Excited about tomorrow...

Phishphan said:
Give me digital over analog any day.

The occasional clicks and pops, the little static here-and-there with vinyl. The tinkering with tone arm, cartridge, belt to get it right. Cleaning the records. Getting up to flip the record. No Thanks!

My digital set up sounds as good or better than any analog I’ve heard. And it’s convenience can’t be beat. I stay seated on my couch and change songs with an iPad.

Digital is the future of music. With high res FLAC, DSD, and MQA (if it’s lasts). Internet speeds keep increasing, and storage is cheap. No worries about my DSD files getting dusty on my NAS. I can’t see myself ever hooking my analog rig back up.


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Without exaggeration, this is what I hear every single day. 98% of my SOURCE sales are digital related - and I have good turntable brands! But what you say is exactly what my customers tell me day in, day out.

It's no secret I'm a vinyl guy, but the MSB has been an eye/ear opener for me. Going through my collection, comparing the Select II to the Kronos Pro, I am amazed at how many digital albums sound better or at least as good. Case in point: the new, much ballyhooed Sarah McLachlan Surfacing album, remastered from the tapes by Bernie Grunman. The boring old redbook beat it with the MSB. I was amazed. I paid $50 for the LP and I had the CD from 20 years ago! Is this the case with all albums? Certainly not, but this is an example of world class digital beating world class vinyl, and of course, many examples of visa versa.

I love both, and could never part with my two turntables and R2R for nothing, but I see how customers are saying "analog is a PITA and now you add 45 RPM's? DUMB DUMB DUMB!" Record companies are stupid. 2 songs per side? WTF? People were bellyaching about getting up after 5 songs, now 2 songs per side? Ugh. MEP will say people are just lazy, and maybe that's part of it. But I'm hearing stories of hip surgeries, knee surgeries, etc. being more the culprit to be honest.

I really don't know how MSB has done it, but they have. WOW.
 
Thats great about the MSB. Hopefully over the next few years other companies will be able to up their products so we can get this kind of quality for a lot less money.

That being said - the price of the it might only get to 1/2 of its current price.

MSB obviously has a world class preamp in there and other premium brands with world class preamps alone are in the $30-40,000 range and extreme quality power supplies from other brands are $10-20,000 a piece and again MSB uses 2 of them. Maybe the digital genus part of it will come down in price but the other components in their total product probably won't. So it will still be very expensive but $60,000 is A LOT better than $120,000.
 
Jock, the Select II essentially replaces the preamp, DAC and (very soon), computer/Music Player (when the Roon Ready Network Card comes out) in a system. With analog inputs on the Select II, there’s no reason to give up the Phonostage. Works brilliantly.

As for the preamp section, it’s beats the hell out of my Triode Junone. When Vince told me he thought it would beat $40,000-$80,000 solid stage preamps, I laughed. I’m not laughing now. I’m agreeing.


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Phishphan said:
Give me digital over analog any day.

The occasional clicks and pops, the little static here-and-there with vinyl. The tinkering with tone arm, cartridge, belt to get it right. Cleaning the records. Getting up to flip the record. No Thanks!

My digital set up sounds as good or better than any analog I’ve heard. And it’s convenience can’t be beat. I stay seated on my couch and change songs with an iPad.

Digital is the future of music. With high res FLAC, DSD, and MQA (if it’s lasts). Internet speeds keep increasing, and storage is cheap. No worries about my DSD files getting dusty on my NAS. I can’t see myself ever hooking my analog rig back up.


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YUP I am with you on that. I was a reseller back in the early 80s and gave it for being an enduser by the late 80s and have been engaged in this hobby for a very long time having all kinds of turntables and cartridges. In my early days I would be hired to setup turntables all over NYC. Trust me I loved vinyl and maybe if I had a robotic way to maintain a TT, play records, change tracks, etc I would go back to vinyl.

I gave up vinyl for good. I don't care about the pops, etc but as I really just want to sit and enjoy my music, especially with a DAC like the Select II, there is nothing that beats having your iPhone, or iPad and make a playlist or hop for one album of choice to another or a song of choice to another.

I'm done with the tinkering as well. It is just too much trouble.

However, I fully understand those who love vinyl and have no arguments with their choices nor should I. I stay away from which is better, vinyl or digital. To me the more useable one automatically gets the nod and when dealing with a Select II its moot anyway
 
Mike said:
Without exaggeration, this is what I hear every single day. 98% of my SOURCE sales are digital related - and I have good turntable brands! But what you say is exactly what my customers tell me day in, day out.

It's no secret I'm a vinyl guy, but the MSB has been an eye/ear opener for me. Going through my collection, comparing the Select II to the Kronos Pro, I am amazed at how many digital albums sound better or at least as good. Case in point: the new, much ballyhooed Sarah McLachlan Surfacing album, remastered from the tapes by Bernie Grunman. The boring old redbook beat it with the MSB. I was amazed. I paid $50 for the LP and I had the CD from 20 years ago! Is this the case with all albums? Certainly not, but this is an example of world class digital beating world class vinyl, and of course, many examples of visa versa.

I love both, and could never part with my two turntables and R2R for nothing, but I see how customers are saying "analog is a PITA and now you add 45 RPM's? DUMB DUMB DUMB!" Record companies are stupid. 2 songs per side? WTF? People were bellyaching about getting up after 5 songs, now 2 songs per side? Ugh. MEP will say people are just lazy, and maybe that's part of it. But I'm hearing stories of hip surgeries, knee surgeries, etc. being more the culprit to be honest.

I really don't know how MSB has done it, but they have. WOW.
Click to expand...


Take it home and compare them in that "other"system ......!
 
a.wayne said:
Take it home and compare them in that "other"system ......!
Click to expand...

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You’re not keeping up!



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Priaptor said:
YUP I am with you on that. I was a reseller back in the early 80s and gave it for being an enduser by the late 80s and have been engaged in this hobby for a very long time having all kinds of turntables and cartridges. In my early days I would be hired to setup turntables all over NYC. Trust me I loved vinyl and maybe if I had a robotic way to maintain a TT, play records, change tracks, etc I would go back to vinyl.

I gave up vinyl for good. I don't care about the pops, etc but as I really just want to sit and enjoy my music, especially with a DAC like the Select II, there is nothing that beats having your iPhone, or iPad and make a playlist or hop for one album of choice to another or a song of choice to another.

I'm done with the tinkering as well. It is just too much trouble.

However, I fully understand those who love vinyl and have no arguments with their choices nor should I. I stay away from which is better, vinyl or digital. To me the more useable one automatically gets the nod and when dealing with a Select II its moot anyway
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There's a time for everything In my world , there are times when i let the digital run , times when i feel like selecting so i get up and select my CD's from my library collection , times when i feel like analog LP or cueing up a tape. Personally i couldnt live with anyone format, as i enjoy playing with them all...

Analog LP has been a reference for me for so long no way to leave it alone, well not now and i do play digital 70% of the ( for most new recordings it's a must have ) time so not anti-Digital at all, but we should address the elephant in the room ...

100K digital for happiness ..... :rolleyes:

Not happening ...
 
a.wayne said:
You're holding out ...:)

Should grab a bottle of winterhaven Hair on Chest egg nog and head North to hear that Beast ...!!
Click to expand...

Come on over! I’ve got a bird on the green egg.


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When comparing the MSB to the Kronos, I’ve found the digital resolution really matters.

With Sam Cooke, Portrait of a Legend, the vinyl was victorious - a clear winner against Tidal 16/44.

So, I downloaded the 24/176, assuming for better or worse that this is the master or closer to the master they would have used for the vinyl and it was now no worse than a tie now.


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You can get a good dose of Mike's amazement on 1/3rd of the budget, with the MSB Reference. It has that unique magic the SELECT has, only less so, of course.

I know it's only a matter of time before Mike gets an MSB Reference to play with, but I've been truly impressed, as well as the clients and friends (even reviewers!) who have listened to it.

I'm really glad Mike is having the same reaction I did years ago when I first heard the SELECT. We both love our vinyl, but it's hard to justify the bother and expense when Tidal 16/44 sounds so good through the MSBs...
 
When I first heard the Select a few years ago, it was hard to believe. I heard people tell me, “oh, it’s the power conditioner they’re using.” That makes me laugh now.

The REF is definitely a good dose of the Select II. Some say 70%, some say 90%.

What’s coming from MSB in 2018 is why I picked up the brand. Stay tuned....exciting stuff.


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Mike said:
When I first heard the Select a few years ago, it was hard to believe. I heard people tell me, “oh, it’s the power conditioner they’re using.” That makes me laugh now.

The REF is definitely a good dose of the Select II. Some say 70%, some say 90%.

What’s coming from MSB in 2018 is why I picked up the brand. Stay tuned....exciting stuff.


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I heard the Select II DAC all three days at Axpona 2017 and the Reference DAC all three days at RMAF 2017.

For the Select II DAC, there was a major software update for Redbook and DSD on Saturday night, which vaulted CD/SACD performance up into the stratosphere on Sunday.

For the Reference DAC, there was some sort of power issue (either power conditioner or power cord) all three days that resulted in a bit of harshness in the treble. Consequently, according to Vince, I never got to hear the Reference DAC at its fullest potential. Nevertheless, even with this issue, it was one of the top sounding systems at RMAF according to several reviewers.

Based on the best sound I heard from each DAC at the two shows, if the Select II DAC was a 100, the Reference DAC was a 75. Even if the treble issue was completely eliminated, the highest I could score the Reference DAC would be a 85. Both systems utilized the same MSB M204 monoblocks and YG Acoustics Sonja speakers.

Ken
 
Just as an addendum to my previous post, the Select II DAC and the Reference DAC have nearly identical sonic signatures. The main difference between the two DACs is the level of realism.

The Select II DAC brings vocalists and musicians startlingly to life in a way I’ve never experienced before. If offers unmatched insight into the recording, no matter what the format.

Lastly, it doesn’t just offer a 15% improvement in sound quality, it delivers the final 15%. What I mean by this statement is the Select II DAC lacks nothing in its presentation. It delivers 100% satisfaction and there are no discernible weak points.

Ken
 
Glad to hear that MSB technology has made digital palatable to some. Now let’s bring this technology down to a 4 figure price versus 6 figures. :)
 
@Mike,
I heard the Select in Toronto in 2016 and then at this past AXPONA where Vince G. was auditioning different FPGA firmware release candidates.
I find it amazing that in a r2r design MSB can extract better SQ without hardware changes.
Can't wait to hear what 2018 brings.
Thanks
Dan
 
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