Trinity DAC

asiufy · Nov 26, 2013

microstrip said:
BTW, I read in the MSB site that they are DSD ready. What does it mean exactly? Why only ready, not full DSD?

I guess this is just a mistake in phrasing. They are fully DSD capable, from the blurb on Product page:

http://www.msbtech.com/products/platinumHome.php

Platinum DAC IV plus is a modular upgradable digital playback platform. In the basic configuration the DAC IV plus offers unprecedented performance value. It offers full DSD playback on all inputs. It comes standard with our 2nd Generation dual 24 bit 100 Mbit/sec sign magnitude R2R ladder DAC with four discrete converters and the Femto 140 clock is included. Click the picture for product details or the pricing link on the right for detailed pricing and options.

So, not only fully DSD capable, but on all inputs as well. Not that many other DACs can do this...

alexandre

Elberoth · Nov 26, 2013

microstrip said:
Perhaps I was not clear - the signal clock of the transport is sent trough a separate hardware line in I2C - there is no added jitter. Close proximity does not minimize jitter, although it can seem the logical way of doing it.

I have talked to numerous digital engineers. They all told me the same - trying to send I2S signal to distances longer than 4 inches, is opening can of worms. The I2S protocol was designed to send singnals between chips (i.e. very short distances). It was never designed to send signal between separate boxes. It is next to impossible to maintan low jitter figures by doing so.

Close proximity does not minimize jitter by itself - but is essential if you want to get really low jitter figures.

Elberoth · Nov 26, 2013

microstrip said:
BTW, I read in the MSB site that they are DSD ready. What does it mean exactly? Why only ready, not full DSD?

Define 'full DSD'. MSB does DSD at 128fs.

microstrip · Nov 26, 2013

Elberoth said:
Define 'full DSD'. MSB does DSD at 128fs.

View attachment 12704

By full DSD I meant just DSD without qualifiers using a DSD DAC. Some manufacturers call "DSD ready" to DSD through PCM and some to real DSD - it is why my question.

Elberoth · Nov 26, 2013

The word you were probably looking for is native DSD.

Audiocrack · Dec 14, 2013

To every music lover: try to give the Trinity dac a listen. It is a stunning piece of equipment.

Worldcat · Dec 14, 2013

Great, i will go down to my local Best Buy and pick one up for audition!

LL21 · Dec 14, 2013

Audiocrack said:
To every music lover: try to give the Trinity dac a listen. It is a stunning piece of equipment.

Have you managed to do a shoot-out comparison between Trinity and your Scarlatti full-stack and your Zanden full-stack? I am most interested in your impressions on redbook.

thanks! Congrats!

Audiocrack · Dec 14, 2013

LL21 said:
Have you managed to do a shoot-out comparison between Trinity and your Scarlatti full-stack and your Zanden full-stack? I am most interested in your impressions on redbook. thanks! Congrats!

Two remarks up front. The Trinity dac is far from played in yet. Secondly, I have on loan two middle of the road xlr-cables that I use between Trinity dac and Zanden 3000 line (never used xlr-cables before). So the Trinity is not yet performing at it's best. I compared several RR red book cd's on Zanden and the same RR HRX recordings on Trinity. In short: no contest (and you know I love my Zanden cd-combo). HRX recordings through Triniy are sounding more fluid, more natural and smoother. Furthermore clearly the dynamics are of a different order. In addition the soundstage is presented in an other way.To say it crudely: listening to redbook cd's seems in comparison like listening to music through a letter box, that is red book cd is more flat sounding. Let's talk on the phone next week.

LL21 · Dec 14, 2013

Audiocrack said:
Two remarks up front. The Trinity dac is far from played in yet. Secondly, I have on loan two middle of the road xlr-cables that I use between Trinity dac and Zanden 3000 line (never used xlr-cables before). So the Trinity is not yet performing at it's best. I compared several RR red book cd's on Zanden and the same RR HRX recordings on Trinity. In short: no contest (and you know I love my Zanden cd-combo). HRX recordings through Triniy are sounding more fluid, more natural and smoother. Furthermore clearly the dynamics are of a different order. In addition the soundstage is presented in an other way.To say it crudely: listening to redbook cd's seems in comparison like listening to music through a letter box, that is red book cd is more flat sounding. Let's talk on the phone next week.

Wow...sounds amazing! Look forward to speaking. Thanks for that.

Hyperion · Dec 21, 2013

I'm very interested in any comparisons inbetween Vivaldi, Trinity and CH Precision D1. Anyone?

CKKeung · Dec 21, 2013

Hyperion said:
I'm very interested in any comparisons inbetween Vivaldi, Trinity and CH Precision D1. Anyone?

I reported earlier in the thread about my personal views on Trinity Dac vs dCS Vivaldi dac+upsampler+clock :
#7 of http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?12023-Trinity-DAC&p=233348&viewfull=1#post233348

Now the Audio Technique magazine of Hong Kong publishes a very detailed review of Trinity Dac, written by its Chief Editor Mr. Lincoln Cheng and another reviewer Mr. Leung KF in the Dec 2013 issue.
There are a lot of good photos but the following two are most interesting :

The internal photo of Trinity Dac :

The smallish but multi-tier Lianotec/dac circuit boards are attached directly to the left & right balanced outputs :

Mr. Lincoln Cheng gives Trinity the highest compliment : Buying one himself! This is the photo of his current home audio system. The Vivaldi combo is still there for SACD playback.
His new Trinity Dac is placed on the right-side Venture audio rack.

edorr · Dec 21, 2013

Apparently Elberoth (Adam) is on the record on another forum saying the Trinity trounced his MSB stack (which will go up for sale) and he's buying the trinity. I'm sure he'll show up shortly to confirm and provide detail.

microstrip · Dec 21, 2013

Most probably the magic is happening behind the large plate ... If I was a New Yorker I would be visiting Audioarts soon.

CKKeung · Dec 21, 2013

microstrip said:
Most probably the magic is happening behind the large plate ... If I was a New Yorker I would be visiting Audioarts soon.

Hi microstrip,

Wizard has a post about Trinity Dac recently.
The large plate shields the digital reception board where the two big OCXO clock modules are located :
http://cybwiz.blogspot.hk/2013/03/trinity-dac.html

microstrip · Dec 21, 2013

CKKeung said:
Hi microstrip,

Wizard has a post about Trinity Dac recently.
The large plate shields the digital reception board where the two big OCXO clock modules are located :
http://cybwiz.blogspot.hk/2013/03/trinity-dac.html

CKKeung,

Thanks - it seems I guessed - these OCXO clock modules should be one of the most important parts of the Trinity.

CKKeung · Dec 21, 2013

microstrip said:
CKKeung,

Thanks - it seems I guessed - these OCXO clock modules should be one of the most important parts of the Trinity.

Hi Microstrip,

And the R2R too.
Most of the best DACs in the market are of R2R type: Trinity, MSB, Totaldac, Da Vinci, CH Precision ...etc

Audiocrack · Dec 22, 2013

I am at Munich right now visiting Dietmar and picking up the Trinity transport. As I wrote before in this thread the Trinity dac is something very special so I am not surprised at all that Adam bought it like I did a fw months ago. Not sure whether the Trinity dac can be listened to at the CES. But like I said before: try to listen to this dac as it may very well be a game changer as it apparently is for some people including me.

LL21 · Dec 22, 2013

edorr said:
Apparently Elberoth (Adam) is on the record on another forum saying the Trinity trounced his MSB stack (which will go up for sale) and he's buying the trinity. I'm sure he'll show up shortly to confirm and provide detail.

wow...that is quite a statement. MSB is no slouch!

LL21 · Dec 22, 2013

Audiocrack said:
I am at Munich right now visiting Dietmar and picking up the Trinity transport. As I wrote before in this thread the Trinity dac is something very special so I am not surprised at all that Adam bought it like I did a fw months ago. Not sure whether the Trinity dac can be listened to at the CES. But like I said before: try to listen to this dac as it may very well be a game changer as it apparently is for some people including me.

Fantastic! In many cases, I find the Transport being an important part of the combination. Zanden for sure really must be played with its own Transport. But in the cases of certain transports, like Metronome Kalista Ref, it can have a hugely beneficial impact on sound quality in my experience. Safe travels and look forward to hearing all about the full Trinity Stack!

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