MSB's new Sentinel DAC

[QuadDiffuser]

Since about a year ago, MSB Technology has been busy developing their new flagship DAC, The Sentinel.
As a future owner of this heroically-engineered flagship DAC, I'm absolutely thrilled!
I'd like to start this thread to keep everyone on WBF updated.

MSB's own website's forum has several postings chronicling the Sentinel's design and evolution.
Here's the link to the first update, from June 2024:

The Sentinel DAC - Design Update #1

Here is a sneak peek at an old prototype assembly for the Sentinel DAC. You may notice the 2021 date stamp on the PCB. We have often explained how a lot of technology has already trickled down from this project to the Digital Director and eventually the Cascade DAC. At this level of...

forum.msbtechnology.com

Photos of the prototype DAC (mono) module assembly, containing 16 hybrid DAC modules, or 32 DACs (per channel):

 

[QuadDiffuser]

Here's a link to the second update, from August, 2024:

The Sentinel DAC - Design Update #2

Hello all! Good progress has been made on the Sentinel. We have completed a preliminary revised “core” design. This brings us to the second round of prototyping and testing. We will now begin working on the PCB’s and building out these modules. We don’t invest in final designs until we have...

forum.msbtechnology.com

Renderings of the core chassis, and the clock module:

 

[QuadDiffuser]

Here's the link to the third update, from February 2025:

The Sentinel DAC - Design Update #3

Excited to be building again. We have completed the complete re-design from the mark 1 prototype and are approaching the next major milestone of the project. These PCB’s just finished and we are making the casework for them. Metal is in the shop and we will get to start making parts that...

forum.msbtechnology.com

Photos of the PCBs:

 

[gionaz]

"All of this feels eerily alien..." (I would have liked to insert an Alinens emoticon but it is not there)

As if conceived not by engineers, but by silent minds reaching across time — where design is not crafted, but revealed. Every detail suggests a source that transcends function, aiming instead for essence.

And for those who remain faithful to the glow of vacuum tubes?
There is hope...
A quiet, tentative hope that an unbalanced output might be offered — a subtle nod to the purists, to those who still chase the delicate breath of music through glowing glass and hand-soldered dreams.

 

[pk_LA]

I am very much looking forward to hearing this DAC!

I suspect that MSB will only release it when they are confident it has bested all contenders, including the Wadax and the Varese.

It's an interesting time for ultra high-end dacs! And, an expensive time!

 

[wil]

"All of this feels eerily alien..." (I would have liked to insert an Alinens emoticon but it is not there)

As if conceived not by engineers, but by silent minds reaching across time — where design is not crafted, but revealed. Every detail suggests a source that transcends function, aiming instead for essence.

And for those who remain faithful to the glow of vacuum tubes?
There is hope...
A quiet, tentative hope that an unbalanced output might be offered — a subtle nod to the purists, to those who still chase the delicate breath of music through glowing glass and hand-soldered dreams.

An unexpected moment of poetry. Bravissimo!

 

[Cincy2]

This DAC will be an all out assault on State of the Art. MSB does not rest on their laurels. I've heard the price is going to be north of $300K. Easy to understand when you look at the extent of the hardware included.

 

[Stereophonic]

I am very much looking forward to hearing this DAC!

I suspect that MSB will only release it when they are confident it has bested all contenders, including the Wadax and the Varese.

It's an interesting time for ultra high-end dacs! And, an expensive time!

 

[pk_LA]

The Wadax Studio seems to be a wonderfully disruptive product!

 

[Elliot G.]

The Wadax Studio seems to be a wonderfully disruptive product!

IMO its too good for its price. I am sure MSB will produce a good product when they get it finished but at 300k and up the air is very rarefied for buyers not matter who makes it. The Studio is a killer at under 40k with two options to push it further coming in Munich this coming month .

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...do you guys think that 300K price is real? A hifi pal sent me the release, but it was on April 1st. I have searched a bit but wonder if that release was a PR joke announcement.

 

[pk_LA]

IMO its too good for its price. I am sure MSB will produce a good product when they get it finished but at 300k and up the air is very rarefied for buyers not matter who makes it. The Studio is a killer at under 40k with two options to push it further coming in Munich this coming month .

I have not yet heard it BUT I have heard from two people I know and trust that it sounds amazingly close to ANYTHING available at ANY price.

 

[pk_LA]

...do you guys think that 300K price is real? A hifi pal sent me the release, but it was on April 1st. I have searched a bit but wonder if that release was a PR joke announcement.

It is not $300K. It is $375K.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...thanks PK.

 

[Elliot G.]

I have not yet heard it BUT I have heard from two people I know and trust that it sounds amazingly close to ANYTHING available at ANY price.

Well Patrick I own one and have sold them to clients who got rid of other high priced gear to keep it. You can read one testimonial on my site. I believe that this product gives just about anything a run for the money at a significantly less expensive price. Its 39800 and has a cd /Sacd transport, A DAC and it streams. What it allows you to do is spend 200k elsewhere!!!!

 

[pk_LA]

...thanks PK.

The $375K was what my dealer contacted me with. They are trying to secure pre-orders based on that number. For me, I am no longer willing to pre-order something of this expense without hearing it. I have done that before and it did not go great.

 

[Alrainbow]

This comment is not meant to be rude ,
Now having said this MSB has and continues to make leadiig edge digital products has from my start in digital.
What concerns me is Simple how many trips to the well where it's future proof , it's made in various modules, interchangeable lol.
so just explain to me how we had sel 1 then sel 2 where anyone owning sel 1 was stuck
Then sel 2 same as sel 1.
Now what ever the new totally different device also modular.
Let me use my crystal ball and say I see the new model and again your stuck.
Each model seemed much better , and the digital director I think was a very good idea and needed . Does this product work on sel 1-2 and beyond ?
Yes the current model is cheaper then some other multi box dacs.
But still not an all in one nor future proof , nor is complete on its own.

WADAX to me is a better idea you have the mountain top or something much more affordable that does pretty much everything .
I don't need pictures to show me a year or so from now I have a 100k paper weight that sounds great but no longer has the look at this status lol.

Just my opinion

 

[Al M.]

The $375K was what my dealer contacted me with. They are trying to secure pre-orders based on that number. For me, I am no longer willing to pre-order something of this expense without hearing it. I have done that before and it did not go great.

$300K would have been way too cheap. $375K indeed seems a more reasonable number.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...admittedly, I was a bit disappointed by the "future-proof" marketing myself, as the Digital Director re-set the context, as did the Cascade. Apparently, the future ain't what it used to be. But in all fairness...time marches on and so does technology. The "old" devices are still great, and they offer trade-up, so it's hard to get too torqued about the whole thing. But "future-proof" is a matter of how one defines future: tomorrow or five years from now.

 

[hifirabbit]

$300K would have been way too cheap. $375K indeed seems a more reasonable number.

No.
They should price it $ 850000 to be the top dog
Oh, I think that would be the price of the future Sentinel Select