Musetec MH DA006 Lite – A Serious Digital-to-Analog Converter Based on the ES9039 PRO Chip

The latest Musetec MH DA006 Lite desktop DAC inherits the core design solutions from the brand’s flagship DA006 model. The differences in the Lite version lie in the power supply architecture, the analog output stage, and certain digital algorithms.

The brand’s proprietary solutions implemented in the new model were originally developed for the flagship and include a high-precision multi-clock system, FPGA-based digital processing functions, and two ES9039 PRO chips from ESS Technology. The power supply uses two high-quality toroidal transformers, providing a total of seven AC lines, which are then fed into the corresponding rectification and voltage stabilization circuits. The unit is equipped with seven groups of first-stage voltage regulators and fourteen groups of second-stage voltage regulators.

In circuit sections that are sensitive to power quality – such as the clock generator and the DAC block – the unit uses the LT3045, with an output noise level of only 0.8 μV RMS. Like the flagship model, the Musetec DA006 Lite employs a voltage regulation design based on silicon carbide rectifier diodes and high-current discrete components to deliver power to the analog output. The analog output stage is also built entirely from discrete components and includes eight discrete operational amplifier circuits operating in Class A.

The Musetec DA006 Lite desktop DAC is equipped with multiple low-noise oscillators at different frequencies to process digital audio signals with various parameters. For the I2S input signal, the DAC supports two additional clocking modes: synchronous and asynchronous.

The Musetec MH DA006 Lite digital-to-analog converter has gone on sale with a recommended retail price starting at USD 1,800.