[T 1000]

I just have to get this off my chest... How can you NOT own a Denafrips Terminator??? I mean T1000?

As far as I know all those 3 reviews follow the exact same lines of the press release. Exactly telling us as instructed. Same phrases, same words. So much for independent journalism. The only one who does not follow the official party line is critical.

You ASSUME the device sent to NBT is faulty. I sincerely doubt it. As i explained elsewhere the probable cause is the computer + s/p-dif. S/p-dif has one line sending alternating packages of left and right signals, so messing up the timing can make it swap sides. It could be the s/p-dif receiver is causing these timing issues, but if it's 'allergic' to vague timing i wouldn't nescessarily call it faulty. Just feed it better signal and its fine.
One other thing i can think of is the extra inputs. Iirc these splice in after the s/p-dif input. Could that be the cause? That they made a shortcut and left the door open for RF noise or something?
I think it's telling that 'Musician' support and testers have no clue and just send customers a test chart saying 'the unit is fine, it is your fault'. This is what happens when you steal a design and sell it off as your own. When you designed something yourself you have a far better grasp of what might be going wrong (and a clear conscience, no need to cover up).

Also again you assume Musician audio sent the unit 'to the reviewer who has already declared himself against Pegasus!'. Where did you get that? Jay comes across as very, very objective, fair and super honest. When fed USB the unit works fine and this is what Jay from NBT reviewed and describes.

Jay is also honest enough to talk about the elephant in the room that all those other 'positive' reviews are silent as the grave about. That is that the Pegasus looks identical to the Denafrips Ares with cosmetic upgrades, extra inputs, downgrade in the power supply and a 'verschlimbessertes' (great german word for driving your cart in the muck while trying to improve) active output.

Maybe you are all hoping he had a defective unit that would explain the bad review. That way you did not make a wrong choice (who wants to admit that?) or could have done better at a lower price buying the Ares II. Well then rest assured, you still have a great dac that is far ahead of most of the competition. Most, because the original is even better AND cheaper to boot.

I really don't care whose is bigger and nicer, I have a great synergy that will soon be upgraded with a curious usb cable and a better xlr cable.
I currently enjoy running Adani & Wolf, and I know I didn't make a mistake in choosing any component in my system

 

[sajunky]

I don't think it's right to say the Pegasus looks identical to the Ares; excluding the front plate, I'd say the casework's come from a Pontus.

Wishful thinking.... .LOL.
I wouldn't position Pegasus next to Pontus, sorry.

Ares and Pegasus has a single frame. Pontus has a dual frame, with transformer section in the lower cage, all senstive parts shielded.

 

[NehPets]

Wishful thinking.... .LOL.
I wouldn't position Pegasus next to Pontus, sorry.

Ares and Pegasus has a single frame. Pontus has a dual frame, with transformer section in the lower cage, all senstive parts shielded.

Apologies for the ambiguity. I realise that the Pontus has a dual chassis; when I said the Pegasus casework looked like that of the Pontus, I was alluding to the profile of panels, not the construction.

 

[sajunky]

Apologies for the ambiguity. I realise that the Pontus has a dual chassis; when I said the Pegasus casework looked like that of the Pontus, I was alluding to the profile of panels, not the construction.

I understand. Still, a casework is being a major improvement for SQ and also justification for a higher cost. Even if Pegasus motherboard is based on Pontus design (which I doubt), it is exposed to a higher noise than in Pontus. For me it is based on the Ares II MB with cost cuts in the power section (which can be good or not, I don't know) and some attention to the HF filtering, but the latest version of Ares II MB comes with the same improvements.

 

[funkur]

You can see my pics on first page of this thread. Mine did not come in a plastic bag, but looked fine. I'm not super picky though lol.

I totally missed your pics, but thank you for confirming. Aoshida has been great and offered to send a replacement top case for mine. I try to keep my gear minty fresh for when the upgrade bug hits!

----

Re: NBT "controversy" -- I think some folks may have misinterpreted their video. In the YouTube comments, NBT themselves write "update: Musician Audio contacted back to us again recently - They offered to take the unit back and diagnose the issues communicated. We are open to re-evaluating the Pegasus DAC if they wish to after sorting out the defects. more details to follow. " and " if you have not noticed in the video. We are not commenting/concerned about the performance but the rather "shady attitude" of this company."

I think NBT was more pissed off about the lack of customer service they received when they brought up their concerns. Which I can say has most certainly not been my experience.

The folks at Aoshida have been very responsive both pre and post sale. I've worked in Hifi sales before... crap happens and then you work to fix it. To Musician’s credit, their public response was forthright but they should’ve let their sales channel take care of any issues. NBT did not specifically ask for a replacement unit but someone more versed in sales would have read between the lines.

If one of my customers tried to contact Pioneer Elite about their plasma TVs, their Martin Logan’s, or Samsung anything back in 2003 instead of me and had a YouTube channel....

----

The Pegasus - while I don't have detailed impressions as I've only had it for a week, I must say I'm really digging it so far in NOS mode for both PCM and DSD64. I think it'll be a keeper.

 

[tuckers]

While the customer experience these folx had was not great, and I think they were justified in calling it out, these guys are pretty much Denafrips fanboys, so I thought they came down on them kind of hard. I would love it if they gave it a listen and reported back on that.

 

[T 1000]

While the customer experience these folx had was not great, and I think they were justified in calling it out, these guys are pretty much Denafrips fanboys, so I thought they came down on them kind of hard. I would love it if they gave it a listen and reported back on that.

But there is another thread on that topic on this forum, and the whole discussion has spread to this thread as well.
So I’m not sure listening to pegasus would bring recognition.

 

[smallcaps]

But there is another thread on that topic on this forum, and the whole discussion has spread to this thread as well.
So I’m not sure listening to pegasus would bring recognition.

Good point. Let's please keep this thread to audio impressions of the DAC. Thanks everyone.

 

[T 1000]

Musician recommends XLR output
I connected Pegasus and Bryston BHA1 with Wireworld Eclipse 8 (previously Mogami 2534)
After 50 hours ... I'm surprised by the improvement in every way
I had a great sound with Mogami, but this is a new dimension of sound
My pair is 0.5m, and I consider it the cheapest upgrade I could undertake
I ordered -Inakustik referentz USB 2.0
When I thought I had a fantastic DAC, it turned out I hadn’t heard it completely
Bravo Pegasus

 

[tuckers]

Yes, the Musician does sound better running balanced out! I've tried it both ways.

BTW, I have gone full on looney and ordered a Holo May KTE R2R dac. So at some point I'll give a comparison (long lead times on shipping dac).

 

[funkur]

Musician recommends XLR output
I connected Pegasus and Bryston BHA1 with Wireworld Eclipse 8 (previously Mogami 2534)
After 50 hours ... I'm surprised by the improvement in every way
I had a great sound with Mogami, but this is a new dimension of sound
My pair is 0.5m, and I consider it the cheapest upgrade I could undertake
I ordered -Inakustik referentz USB 2.0
When I thought I had a fantastic DAC, it turned out I hadn’t heard it completely
Bravo Pegasus

I agree, XLR is definitely the way to go based on specs alone, but the audible difference is significant.

I don't know if anyone else feels the same way, but I'm finding the AES input to be superior to the USB, but I don't have an I2S source to try. I also slightly preferred using Optical (with a glass fiber cable) over USB from my Auralic Aries.

Lastly, upgrading the internal fuses really takes this DAC to the next level. I am currently using the HiFi Tuning Supreme3 Cu fuses but I may try the Ag version out down the line. For $50-$100 or so, it's an amazing return on investment.

According to Aoshida, the DAC uses both fuses in 115V operation and just a single fuse in 220V (2A small slow/delay fuses). See below:

"The engineer said from the live wire of the power tailstock to the fuse is the direction marked by you.
The red color is the fuse of 220V operation,
For 115V operation, the red color and blue color works at the same time."

 

[T 1000]

I agree, XLR is definitely the way to go based on specs alone, but the audible difference is significant.

I don't know if anyone else feels the same way, but I'm finding the AES input to be superior to the USB, but I don't have an I2S source to try. I also slightly preferred using Optical (with a glass fiber cable) over USB from my Auralic Aries.

Lastly, upgrading the internal fuses really takes this DAC to the next level. I am currently using the HiFi Tuning Supreme3 Cu fuses but I may try the Ag version out down the line. For $50-$100 or so, it's an amazing return on investment.

According to Aoshida, the DAC uses both fuses in 115V operation and just a single fuse in 220V (2A small slow/delay fuses). See below:

"The engineer said from the live wire of the power tailstock to the fuse is the direction marked by you.
The red color is the fuse of 220V operation,
For 115V operation, the red color and blue color works at the same time."

I didn't know that replacing fuses could improve the sound quality, and that they are so expensive.
The manufacturer states that the replacement should be performed by a professional electrician ... is it just for the right direction or is there something else that needs to be done properly?

 

[funkur]

I didn't know that replacing fuses could improve the sound quality, and that they are so expensive.
The manufacturer states that the replacement should be performed by a professional electrician ... is it just for the right direction or is there something else that needs to be done properly?

Lol, no, it’s super easy. I tried upgraded fuses just recently in my amps and it was a great experience. I’m totally sold on their benefits.

If one finds that a better power cable or power conditioning works, then they’ll agree once they hear better fuses. All the power coming into the unit passes through a tiny little wire, so, to me anyway, that’s just as important as the quality of the upstream power coming in.

 

[T 1000]

Lol, no, it’s super easy. I tried upgraded fuses just recently in my amps and it was a great experience. I’m totally sold on their benefits.

If one finds that a better power cable or power conditioning works, then they’ll agree once they hear better fuses. All the power coming into the unit passes through a tiny little wire, so, to me anyway, that’s just as important as the quality of the upstream power coming in.

Of how many Ampère, and do I need both?

 

[funkur]

According to Aoshida, the DAC uses both fuses in 115V operation and just a single fuse in 220V (2A small slow/delay fuses). See below:

"The engineer said from the live wire of the power tailstock to the fuse is the direction marked by you.
The red color is the fuse of 220V operation,
For 115V operation, the red color and blue color works at the same time."