When you use the preamp, do you bypass the MSB volume ?There are pros and cons in omitting the preamp for MSB Select/Ref DACs, even if pairing them with MSB's own poweramps.
I did test the MSB poweramp with and without preamp :
1. Select DAC direct
2. Reference DAC via a Nagra HD Preamp
Although the comparison was not in the same syatem nor with the same dac, I got a glimpse of the effect of both of the ways.
I personally prefer using a preamp : the sound got better dynamics/authority/stability.
If without preamp, there was more transparency.
Therefore I use my Select DAC with a Bespoke Ultimate Silver passive preamp and a pair of Totaldac D1-Driver xlr version.
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Thank you very much for your reply, your thoughts and experience is very helpful!A Select DAC owner friend and I tested the effect of different Select DAC volume levels when using a preamp with it.
We found that vol level of 100 didn't give the best sound.
Levels of 9x were better.
My personal preference is 93.
YMMV.![]()
Yes, that's what I am doing.May I ask if you adjust the volume level via your preamp mostly ,and the MSB volume remain at 93 ?
I know ah, but ...Curiously, the early version of the Select manual (2015) stated that 94 would be the optimal level when using external preamp...
Its quite an achievement to get it to sound anything like good in those show environments, with feeble, noisy mains, poor earths, EMI soup, high ambient noise, lots of seismic vibration, ever changing room acoustics and speaker positioning designed to sound good for a larger audience. Challenging, to the point its not really possible to overcome all the problems effectively. Compare in your mind that environment to a fully optimized listening room and you can imagine the scale of the improvements / deficits. Magicos in an optimised environment will sound truly stunning, but its not the MSBs that are at fault. Hotel rooms during show time are positively torture chambers for highly resolving equipment, testing their abilities to sound good under extremely adverse conditions.Last year in Munich Show, MSB used Select direct to M500 driving a pair of Magico M6.
I sat down and listened for some time, 15 minutes or so which was quite a lot of time given there were some many rooms to go to. My impression at the time was very detailed sound but rather plain and gentle. Dynamic could certainly be better. I use a pair of Magico M6 in my home, so I have a good idea of what M6 can do.
A good preamp will certainly enhance the dynamic.
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