[kopczas]

I am in the same predicament; Pisces, Boya, or even Gustard U18. I am leaning towards the Pisces, but there's so little info on it...

there`s sale going on on shenzenaudio and hifigo. You can get Boya for 413$.

I got U18 as there was pretty great offer on amazon.

 

[Tubewin]

The Musician brand has a tendency to punch up. Their Pegasus Dac is pretty much best in class for the price. I would imagine their top of the line DDC Phoenix is best in class as well. I'm actually curious about the Phoenix considering the positive experience I have with the Pegasus.

 

[babauer]

The Musician brand has a tendency to punch up. Their Pegasus Dac is pretty much best in class for the price. I would imagine their top of the line DDC Phoenix is best in class as well. I'm actually curious about the Phoenix considering the positive experience I have with the Pegasus.

I purchased a used Pegasus in May, replacing some Aune gear. *Wicked* impressed. After reading about i2S, and getting intrigued, started looking around for a DDC. I needed at least 3 inputs - most had only 1 or 2. Audio Art Cable had a Phoenix at a slight price reduction, so I purchased from there in October, as there was a return window, if I was not impressed.

I still have the Phoenix. A very worthwhile addition. The already quiet noise floor fell away. There is a sense of ease and effortlessness to the music that I find relaxing and engaging. I now attribute a lot of these benefits to the galvanic isolation making my mid-fi sources sound better. Then there's all of the buffering, the accurate thermally-controlled crystal clocks and the i2S providing a better data stream for the Pegasus to decode. I really like it.

I do have one nit to pick though: the controls layout is a triumph of form over function.There are six little selector buttons (COAX, USB, etc) way over on the right side, and the corresponding indicator LEDs are arrayed in rows, starting on the left, and don't match the layout of the buttons (buttons have no LEDs). Then the buttons and LEDs are labelled in teeny-tiny letters that are impossible to read in dim light. I finally put pieces of colored tape on each source and a corresponding piece by each button.

 

[SupCompracer]

Anyone have the Musician Phoenix DDC paired with a Gustard R26? A friend in NY has both and can't get the Phoenix to work with the R26 via i2S over HDMI. The Musician Phoenix manual mentions the possibility of different I2S line order but provides no documentation to show their HDMI pinout. The chart in Phoenix manual (pic attached) lists I2S pin and shows 2x, 4x and 8x (sampling rate???) while the R26 would be HDMI pins 1, 4 and 7. A request for info from Musician has not been answered.

The Denafrips Gaia mentioned provides illustration and chart with HDMI pinout which is 1,3/4,6/7,9.