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  1. DMSB

    Choosing a DAC with a good VC - Lampizator Pacific vs EMM Labs DV2 vs MSB Premier

    We suggest adjusting the gain not because it changes the sound of our DACs, it doesn't, its because the input circuits on many (most) preamps (and amps) have excessive distortion at higher input levels that can be significantly reduced by lowering the input voltage of the preamp... When I listen...
  2. DMSB

    MSB Discrete upgrade - add Director or go to the Premier

    A XLR physical switcher box might satisfy your need. Especially since you need to manually manipulate your vinyl already.
  3. DMSB

    Best XLR connectors money can buy?

    Industries, companies, technologies and manufacturing is always changing and what connector is “best” today could change tomorrow. Also, what connector is “best” in one use might not be “best” in another. I would like to give an explanation of connector attributes that anyone can use to evaluate...
  4. DMSB

    Best XLR connectors money can buy?

    My vote for the XLRs with the best performance goes to modern Neutrik Gold plated connectors like NC3FXX-B. They have a unique spiral multi-finger female contact design that is super reliable and stable electrically even with repeated cable manipulation and the gold plating ensures the contacts...
  5. DMSB

    Best XLR connectors money can buy?

    My audio Precision has silver plated XLRs on it and I need to clean the contacts about once a month or it significantly affects my measurements (causes measurement failures). If I'm being lazy I can just exercise the connectors a few times and it usually fixes the problem. I also have some...
  6. DMSB

    Lenbrook Acquires MQA!

    Certain distortions at that level are plainly audible, others are completely inaudible, depends on the distortions. An example of a completely inaudible distortion at that level is added Gaussian Noise. An example of audible distortion is at that level is un-dithered truncation of the data.
  7. DMSB

    Lenbrook Acquires MQA!

    MQA was never about "improving" audio, it was always about distributing audio. This is currently solved in much superior ways, so MQA no longer has a valid position to fill in the technology marketplace...
  8. DMSB

    Lenbrook Acquires MQA!

    MQA did not need resurrection...
  9. DMSB

    Whither MQA

    Mq"B-1" is not at all what people think it is, on either side of the debate, or even what "experts" or "insiders" think it is (or was or whatever!). It does have buried in it somewhere a clever, non patent-able, "observation", about digital audio that had the potential to increase the perceived...
  10. DMSB

    Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?

    I once did a company wide survey of hearing with the goal to develop a volume control algorithm that took loundness and frequency into account. The participants sat in front of a calibrated speaker and matched the volumes of pilot tones to probe tone with a handheld contoller. Two of the...
  11. DMSB

    DSD to PCM Conversion A/B Test Results

    Like I said it was 5 400Mhz SHARC DSPs. Its quite an old product over 10 years old at this point so these were state of the art at that time.
  12. DMSB

    DSD to PCM Conversion A/B Test Results

    Yes the last ADC (MSB Studio ADC) I designed was Delta Sigma, but definitely not DSD by any stretch. It used 4 seventh order differential delta sigma modulators per channel @ 6 bits 6.144Mhz per modulator with correlated digitally generrated analog dither added to the ADC references to linearize...
  13. DMSB

    The Digital Director - A new MSB product improving everything from the source to the output

    All computer based digital filtering I have evaluated, PGGB, HQ Player, Roon, and many more…, is highly colored and imprecise in all settings and configurations, If you ”must!” have the color and grain they add then by all means you can use them, otherwise stick to unfiltered and unprocessed...
  14. DMSB

    The Digital Director - A new MSB product improving everything from the source to the output

    It’s not vague. “Pass through” means the digital director passes through the data unchanged. The DAC works normally with the benefit of the superior isolation of the Digital Director. “Filter” means the Digital Director offloads all the digital filtering the DAC would have done in its onboard...
  15. DMSB

    WADAX dedicated forum

    I really don't like it when "conventional wisdom" becomes an "immutable physical limit" so I would like to clear some things up. First, a power supply is simply a stiff buffer amplifier fed with a reference signal. While it is not simple or cheap, making a reference that is sub 1uV in the audio...
  16. DMSB

    MSB Select Digital Director and Westminster Lab upgrade dc cables : The throne of MSB Select DAC secured!

    All current MSB DACs (Discrete, Premier, Reference and Select) can actively use the off-board digital processing in the Digital Director. It is selectable via an updated DAC menu option and is signified with a (+) on the DACs display. The DAC firmware that allows this functionality did ship...
  17. DMSB

    How to get a mono sub out from MSB?

    Mixing any signal from stereo to mono without advanced digital algoritms to do so is a bad idea. Depending on original recording you can get huge frequency nulls in the mixed output. So either generate a separate sub channel with software or use just one output (Left or Right your choice) for...
  18. DMSB

    Best capacitors for power amps...

    If you want the best, get some of the caps with newer high temperature, high stability, long life, low ESR electrolytes such as: Nippon Chemi-Con (aka United Chemi-Con) LXS TXH KEMET ALF80 ALC80 Rubycon VXG VXH Of course you should specify a minimum of the original capacitors voltage rating...
  19. DMSB

    Wadax Reference Dac and Server arrive

    A slightly more nuanced take on this truth is that while 24bit/88.2khz or 24bit/96khz is definitely sufficient for maximum quality as a storage or transmission format, increased sample rates or precision might be necessary for other reasons. If you are mixing or processing, a higher word...
  20. DMSB

    The Digital Director - A new MSB product improving everything from the source to the output

    Conversion to fiber uses more power, but done with the correct data pattern generates less noise than copper cable drivers (because the cable drivers must deal with the reflections of imperfect cables). Copper carries a large amount of conducted noise (not generated by the driver itself, but by...
  21. DMSB

    The Digital Director - A new MSB product improving everything from the source to the output

    Right now some input data such as the data from S/PDIF inputs come into the DAC not synchronous to the DACs clock. They are buffered in the onboard memory in the DAC and then played back from local storage. The Digital Director takes over this task and sends all data to the DAC synchronously...
  22. DMSB

    The Digital Director - A new MSB product improving everything from the source to the output

    The Digital Director is designed to maximize the conversion potential of any current MSB DAC. It does this in three ways, by providing perfect digital isolation, offloading processing from the DAC itself, and re-clocking all incoming data regardless of the input format. It supports all of our...
  23. DMSB

    MSB Premier or Lampi Pacific

    Vince had a demo Select set up for loan he was going to hand deliver, but missed the appointment because of illness. So I’m just happy that Steve was able to get a demo Select elsewhere. I know there are lots of nice audiophiles willing to help out a friend, I’d just like to send them a nice...
  24. DMSB

    MSB Premier or Lampi Pacific

    You were able to borrow a Select in the month between your Taiko Extreme purchase and the arrival of your Lampi. Thats great! Since we didn’t have one available for demo at that time I’d love to send a thank you note to whoever it was.
  25. DMSB

    MSB Premier or Lampi Pacific

    Well I’m glad you were able to borrow a Select to try in your system at another time since our demo never made it to you because our sales manager was sick.
  26. DMSB

    Oh jeez - M6, another super-speaker from Magico

    I’m sorry if I stepped in a political no go zone. In my defense, my opinion was clearly solicited and I thought I was in a position to reply because I had in depth experience with the products mentioned and no financial stake in either. To clarify my company has no financial stake in any speaker...
  27. DMSB

    Oh jeez - M6, another super-speaker from Magico

    Had the v1 for years. Demoed the v2, excellent speakers but the M6 better overall in most areas.
  28. DMSB

    Oh jeez - M6, another super-speaker from Magico

    I can’t comment about all Magico speakers but the M6 and the M2 are superb speakers. I have both of them in my listening room right now (and a few other excellent speakers as well) and they are both wonderful. There are no perfect speakers in my experience but a minor few of them have far fewer...
  29. DMSB

    Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

    You are correct that the USB Xlll box from Playback Designs is superficially similar to the MSB Pro USB interface but the fiber interfaces flowing out of them are quite different. The Playback Designs interface is based on the very low bandwidth LED fiber transceivers from Avago...
  30. DMSB

    MSB M500 monos : Home audition in Hong Kong

    If your listening is all at 94 and below on the Select DAC volume you may want to try out the gain switch in the back and put it into the "MED" or "LOW" position. The gain switch effectively scales the dynamic range of the amplifier to best match the speaker efficiency. I like to begin in the...

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