We feel September 6, 2016 in DAC - Digital to Analog Conversion. After that you are GOLDEN. Putting price aside, what are your thoughts about the Hugo TT as an integrated DAC+amp? Our publication is supported by its audience. Sit back and be immersed. Does anyone have formula for that? I found it big bold brash and dynamic but hard cold glary and fatiguing - all the old fashioned things I hated about early digital. I have enjoyed my time with the MSB Discrete DAC a great deal. Directstream, Bricasti M1, Jeff Rowland Aeris, Chord Dave, and today I However, there are two inputs for external PSUs and a little doodad/adapter that allows the use of one external PSU. A Chord DAC converts to analog via Chord's "Pulse Array DAC" which is a discrete circuit, similar to the discrete circuit used in the MSB DACs (but not the same). I'm also a very patient person and can wait for the right bit of kit at the right price to come up secondhand. Some very good advice here. If you go reference you will never look back. Digital: Jay's Audio CDT2 MK2 CD transport, Modified MHDT Labs Balanced Pagoda DAC. The Discrete Power Supply feeds the DAC with dual low-noise power streams that are linear and independent. In my assessment the Makua offered a more open and spacious sound. Sent from my SM-G928V using Computer Audiophile mobile app. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. I'd also look at the Mola-Mola Tambaqui and the new dCS Bartok. What effect does reconstruction filter have? 2 are upscalers , not upsamplers. You are using an out of date browser. this was how I originally decided to purchase the Select II as I was trying to hear another dac at shows that could do what I heard the Select II doing at a lower price. When I have done the comparison with other DACs I have had at the same time - Ayre QX5-Twenty, EAR Dac 4, exasound e32 - often the immediate impression is that DAVE/Blu 2 is not quite as good - a bit dryer sounding, not quite as smooth, not as airy or three dimensional And yet, over the longer term, it is deeply satisfying at a musical level in a way that the other DACs are not. Personally we have A/B 76 different digital front ends.. Actual auditioning of the unit prior to purchase is paramount. As you pursue higher levels of playback, an MSB upgrade path is always available to help drive your own desire for innovation. Anyway, the little bit of extra detail on the strings, the attack, and decay are all there to be heard and its a marvelous thing to listen to. It may not display this or other websites correctly. The Discrete is a genuine high fidelity DAC and a fabulously built one to boot, add in the modular input flexibility and you have a pretty stunning product with excellent future proofing. I have Chord Dave and Blu2 too. "OK, it would be. You must log in or register to reply here. You could spend less and get close to the sound of this DAC, for sure. Ok, I looked a prat but it proves that the separate PSUs are actually doing something rather than being there for show, though they do look rather cool in themselves. I could not so, after 2 years of trying, I bought it. Both DACs connected directly to power amp using each DACs volume controle. Who knows ?! The Chord DAVE was also on my list, but I decided to pass (my Chord retailer was very 'pushy' and not helpful). The world's largest high-end audio community. In that price range, you would be mad not to add the MSB Premier DAC to your list as well. As I said, its an odd one to describe but you do hear it as it brings a sense of rightness to rhythm tracks. When connecting to the MScaler, Dual-BNC was used on the chord dacs with shawline digital BNC cables. It's easy! comparing top dacs directly is a bit challenging, even if you have them both together. You'd expect Audiosanctuary to understand what a gutless amp sounds like, and at least put a headphone amp in front of that DAVE, if they wanted to sell people either the DAVE or the headphones. Aurender N10 is still not a USB only dedicated streamer so you will not hear what USB audio is fully capable off through Ms/Dave. I agree with what you are saying but "far too often" the The Dave as a DAC actually sounds decent. as far as direct comparison with other dacs the closest Ive done is listening to the Select II at shows and then listening to other top dacs in other systems at shows. Digital Audio Forum: DAC, Transports, Digital Processing Forum, 4x20A circuits | Audioquest Niagara 3000 | Paul Hynes SR4T + HDPlex HD500 PSUs -> Music PC w/JCAT XE nic, HQPlayer, Roon, Tidal / Qobuz | HDPlex HD100 PSU -> OCX clock + EtherRegen | Aqua Acoustic Quality LinQ streamer | Aqua Acoustic Quality Formula xHD Rev. Then we have the Integrated Clock module and Im starting to get the whole modular approach to the design of the MSB DAC. The Prime DAC Module. It doesnt get too hot to touch. However, there is nothing wrong with "taking" recommendations, which help me build a list that I can use to research then find a way to audition my shortlist. This hobby is "highly subjective", influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions; therefore you can A/B a million different components and come to a completely different conclusion on how it sounds compared to another listener. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. But then we have to apply the law of diminishing returns. Price 9k in the U.K. @shkong78 how good is the dave + mscaler vs msb? Founded in 2010 Whats Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. When we set out to make the MSB remote, the design was built from the ground up. Personally we have A/B 76 different digital front ends. The Discrete DAC we have here is the baby of the four DACs MSB produces, with the top-of-the-range Select DAC boldly proclaiming to be the worlds finest DAC. If you take a look at their website you will see that the machining shop is a fully equipped facility designed to meet the needs of a company producing high-quality cases in which the electronics will be fitted no off the shelf or cheap bent metal cases here! Triangle Magellan Concerto 2< AQEverest< Vitus Audio SS-010 Mk2< AQDragon High Current< AQWELXLR< ChordQutestDAC w UpTone JS-2 & AQ Dragon Source < AQDiamond USB< InnuosPhoenix USBwAQ Dragon Source< AurenderN100H & AQ Dragon Source< NetGear GS105GESwitch w UpTone LPS1.2< Supra CAT8 Ethernet Sablon Audio Reserva Elite USB2022/Sablon Audio Reserva Ethernet2020> Aqua Formula XHDV2 > Sablon Audio King Sablon Interconnects > LDR pre > PuLSar45 DC SE amp > Sablon Audio Reserva speaker cables (pigtailed) > Avantgarde Duo Omega( Duelund xover). There are a lot of people that absolutely love the M-scaler. Very resolving, tone is on the cold side of neutral but otherwise pretty free of digital nasties compared to the cheaper Chords, and the stage is flatter than Keira Knightley. Unless they have the exact same components as the end user, it's impossible to tell that customer how component X will sound in their system. So I personally prefer to listen to different DACs just like I prefer to listen to analog as well as digital. But even with great preamps, a great DAC in a low noise environment, will produce a more transparent sound going direct to the amps than through the preamp. The Pro USB was developed to offer a multi part USB solution that features complete electrical isolation and all the performance of MSBs proprietary Pro ISL input. and as I said earlier there is no "best" when it comes to dacs or And differences at that level can be good. Never say never, but I reckon 99.9% of folk would get to the Discretes level of performance and not be able to justify another 110K to achieve, what I am guessing would be marginal gains though I have not experienced the Select and so cannot say for sure that this would be the case and it may be a total revelation is sonic engineering. I agree price is necessarily indicative of quality or performance. The remainder Yeah, you and me both- the look I got wasn't as funny as the one I got from the Sennheiser stand when I asked if they had any HD600 or HD650, instead of all those Momentums and so forth, but still. All rights reserved. You might want to consider adding one of Chord's Upscalers, either Hugo M scaler , or the Blu Mk. The bottom line for me is that great DACs can make a difference over good DACs. 2. It may not display this or other websites correctly. It features the very best conversion technology available, using proprietary techniques never seen before, making DAVE the most advanced DAC/preamp amplifier in the world. The Dave is VERY lovely on PCM, and pretty decent on DSD, but DSD is not its raison d'etre. The only thing that I'd really like to see added here is an Aries Cerat. This effect was evident on track after track but didnt feel like it was overly exaggerated. The DAC has two modes; multi-bit PCM and single-bit discrete DSD mode. Up to 32 bit 768kHz