MSB Select II arrival

[Alpinist]

Ken, the Dragon powercords maybe more detailed than the Hurricane, but does it lean out the sound ? Silver power cords like the Nordost I have tried seem to overemphasize the speed and details but some what lose the meat on the bones. Regards

Hi Ationg,

The sound is not leaned out at all. I wouldn’t like the Dragons Source Power Cords so much if this were the case. AudioQuest is one of the few companies using silver conductors in their cables that do not thin out the midrange or sound overly bright in the treble. This is due to the use of perfect surface silver and solid core conductors that eliminate strand interactions. Consequently, you get the speed, detail and transparency of silver conductors without the downside.

I am completing my AudioQuest loom of silver cables and I couldn’t be happier with what I’m hearing. I also believe the sound quality of my system benefits from the synergy derived by using the Dragon Source PC’s in conjunction with the AudioQuest Niagara 5000 power conditioner.

Best,
Ken

 

[ationg]

Hi Ationg,

The sound is not leaned out at all. I wouldn’t like the Dragons Source Power Cords so much if this were the case. AudioQuest is one of the few companies using silver conductors in their cables that do not thin out the midrange or sound overly bright in the treble. This is due to the use of perfect surface silver and solid core conductors that eliminate strand interactions. Consequently, you get the speed, detail and transparency of silver conductors without the downside.

I am completing my AudioQuest loom of silver cables and I couldn’t be happier with what I’m hearing. I also believe the sound quality of my system benefits from the synergy derived by using the Dragon Source PC’s in conjunction with the AudioQuest Niagara 5000 power conditioner.

Best,
Ken

Ken, thanks. Off topic a little. Did you try out the Dragon HC also?
Regards

 

[Alpinist]

Ken, thanks. Off topic a little. Did you try out the Dragon HC also?
Regards

Hi Ationg,

No, I haven’t tried the Dragon HC Power Cords yet. I am considering replacing my Hurricane HC Power Cord that runs from the wall to my Niagara 5000 Power Conditioner with the Dragon HC. My dealer, who also owns the Select II DAC, has a full loom of Dragon Power Cords. He said placing the Dragon HC between the wall and the Niagara 5000 is a no brainer and results in a significant improvement in sound quality. The improvement derived by using the Dragon HC’s on the amps is apparently much more variable and very much amp dependent.

Ken

 

[seriouslyhifi]

Hi Ationg,

No, I haven’t tried the Dragon HC Power Cords yet. I am considering replacing my Hurricane HC Power Cord that runs from the wall to my Niagara 5000 Power Conditioner with the Dragon HC. My dealer, who also owns the Select II DAC, has a full loom of Dragon Power Cords. He said placing the Dragon HC between the wall and the Niagara 5000 is a no brainer and results in a significant improvement in sound quality. The improvement derived by using the Dragon HC’s on the amps is apparently much more variable and very much amp dependent.

Ken

 

[Jones99]

Hearing strong rumors a firmware update is just around the corner for the Select.....anyone got their hands on it yet ?

 

[CKKeung]

Wow

 

[Alpinist]

Hearing strong rumors an update is just around the corner for the Select.....anyone got their hands on it yet ?

A firmware update? It’s been awhile since we’ve seen one.

Ken

 

[Jones99]

A firmware update? It’s been awhile since we’ve seen one.

Ken

Yes a firmware update...sorry corrected original post which may have been a little misleading

 

[QuadDiffuser]

Hey folks, owners of the Select II DAC with dual powerBases, how reliably do your double powerBases power "on" together, when using your remote control?

I've checked to make sure that one powerBase is "master" and the other powerBase the "slave", with the mini-rocker switches at the bottom-front-edge pointing in different L and R directions. Yet, during the power on process, they repeatedly go "clickety-clack" and do NOT seem to power on together, except when the remote control is pointed at a perfectly horizontally position (relative to the two powerBases).

I wonder whether this is something which will be fixed with the upcoming firmware update.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Hey folks, owners of the Select II DAC with dual powerBases, how reliably do your double powerBases power "on" together, when using your remote control?

I've checked to make sure that one powerBase is "master" and the other powerBase the "slave", with the mini-rocker switches at the bottom-front-edge pointing in different L and R directions. Yet, during the power on process, they repeatedly go "clickety-clack" and do NOT seem to power on together, except when the remote control is pointed at a perfectly horizontally position (relative to the two powerBases).

I wonder whether this is something which will be fixed with the upcoming firmware update.

i have to hold my arm back enough, and point it properly, to get them to power on together.

i've never messed with those switches below (mine are both in 'normal'), but here is what the manual says. i guess i could move one switch then i would not need to point the remote carefully. is there a benefit of synchronized startup? i might prefer a bit of chaos.

i'm guessing the purpose is if when one powerbase is hidden (from easy remote access) in the rack compared to the other.

 

[QuadDiffuser]

Dear Mike, thanks for cutting, pasting, and increasing the font size of the instructions for better legibility!

My two powerBases are stacked, with a 3.5mm mini jack cable connecting them together, and the toggle switches set in opposite directions, EXACTLY as the setup instructions says. I want them to switch on together, without any chaos or drama - yet, it's mostly a hit/miss. So I wanted to check if others are also experiencing this same abnormality... I've emailed MSB's Jonathan directly for his assistance, and also took the opportunity to ask him about the (purported) upcoming firmware update. ;-)

 

[Kingsrule]

If u hit the power button on the Normal set pb then both PB's should turn on or off together
The ir however is a bit touchy and as ML says has to be pointed a certain way to work
Do u get the clickty clack noise if u power with the power button?
Also does your remote need to be charged?

BTW if your ac voltage is high the power bases won't turn on. A clicking noise is indicative of this...I believe to high voltage shutoff is 126v

 

[QuadDiffuser]

Nothing happens when manually pushing on the front panel button of the slave/bottom unit (as expected); pushing the master/top unit results in a normal power on sequence (as expected). The "clickety-clack" noise I described is just an onomatopoeia - the sound of two relays being unable to synchronize together. My expectation and request to MSB is that the remote should NOT have to be pointed in a special way for the two powerBases to turn on predictably and reliably.

 

[Alpinist]

I use the 12 volt trigger cable as described in the bottom of Mike L.‘s post. It works like a charm and solves the having to point the remote control perfectly issue. I highly recommend it.

Ken

 

[Ultrafast69]

Why even turn it off, there is no need to.

 

[QuadDiffuser]

Its 230V / 70W operating power consumption is a good reason to have it switched off (to standby) when not in use; why burn away good power when no one is around, and listening?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Its 230V / 70W operating power consumption is a good reason to have it switched off (to standby) when not in use; why burn away good power when no one is around, and listening?

my Select II sounds better after 5-10 hours once shut down and cold.

for instance last night i had a short power outage (21 degrees, driving snow, 30-50 mph gusts and my barn is not on my NG generator)) so i went to bed. this morning it was cold. powered it up and it's a bit closed in so far. certainly not bad, but not it's best.

so i leave mine always powered up unless i'm leaving for a few days.

 

[my2sons]

my Select II sounds better after 5-10 hours once shut down and cold.

for instance last night i had a short power outage (21 degrees, driving snow, 30-50 mph gusts and my barn is not on my NG generator)) so i went to bed. this morning it was cold. powered it up and it's a bit closed in so far. certainly not bad, but not it's best.

so i leave mine always powered up unless i'm leaving for a few days.

Mike, i know i'm probably late to the game asking this question, I currently own the DCS Rossini DAC/Transport/Clock and was wondering your thoughts in comparison to MSB DAC to the DCS products, i personally have not had a chance to demo the MSB and was hoping to at one of the shows in 2020 well you know how that went.

 

[Armsan]

Its 230V / 70W operating power consumption is a good reason to have it switched off (to standby) when not in use; why burn away good power when no one is around, and listening?

Indeed, that’s a responsible behavior regarding the future generations. I always power off all the system after any listening session and feel good for doing my small part. Actually I’m seriously thinking producing some of my own energy, installing photovoltaic panels and storing it into batteries. Hope it will be enough for the music server and dac at least.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike, i know i'm probably late to the game asking this question, I currently own the DCS Rossini DAC/Transport/Clock and was wondering your thoughts in comparison to MSB DAC to the DCS products, i personally have not had a chance to demo the MSB and was hoping to at one of the shows in 2020 well you know how that went.

i have not personally directly compared the dCS to the MSB myself. so my take on that compare is just a general one. my viewpoint is that i find the MSB Select II has a less processed type of presentation, more natural and alive sounding. i see farther into the music. that is just my feeling.

every time i hear dCS at shows i like it and am impressed. it sounds very good and checks all the boxes in and of itself. i do prefer the bit perfect approach of the MSB to a more processed dac design approach such as dCS (to the degree i comprehend the dSC design). hearing recordings as close to the native format as possible i believe results in the optimal presentation. this perspective gets reinforced constantly in my listening. oversampling dacs i've listened to in the past did not show the native resolution to be as consistently superior in my experience.

there is much more to dac performance than the 'bit perfect' issue. but at the top of the food chain it seems to make a difference.

do some research on some direct compares. they are out there. i know some are referenced in this thread, especially early in the thread.