DAC under 75k

[gnanasekhar]

HI All,
Please help me to find a DAC. Will Prefer pre-owned and my budget is under 75k.
Thanks in advance.

 

[techboy]

Asus Essence One Muses Edition. One of the best DACs under $1000 and a decent buy under $2000. Costs just around rs50k in India.

Read rave reviews at headfonia, 6moons and headfi. It is a huge step up from the regular essence one. Is in a different league to say the least.

 

[BLASTO]

Where is it available for around 50k in India?

 

[techboy]

You need to order directly from Asus. It is on order only. Contact Dhiraj Kumar for it. I have his number.

 

[reignofchaos]

Muses is just a scam - its basically a binned JRC2114D/NE5532 with a different marking. I'd rather put my money on a well engineered op amp than a scam such as muses.

 

[sunder]

Buy MHDT Labs'(Taiwan) Non-oversampling , Traditional, Tube Dac-"Havana". Price US$854/ +38(shipping). Balanced XLR output model +300$. This is the top end model.

 

[gnanasekhar]

Does any body know the price of Cary Exciter DAC?

 

[IndianEars]

Heard the Rs 29K ARCAM DAC at the Mumbai HiFi show.... made music.

STREETS ahead of the ASUS (IMO).

The ARCAM is available locally from all ARCAM Dealers. ( Nope, I am Not an ARCAM dealer

The NAD DAC is also good.... but priced a litttle over (I think) Rs 1L.

The Rs 29K ARCAM betters any DAC I have heard below Rs 1 Lakh.

 

[techboy]

None of you have heard muses. The regular edition is not in the same ballpark as the muses.

Read reviews on headfonia and 6moons. They are reputable reviewers. It beats the crap out of the bifrost which is at the same level as the arcam anyway.

 

[reignofchaos]

I have a pair of muses opamps sitting here with me - not impressed! I prefer the sound of the lm4562.

 

[mowgli80]

I have a pair of muses opamps sitting here with me - not impressed! I prefer the sound of the lm4562.

Where did you buy the opamps from? Digikey sells muses in lots of 100 only. If you purchased from ebay then they most definitely are fake. Infact, unless you can actually verify its origins, its almost certainly a fake .

I have odinary essence one running with opa627 and I absolutely love it. The biggest advantage is the ability to do opamp rolling and tweak the sound to your liking. Infact, for brighter speakers, look no further from opa627. Muses edition is good too, but is slightly more lively.

 

[reignofchaos]

Where did you buy the opamps from? Digikey sells muses in lots of 100 only. If you purchased from ebay then they most definitely are fake. Infact, unless you can actually verify its origins, its almost certainly a fake .

I have odinary essence one running with opa627 and I absolutely love it. The biggest advantage is the ability to do opamp rolling and tweak the sound to your liking. Infact, for brighter speakers, look no further from opa627. Muses edition is good too, but is slightly more lively.

Got it from here

Audiotrak Muses 8820 OpAmp High Quality Sound Bipolar Input Dual Op Amp | eBay

So yes could be a fake. However they sound exactly the same as the JRC 2114D in my essence stx. So I'm inclined to believe that they are probably the same chip.

How have you put opa627 chips? Did you get brown dogs?

 

[Mayur k]

Does anyone hav reviews about the sonodyne dac p1 it is with a pre amp and price just around 21k saw it at the hi fi show

 

[lucksin]

well i would be putting my money on importing gungnir. seems like it is just below M51 in performance. M51 is a different ball game all together no doubt but if you have 75k then do consider gungnir in you list.

 

[mowgli80]

@reignofchaos - The XEO ME comes with muses01 opamps which are entirely different opamps compared to muses 8820. I don't know much about muses 8820 to comment on. I have not heard the XEO-ME either but the overall reviews I have read are positive.

I got the browndogs from here and can whole heartedly recommend the seller. The packing and quality is amazingly good. I may have a couple of them spare if anybody wants it.

 

[reignofchaos]

The 8820 is the mass produced version of the muses01. They are apparently the same circuit.

Thanks for the pointer about the brown dog adapters. Shall definitely get a pair and try some OPA627 chips.

 

[deepestpurple]

Try the Musical Fidelity M1 Dac. It is around 50k but is worth every bit of your money. I used to have one

Others to consider - Audiolab M-Dac, Chord Qute HD ....

 

[reignofchaos]

Try the Musical Fidelity M1 Dac. It is around 50k but is worth every bit of your money. I used to have one

Others to consider - Audiolab M-Dac, Chord Qute HD ....

Couldn't help but notice - really impressive stereo rig you've got.

 

[deepestpurple]

Thanks The setup is WIP .... awaiting the CDP and then optimization of the room acoustics ....

 

[thx911]

Saw this on Amazon with freeshipping Amazon.com : ASUS XONAR_EONE Digital-to-Analog Converter : Xonar Essence One Plus : Home Audio & Theater