MSB dac review by Audio Excellence ..,
- Thread starter joeinid
- Start date
Interesting that Andrew was blown away with the Discrete driven with 2 power supplies but didn’t seem terribly excited about the Premier (even though he owned one as well). And, as I would have expected, settled on the Reference.
GSOphile
Active member
I found this interesting too. The Premier was sort of the forgotten middle child. Lots of praise for the other two. Got the impression that he maybe stepped up to the Reference because he wasn't satisfied with what the Premier gave him over the Discrete.
johnthomas
Member
Yes, MSB is the real deal, don’t listen to it unless you plan on buying it.
- Thread Author
- #7
Not quite yet. I’m taking a little detour. My brother is buying an Esoteric K01XD CD player/dac and he’s going to let me “break it in” for him. I’ll probably have it for a few months. I’m dying to hear how it compares with the MSB Discrete that Mike lent me.
While I love the MSB, the Esoteric is just too good a deal to pass up.
My only other curiosity is the Luxman D-01x but it’ll most likely come down to how the K01xd sounds before I pull the trigger.
Adrian has a nice store in Toronto. I went to his old store, but not his new one. He was always super big into SF and McIntosh. Glad to see him branching into some other brands. The GTA market sure is busy with audio dealers.
The Discrete with the second power supply ($1450) is just insanely good. The jump to the Premier sees some noticeable improvement, but the really big jump is to the REF DAC. And of course the Select II is in a league of its own.
I was shocked to learn from MSB that worldwide, the Premier is the biggest seller.
A pimped out Premier is VERY close in price to a base Ref.
The Discrete with the second power supply ($1450) is just insanely good. The jump to the Premier sees some noticeable improvement, but the really big jump is to the REF DAC. And of course the Select II is in a league of its own.
I was shocked to learn from MSB that worldwide, the Premier is the biggest seller.
A pimped out Premier is VERY close in price to a base Ref.
GSOphile
Active member
Mike, wasn't the Discrete the last model to ship?
Not really. They all came out around the same time.
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I did listen to it. A fully optioned up Select with Femto 33 and 2 x mono Powerbase. My Esoteric walked all over it. Different room, speakers and amps might have had something to do with it as well.
When they initially built the Premier DAC with newly designed but cheaper DAC modules, they had a problem, it sounded virtually as good as the Reference DAC. Then they went back to the engineering drawing board and came up with the final version that was appropriately sonically notched below the Reference DAC. For this reason, I would purchase a loaded Discrete or base Reference DAC first.
Ken
Ken
Agreed. The REF is stunning. Plenty of room for upgrades and modules later too.
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When all cylinders are firing on the Reference DAC (Server/Transport, cables and power), there is nothing lacking in the realism of its sound that makes you pause and ponder that you wish you had a Select DAC. It delivers the entire package with no compromise. In fact, if you hadn’t listened to the Select DAC, you wouldn’t believe it would be possible to go any higher sonically.
Ken
Nice summary. Here is an interesting question given my quest for a speaker upgrade: would you put your money to upgrade my Premiere or into speakers? for me, it is speakers
My priority order has always been:
1. Speakers
2. Source
3. Amplifier
4. Preamp (If needed)
Please note on my earlier comments on the Premier DAC, I’m not saying that it isn’t superior to the Discrete DAC, only that I prefer audio components that are designed to deliver up to their maximum potential.
Best,
Ken
bluegrassphile
Member
Stunning indeed, Mike. I have the dual power supply MSB Discrete...amazing! Can't recommend it highly enough. Beautiful, very alive all across the frequency spectrum. Warm and smooth. Great symbiosis with my system. It's every bit as good as they say...and then some.
How did you get an MSB DAC in your system for a few weeks? I'd like to do the same, but I don't know anybody who would lend me theirs. It would take some convincing for me to change from Esoteric to MSB. My only experience with MSB was a Select II in somebody else's system. What I heard made me not want to own one.