Just wanted to share my impressions on the Musiland Monitor 01US I got from Watts Hifi
I got to listen to a few DACs in action before, CA DacMagic, SuperPro DAC, NAD DAC 1 etc. but it never got into my wishlist. Until a month ago, I happen to chance upon the 3 Kings(Don Ivan, Don Paul, Don Nelson) demoing the Musiland 03 in Watts Hifi. That's where the I was able hear the difference of what an external DAC can really do.
Using a laptop, straight from the 3.5mm jack plugged into a NAD 326BEE, the sound was ok in terms of clarity. Using the Musiland 03 via USB on the same int. amp the sound immediately became a lot livelier. Night and day difference. The sound was thicker and expressed more details. Those instruments at the background of the music was more audible. It me realize how the 1st setup was too laid back. Master Ivan explained that it's natural for a 3.5mm jack to sound that way because it only has a low output.
The next test was to use an entry level CDP(NAD 515BEE) and the same amp. The details you would hear coming from Musiland 03 are still more pronounced than using the cdp. Master Ivan's advice was, the laptop can become a good cdp because it can produce less jitter and can read files much faster than a regular cdp. Plus another advantage was it can play various music formats. So this made me think about it--- getting an external dac will save me more money compared to getting an entry level cdp.
Why did I end up with the 01 instead of the 03? I find the 01 leaning more towards the warmer side which was my sound preference. Now at home, I tried the dvdp + int. amp vs Musiland 01 + int. amp. I guess you know which one won. It's a no contest.
So if you'd like to experience hifi sound at a bargain price, the Musiland Monitor DACs are highly recommended
