There is no such thing as a "FPGA DAC"! This is because one PSU is supplying juice to modules including the screen and USB input etc but not to the output module. Anyway, I switched out the valve power amplifier and put in its place the Krell KST100 (all fully fettled and brought up to a better than new spec by Krell in the States) with my intention being to see what effect was the DAC and what was down to the amp basically isolating the effect to a component. But in the specific case of the BADA and PM2, if you wish for me to be more precise, then taking into account that I only had the BADA ref for a very short time, the bottom line was that I didn't feel at the time that the difference between the PM2 in my system was significant enough to make it worth the energy to change components or the potential financial loss involved in a trade. Ultimately, reducing noise in a system or improving room acoustics can have a bigger effect. DAC Comparison Reference DAC Modules 4x Hybrid DAC Clock The Femto 33 Digital Inputs 4x User Replaceable Input Slots Optical and Coaxial input module Included Analog Outputs Preamp XLR Output Module - 150 Impedance RCA output available with external adapter Analog Inputs XLR Analog Expansion Modules RCA or XLR Input RCA or XLR Output Toggle signature. Edited November 11, 2020 by seadog. the North American distributors for Rockna so I thought I would jump in on this HiFiMan Ananda, SR Orange fuses, Taiko Audio Daiza platforms, Startech FMC optical network link, Oyaide EE f/s2.0 V2 mains spurs, Akiko Audio tuning sticks, GIK Acoustic TriTraps/panels. 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. You must log in or register to reply here. Our digital testing has been done over the last 20 + years in this forum and they are all very good dacs. You already have a very top tier DAC. for instance, the Select II is modular (customers can easily change modules in seconds)so it has the ability to quickly modify its inputs to allow for optimization of various interfaces. fake by any means necessary jacket. Will do. Additionally, MSBs robust in-house design enables the finest quality playback of PCM and native DSD, while our low impedance circuitry drives your amplification directly without adding coloration or buffering noise. You're very polite about how you describe your preferences, cmarin. The DAC comes equipped with a single power supply, but can be augmented with a second discrete power supply to enable optimized power isolation between all major components. There is the option to add a streaming module to the Discrete and if I was in the market for a digital streaming solution, then this is where I would be going. Right now my favorite music player is from the same manufacturer of the Phasure NOS1a DAC: Stealth LPS running XXHighEnd software; again with the same caveat that I haven't heard a lot of the other highly regarded music players in my system. Im getting a bit away from the review proper, but Im sure you can see why I have added that little diversion. Actual auditioning of the unit prior to purchase is paramount. You'll be shocked by how much you lose by going through a separate preamp. At $20,000 I recommend the MSB Premier DAC with two power supplies (KeithRs system). luxury apartment hotels paris. Digital: Sonore opticalModule > Uptone EtherRegen > Shunyata Sigma Ethernet >Antipodes K30> Shunyata Omega USB> Gustard X26pro DAC < Mutec REF10 SE120, Amp& Speakers: Spectral DMA-150mk2 >Aerial 10T, Foundation: Stillpoints Ultra,ShunyataDenali v1 andTyphon power conditioners,Shunyata Delta v2 and QSA Lanedri Gamma power cords, QSA Lanedri GammaRevelationinterconnect,Shunyata SigmaEthernet,MIT Matrix HD60speaker cables, ASC isothermal tube traps, Stillpoints Aperture panels. Tellurium Silver Diamond USB and Chord Blu. connection because it eliminates some parts and gets you closer to a direct 2. MSB are an American brand headed up by the brothers Jonathan and Daniel Gullman and located in Silicon Valley, California where they design and build a range of amplifiers, transports, and DACs. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $14,000. and our ears are completely different. I haven't heard MSB or theDenafrips DAC. Were honored to be recognized by the industry for bringing you the most lifelike sound we can. Aurender W20-> Lampizator Pacific SE -> Ayon Crossfire III or Circle Labs A100 -> Avantgarde Acoustic Trio LE 26 with 4x REL Carbon Special ,SACD Player: Audio Aero La Fontaine. I own the MSB Select II with the dual powerbases and 33 Femto Clock. Others might disagree but these are my findings. It's better than the MSB Analog I listened to. JavaScript is disabled. MQA decoding and the MSB Select II has a huge advantage over other dacs with its modularity and in-house development which promotes, in a very timely way, keeping the product at the very tip top cutting edge of digital interface developments. This DAC is 11,000 and as such, it is a considerable investment to make, but I would suggest that this is not stupid money for the kind of transparency and clarity it brings. https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9eh61-lampizator-pacific-da-converters, https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/lampizator-pacific-dac/, https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/subjective-grading-of-dac-that-i-had-heard-during-last-one-year-period. Regular readers will appreciate all that is taken from the MSB website and I make no apologies for not really understanding the electronics. The BADA Ref is a great DAC and I understand the new version takes it to even another level. In terms of sound quality, it's the best digital front end I . Once you start playing a tune the DAC works out the sample rate and chooses the correct playback clock. It is an unassuming but very nicely put together component that has had a great deal of thought put into the architecture of the parts that make it up. And what streamer are you using to feed the DAC? How does it compare? Links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Hifi Pig and Big Pig Media with appropriate and specific direction (link) to the original content. So this was headphones straight out of the DAVE? Im participating to both learn and make suggestions where I have experience that may help. dacs and server competed against much more expensive dacs and servers sound wise there are others I know about but Ive not heard them recently. I cant help with comparisons of two of these DACs, but I did hear the Tambaqui up against the dCS Bartok and it was a pretty close call, but ultimately the dCS sounded more analogue and more immersive, I have heard the Dave and EMM Labs DAC2x up against aMakua that I subsequently purchased. I'm really anxious to hear more opinions about this DAC and noticed that DAVE hasn't got a thread of its own (only together with Mojo). 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. Once complete there are measurements and functional tests before the final products are inspected, cleaned, and packed up ready to be shipped, but not before a white glove inspection by either Jonathan or Daniel. Along with an integrated clock, changing this card allows switching between single-ended and balanced outputs. Whether its a software update or a leading-edge modular component, were here to help the most valued aspect of MSBour customers. and this is borne out in the sound that this DAC brings to the party. The Base module is used on the two lower DACs (including this one) and then the Preamp Output Stage for the top two DACs in the range. Wherever I read I see unanimous praise for the MSB Select II. the Select II pushes the analog to be its best. that it is difficult to say you have the best in regard to dacs but Rockna is Oppo Modwright BDP-205 full mod. This very pleasant sound I was experiencing, it could be argued, was to a large degree down to the choice of amplifier and what that added to the mix, and I do think this is a valid argument. definitely up there with the best dacs in the world. The AC modules are fully balanced at every stage, have no buffers, IV converters, or transistors in the signal path, and have no active devices used in the conversion process at all. MSB thrives off the innovation required to meet consumer demands. Once populated, the circuit boards are made into modules and then placed inside the casework. The DAVE DAC does not perform anywhere near where it should. 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. More sharing . Id imagine that upscaling refers to increasing bit-depth (like from 16 to 24 bits) which adds "vertical" resolution to the waveform in theory, improving amplitude resolution making subtle low-level detail more natural and audible (among other things) if done correctly. This puts it up against some serious competition! Stuart Smith finds out. @ricred1, I would like to suggest you take a look at the Mola Mola Tambaqui when it arrives later this month I understand. Yes, you read that right, the Select DAC is the best part of 121,000! Although I would like to keep this as close to $10-12K as possible. But of course, I love window shopping and perusing top tier systems including illustrious more familiar gear like Lampi, TD, MSB, Ares Cerat, Aqua. As I said, its an odd one to describe but you do hear it as it brings a sense of rightness to rhythm tracks. Taiko Audio Extreme > 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). Up to 4X DSD The modular nature of the Discrete and other MSB DACs is very clever and I assume this goes a good way towards giving it such a neutral and detailed sound, where no one part is interfering with what the other is doing. You go off people's opinions and hope it'll match your equipment and system when you put the hard earned down. I dont know as that was years ago and I dont have one here to test against. Each clock is made up of two independent clocks but only one is used at any given time so as not to add unwanted noise to the circuit. Of course your opinion on sound quality is your own, and valid, but to suggest that the reason for the difference is because the Chord is an "FPGA DAC" is technically incorrect. The reasoning behind the two clocks dealing with different frequency families is that music is mostly recorded within multiples of the 44.1kHz family or the 48kHz family and having a clock dealing with each family minimises loss. In my listening tests, I could detect no attribute that made it sound special. Blimey my RME ADI 2 DAC looks to have better performance at a fraction of the cost, /===============================================================/, DACs, Streamers, Servers, Players, Audio Interface, Combination Audio DAC and Headphone Amplifiers. As it stands, the Discrete offers a very good solution should you be a music lover that plays only digital files and you can go straight into a power amp. I hope you understand. We have what I consider to be a pretty resolving system, but we also listen to music a fair old bit for pure pleasure and so theres a valve amp currently feeding our chosen reference loudspeakers though thats not to say this system isnt highly resolving in its own right. You are using an out of date browser. Of course this DAC is super pricey and out of the reach of many (including me). Euphony Summus, EtherRegen, MSB Discrete. Roon Endpoint All in all the Discrete DAC is beautiful looking, minimal, easy to set up (its all but plug and play if you turn both the PSUs on) and it feels like a proper bit of audio engineering. Any specific reason you wanna replace the Dave? But MSB Select 2 is regarded by many as the best thats why for something 1/10 of the price to compete in anyones eyes is quite an accomplishment. At MSB, we believe excellence is a promise worth keeping. For the most part, I used this input and for a quick comparison one of the optical inputs. When you get the chance to hear Chord DAVE, try playing files bit perfect instead of upsampling them to DSD256 with HQPlayer. But digital, potentially, can change things. Put simply, your DAC is ready for the future. There seemed to be a little more separation of instruments in the mix of whatever I was listening to than with the LAB12 DAC and Pre in the signal path and a slightly leaner edge to the music more clearly etched, perhaps? It is just as important as the DAC itself. My wife said it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites. This latter recording gets played to death at shows, but that doesnt detract from it being a very good tune and a very good recording, though I have been known to take the piss a bit when it gets played for the tenth time in a day at audio events. I've tried it in my system and I don't like it. 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. But the majority of the time all 6 of There are a lot of people that absolutely love the M-scaler. I'd also look at the Mola-Mola Tambaqui and the new dCS Bartok. Well, you may not have heard a lot of high-end DAC's in your system, but the one's you've listed are pretty darned good. I hope to also have an opportunity to listen to a T+A DAC8 (for DSD512) and a Chord Dave (DSD256) in my system soon (with HQPlayer). In my assessment the Makua offered a more open and spacious sound. 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. Not sure why you would spend so much on a DAC when the Crane Song Solaris is available at $1,949. Like others said, I'd try first an MScaler with DAVE. Looks like your budget goes up to ~$20k? I like Aqua Formula xHD and Totaldac Six. This is a very odd one to describe but came to the fore on tracks like Pan Eros from World Of Drums and Percussion.

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msb discrete dac vs chord dave