[Matthew Willims]

Well 4 days in and the Aquarius is already the best I've heard yet.... And I don't even have a DDC + clock feeding it. U18 is on order and the Mutec sold. This DAC can pull off a sense of scale that I've never experienced in a system before. Very impressive.

 

[Palyodgree]

Well 4 days in and the Aquarius is already the best I've heard yet.... And I don't even have a DDC + clock feeding it. U18 is on order and the Mutec sold. This DAC can pull off a sense of scale that I've never experienced in a system before. Very impressive.

Right on , I haven’t listened to my Aquarius yet Ive been running a signal through it 24/7 the pass few days . Start up a new thread Matthew I’ll join in the next few days ,

 

[Matthew Willims]

And.... Done

 

[ecc35]

Just confirmed with Musician Audio that Pegasus' XLR output is 3.55V not 4.4V. Anyone uses the Pegasus with Flux FA-12 without a preamp successfully?

 

[output555]

Ooops
Fortunately I kept my Ares II

Two YouTubers playing audiophile. Watch with a big grain of salt.

 

[TheManko]

Two YouTubers playing audiophile. Watch with a big grain of salt.

The very first Pegasus units sent out to reviewers had issues. But I believe when early customers got theirs the issues had been fixed, and I haven't seen anyone run into the issues mentioned in the video during all of 2021. It can be easy to forget that Musician is a very new company, so when they made the video in September 2020 most people had no idea it was run by the same people as Denafrips. Everyone should forget about the video and see it more as a historic curiosity. There's no useful information in it for someone buying a Pegasus today.

 

[output555]

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."

 

[output555]

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."

2A, slow-blow correct? What is the length of the replacement fuses?

 

[Matthew Willims]

My Aquarius takes 5x20mm 2A slow blow fuses. I used a Synergistic Research Purple. A massive improvement across the board even before burn in.

 

[output555]

Good to know, thanks
Did you try the Pegasus before landing the Aquarius? It’s almost triple the price.

 

[Matthew Willims]

Good to know, thanks
Did you try the Pegasus before landing the Aquarius? It’s almost triple the price.

No, I wanted to be sure that I got a DAC that has a good chance to compete on the same level as the Abbas Esoteric Audio DAC 2.2SE I was running at the time, while being able to go tube free. So far it looks like the Aquarius is the better DAC in almost every area though the Abbas is still more real sounding overall. More realistic tonality and presence. Overall though after a weeks burn in and installing the SR Purple fuse Is rate them as about even which is what I was hoping for.

Those who prefer realistic timbres would favour the Abbas, and those who prefer more fine detail, particularly in terms of bass would prefer the Aquarius. The Aquarius has lightning quick transients which makes it a better choice for certain types of music….. Nothing I play with any regularity though.

 

[output555]

Thanks, Matthew. The Aquarius is not in my budget at present so I went with the Pegasus. It'll be interesting to see how it fares against the ESS 90128 chip in my PS Audio Gain Cell. I'll probably try the Hi-Fi Tuning Gold fuses since they're quite a bit less than the SR Purples.

 

[Matthew Willims]

I’ve also had very good experiences with the $5 Aucharm sterling silver fuses from AliExpress. They start off bright then settle down giving great added transparency.

 

[output555]

Great to know. I'll check them out.
Thanks, Matthew!

 

[Basil65]

I've had my Pegasus for 2 weeks now. It's been burning in for 24 hours/day since I have it. I am listening to it as I write this and it is absolutely stunning. Will be doing a comparison this weekend with both my Auralic Vega and my Musical Fidelity M6sR DACs... but I already have a feeling I know how the results will turn out.