MSB received an excellent review in the current Stereophile. Glad to see they're getting some mainstream press.
MSB Diamond DAC IV Reviewed By Stereophile
- Thread starter catastrofe
- Start date
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
I have one of those sitting here right now, comparing it to the dCS Paganini stack.
So far, it's got less resolution, but more punch.
Upgraded the firmware for DSD, but the results were not impressive, sort of dull sound...
So far, it's got less resolution, but more punch.
Upgraded the firmware for DSD, but the results were not impressive, sort of dull sound...
First critical comments about these in a while...i read comments from someone with pretty high end stuff in Turkey?...who went with Lavry Gold and also owned the DCS full Scarlatti stack...felt there was something wrong in the treble of the MSB as i recall. He has had a lot of SOTA stuff he has auditioned, and has bought only a select few pieces of those auditions.
Look forward to hearing more detailed thoughts when you get a moment. Thanks!
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Indeed, the highs seem a little subdued... I guess that's why bad recordings sound nicer on the MSB than on the dCS. There's no bite to the treble, but there's also less presence and pinpoint clarity/definition.
But the lows... Oh, what a difference!
Oh, let me clarify that I'm mostly auditioning it through the USB interface, using a Mac Mini with Audirvana 1.3.9.x. Sounded better that way than the MSB Signature Transport.
alexandre
But the lows... Oh, what a difference!
Oh, let me clarify that I'm mostly auditioning it through the USB interface, using a Mac Mini with Audirvana 1.3.9.x. Sounded better that way than the MSB Signature Transport.
alexandre
To each his own...i've never heard it myself. He certainly did like the Scarlatti full-stack.
I read the review. What was slightly disconcerting was on USB compared to the Ayre ($2,500 I believe), it was not a "completely blew it out of the water" level of difference (which you would expect at 8x the price), but rather more subtle. I guess you can get yourself a lof of DAC at a reasonable price these days. I'll have to hear for myself if the analog DAC is worth the extra $$$ over my PWD MKII.
I don't have any experience with the PWD MKII, but I had the original PWD and was a Beta Tester for the Bridge. I can tell you that my Signature DAC IV is night and day better than the original PWD (using the Bridge) in terms of clarity, detail, and overall "musicality". Of course, for the price difference it should be.
Thats what I want to hear! I think the analog DAC will be be very close if not equivalent to a Signature DAC that does not have the $10K clock (which is more or less what MSB told me as well), so I hope the analog DAC will trounce the PWD MKII. Now, the PWD MKII trounced the MKI you had as well, so I still need empirical validation of the analog DAC destroys PWD MKII hypothesis.....
edorr,
That comparison I can make, as I had the Ayre QB-9 here in my room for some testing, and it greatly disappointed me. It had no extension, both HF and LF, and sounded quite dull.
Initially, I was also a tad disappointed at the MSB's USB input. But on a whim I plugged a MacBook Pro instead of the usual Mac Mini, and I got the clarity back, on par with what I'm getting out of the Signature Transport via I2S input.
I'm waiting for the Diamand IV with the Femto clock, so my tests are actually being done with a Signature IV sans clock. According to MSB's page, to beat the Analog DAC, you'd need just the configuration I ordered (Diamond+clock), which is considerably more expensive. So yeah, in your situation, the Analog DAC is the better deal
alexandre
That comparison I can make, as I had the Ayre QB-9 here in my room for some testing, and it greatly disappointed me. It had no extension, both HF and LF, and sounded quite dull.
Initially, I was also a tad disappointed at the MSB's USB input. But on a whim I plugged a MacBook Pro instead of the usual Mac Mini, and I got the clarity back, on par with what I'm getting out of the Signature Transport via I2S input.
I'm waiting for the Diamand IV with the Femto clock, so my tests are actually being done with a Signature IV sans clock. According to MSB's page, to beat the Analog DAC, you'd need just the configuration I ordered (Diamond+clock), which is considerably more expensive. So yeah, in your situation, the Analog DAC is the better deal
alexandre
edorr,
That comparison I can make, as I had the Ayre QB-9 here in my room for some testing, and it greatly disappointed me. It had no extension, both HF and LF, and sounded quite dull.
Initially, I was also a tad disappointed at the MSB's USB input. But on a whim I plugged a MacBook Pro instead of the usual Mac Mini, and I got the clarity back, on par with what I'm getting out of the Signature Transport via I2S input.
I'm waiting for the Diamand IV with the Femto clock, so my tests are actually being done with a Signature IV sans clock. According to MSB's page, to beat the Analog DAC, you'd need just the configuration I ordered (Diamond+clock), which is considerably more expensive. So yeah, in your situation, the Analog DAC is the better deal
alexandre
If the Analog is as good as announced, it will split the market into guys like me on a budget that will uniformely opt for the analog DAC and the cost no object crowd that will get the $40K top of the line. The models priced inbetween will not sell (mab be only to those with an upgrade path to Diamond + Clock in mind).
The way for MSB to address this would be to upgrade the base configuration of the Platinum and Signature DACIV to have the same clock as the analog DAc (and possibly some other upgrades), which would differentiate the DACs from the analog again.
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Our Diamond DAC with Femto clock and Diamond Base is one of the best if not THE best PCM DAC's I've heard.
I am hopeful to get 90% of the performance for 25% of the price with the analog DAC, which is a not an atypical slope of the extreme end of the price / performance curve ....
That is my thought...the analog dac may get close to 90% of the DACIV series with the femto clock. It may be as good or even better the signiture w/o the femto.
edorr,
That comparison I can make, as I had the Ayre QB-9 here in my room for some testing, and it greatly disappointed me. It had no extension, both HF and LF, and sounded quite dull.
Initially, I was also a tad disappointed at the MSB's USB input. But on a whim I plugged a MacBook Pro instead of the usual Mac Mini, and I got the clarity back, on par with what I'm getting out of the Signature Transport via I2S input.
I'm waiting for the Diamand IV with the Femto clock, so my tests are actually being done with a Signature IV sans clock. According to MSB's page, to beat the Analog DAC, you'd need just the configuration I ordered (Diamond+clock), which is considerably more expensive. So yeah, in your situation, the Analog DAC is the better deal
alexandre
It still baffles me how these asynchronous DAC's with very accurate clocks and input buffering can be so sensitive to the quality (jitter I presume) of the input signal. Not only on USB, but many DACs (including MSB) are now fully asynchronous on all other inputs as well. As of yet, none of the digital luminarier on any of the forums has been able to give me a good explaination for this.
I was able to demo the Femtosecond clock in my Signature DAC. There was a noticeable difference in the flow of the music. I also demoed the Pro Network Card (I use the Sonore USB-to-MSB Network Converter) separately, and the difference was similar to that of the clock.
My Sonore server uses the SOtM USB outputs, which are fantastic. This server is much better than any of the Mac based solutions I tried (Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and Macbook Pro). It doesn't surprise me that Alexandre noticed a difference between the output of his Mini and Macbook. . .all USB is not created equal.
The key to the Analog DAC is that once you buy it, there's no opportunity for future upgrades. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. . .the DAC IV series just targets a different customer base.
My Sonore server uses the SOtM USB outputs, which are fantastic. This server is much better than any of the Mac based solutions I tried (Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and Macbook Pro). It doesn't surprise me that Alexandre noticed a difference between the output of his Mini and Macbook. . .all USB is not created equal.
The key to the Analog DAC is that once you buy it, there's no opportunity for future upgrades. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. . .the DAC IV series just targets a different customer base.
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