MSB Diamond DAC IV Reviewed By Stereophile
- Thread starter catastrofe
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The build in volume control is analog - not digital. I considered selling mine, since I am not using it, but MSB advised everyone wants one, so resell of a used DAC is definitely easier with a VC, so I am keeping mine.
sorry, my bad, the msb has analog vol control yes, not digital. its fun to have both though and I think the dac iv + has the vol control already, no need to add on. Please correct me if am wrong.
You are wrong. The VC is an option in the DAC IV+, that will set you back between I believe $1500 - $3000, depending on what level VC you choose.
thank you Sir, brilliant. I will take a look at this seriously. But I think I still need this vol control, just in case anything goes wrong with the pre - just in case - so I still be able to listen to the music. very flexible but the price added on is concerned.
a quick update after my listening time today Sirs. the dcs scarlatti transport and paganini dac are superb. I compared directly my s7i with them and totally moved, especially by the dac.
I dont know why and cant explain about the differences, but the paganini is much more dynamic than the dac of the s7i, night and day. the pre-power, speakers and cables are the same, just only swapping boxes.
When we used the same paganini dac but swapping transports, the scarlatti is better. Not night and day but I did here the differences in the sound with more details and smoother in overall performance.
I will wait for the msb signature stack to try at home and compare to the s7i to see how much differences will be in this case, while the offer for the scarlatti 3-4 boxes is high at this time. But I am moved by the dcs, very very nice. although the system is mid-end with 2 way peak consult speakers and unknown brand of pre-pow (same company) also cables, but it did reveal the differences immediately when swapping boxes. Although the scarlatti is demo unit but if I buy this, I wont have any warranty, and not sure about the clock while I am told I'll have 1 year warranty on the dac. This concerns me too.
If I buy the msb, it will be brand new 4 boxes, tailored to suit my amps and the rest of the system, full warranty too. So I just hope the signature stack will move me more than the dcs. I just hope.
I dont know why and cant explain about the differences, but the paganini is much more dynamic than the dac of the s7i, night and day. the pre-power, speakers and cables are the same, just only swapping boxes.
When we used the same paganini dac but swapping transports, the scarlatti is better. Not night and day but I did here the differences in the sound with more details and smoother in overall performance.
I will wait for the msb signature stack to try at home and compare to the s7i to see how much differences will be in this case, while the offer for the scarlatti 3-4 boxes is high at this time. But I am moved by the dcs, very very nice. although the system is mid-end with 2 way peak consult speakers and unknown brand of pre-pow (same company) also cables, but it did reveal the differences immediately when swapping boxes. Although the scarlatti is demo unit but if I buy this, I wont have any warranty, and not sure about the clock while I am told I'll have 1 year warranty on the dac. This concerns me too.
If I buy the msb, it will be brand new 4 boxes, tailored to suit my amps and the rest of the system, full warranty too. So I just hope the signature stack will move me more than the dcs. I just hope.
For those wondering what the margins are on this piece of kit ..... probably about the same as the $1000 RS-232 option MSB offers on the analog DAC.
I have already written my share on their pricing policy ...
That said, equipment used to measure XO with the resolution we are talking bout here is not exactly cheap. Talk about $150k-$200k investment.
Then you need to source the right XOs (not exactly cheap either) and then hand pick those that measure right. The rest will end up in a trash bin adding to your total cost. That certainly drives the price up quite a bit.
At least they made them standard equipment now.
That said, equipment used to measure XO with the resolution we are talking bout here is not exactly cheap. Talk about $150k-$200k investment.
Then you need to source the right XOs (not exactly cheap either) and then hand pick those that measure right. The rest will end up in a trash bin adding to your total cost. That certainly drives the price up quite a bit.
At least they made them standard equipment now.
just saw this...very interesting! having heard s7i and made some comparisons (not directly to Scarlatti)...and having heard Scarlatti...I would agree with your comments. Scarlatti is very impressive. I liked s7i quite a bit, but was even more impressed by Scarlatti.
any update on your search for digital?
I have a little problem here Sir while I am extremely busy with my work. I listened to a mega system with full Vivaldi 4 boxes, Rockport Arrakis mk2 - active crossover - driven by 2 pairs of top VTL monoblocks, top VTL pre, IC cables are all Odin and Zensati Seraphim, speaker cables are Top MIT Matrix 2 pairs, power cables are NBS Black 2 and top Shunyata.
The room is quite big, between 5-6m wide and about 8-10m long, over 3m high. Symphony and orchestral were just awesome. Acoustics instruments sounded very very real, but for me its too "big sounding" which makes human become giant and not in a normal scale.
If I only listen to classical music or instrumentals/electronics, I would buy these immediately if I had the money. But for the vocals, rock and jazz, I see they are quite too much for me to sit there and enjoin the music for long.
I've still not had a chance with the top msb diamond stack yet, so I dont know that I'll go for the vivaldi or the msb. But I doubt I will make any move soon until next year due to my personal circumstances, who knows, I might buy them before X-mas - chance is 0,...%
The room is quite big, between 5-6m wide and about 8-10m long, over 3m high. Symphony and orchestral were just awesome. Acoustics instruments sounded very very real, but for me its too "big sounding" which makes human become giant and not in a normal scale.
If I only listen to classical music or instrumentals/electronics, I would buy these immediately if I had the money. But for the vocals, rock and jazz, I see they are quite too much for me to sit there and enjoin the music for long.
I've still not had a chance with the top msb diamond stack yet, so I dont know that I'll go for the vivaldi or the msb. But I doubt I will make any move soon until next year due to my personal circumstances, who knows, I might buy them before X-mas - chance is 0,...%
Interesting...I recently heard the Arrakis II with 4 VTL monos, custom cables from former Tara designer in a room about same dimensions. Nirvana Unplugged and Norah Jones definitely had FAR more presence in the room...but not physically bigger as in 12 feet tall. But the voicing, notes, guitars felt 'super big' on first impact but I realized it was the fact the speaker seemed so effortlessly able to deliver the instant attack and sense of space at the same time without any shrinking or waiver. Relative to the same on big Wilsons, I felt the big Wilson felt more like 75%+/- of the Arrakis 2.
At the end of the day, it is wonderful to have but its not as if the big Wilson makes people feel half-sized or anything...its just that in comparison...the people feel flatter and a bit smaller in that their presence is not as powerfully in the room. My two cents.
As for your own digital decisions...good luck at work and look forward to hearing more when you get some time.
MSB Technology have a new "King of the Hill" called the Diamond DAC IV Select. It is essentially the same as a fully optioned Diamond DAC IV Plus with Diamond Power Base except this new set has the very best hand selected components inside and sports much improved, newly styled heatsinks and a standard matte black finish.
The Diamond Select seems to be just a tweaked version of Diamond IV Plus+Galaxy clock+Diamond Powerbase only.
DAC is evolving so fast during the recent several years as a result of the thriving CAS. There are now many flagship grade DACs in the market : dCS Vivaldi; Trinity; CH Precision C1; Da Vinci; Gryphon Pandora; Totaldac D1-Dual ...etc.
Can the MSB Diamond Select remains competitive?
I would ask the question the other way. Can the those DACs you quote remain competitive with MSB and dCS??
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
AND raised the prices 20K for the same DAC BUT "hand selected" + new heatsinks. HMMMM, I think I will stay with the same old crappy heat sinks
Anyway, this new MSB DAC will probably give John Atkinson an opportunity to reappraise the comments he made about the MSB Diamond in the Marantz Reference NA-11S1 Network Audio Player review.
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