End of the road DAC

Nice write up Elberoth. Way too technical for me but what shines through in your description is the serious obsession with maximized quality even if slow to produce. Looking forward to hearing the Trinity gear in NYC maybe in Feb or March.
 
Elberoth said:
Battles,

First of all, you need to realise, that the MSB is much more expensive in Europe than in the US. Trinity on the other hand - if the US $60k street price is correct - is slightly cheaper. That makes the MSB Diamond and Trinity comparable in prices over here (both 40k euro).

Would I choose the Trinity over MSB, if in Europe MSB was $40k and the Trinity was $60k ? That is a VERY difficult question, one I happily didn't have to answer. The last 5, 10 or 15% of improvement always carries the biggest price penalty.

I didn't have a chance to try the MSB Diamond Plus with the matching UMT+ transport and Power Base simply because, adding them would make the MSB stack much more expensive than the Trinity. At that was over my (already sretched) budget. My dealer swears by the superiority of the UMT+ transport with the matching Power Base vs the DAC's USB input I was using, but how much better the full stack sounds - this is something I cannot say.
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Thanks Adam. This is very helpful feedback. After speaking with Gideon it was my sense that the import duties likely make the Trinity a much more expensive piece in the US. As good as the Trinity may be, $60K is more than by budget can accommodate so I'm hopeful that the MSB vs Trinity performance gap is narrowed with the UMT+ and Dual Signature Power Base in the mix. For what it worth, when demoing the MSB Diamond Stack in my system, I found that the UMT+ sounded superior via transport or network playback when compared to that of my battery powered CAPS 3.0 using 2012 Server, a Light Harmonics USB and Paul Pang's USB card. To my ears the UMT+ sounded more natural, smoother and analog. I also like that with the UMT+ I know longer have to tinker with which OS sounds best, USB drivers, USB cables etc. It also allows me to free up an isolation base on my rack. That said, I will have to invest in another power cord assuming that the quality of power cord into the UMT+ power base has a meaningful impact on the sonics. To this end, I'd certainly love to hear folks opinions on how meaningfully the UMT+ power cord quality has / would likely affect the total sonic signature of the UMT+ stack.

Thanks,

Battles
 
Looks like Audioarts has the Trinity transport in as well. I'll be comparing my CH
to it in late January - will report back then...
 
I was referring to the transport side; if I can use my CH D1 with the Trinity dac (as opposed to the Trinity transport (and sound is close enough), then I am happy to stick with the D1 (but no usb link).
Also, looks like the price in Europe for the dac (40000 euro) is consistent with the US price considering currency exchange and import which is fair. I heard that Trinity is actually much more expensive in Asia.
I did hear the MSB full rack last year and although I have not heard the Trinity dac yet, I have heard the pre and phono. I suspect the MSB is neither on the level of Trinity nor will it hold its value as well. The Trinity it seems is the better investment. But again I have to wait until January to hear it...
 
Hoping that folks lucky enough to get to CES this week will share their opinions on these "end of road" DACS. Wondering how Nagra's new DAC will sound compared to Vivaldi, CH, ARC, Trinity, etc.
chris
 
Yes it does look pretty exciting!
I know Mike was intending to go. Battles, you going to hear the Trinity and MSB?
Have fun guys! Jealous.
 
elegy said:
I was referring to the transport side; if I can use my CH D1 with the Trinity dac (as opposed to the Trinity transport (and sound is close enough), then I am happy to stick with the D1 (but no usb link).
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I'm affraid you will only get about 85% of the sound the USB input is capable of.
 
tunes said:
Hoping that folks lucky enough to get to CES this week will share their opinions on these "end of road" DACS. Wondering how Nagra's new DAC will sound compared to Vivaldi, CH, ARC, Trinity, etc.
chris
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From what I learned from tests in France it will be a "dangerous contender" (concurrent dangereux) for a position in the circle of the best DACs. Unhappily the final prototype was shown at the Lisbon AudioShow in improper conditions and I could not get any idea of its capabilities.
 
BlueMcIntosh said:
There are NO such a thing as End of the road regardless of what products. You know better than that ;)
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End of the road for this week Paul! All kidding aside, I'm over the moon with the Lumin. I now see the chase for the elusive DAC as a loosing battle. Jock and Mark were right all along, Network streaming is where it's at.
 
socfan12 said:
Mike, how much have you spun since getting the Lumins?:P
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Less than an hour. I prefer the sound of my Lumin (ready, set, flame suit on!). :)

I still love my vinyl, but I don't hate my digital anymore. Quite the opposite.

I may add the Ortofon Black or Bronze and the 3D arm and things could change.
 
For CH Precision C1 users, you must try the ethernet streaming option. This is C1 at its best and I believe ethernet streaming is the way forward for digital.
 
Hit the road DAC don't come round here no more no more no more :D

Sorry couldn't help myself
 
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