Musetec MH-DA006 DAC and MH-SA001 Pre-amplifier
Review samples provided by Boelsz Audio
Retail prices in the Netherlands at the time of review, including 21% VAT:
MH-DA006 DAC – 3.995 Euro
MH-SA001 Pre-amplifier – 4.395 Euro
About Musetec
Known initially as L.K.S Audio and building on several years of experience, Musetec was founded in 2013. In the following years, the company gained recognition for its series of acclaimed audio DACs, including the MH-DA002, DA003, DA004, and DA005. In 2019, the company officially launched the Musetec brand, of which I will review the current Flagship Preamp and DAC.
MH-DA006 DAC Description
The MH-DA006 is Musetec’s Flagship DAC, developed by Musetec over three years and launched in 2024. It has a two-layer structure, with 6 transformers on the lower layer and the DAC main circuit on the upper layer.
The Digital part of DA006 has a two-stage power supply design. The first stage is the AC to DC rectifier and super low noise regulator circuit, and the second stage contains multiple sets of LDOs (low-dropout regulators) to supply power to each functional circuit.
The DAC contains a total of 22 circuit units, powered by a total of 6 power transformers for different circuits with high-current silicon carbide rectification diodes and selected high-grade metal foil capacitors as power supply bypass filters. The ESS ES9039pro DAC is controlled by a total of four high-quality customized clocks and features an FPGA to rebuild the input audio data, following a high-performance USB DDC with USB2.0 bus isolation. The clock of the USB interface is completely synchronous with the DAC chip. For the input I2S signal, the DAC supports both synchronous and asynchronous clock modes. As the input chip, the DAC features an IIS-E CMOS, IIS-H LVDS digital input that supports up to PCM768KHz and DSD1024, and the IIS-H port for which the pin assignment is adjustable.
The analog signal is created by a newly designed, fully symmetrical and discrete high-current analog output circuit comprised of high-quality transistors, highly stable thin-film resistors, with the entire circuit working in Class A mode. Considerable time was spent on the selection of critical components such as capacitors, resistors, and solder. For example, electrolytic capacitors from Mundorf, copper foil capacitors from Duelund, 5N pure silver wires in many places, and even the solder and solder paste have been selected by listening comparisons.
The MH-DA006 DAC offers two Coaxial, one Optical TOSlink, USB, AES/EBU, IIS RJ45, and IIS HDMI inputs. Outputs are available as RCA and XLR.
MH-SA001 Pre-amplifier Description
Musetec has been working on preamps for 8 years, and the result is the flagship MH-SA001 preamp. The preamplifier uses a vertically separated chassis design, with the amplification circuits located in the top layer of the chassis, separated by thick metal plates in the middle from the power supply in the bottom of the chassis.
As with the DAC, the power supply has received special attention. Musetec has tried dozens of power supply decoupling capacitors in extended listening sessions to finally confirm the right match in Duelund. The SA001’s pre-stage uses three power transformers. The power supply of the left and right channels, along with the control part, is separated from the transformer, thereby avoiding crosstalk caused by magnetic coupling.
As Musetec notes, the volume adjustment circuit is an essential part of any preamplifier. Various types of volume potentiometers are available, including the common ALPS 16/27 carbon film, mid-range options like AN or TKD, and high-end precision models such as Elma and Seiden. The choice of potentiometer greatly influences the listening experience due to its high impedance and varying material characteristics. In the process of developing the preamp, Musetec has tried various types of high-end potentiometers, even including voltage divider potentiometers made of AN silver resistors, and electronic volume chips, such as NJRC’s MUSE72320 series.
Ultimately, the company arrived at a fully discrete circuit design, using a low-impedance current transmission mode, that completely avoids the downsides of the mechanical potentiometer and electronic volume chips that were tried before. The low resistance path current mode volume control offers 256 volume levels, with 0.25dB step resolution for the most used level ranges. The output stage is Class-A throughout.
The MH-SA001 Preamp offers three RCA and two XLR inputs. Outputs are available as RCA and XLR. Although RCA and XLR share part of the circuit, each output is equipped with an independent buffer output resistor, so they can generally be used simultaneously.
Infrared Remote Controls. Left: DAC; Right: Preamp
Observations
Both components feel very solid and well-built, with thick aluminum panels, high-quality, well-laid-out connectors, and a clean design. The displays are immediate eye-catchers: crisp and clear, and with very high resolution as well as very dark black backgrounds, they appear almost OLED-like, but are in reality LCDs. The upside, of course, is that LCDs do not burn in. The layout of the displays’ contents is smartly done in multiple rows, and the most essential variables are in extra-large fonts, which are readable even from 6 meters away. The units offer several color schemes to choose from, including plain white on black, but I prefer the default white and purplish red.
Volume control is independent for each input source, which can be useful in certain situations, for instance, to adjust for a source with a deviating output level. However, it can be inconvenient that this behavior cannot be changed. When switching between inputs to compare different sources, you have to adjust the volume for each source repeatedly. This can also lead to unexpected and unpleasant experiences if you leave a previously used input at a loud level, switch to another source, and then lower the volume. In this case, you might be caught off guard by the sudden loudness when you return to the first input.
The inputs for the Preamp and DAC can only be toggled through from the front panel, so only up/forward, not down/back.
The volume can be adjusted in 0.25 dB steps, which is a rare but very welcome feature. However, the volume adjustment operates at a single speed and does not increase when the volume dial is turned quickly or the remote control’s volume button is pressed for a longer duration. This means that more turns are needed to achieve the same level change as with the more common volume controls that use half-dB or whole-dB steps.
The MH-DA006 DAC offers several digital filters to choose from. Such filters can provide worthwhile differences to tailor the DAC to personal preferences, for instance, with relatively smoother or crisper sounding filters. However, they are sometimes implemented such that their effect is extremely subtle, and this is the case with the Musetec MH-DA006. The DAC’s settings can be controlled in the menu via the front panel, as well as conveniently via the remote control. I ran through all options several times, but could not reliably tell them apart, so I left it at the ‘Linear Phase Slow’ setting at which it was delivered.
I’ve noticed on several occasions that I’m not a huge fan of ESS Sabre-based DACs and tend to prefer ladder DACs instead. Naturally, the implementation of a DAC chip plays a large role in the component’s ultimate performance. Nevertheless, since the MH-DA006 DAC uses an ESS Sabre chip, this might have influenced my assessment.
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