@@Tharbamar I have the Pegasus and it is a great sounding dac with i2s being in my opinion the best way to feed it. I upgraded recently to the Kitsune Holo Audio May KTE dac. It wouldn't be fair to compare those two however as it's $1100 vs 5K, but for the money the Pegasus is a great dac.
Again..a great review Tharbamar. Both DACs sounded very good but the Pegasus sounded a tad bit relaxing to my ears. The best thing is. this time, your chosen demo sound track is awesome..dynamic, speed and attack and fun to listen to while at the same time making Dac comparison. That R11 looks awesome too.
This is a decision I am making now. I have the Toppings A90 with D90SE and it’s too bright, clean and lean for me. Sold the D90SE hence considering these options. But having seen reviewers talked about and buyers who shared their experiences online, I am afraid of buying the Musician Audio products due to their bad QC, lack of customer service, buyers who sent back their faulty Pegasus had their parcels mysteriously missing and was told to massively under declare their units (so insurance paid USD20) and then not replying emails. My new shortlist now includes Denafrips Ares II or Pontus or Gustard R26 if I want an R2R DAC. The iDSD Pro Signature is out of my budget for now as I still the ZMF Atrium or Meze Elite or Empyrean to add to my headphone collection. I still have the iFi Zen DAC V2 and will probably get the xDXD Gryphon to get my Burr Brown fix. Am selling my A90 to get probably a Singxer SA-1.
I never thought I would say that over an youtube video but there is a clear difference between them. The Pegasus is so more open, detailed, rich that makes the Ifi sound muffled in comparison. I can only imagine how is it to listen them in person.
I bought the Pegasus and returned it... Great DAC but there is no high end sparkle, definitely rolled off up top. The sound is organic and highly addictive but couldn't accept this pitfall... settled for the Chord Qutest which is way more detailed, airy and neutral.
Thank you Tharbamar for reviewing so that I can find this fantastic device Pegasus ! It brings my music library to a new level and makes me feel so happy to enjoy the music and want to listen more and more!
Wow, that sound from those speakers. I could not tolerate that for very long. I personally liked the Pegasus in the blind test. It would be interesting to hear this comparison on different quality speakers.
Here I go with the audiophile terms (hah) but the Ifi sounds like it has a veil over it compared to the Pegasus in this demo. Much prefer the sound of the Pegasus. And i have two Ifi Dac's. Ear opener....dang! Editing to just add that i am listening to Hifiman Ananda headphones balanced through ZenDac > Xduoo Mt604.
Hello, Just my impressions (via a Benchmark DAC and Meze 99 cans) but I much prefer the top end expanse of the Pegasus. The snare drum rim shots have reverb on them, which, for me, sounds much bigger and 'real' (as real as an effect can be). More importantly for me is the 'natural' sound of the recording space, which I can make out much better with the Pegasus. Also, I felt as though the audience clapping sounded real, whereas the iDSD sounded constrained -almost as if it is having a difficult time breathing. I guess it's sound seemed compressed (not as in the audio effect of 'compression'). Anyway, thanks again for another great video/content Tharbamar! If you don't mind, do you think you could change CDs you use for your demos? I can't find this CD (which is used on most of our demos) on Spotify. I prefer using a lossy source when comparing my system to music i hear on TH-cam via its compressions. thanks man, robert
yeah thats the 'knowledge' i was talking abt, appreciating highend in different way if you simply just want upgraded sound wo analyzing things, go other option
The iFi Pro sounds a bit tighter with better texture and definition in the lows. The treble is slightly more extended, the sibilance in Sssssonny is a tad more pronounced, but still smooth though. The Pegasus is overall smoother, more laid back and with a touch more bloom in the bass, which is softer as well, but at the cost of some texture. Both presentations are natural, there is no way to tell which DAC sounds more authentic or natural, you should have been at that live concert to tell. But if I had to guess I would put my money on the iFi Pro, that slightly dryer, harder hitting bass is more in line with live concerts I have attended.
Yeah PA systems are often fairly dry. Lots of comments prefer the Pegasus, think I prefer the iFi, but for me personally, attack is actually one of the most important things.
I´ve had my eyes on the Pegasus for few months now (also Denafrips) and this just proves it to me that it really is what I´m after in musicality. On my headphone system I have a Darkvoice 336SE amp + Abrahamsen DAC with Sennheiser HD650 and the sound is pretty much the same, intimate and luscious sound that is highly engaging and "musical", at least for certain type of music. The midrange quality is ridiculous for the price.
Why not do a shootout with Pegasus, Gustard A22 and Denefrips Ares 2!... Man oh man would that be interesting! ... Keep up the good work and ... Why not recommend matching streamer...
I just purchased pegasus,...firstly I was impressed. However I found out that it couses me fatigue after longer listeninng sessions of music like jazz for example. Then I found out that it realy has emphasys on frequencies between 2000 - 3000 Hz compared to my auna dac with BB OPA which generaly has worm sound, anyway I believe Pegasus is a bit over average strong, in this unwanted frequency. Could be that coused by faulty unit? Because I did not find any rewiev mentioning this kind of charecter of Pegasus.
@@Tharbamar Thank you, viewing your channel you aparently do have a lot of experience with musician brend. I have seen your video about draco, you mentioned that it has more organic, natural sound repraduction, ...is this in comparison with pegasus? Answer to this question would help me a lot , ....anyway thank you for giving informations about those products.
Pegasus for me too, but the Aquarius (model above it) might have the detail of the iDSD + the warmth of the Pegasus. Also upgrading the PS Audio PC 12 will blow your mind
I think you know we are listening here not what you are? You have recorded them via ADC (another with specific changes in sound + microphone also was changed sound as usual). Than you have uploaded this audio with video to youtube. TH-cam has converted and loose sound 2 more times and provides for us some other sound. And as latest point, we are using our simple DAC to convert youtube stream to analog and this conversion result we are listening using some AC's or headphones. So - what you have to provide here?
I can hear a clear difference, despite all of the processing. These demos are put together with a lot of time and effort and I appreciate it very much, as I am in the market for a new DAC. If you don't like it don't watch it, we don't need Captain Obvious comments, EVERYBODY, who has even a passing interest in Hi Fi, knows that You Tube demos are compromised by compression, but, like clockwork, some know it all 'expert' comes along and has to tell us all it's a waste of time because of blah blah blah.. Don't be that Guy.
Musician Pegasus all the way for me. Just a few seconds of listening and my decision was made up. The difference is not subtle, it´s quite substantial.
It should work but must check the pin connector because it may not be the same or better yet download the online user manual to see what pin they are configured for I2S.
Use a 50 ohm coaxial RCA cable if forward in the midrange, maybe not shielded can sound better or just one shielding, thought about looking at the Cyrus DAC i9 Xp check it out!
Before the music started I was thinking iDSD Pro would be better due to Denon integrated warmth sounding, but after the music started, Pegasus win all the way, even the bass is better than iDSD Pro. I feel iDSD is a bit "noisy", I can't listening for long.
Pegasus for me,that ifi sounds terrible, high’s are grainy and fatiguing and congested 👎🏼👎🏼now you just need to get some good conditioning on your AC current and it will make a world of difference in your playback
@barbosa pereira I have owned both. The build quality of the Pegasus is extremely impressive for the price. I also felt the Pegasus revealed a little more texture to the bass tones. Still over all 85% of the time I found the Loxjie to simply sound better over all. Sent the Pegasus back at around a month.
please explain what is the point of puting a sound test on youtube, it doesn't make any sense at all !, i'm listening to this on my mac, it makes no difference, you aren't testing the pegasus or IFI, you are testing our system, we can do that alone, thank you
LMFAO! I've owned lots of KEF speakers and they recommend 10 degrees of toe-in. In reality, they often sound better with more than that as off-axis listening always diminishes treble performance no matter the maker's claims. It's physics, fella. You don't own KEF speakers, do you?
Definitely Pegasus for me. Sounds more natural, fuller, more body and relaxed. Thanks for the video!
Good choice!
@@Tharbamar I have the Pegasus and it is a great sounding dac with i2s being in my opinion the best way to feed it. I upgraded recently to the Kitsune Holo Audio May KTE dac. It wouldn't be fair to compare those two however as it's $1100 vs 5K, but for the money the Pegasus is a great dac.
I know it is kinda off topic but do anyone know a good website to stream newly released series online?
@Augustine Huxley Flixportal :D
@Mohamed Cristian thanks, I signed up and it seems like a nice service :) I appreciate it!!
Great comparison .. For me, the winner is Pegasus. Only at this price the Gustard A22 could beat him. Thank you for another good movie ..
Again..a great review Tharbamar. Both DACs sounded very good but the Pegasus sounded a tad bit relaxing to my ears. The best thing is. this time, your chosen demo sound track is awesome..dynamic, speed and attack and fun to listen to while at the same time making Dac comparison. That R11 looks awesome too.
The demo music by Grace Mahya sounds amazing. I will be purchasing the CD. Thank you!
This is a decision I am making now. I have the Toppings A90 with D90SE and it’s too bright, clean and lean for me. Sold the D90SE hence considering these options. But having seen reviewers talked about and buyers who shared their experiences online, I am afraid of buying the Musician Audio products due to their bad QC, lack of customer service, buyers who sent back their faulty Pegasus had their parcels mysteriously missing and was told to massively under declare their units (so insurance paid USD20) and then not replying emails.
My new shortlist now includes Denafrips Ares II or Pontus or Gustard R26 if I want an R2R DAC. The iDSD Pro Signature is out of my budget for now as I still the ZMF Atrium or Meze Elite or Empyrean to add to my headphone collection. I still have the iFi Zen DAC V2 and will probably get the xDXD Gryphon to get my Burr Brown fix. Am selling my A90 to get probably a Singxer SA-1.
I never thought I would say that over an youtube video but there is a clear difference between them. The Pegasus is so more open, detailed, rich that makes the Ifi sound muffled in comparison. I can only imagine how is it to listen them in person.
Sound Sample Timeline, 10:13 iDSD Pro, 10:41 Pegasus, 11:11 iDSD Pro, 12:07 Pegasus, 13:02 iDSD Pro, 14:02 Pegasus, 15:02 Blind Demo 1, 16:56 Blind Demo 2, 18:50 Blind Demo 3 , 21:09 Blind Demo 4
IDSD sounds bit tight kind of dry.. while Pegasus is a bit more airy sounding with a touch more extension to top range.
I bought the Pegasus and returned it... Great DAC but there is no high end sparkle, definitely rolled off up top. The sound is organic and highly addictive but couldn't accept this pitfall... settled for the Chord Qutest which is way more detailed, airy and neutral.
Hmm strange! Every review i have read says Pegasus is better than Qutest.
The Qutest with an external power supply lifts it up to the next level.
@@robertm8518 Thanks bud, will check it out 👍
I went opposite way. I got the pegasus and sold the Qutest after doing some a/b test.
@@robertm8518 I just got an external LPS for my Qutest, astonishingly good!!! It's end game for me for now I think. 👍
Hi Tharbamar! Hope u can make a R2R Dac comparisons with Pegasus and Denafrips Ares II! :)
Thank you Tharbamar for reviewing so that I can find this fantastic device Pegasus ! It brings my music library to a new level and makes me feel so happy to enjoy the music and want to listen more and more!
Thanks for sharing, enjoy.
Wow, that sound from those speakers. I could not tolerate that for very long. I personally liked the Pegasus in the blind test. It would be interesting to hear this comparison on different quality speakers.
I would like to know How do you listen to TH-cam sound samples?
@@Tharbamar 😂
pegasus is much more musical,is an easy choice
Here I go with the audiophile terms (hah) but the Ifi sounds like it has a veil over it compared to the Pegasus in this demo. Much prefer the sound of the Pegasus. And i have two Ifi Dac's. Ear opener....dang! Editing to just add that i am listening to Hifiman Ananda headphones balanced through ZenDac > Xduoo Mt604.
Nice comparison. Thank you!
Tks for your videos. U make me have a good choice in my system audio. ❤ i will choice pegasus so nature.
Well described, agree with your assessments.
Is the iDSD Pro playing with tube and tube+? Just a thought from a newbie, can I use the iFi ican pro with the musician Pegasus?
Hello, Just my impressions (via a Benchmark DAC and Meze 99 cans) but I much prefer the top end expanse of the Pegasus. The snare drum rim shots have reverb on them, which, for me, sounds much bigger and 'real' (as real as an effect can be). More importantly for me is the 'natural' sound of the recording space, which I can make out much better with the Pegasus. Also, I felt as though the audience clapping sounded real, whereas the iDSD sounded constrained -almost as if it is having a difficult time breathing. I guess it's sound seemed compressed (not as in the audio effect of 'compression').
Anyway, thanks again for another great video/content Tharbamar! If you don't mind, do you think you could change CDs you use for your demos? I can't find this CD (which is used on most of our demos) on Spotify. I prefer using a lossy source when comparing my system to music i hear on TH-cam via its compressions.
thanks man,
robert
Thanks for the advice.
yeah thats the 'knowledge' i was talking abt, appreciating highend in different way
if you simply just want upgraded sound wo analyzing things, go other option
USB was hard to connect to my MacBookPro, I return my Pegasus and they reimburse me without problem. But when I succeed the sound was very good.
The iFi Pro sounds a bit tighter with better texture and definition in the lows. The treble is slightly more extended, the sibilance in Sssssonny is a tad more pronounced, but still smooth though. The Pegasus is overall smoother, more laid back and with a touch more bloom in the bass, which is softer as well, but at the cost of some texture. Both presentations are natural, there is no way to tell which DAC sounds more authentic or natural, you should have been at that live concert to tell. But if I had to guess I would put my money on the iFi Pro, that slightly dryer, harder hitting bass is more in line with live concerts I have attended.
Yeah PA systems are often fairly dry. Lots of comments prefer the Pegasus, think I prefer the iFi, but for me personally, attack is actually one of the most important things.
Hey, if possible make more DAC comparison demos like you did this, appreciated.
I´ve had my eyes on the Pegasus for few months now (also Denafrips) and this just proves it to me that it really is what I´m after in musicality. On my headphone system I have a Darkvoice 336SE amp + Abrahamsen DAC with Sennheiser HD650 and the sound is pretty much the same, intimate and luscious sound that is highly engaging and "musical", at least for certain type of music. The midrange quality is ridiculous for the price.
iDSD brings the body.
Pegasus brings the soul.
Great channel.
Please try to review the brand new Topping D90SE and the Okto DAC8 Stereo.
Keep Rocking!
Pegasus wider sound stage (reverb) for every instrument and voice. Ifi just focuses on the singer front and center.
Lol... is pegasus a dac or a dac and dsp combo?
definitely Pegasus R2R for me... thanks for the comparison
Good one, thanks!
Please do a review of the Musician Audio Aquarius DAC
I like your voice.
mmmmmmmmm
Pegasus is it! Thanx for this test and I LOVE your integrated amp, cheers from Mexico City!
Hola 👋 thanks
Why not do a shootout with Pegasus, Gustard A22 and Denefrips Ares 2!... Man oh man would that be interesting! ... Keep up the good work and ... Why not recommend matching streamer...
Can you review the gustard x26 Pro?
I'll check, thanks
What are you using to record your TH-cam demonstration
I just purchased pegasus,...firstly I was impressed. However I found out that it couses me fatigue after longer listeninng sessions of music like jazz for example. Then I found out that it realy has emphasys on frequencies between 2000 - 3000 Hz compared to my auna dac with BB OPA which generaly has worm sound, anyway I believe Pegasus is a bit over average strong, in this unwanted frequency. Could be that coused by faulty unit? Because I did not find any rewiev mentioning this kind of charecter of Pegasus.
They just need right paring, I like them the best with KEF speakers.
@@Tharbamar Thank you, viewing your channel you aparently do have a lot of experience with musician brend. I have seen your video about draco, you mentioned that it has more organic, natural sound repraduction, ...is this in comparison with pegasus? Answer to this question would help me a lot , ....anyway thank you for giving informations about those products.
Can I use it for gaming or there’s a delay ?
Pegasus for me too, but the Aquarius (model above it) might have the detail of the iDSD + the warmth of the Pegasus. Also upgrading the PS Audio PC 12 will blow your mind
iDSD more Relaxed - Pegasus more Upfront, more sibilant.
I prefer the Pegasus much more. More organic, smoother and less tense.
I think you know we are listening here not what you are? You have recorded them via ADC (another with specific changes in sound + microphone also was changed sound as usual). Than you have uploaded this audio with video to youtube. TH-cam has converted and loose sound 2 more times and provides for us some other sound. And as latest point, we are using our simple DAC to convert youtube stream to analog and this conversion result we are listening using some AC's or headphones. So - what you have to provide here?
I can hear a clear difference, despite all of the processing.
These demos are put together with a lot of time and effort and I appreciate it very much, as I am in the market for a new DAC.
If you don't like it don't watch it, we don't need Captain Obvious comments, EVERYBODY, who has even a passing interest in Hi Fi, knows that You Tube demos are compromised by compression, but, like clockwork, some know it all 'expert' comes along and has to tell us all it's a waste of time because of blah blah blah..
Don't be that Guy.
Musician Pegasus all the way for me. Just a few seconds of listening and my decision was made up. The difference is not subtle, it´s quite substantial.
In the blind demos you put Tone 2 Pro instead of Pegasus R2R.
Thank you I will fix it.
Can we pair HDMI from PC/Laptop to I2S DAC.
It should work but must check the pin connector because it may not be the same or better yet download the online user manual to see what pin they are configured for I2S.
တင်နေကျမဟုတ်တဲ့သီချင်းအသစ်တွေနဲ့မို့ နမူနာခံစားရတာ အတော်ကောင်းပါတယ်ဗျာ
Use a 50 ohm coaxial RCA cable if forward in the midrange, maybe not shielded can sound better or just one shielding,
thought about looking at the Cyrus DAC i9 Xp check it out!
Lol...
The dac cable should be 75 ohms
@@robertm8518 only 75+ohm digital communications analogue communications 50ohm more desirable
Before the music started I was thinking iDSD Pro would be better due to Denon integrated warmth sounding, but after the music started, Pegasus win all the way, even the bass is better than iDSD Pro. I feel iDSD is a bit "noisy", I can't listening for long.
IFi promote a 'GTO' filter, coz muscle cars. Hmmm.
Why so much sizzle ?
quite a noticeable difference between the two, idsd sounds more recessed more laid back, pegasus more mid centric with wider soundstage
Pegasus for me,that ifi sounds terrible, high’s are grainy and fatiguing and congested 👎🏼👎🏼now you just need to get some good conditioning on your AC current and it will make a world of difference in your playback
Price difference is big so maybe the Pegasus is the better value.
Agreed!
The Pegasus is better. The iFi sounds like it measures...poor. I would get the Denafrips Ares II over the Pegasus though.
iDSD easily sounds better. Something sounds broken in the Pegasus.
The Ifi has much better timing Pegasus doesn't do it for me.
Demo 2 sounds harsh. Did not believe it was the pegasus
The ifi is way too fast and sibilant, especially noticeable with the vocals. The pegasus had better timing and a wider more natural sound.
Loxjie d50 sounds better than both.....
@barbosa pereira I have owned both. The build quality of the Pegasus is extremely impressive for the price. I also felt the Pegasus revealed a little more texture to the bass tones. Still over all 85% of the time I found the Loxjie to simply sound better over all. Sent the Pegasus back at around a month.
Demo1 Ifo, Demo2 Pegasus,
please explain what is the point of puting a sound test on youtube, it doesn't make any sense at all !, i'm listening to this on my mac, it makes no difference, you aren't testing the pegasus or IFI, you are testing our system, we can do that alone, thank you
Speakers need some toe-in.
Lots of times towing out not just towing in bring them in closer and toe-out
It’s a kef it doesn’t need toe in toes out
I’m guessing you don’t own Kef speakers
LMFAO! I've owned lots of KEF speakers and they recommend 10 degrees of toe-in. In reality, they often sound better with more than that as off-axis listening always diminishes treble performance no matter the maker's claims. It's physics, fella. You don't own KEF speakers, do you?
@@Stikibits yeah put it on a rotating motor so it can toe in toe out wherever you move 😜
You sure spew irrational garbage.
To my ear it's Pegasus.
飛馬 +1