Sorry for my delay in getting this post updated. The holidays were crazy, and I've been on and off the road for work since the beginning of the year.
To push the rewind button for a moment. I was simply in love with the Esoteric Grandioso K1 when I had it. I put it in a very short list of fantastic DACs that I had heard to that point. That was until MSB and EMM came into my room.
The way that each of the 3 DACs present the soundstage is vastly different. The K1 places each instrument in the soundstage with pinpoint accuracy, but that accuracy can lead to the soundstage feeling thinner and less realistic than the MSB or EMM. I preferred the MSB and EMM over the K1, and am somewhat puzzled why I liked it as much as I did. I guess I didn't do enough shopping before buying it.
Both the MSB and EMM have very accurate sound stages, but instead of just a pin point like the K1, it's a broad stroke of sound in each instrument placement. Which creates a far more robust and extremely wide soundstage. I terms of soundstage, I think EMM does it just slightly better. I found the EMM was more 3 demential, not just wide. I found myself looking over my shoulder a few times with the EMM thinking there was someone walking into the room.
When it comes to accuracy in reproduction, both the MBS and EMM are extraordianry at extracting immense amounts of information. In my system, which has Bryston amps, and KEF Reference speakers.. both known for being analytical, I found the EMM did a better job of pairing with my gear. Some call it sterile, but I find it enjoyable to hear every-last-freaking-detail. The EMM just squeezes ever last drop, for better or worse, out of the files I fed it. All quality of FLAC files & Tidal sounded great, and in some cases better than DSD, which is odd given the Ed's ties to that format. DSD tended to be a little too bright, and got to be fatiguing in some cases. I converted some of those DSD files to FLAC, and it solved the problem.
The MSB did a great job at all quality levels of FLAC, and Tidal, so there were no difference there. I think MSB outperformed the EMM on DSD files, which again is weird considering the principal behind EMM's ties to that format. MSB did a better job of taming down the brightness of some of the DSD files I fed it. It most defiantly has a warmer, analog sound to it.
I put 2 different versions of Bill Evan's Waltz for Debby on my Aurender. One is 24/192 FLAC, and the other is DSD. In listening to them both, the EMM sounded better with the FLAC files, but the MSB was the clear winner with DSD.
At times I found the EMM a bit bright, and at times I felt the MSB was too warm. There were moments of pure joy listening to both of these DACs. They are both incredible pieces of equipment and finding flaws in either was difficult.
In my system, I found the EMM DA2 to be the better fit. I bought cassette tapes as a kid, and a few years later CDs took the world by storm. I don't have that childhood nostalgia for the sound of vinyl that others in our community have. I think that's a key contributing factor to gear that I own and enjoy, and why I like the EMM DA2 more than the MSB. The MSB without question has more of that warmer toned analog sound to it. I'm not saying that EMM sounds digital, it just felt more resolving and hyper-detailed... and I love hyper detail.
That's my 2 cents. Go listen to them both, and decide for yourself.
