MSB Launches Two New DAC’s

Mike,
Very interesting -- would love to see how it compares to the outgoing MSB Dac V as well as Berkeley Reference, Chord DAVE & Emm labs.
Hopefully it can deliver a fair dose of the magic of the Select DAC at an approachable price.

Anshul
 
I wonder if those prices include the choice of two inputs? So, if I was looking at the entry level discrete DAC plus I wanted an MQA USB and the Roon ethernet card. The pricing probably goes up. Can one defeat the internal volume control and you use your own pre amp ?
 
Interesting news. The Discrete appears to be the Analog replacement and, with the included Discrete Power Supply, at $9,950 is very competitively priced.

Looks like the Premier could be sweet spot - the TOTR model with the new Prime DAC modules. The price for their modular inputs is not inexpensive though ...
 
nicoludio said:
Looks like the Premier could be sweet spot - the TOTR model with the new Prime DAC modules. The price for their modular inputs is not inexpensive though ...
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I tend to agree on the Premier sweet spot - though worry with Powerbase and modular renderer its going to be closer to 30k.
 
Just like the outgoing Analog DAC, it looks like MSB is not publishing the base clock specification(s) of both the Discrete and Premier DACs. However, they do mention that the Premier can be upgraded to the "all new Femto 93". I'm curious just how much extra $ this upgrade will add to the MSRP.
 
Audioguru1 said:
Just like the outgoing Analog DAC, it looks like MSB is not publishing the base clock specification(s) of both the Discrete and Premier DACs. However, they do mention that the Premier can be upgraded to the "all new Femto 93". I'm curious just how much extra $ this upgrade will add to the MSRP.
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The base clock has been the Femto 140, MSRP $5,000.

The Femto 77 MSRP is $10,000.

Let’s say the new Femto 93 MSRP is $7,500.

That would project to a MSRP upgrade cost of approximately $2,500.

Just a guess on my part. Premier DAC pricing could be scaled down commensurately.

Best,
Ken
 
Probably too early for this question. But, does MSB plan on producing companion transports for these DACS? At a more accessible price points than the recently announced ones.

If they made a Discrete transport with HDMI video (since I believe these new ones are based on the Oppo 203) I could remove the Oppo 205 from system and go to a full MSB stack DAC+Transport with HDMI ( I run it to a front projector)
 
mdp632 said:
Probably too early for this question. But, does MSB plan on producing companion transports for these DACS? At a more accessible price points than the recently announced ones.

If they made a Discrete transport with HDMI video (since I believe these new ones are based on the Oppo 203) I could remove the Oppo 205 from system and go to a full MSB stack DAC+Transport with HDMI ( I run it to a front projector)
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First they will come out with the Reference Transport and then the Select Transport. After that, I would expect them to come out with a less expensive transport for the Premier and Discrete DACs. Based on how great the inexpensive UMT Transport sounded (now discontinued), all the new transports should sound outstanding.

Ken
 
Alpinist said:
Not at this time but I will tell you that I am quite enamored with their products after hearing them at Axpona and RMAF last year.

Ken
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Cool.

My plan is to audition the Premier and the Reference mano y mano when released. If the Premier is a baby Reference, then I will be extremely interested.
 
Does anyone know a more precise release date? I for one cannot wait to home audition the pimped up Reference DAC and compare to my Lumin T1. I am super happy with my sound at the moment so I am fascinated to see what the Reference will add. Will also try to audition the Brinkmann Nyquist. Game on.
 
AJR said:
Does anyone know a more precise release date? I for one cannot wait to home audition the pimped up Reference DAC and compare to my Lumin T1. I am super happy with my sound at the moment so I am fascinated to see what the Reference will add. Will also try to audition the Brinkmann Nyquist. Game on.
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It is still looking like June timeframe. Maybe a little sooner.

Let us know your thoughts on the REF DAC.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have had the good fortune to listen to the MSB Reference DAC a few days ago, as part of my quest to select the front end for a new system.
It was fed by a proprietary music player hosted on a NUC, and played on YG Sonja loudspeakers through a solid state pre and a stereo power amp, pre-production pieces from a new manufacturer.
I listened to a variety of music I know well of various resolution, at quite a low volume setting.
I have been blown away. It has been a long time since I felt so moved by reproduced music.
The sense of cohesion, transparency, resolution, depth and spaciousness of the soundstage has been unparalleled. I am comfortable to attribute most of it to the Reference, as there has been clear differentiation between different tracks.
The thing is, plain redbook recordings sounded like I have never heard them before, and high resolution well recorded tracks were unbelievable and as I have never heard them.
I am deeply impressed by MSB technology and what they have produced.
best,
gn
 
Glad to hear another positive Ref dac story - it is a friggin' awesome machine. I know everybody talks about the Select, but the Ref is right up there with it - and it *still* smokes the rest i've heard and has that eery its analog but digital feel.
I am looking to get the Premier dac upon release - by dealer is going to be tired of me asking about it :exciting:
 
Now you are getting me excited. :)


KeithR said:
Glad to hear another positive Ref dac story - it is a friggin' awesome machine. I know everybody talks about the Select, but the Ref is right up there with it - and it *still* smokes the rest i've heard and has that eery its analog but digital feel.
I am looking to get the Premier dac upon release - by dealer is going to be tired of me asking about it :exciting:
Click to expand...
 
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