) Adopt 0.005% precision resistance

Constant temperature twin crystal oscillator design Low distortion, Low Noise Power Supply O-type single crystal copper transformer FIFO Buffer Digital Signal Processing via FPGA DSD1024, PCM1536 Supports On USB & I2S Input (the audio source needs to be compatible with the native interface) Proprietary USB Audio Solution via STM32F446 Advanced AMR Based MCU Licensed Thesycon USB Driver For Windows Platform Driverless On Mac & Linux

DSD

DSD64-DoP On All Input DSD1024 On USB & I2S Input

PCM 24bits / 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192KHz On All Input 1536kHz On USB & I2S Input

Sampling Mode: Non-Oversampling NOS / Oversampling OS

Digital Input USB * 1 ， AES/EBU * 1 ， Optical * 1 ， Coaxial * 1 ，I2S* 2

Analog Output RCA * 1 ， XLR * 1

Unit Size:
330*300*60mm

Unit Weight:
5.8KG

Packing weight
7.35KG

 

[Matthew Willims]

It looks like you’ve included everything though. The Soundnews review is the only review out there on the unit that I’m aware of

I was just planning to post my own experiences with this unit once it gets through its lengthy burn in. In many ways it’s already the best I’ve heard about a week into burn in though reportedly it keeps improving up to around 330 hours use.

 

[zima500]

Ok. I'll leave my post the way it is then.

I'm on my 4th day through burn-in and the Aquarius is incredibly immersive. I've got this paired up with the Burson Soloist GT amp, which has a huge soundstage itself, and the combo is sick. Biggest sounding audio I've ever heard, and I only use headphones.

It's a shame that Holo spring3 had all the hype and attention, while the Aquarius is actually the superior dac.

 

[Palyodgree]

For those whom use HDMI i2s the pin out is compatible with PS Audio’s pin lay out which means the Aquarius will be compatible with a verity of manufactures using this connection . Currently I’m using USB out of a server , I am waiting delivery of a tube headphone amplifier though I did listen to a few tunes played through the Aquarius prior just selling a current headphone amplifier.
Looking forward to listening at length with the Aquarius in the mix .

 

[Matthew Willims]

Ok. I'll leave my post the way it is then.

I'm on my 4th day through burn-in and the Aquarius is incredibly immersive. I've got this paired up with the Burson Soloist GT amp, which has a huge soundstage itself, and the combo is sick. Biggest sounding audio I've ever heard, and I only use headphones.

It's a shame that Holo spring3 had all the hype and attention, while the Aquarius is actually the superior amp.

Interesting. You've directly compared the two? I know my previous Abbas Audio DAC 2.2SE bettered the Spring 3 according to the chap who bought it and owns both.....

Currently the Aquarius is ahead of the Abbas in a number of, though not all areas however it's important to note that the Abbas was fed by a LPS powered Mutec MC3+USB and quality external OCXO clock. Based on how close it is in terms of performance after just a weeks burn in I fully expect the Aquarius to better the Abbas on its own when it hits the 300 hour mark however I intend to add the Gustard U18 to the mix. I briefly tried the Mutec with the Aquarius and it quite noticeably improved it's performance also so I'm expecting further improvement from that too.

 

[Matthew Willims]

My 2a Synergistic Research Purple fuse arrived today. Popped it in and there's an immediate improvement in terms of naturalness and the feeling of being there at the performance. Something I felt was missing before. From previous experience that will continue to improve for a few weeks as well.

 

[zima500]

I've never tried improving audio by swapping fuses. I read some mixed opinions.

So that 2a Synergistic Research Purple fuse is the slow model? And the Aquarius would require two of them?

 

[Matthew Willims]

Two if you have 110VAC, or one if 220-240VAC

 

[]eep]

Ok. I'll leave my post the way it is then.

It's a shame that Holo spring3 had all the hype and attention, while the Aquarius is actually the superior dac.

I'm just curious about this. This is not the first time this happens. It looks very much like a cover-up. Why is everyone avoiding the elephant in the room?

Musician Audio leans (takes, steals, borrows, 'inspired by') heavily on Denafrips designs. Denafrips is doing all the research and have far better customer service than either 'Musician' or Holo Audio (which are both terrible). So it would be fairer to compare Denafrips Venus II or Pontus II to either of them. As several serious reviewers do. 'The question' is; Denafrips or Holo.
Just the fact that these are all already in their second iteration where the MA are 'new' should say a lot about what the original is.

I don't want to stir up a flame, again (cognitive dissonance wants to be left alone). But this does need to be mentioned.

 

[Palyodgree]

I'm just curious about this. This is not the first time this happens. It looks very much like a cover-up. Why is everyone avoiding the elephant in the room?

Musician Audio leans (takes, steals, borrows, 'inspired by') heavily on Denafrips designs. Denafrips is doing all the research and have far better customer service than either 'Musician' or Holo Audio (which are both terrible). So it would be fairer to compare Denafrips Venus II or Pontus II to either of them. As several serious reviewers do. 'The question' is; Denafrips or Holo.
Just the fact that these are all already in their second iteration where the MA are 'new' should say a lot about what the original is.

I don't want to stir up a flame, again (cognitive dissonance wants to be left alone). But this does need to be mentioned.

Perhaps you missed the conversation a while ago on Darkos site perhaps I’m wrong I have forgotten at the moment,.Anyway I have a Cayin HA 300 amplifier built in a Chinese factory along of another retail brand and there are other Chinese factories that do the same ,its common practice over there apparently.
I’ll try to get the full measure of the Musician Aquarius on its own though I have available to me Denafrips Termintor , Holo Audio May KTE, AudioByte Hydra Vox , Rockna Wavedream plus three completely different systems other members of our group trade and switch components and wire ..