MSB Discrete DAC

[unboxed]

I have read the various threads comparing the Discrete to its more expensive brothers. The consensus is the Premier, Reference, and Select II are superior. What I don't understand is how a DAC as expensive as the Discrete can be bettered by so much so many times.

Based on what I am comfortable (not really ) spending how does the Discrete + Premier power supply ($9950 + $7500 = $17450 if I have the correct current prices) compare to similarly and lower priced DACs? I am especially interested in how it compares to lower priced DACs. Is the Discrete clearly better?

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[bryans]

I have read the various threads comparing the Discrete to its more expensive brothers. The consensus is the Premier, Reference, and Select II are superior. What I don't understand is how a DAC as expensive as the Discrete can be bettered by so much so many times.

Based on what I am comfortable (not really ) spending how does the Discrete + Premier power supply ($9950 + $7500 = $17450 if I have the correct current prices) compare to similarly and lower priced DACs? I am especially interested in how it compares to lower priced DACs. Is the Discrete clearly better?

Thanks for any feedback.

Only you can determine how a lower or higher price DAC stacks up against the Discrete.

I currently own a Premier DAC and I purchased it after listening and comparing it to others. For me the Premier fit what I was looking for. I could have been very happy with lower and higher priced units.

The best advice I could give you is to listen to different units in your home and pick what sounds best to you. Say you find a 5K DAC that sounds awesome to you. Buy it and enjoy yourself.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

There is almost always a better dac out there, or coming soon. There is almost always a more expensive dac out there, although more expensive may not be better to you.

It can be fun to listen to something really, really good as a reference, because I think that gives one a sense of context, of possibilities.

It helps quantify things so one can determine if the delta between a 50K product and a 10K product is worth it to you, based on what you hear and what else you could do with 40K.

I'm just throwing numbers out there, of course. The permutations are many...

 

[rbbert]

Compared to some other similarly priced DACs ($10 - $15k MSRP) I prefer the Discrete with 2 Discrete PS

 

[Motoman]

There is almost always a better dac out there, or coming soon. There is almost always a more expensive dac out there, although more expensive may not be better to you.

It can be fun to listen to something really, really good as a reference, because I think that gives one a sense of context, of possibilities.

It helps quantify things so one can determine if the delta between a 50K product and a 10K product is worth it to you, based on what you hear and what else you could do with 40K.

I'm just throwing numbers out there, of course. The permutations are many...

I have a Discrete with the Premier Power Base. It is a great combo, but then the only thing that I have compared it to was the MSB Analog DAC and power supply that I had before. There is obviously a path of diminishing returns. As you get higher up the ladder, the amount of improvement is usually small and very expensive to get that incremental improvement. Is the Premier combo better than mine? I am sure it is. Is it worth the delta? Not for me, but YMMV.

 

[barbz127]

Has anyone connected their msb discrete to a grounding box like the shunyata altira? If so how what are you connecting too on the discrete?

Thankyou

 

[Ian B]

I've been borrowing a dual power supply Discrete+Aurender N200 and comparing against my existing EMM Labs DA2+NS1 combo. So far I've found that the midrange and bass tonality, ease and flow are better with the MSB, but the EMM Labs has a much more detailed, darker, and huge soundstage and a nice smooth top end. It's kind of like the MSB Discrete flavor gets in the way of the sonics a bit, while the DA2 is sonically transparent, but gets in the way of the music more.

I'm guessing a big factor is that the MSB is half the cost of the EMM Labs.

The thing I am wondering is how high up the MSB ladder do you have to go to get openness, scale, and detail like you get with the DA2 or even DCS Rossini? It seems like with a lot of audio products, the lower rungs get you a company's specialty flavor, but to rival or beat other brands at their own game as well you have to spend a lot more money.

As for the Altaira, you could ask one of the Mikes at Suncoast audio because they are dealers and proponents of both MSB and Shunyata.

 

[Motoman]

Has anyone connected their msb discrete to a grounding box like the shunyata altira? If so how what are you connecting too on the discrete?

Thankyou

This is not a direct answer, but I will share with you a recent experience. I installed two Puron power filters ($400), one in the duplex outlet into which my Pass X250.8 is plugged and one into a Tripp-lite isolation transformer recommended by Vince Galbo, the NSM for MSB. After about 100 hours, the improvement in my system was very surprising. The soundstage is more expansive, deeper, and the instruments placed even better than before. The music is spread out across the entire wall, and not as centered as it was before. A remarkable value in my system. When I noticed it, I first thought that it was the product of a good recording, but as I listen to various recordings, the effect is the same. Another tweak that I put in at Vince's recommendation was the GigaFoil v.4 between the music server and the MSB Discrete Renderer v2. That was also a noticeable improvement in SQ, although not as big as the Purons. Finally, I replaced the stock power umbilicals with ones from Revelation Audio ($895), which again upped the performance of my system in a noticeable way. So with a few tweaks, the MSB Discrete with the Premier Power Supply rocks even better than it started out, which was good. I wonder how it compares in its tweaked state to its more expensive brothers, like the Premier . . . In any event, I highly recommend these tweaks for my fellow Discrete owners.

 

[Brucemck2]

Motorman, what Trip-lite model (even better a link)?

 

[Motoman]

Motorman, what Trip-lite model (even better a link)?

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-IS500HG-Isolation-Transformer/dp/B00007KQKJ

I have my Premier Power Base and ARC REF 6 plugged into it, with one of my two Puron’s.

 

[Kingsrule]

Looks like the 1000 watt version is cheaper...IS1000HG