I've got my eyes on MSB's upcoming Sentinel DAC, featuring 32 Hybrid DACs (16 per channel), compared to the Cascade DAC’s 8 Hybrid DACs (4 per channel).
Its design is evolving, recently haven gone through its 2nd round of prototyping and testing. Read about the Sentinel DAC's design updates on MSB's forum, here: https://forum.msbtechnology.com/t/the-sentinel-dac-design-update-2/222
Attached below are a few preliminary visuals of the DAC chassis and its internal dual-clock module. Like the Cascade DAC, the Sentinal DAC will be a 3-chassis design, comprising of the DAC, Digital Director, and powerBase.
I wonder whether both of the other two chassis will only need to be 1/2 the height of the DAC's very large chassis, as the Sentinel Digital Director's DSP computing horsepower may only need to be equal to what's in the Cascade's? Ditto for the Sentinel powerBase if the more power density can be packed in with sufficient heat dissipation, and if the spare space in the DAC chassis can house some of the power supply components.
But then again, a full-height Sentinel DD will accommodate a double-sized display unit for even better legibility and more input modules, like this newly-developed HDMI card: https://forum.msbtechnology.com/t/new-hdmi-i2s-input-module/183
And a full-height Sentinel powerBase will no-doubt house even more transformers, rectifiers, capacitors, and even batteries (?!) to punch out utterly pristine and unconstrained DC.
1) Front-R view
2) Rear view. Note the double XLR outputs for each channel (in the four extreme corners) for connecting to the "Sentinel" edition of MSB's M500 amplifier, and the single power cable umbilical connector in the lower center.
3) close-up view of the dual-clock module, each clock suspended in its own "oven" and vibration-elimination isolation sub-assembly. For visual symmetry between the L and R halves, I'd suggest that MSB (mirror-image) "flip" the 22.5792 MHz bulge into the far R corner, so the two bulges are located in the corners.
Its design is evolving, recently haven gone through its 2nd round of prototyping and testing. Read about the Sentinel DAC's design updates on MSB's forum, here: https://forum.msbtechnology.com/t/the-sentinel-dac-design-update-2/222
Attached below are a few preliminary visuals of the DAC chassis and its internal dual-clock module. Like the Cascade DAC, the Sentinal DAC will be a 3-chassis design, comprising of the DAC, Digital Director, and powerBase.
I wonder whether both of the other two chassis will only need to be 1/2 the height of the DAC's very large chassis, as the Sentinel Digital Director's DSP computing horsepower may only need to be equal to what's in the Cascade's? Ditto for the Sentinel powerBase if the more power density can be packed in with sufficient heat dissipation, and if the spare space in the DAC chassis can house some of the power supply components.
But then again, a full-height Sentinel DD will accommodate a double-sized display unit for even better legibility and more input modules, like this newly-developed HDMI card: https://forum.msbtechnology.com/t/new-hdmi-i2s-input-module/183
And a full-height Sentinel powerBase will no-doubt house even more transformers, rectifiers, capacitors, and even batteries (?!) to punch out utterly pristine and unconstrained DC.
1) Front-R view
2) Rear view. Note the double XLR outputs for each channel (in the four extreme corners) for connecting to the "Sentinel" edition of MSB's M500 amplifier, and the single power cable umbilical connector in the lower center.
3) close-up view of the dual-clock module, each clock suspended in its own "oven" and vibration-elimination isolation sub-assembly. For visual symmetry between the L and R halves, I'd suggest that MSB (mirror-image) "flip" the 22.5792 MHz bulge into the far R corner, so the two bulges are located in the corners.
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