Congratulations!!!
Is this a Mk1 or 2?
It’s the mk1
@M0N Have you heard the Merason with any mass kobo amps?
Has anyone here listened to the merason frerot?
Ive been having increasing interest in the merason brand as a dac sidegrade option, or upgrade for the future if I can get the DAC 1 mk1 or mk2.
They just look so elegant and seem like they sound the way they look; And I actually really like the burr brown chips ive heard.
Ive seen at least 3 different frerots in head fi classifieds in the last 8 months and none of them had the upgraded POW1 dual LPS, and that makes me think they sold it because it wasnt good enough with the stock SMPS.
What really limits the frerot a bit for me as an option is that it has no AES input, because it looks like an amazing dac along the POW1. Maybe there could be a frerot mk2 in the future that has AES.
Also I find a bit weird that the reuss and the dac 1 have a line out of 1.5v rca and 3v xlr (instead of 2v and 4v) and I have no idea how that affects the sound.
Hi, yes I did
Frerot and mki/mkii have way different signature. If you are seriously interested in Merason, go for DAC1 mki or mkii !
Thank you very much, I checked and even though the Mesaron Dac 1 is a large unit, just ever so slightly bigger than the Yggy which I had no idea about It could still fit my desk probably.
I wonder if I could stack the Denafrips Hermes by putting it on top of the dac 1, maybe not the best idea because of the temperature but IDK; ill think about it if I actually go for a merason DAC 1.
Anyway I completely discarded the Frerot because it has NO AES input, I thought it looked very cool with its stackable PSU but its not really worth it for my chains anymore.
Its just that the dac 1 seldom appears in the used market, which is what im looking for (paying less), but it does appear sometimes at around 3k for mk1 but I think one could appear for 2500 which seems like a very nice catch, mk2 is currently out of my budget; and Id go Rockna or Baltic 4 at that cost (Unless the mk2 matches my system better if and when I get to that level).
I have a Reuss which I’ve been told is pretty similar to the mk1. It’s wide but short
Edit: pic for scale
The Reuss looks awesome! the way I understand its like a slightly better replacement (probably) to what the Merason DAC 1 MK1 used to do, because the mk1 is no longer listed on Merason’s site, the Reuss Might have just come to take its place, and the DAC 1 mk2 now became their flagship DAC.
I looked at the internals of all the mk1, mk2 and Reuss and they are all very similar, the circuits flow in a very similar way, but in the Reuss, compared to the mk1 everything looks just a bit “more modern” and “efficient”, its like if they made a minimalist version of the DAC 1 reducing the number of components. It looks very clean
I could be wrong but I think thats pretty much it. The mk2 Looks a lot more like the mk1 than the Reuss, as if the Reuss focused on efficiency and the mk2 on perfecting the original mk1 formula with a way better arrangement and quality of components.
The tallness in both DAC 1 versions seems necessary to fit the 2 large transformers they have, while the reuss has an arrangament of 4 way smaller transformers.
Reuss
Dac 1 MK1 (sorry for the quality)
Reuss for sure is almost on the level of mkii, so before chasing older mki, go for reuss.
DAC1 mki (sure mkii as well) gets hot and i would not Stack it, without enough air to circulate.
DAC1 mki for me still has this r2r magic of beeing very smooth, awesome musicality and not over-engineered resolution/details. Which some love, especially if you are more on the side of Pop/Elektro. During the time, best r2r i’d tested…
Btw: don’t fall into the DAC-trap: “newer is better”! Many, many times seen, NOT the case. Many times they are just saving money on components and chasing marketing features … and most important: when there are new brands, they spent much more time and perfection on initial models, than all the sudden, many of them smell the audiophile-overhyped-money-train!!
If you watch the last episode from darko audio with elco grimm. It says everything why grimm audio mu2 is outstanding. You need people like elko
Damn id really like to test, thats why its still in my future dac list, either as a sidegrade or an upgrade to the exogal (fully upgraded)
But the merason with its signature is almost an upgrade for sure instead of sidegrade, I added reuss to the list because im a circuit lover even tho im not that good at electronics, all of the merasons look extremely clean
Of course, because of my current health situation the dac upgrade is probably take a lot of time, but thats better, lower prices for me on the used market
Believe I wont, im kind of a vintage lover myself, and @Camus even told me about the wonderful world of vintage dacs! Id love to get my hands on one some day but its an expensive endevour for the moment
I like darko audio as a reviewer which is extremely rare as I dislike most of them, I dont know what elco grimm is tho, Ill check it out.
I’ve really enjoyed the Reuss. It brings a sense of realism and authenticity that’s super engaging.
I also like that I’m not spending on screens, remotes or up sampling or lots of filtering or DSP options that I’m not going to use. All the money just went into a single thing. Love it.
A few happy Merason owners here Sounds very very very good going to the RNHP btw, much better synergy than with the MZ3 imo(though still nice)… Compared to Exogal + RNHP, the sound is more detailed while also being more fluid and smooth like. Pretty great to have this level of detail while also not feeling anything lacking or too smooth. Just using PC usb(Audience Studio One) going to a topping d10s and then a basic SPDIF cable. I do have a Mass Kobo 433 and Antipodes s30 coming that I hope will mesh well with the Dac1
I have an spoiler for you about the MK433 and s30
I talked to m0n before about the 433 and tho the antipodes was k50 I have a feeling due to those talks they will mesh extremely well
Never heard it, just from reading the thread and initial impressions, coming from a exogal comet + seems like an excellent deal, there has been a $2500 one on head fi that was sold elsewhere apparently and a $3000 that I did see and then price dropped to $2700… but I would still pay $2800. I do think maaaaaybe the mk2 and Reuss coming out will make prices near this more common.
For now I just spent on 2 cables, an amp, and 7 tubes so im broke.
Oh man the Reuss and Dac 1s look SO GOOD as an upgrade option, the circuits look way too clean and im a huge fan of Burr Brown dacs.
Definitely my pick If I cant find a good ol wavelight when I start DAC hunting.
@bmn1251 hello mate, I was looking at the mojo thread to research options and I saw that you sold an AM upgraded Mystique B4B 21, and I think then you went for a Berkeley Ref 2
Im just wondering how you ended here with the Dac1, which you dont need to tell if you want, but im curious as someone who is very interested in both the mojo and merason brands as DAC upgrade options, maybe you could compare the evo b4b (I think yours was more like an evo pro?) to where you are now with Merason.
Merason, Mojo, Lampi and Rockna are the brands fighting in my mind to get a spot in my desk, it seems I cant go wrong with any of those, so ill probably get the one that has a very attractive used price. (This is for a future upgrade, currently im drowning in hospital bills).
Lol, nothing real juicy about it, just life and having to put Hobby’s on the back burner for a bit, kids, etc. but I’m slowly coming back up. Kinda cool because it’s like having the same journey again lol but this time I’m more experienced and cautious, and know what I like, and my tastes have evolved as well.
That being said, Mojo, Merason, Lampi, Berkeley, have been awesome for me. If I had the expendable income I would honesty own at least 2 or 3 of those
Yeah thats just life
I wish I never got sick but now im used to it, its been years, never had to sell my gear but I was quickly upgrading and I stopped completely, now im slowly getting back into it
Seems I cant go wrong with any of these brands so my plan seems quite solid
But I would really love to have 2 or 3 dacs instead of 1 to make some combinations
Thats why im looking at the 1k sonic frontiers fd2 mk1 on head fi for now that im too short to upgrade; but im scared it may fail on me, its a really old dac. Gonna ask if anyone had it and if its even safe to get something that old.
PS: The lavri arrives today, but it will be a while to get to texas; thanks for the great price!