HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

So the new cabling is slated to arrive today, got the UPS delivery notification to my email yesterday. We will see how that all turns out, and perhaps I can stand pat with that combination. I really hope that is the case.

But I have been looking at alternatives. I happen to have a source for the Musician Pegasus in the US, so I did a bit of reading since its mentioned here. Looks like there is a bit of controversy over it, and that part of it is built by Denafrips. It seems they use their receiver chip, and the board looks somewhat similar. Or they are at least sharing OEM production subcontractor. Apparently there is one thread out there where folks from Musician were quite evasive in answering anything in detail about how their DAC is constructed. But I think I can get my hands on a unit for listening, so if necessary I may try to bring a Pegasus in for a listen. I am hoping I don't have to go that route though.

I read up a lot on the Musician Pegasus when I was waiting for my Denafrips Ares II to arrive. As far as I can tell, the story is this:

Denafrips have an exclusive worldwide distribution deal via Vinshine in Singapore. Another party obtained the rights (from the factory) for domestic distribution within China - but they started selling worldwide. This caused problems for Vinshine with warranty's etc.

The other party, renamed themselves 'Musician', reworked the Ares into the Pegasus and use the same manufacturing facility as Denafrips. They are very cagey about reviews and do not, at all, want anyone to compare their products against Denafrips units. Also worldwide service and guarantees are less well organised - I have had contact with the sales manager at Vinshine, Alvin Chee, who is extremely helpful.

Maybe the Musician Pegasus is a good DAC. I am VERY impressed with the build quality and sound of the Ares II and the service from Vinshine / Denafrips.

Cables represent the biggest audio rabbit hole in the whole universe. The fact there are numerous businesses ranging from one man bands to large companies selling cables in excess of 1000 £/€/$ per pair is proof enough that it's still an area with no accepted standards or even widely accepted best practice. FWIW I also think it's an area that offers the DIY audio enthusiast the greatest opportunity to improve their sound and save a ton of money. I am currently looking to make an identical pair of 1m RCA cables to a pair that retail at $1800 plus shipping and tax. If everything goes to plan they will cost me circa £80 or $120. If I don't think using them has improved the sound it would be very easy to reuse the bulk of the parts in a different design. This makes the risk to reward ratio so compelling I simply have to have a go. The required parts are coming from many different countries but the first prototypes should be finished in about 1 month from now.

It's odd fact that UK is the only other country that has an authorised Denefrips distributor however the reality is that Willow Tree Audio don't distribute but do directly resell Denefrips gear. The UK price is a tiny bit more than going via Vinshine but offers the potential for far better and economic product support. Iain at Willow Tree has somehow managed to get the resale rights for a good number of very well respected audio gear and seems perfectly fine to deal with.

@nilsatisnisioptimum

I certainly agree that cabling is a quagmire, and I have a love/hate relationship with the stuff. I recognize that different cables present music in a different manner, so their selection matters. I also understand the arguments against them such as the quality of the internal wiring being less sophisticated, or the use of a fuse in line in terms of power cables, or that all that expensive wire is hooked up to a gold plated brass connector with centimeters of contact area. Everything said against them makes rational sense, but I hear what I hear too.

Also the things are ungodly expensive, and should not cost what they do. I won't pay MSRP, or they would have to be game changing wire for me to do that. I am fortunate that I have a few avenues where I can purchase certain brands at a reasonable price. Or I go to the used market so I can get ones I feel are reasonably priced.

The whole process shows what is great about this hobby, and yet what is also predatory. Love/Hate is a great descriptor about how I feel about them. Every time I try to downgrade and spend what I think is reasonable I end up being dissatisfied with what I hear, and have to return to the level I was at.

Anyone using a pre amp feature in their DAC?
- as stated by members before ‘the dac is now an important link in the digital chain’ and a system as a whole especially as more brands seem to combine dac & pre amp- it could be a useful tool for me to get remote volume & selectablity but I’m worried about sq if I move away from a passive pre. Thoughts?

Latteman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 9:46 pm Anyone using a pre amp feature in their DAC?
- as stated by members before ‘the dac is now an important link in the digital chain’ and a system as a whole especially as more brands seem to combine dac & pre amp- it could be a useful tool for me to get remote volume & selectablity but I’m worried about sq if I move away from a passive pre. Thoughts?

I set my P90 to about halfway (which is around where I usually have it for listening to vinyl) and then make fine adjustments via the RME Dac's remote. I can't hear any difference in SQ compared to having the RME at full output, but that may not apply with all digital volume controls.

Standard advice is not to run a DAC with pre-amp directly into an NVA power amp. A few people seem to do it without any problem, but you should proceed with caution if you do go that route, as some sources may have too much gain.

My Topping E30, fronting the P20/A20, sounds slightly better in DAC mode, but I normally select pre amp mode so I can control the volume with the remote. The volume on play lists can vary a lot and I don't want to get out of bed.

Wiring is weird stuff, I wish it were simple but it never seems to be. I wish there was a simple way to predict what it does, but I don't seem to know what that is. Case in point, I was getting very close to giving up on this Mivera Audio DAC, thinking I made a bad purchase. As a last gasp hope I got samples of the Wireworld interconnects and power cord. Initial install was a bit dark and distant sounding, but significantly different than what I have had before. I am about 24 hours into using it and the sound has evened out and opened up a bit. Wireworld wants about 100 hours break in, which in my mind its not huge, about 4 days of constant use. Pretty easy to do on a music server, just let it run random into the pre amp, and turn down the volume when needed. At 24 hours though I wanted to do a parity check as I thought things were sounding favorable. In went a couple of pairs of interconnects I was using, one pair of of Overnight Sensations and one pair of Grover Huffman. Both went back to that tonally gray sound I had. So these Wireworld appear to be putting me on the right track, the sound is tonally textured and evenly balanced, its quite listenable. Why? That is a hard one to say, as its sure not materials related, so probably dielectric or wire geometry. The Overnight Sensations is a copper wire weave, while the Grover Huffman is a silver ribbon with copper return ribbon. Thw Wireworld is a silver over copper hybrid, which many feel can be a bright recipe. LCR is supposed to explain all when it comes to wire, but its hard to get those numbers it seems. Then it becomes a matter of understanding the interrelationships between all three legs and what the end results will be.

The logical solution to this wiring and noise issue between streamer and dac is to have both in one unit with a very short distance between both parts. Signal can be sent by I2S over two or three centimetres. Only one master clock needed. No converter chips, fancy cables, re clockers or filters needed. Simple and effective (just like a CD player )

I know it limits box swappers because both things are in the same box but to me it makes completes sense unless I am missing something We are a less is more community I thought. As long as the power supplies are separate for each part (streaming section ,dac, anologue output stage) and everything has it's own high quality dedicated regulator then Bob's yer uncle.