MUSICIAN Pegasus R2R DAC

[DrMikeOz]

13 hours ago, Daniel1969 said:

Hello all. It seems that people are talking here about a new product that is similar to Denafrips ones. In my opinion this is very true. Because I live close to Sandu from soundnews and we know each other for many years he was very nice and lent me Denafrips Venus after he had done his review. It is a great DAC and deserves a great system to shine. Also... few days ago he uploaded his review on the Musician DAC. I asked him to lend it to me for a while. After listening to it for a few days I decided to sell my European DAC, which is 2 1/2 times more expensive and I bought the sample Musician DAC from Sandu... In my opinion his reviews are honest and mostly based on listening to the DACs thru headphones. I do not like headphones too much... so, my own impresions are based on loudspeakers systems evaluation of hifi components.

 

Beeing new on this site I will not try to stirr the waters.

 

I had bad experiences with chinese DACs in the past... concerning fiability... so, I avoided them till now.

Anyway... IMHO, this DAC is a marvel at this price point. The USB card seems similar to the Denafrips new one, but the drivers are different, at least for Windows based systems. 
 

How it sounds in my opinion?

 

If you(the comunity) will ask me to write my own review I will do it in a few days... 

 

P. S. Please, excuse my English mistakes. It is not my native language!

 

 

If you've listened to the Venus and the Pegasus how do they compare ? 

[FIndingit]

The rare o-core transformers caught my eye. Denafrips uses them (and declares they are made in house) but so does Holo Audio. As far as I know that’s all. Transformer in the Musician is a regular toroidal. 

[Daniel1969]

19 hours ago, DrMikeOz said:

If you've listened to the Venus and the Pegasus how do they compare ? 

I couldn't do a proper comparison between the two DAC's because Venus was in my system a few months before. Since then I did some upgrades of my power filters and cables and these made their own differences. So... I cannot make a valuable statement on this matter. Still... Venus is a very good DAC and most probably needs a very good system to shine as I always said. But, at the moment I listened to Venus I had another DAC in my system: Nuprime DAC 10H. I can make a comparison with that one.

 

Nuprime DAC 10H is a Sabre 9018K2M based  and the sound signature is different than Venus (Nuprime claims it is very neutral). While Venus was smooth and musical,10H seemed a bit more transparent (both on USB) and dynamic. But... I could feel that Venus needs a long burn in time. When I listen to it the first time was a total disaster... after about an hour things changed dramatically in a good way. Hi end DACs need to be on all the time in my opinion... 

 

My review on Pegasus will be delivered here soon, because I need a bit more days to be sure it has settled in. It will be my first written review, so you should take it with a pinch of salt... anyway, as a spoiler I can tell I am pleased, till now, about what I am hearing.

[Daniel1969]

Btw... if you want to read a good review on Venus:

 

http://highfidelity.pl/@main-968&lang=en

 

I quote:

"And the Denafrips converter is perfect in what it does. It offers beautiful colors and great resolution. However, it is not very selective and has no clearly defined bass attack. Space for it is only a background for instruments that are large, firm and tangible. So it's a specialized product. Powerful rock, country, rap, hip-hop - all these recordings will be smoothed and sound "polite". But all the rest will sound great. Even such demanding, dense productions as George Michael's new digital single This Is How (We Want You To Get High) ( MQA 24/96). "

 

The review is professionally elaborated and my findings were similar! 

[Josh Mound]

In the various correspondence some of you have had with Musician, has the company clarified who does the warranty service (Is there a U.S. service center? If not, is the buyer responsible for shipping to China?) and how long the warranty is?

 

Josh

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, JoshM said:

In the various correspondence some of you have had with Musician, has the company clarified who does the warranty service (Is there a U.S. service center? If not, is the buyer responsible for shipping to China?) and how long the warranty is?

 

Josh

I can’t get Musician to respond to anything right now. 

[Josh Mound]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I can’t get Musician to respond to anything right now. 

Don’t they want the DAC back?! 😜

[Daniel1969]

The Denafrips DACs warranty is 3 years. For Musician 1 year!

[giordy60]

if I can say my opinion,
musician-audio does not seem to have subtracted the know out from denafrips ....... bought a project (or part of it) and implemented some things.
or is not it? 🤔

[motberg]

On 6/26/2020 at 1:10 AM, firedog said:

The article by Srajan for Darko probably got it right: it's the same Chinese manufacturer working as an OEM and selling two very similar DACs to 2 different brands. 

Does it suck for Denafrips? You bet. But if the design isn't theirs and they didn't lock down an exclusive on the design from the OEM, I don't think there is much they can do. This is not at all uncommon with Chinese plants. 

One other thing is that, (from my direct experience not directly related to audio), maybe the factory engineers offer a considerable contribution to the design and production engineering. So I would not be surprised if many of the noticed shared characteristics actually originated from the factories' capabilities.

[Daniel1969]

Hello guys,

 

Here is my short review of Musician Pegasus DAC:

 

First of all... my system:

 

Main transport used :

 

Mac mini late 2014(Wireworld Electra C7 power cable) + Audirvana +

2xifi Audio iSilencer plus + USB cable  Acoustic Revive 1.0 SPS

 

DAC : Musician Pegasus

Preamplifier: Electrocompaniet EC 4.8

 

Power amplifier: 2x Electrocompaniet AW400

 

Power cables: 4xWireworld Silver Electra for all(DAC+preamp+monos)

 

Interconnects:

 

DAC to pre - 2 x Kimber Orchid XLR (yes, it is an AES/EBU cable :P)

pre to monos - Tellurium Q Ultra Black II

 

Speaker cabels: Van den Hul The Cloud

 

Speakers: Morel Sopran

 

Power conditioning for DAC+pre+monos: Nuprime AC-4 fed by Cardas Clear Beyond (an amazing power cable)

 

Power filter for network and Mac mini: Fisch Electronics Germany

 

Network cables: Wireworld Chroma from provider router to my router and Audioquest Carbon from router to Mac mini

 

SOUND:

 

Tested using an Thunderbolt Lacie external 2TB HDD filled with flacs, WAV, AIFF, DSF DFF - 16/44.1, 16/96, 24/88,2, 24/96, 24/192, DSD 64 and a few of DSD128. Also TIDAL Master streaming of normal CD quality and MQA unfolded by Audirvana (not fully unfolded anyway)

 

Transparency is great for an R2R DAC (better than Denafrips Venus, as far as I remember, but I already said, I updated my system before having Pegasus..

 so, not a fair comparison) a bit less than Electrocompaniet ECD 2, however.

 

Resolution - on par with my former ECD 2 (2400 euros)

 

Soundstage - huge... a bit better than ECD 2

Trebles - delicate and lots of air

Midrange - as good as any R2R DAC I listened too (a bit better than ECD 2)

Base - spot on and hitting low (maybe a bit less than ECD 2, but I am nitpicking here)

 

Dynamics - here I can tell that it is very close to ECD 2, but not at the same extent, anyway... better than Venus, as far as I recall

 

Transients - excellent for an R2R DAC

 

It reacts very positive to better power cables

 

IMHO - the best DAC I listened to at this price point. An amazing R2R DAC at this price

 

P.S. Tested mostly on USB, but: 

1. using Apple TV 3rd generation on Optical out (very good sound, especially on Youtube)

2. streaming on coax from  Electrocompaniet RENA S-1 streamer (great for TIDAL and local files on USB stick)

3. I do not have a I2S HDMI transport... so, I cannot comment on that

4. Far better on USB than any other digital inputs (in my opinion the USB card is top notch (same as in Venus).

[Holzohr]

I received my Musician Pegasus today. My first R2R DAC. Indeed I was about to order a Pontus II but thanks to this thread I decided for the Pegasus. I like its form factor and of course the price point. The Pegasus won't replace my Matrix X-Sabre Pro (MQA). The plan is to use the Pegasus with HQPlayer via USB. Its I2S input works with my Matrix X-SPDIF 2 very well. Afaik they communicate via 'PS Audio mode'. The odd thing is (to me) the USB input gets deactivated when you chose another input so my HQPlayer 4 Desktop was complaining several times after a system boot that it can not find the DAC (the I2S input was active in this case).

 

There is still lots to play around and to listen. I am realizing the overdose of "Chi-Fi" in my gear. 🙂

 

 

 

 

[jwr159]

Any comments on how the Pegasus compares to other NOS and/or R2R DACS, such as Bi Frost, Gungnir, Holo, Metrum.?  If those that have any experience with the Pegasus can share their views versus these or similar DACs, that would be great to hear. 

[giordy60]

On 30/6/2020 at 01:48, The Computer Audiophile said:

Non riesco a far sì che Musician risponda a nulla in questo momento. 

 

Chris, ..... so you don't publish the proof of this converter anymore? 🤔

[stinks328]

Hey guys, new to the forum but long time reader.  Any update on this upcoming review?  I have a Schiit Freya+ on order along with the Bifrost 2 but because the Freya is on back order until August 7th (at least) and I ordered the two together, I won't get one until I have the other. 

 

The Pegasus DAC looks to represent the same kind of value that the Bifrost 2 does and would love another credible review to read.  I like that the Pegasus is a fully balanced design and can handle DSD which is not the case with the Bifrost 2.

 

I did read Srajan's article on Darko's site and at first was disgusted for Vinshine Audio but have also realized the cultural difference in China is such that the founder of Denafrips did not do this maliciously.

[firedog]

http://highfidelity.pl/@main-1023&lang=en

Review - very positive

[DuckToller]

1 hour ago, firedog said:

Review - very positive

Perfect for Musician, they journalists even avoided any notation of the Denafrips DNA.

[stinks328]

Very positive review indeed but seems to contrast the Soundnews review which emphasizes the bass performance. I did end up ordering the Pegasus over the Bifrost 2 so will hopefully get to see soon. 

[Daniel1969]

Hello guys... after a few months with Pegasus DAC I can totally recommend it. It is getting better and better, especially on USB... one of the best sound quality/price I have ever encounter. Well done Musician team!

[Flextreme]

On 8/5/2020 at 6:41 PM, Daniel1969 said:

Hello guys... after a few months with Pegasus DAC I can totally recommend it. It is getting better and better, especially on USB... one of the best sound quality/price I have ever encounter. Well done Musician team!

 

Daniel1969 and other Pegasus owners. 

 

I received my Pegasus yesterday. I was wondering if you experience the same thing as me with your Pegasus sample: the volume via XLR (and RCA) seems 5-6 db too low on max volume. It sounds great, but not using so much dynamic headroom (5db is a LOT) for output signal is much and seem like and issue/waste of potential. More importantly, the Pegasus specification 4.4 volts output for XLR, it should be louder than my Topping D90 XLR out at 4 volts? It is clearly not, about -4.5db lower output volume on my pegasus than the d90 on XLR. 

 

I tried different drivers, checked all windows & drivers setting, tried USB and SPDIF, and even tried even different source computers. None of my other Dacs have this issue. I emailed Aoshida HiFi about this, and they told me this was by design?? This is super weird, because the sandu's review clearly stated he need only to drop the GD7's 5 volt output signal by 1.4db to match the Pegasus 4.4 volt output signal.

 

When you switched from your Electrocompaniet DAC, did you experience a similar drop in output volume on the Pegasus?

[olegm]

Hi everybody, i also have got this DAC for review, if someone interested: https://soundex.ru/en/obzory/sources-obzory/musician-pegasus/

 

[kvad]

23 hours ago, olegm said:

Hi everybody, i also have got this DAC for review, if someone interested: https://soundex.ru/en/obzory/sources-obzory/musician-pegasus/

 

 

Thank you for the review Oleg! Did you have a chance to compare it to any other DACs? Curious to know whether you feel it settled in after the first week, or if it keeps developing. Been on the fence about the Pegasus, liking much of what I've read, but a bit cautious that it might end up on the lean side. Was hoping it would manage to combine the warmth, body and "soul" many R2R DACs seem to exhibit with added clarity. I suppose from your review it's more of the later, with some sacrifice in the former?

[olegm]

39 minutes ago, kvad said:

 

Thank you for the review Oleg! Did you have a chance to compare it to any other DACs? Curious to know whether you feel it settled in after the first week, or if it keeps developing. Been on the fence about the Pegasus, liking much of what I've read, but a bit cautious that it might end up on the lean side. Was hoping it would manage to combine the warmth, body and "soul" many R2R DACs seem to exhibit with added clarity. I suppose from your review it's more of the later, with some sacrifice in the former?

 

Thank you for reading review. Yes, i compared it to Hegel HD30, which is 4 times more expensive. Hegel had much more bass, had more warmth and "soul". Pegasus played more transparent and clean in midrange and upper. But i would prefer sound of Hegel for my loudspeakers. 

With Dynaudio C4 sound was really good, smooth and transparent. With lot of good and clean bass. But there was still lack of long endings. 

[kvad]

1 hour ago, olegm said:

 

Thank you for reading review. Yes, i compared it to Hegel HD30, which is 4 times more expensive. Hegel had much more bass, had more warmth and "soul". Pegasus played more transparent and clean in midrange and upper. But i would prefer sound of Hegel for my loudspeakers. 

With Dynaudio C4 sound was really good, smooth and transparent. With lot of good and clean bass. But there was still lack of long endings. 

 

Thanks again Oleg. Very helpful. I'll probably temper my curiosity. Would still be curious to know how you feel after longer term use (if by magic, somehow that soul reveals itself after a month or so... probably wishful thinking : ).

[bodiebill]

Anyone knows whether the Pegasus' I2S pin layout is configurable? Or if not, what the layout is? I need the PSAudio layout for my SDTrans384.