New MSB Cascade DAC

[gleeds]

well....er......it's hard to know the vibe market wide..........but here on WBF i'd say for a dac maker......."ignore Taiko at your own risk" .........unless you have your own sandbox like the Wadax with their own server. if i were a dac maker below the Wadax Reference level and i wanted new buyers, i'd better have a Taiko interface plan customers can see is coming if i want sales. otherwise customers will be weighing getting the Olympus with the internal dac as my competition.

might the Taiko Olympus be less than stellar? it's possible i guess. but what is the alternative for an uber server? there might be a few, but none large on my radar.

i could be completely wrong, of course. but the non Wadax streaming/files king is Taiko......and it's always about the media/source. dac hardware is everywhere and ubiquitous.

this factor will be what non Wadax customers will be weighing. under $50k all in is a different situation. but big-bucks digital will be dealing with this. it will be interesting what dCS does with their new ultra effort coming later this year.

the server interface is now the big deal, and the big problem. it's not going away. along with the server and dac power supply significance.

I believe MSB will be the second DAC producer to offer the new Taiko interface, but I don't have first-hand knowledge of timing. Lampizator will be first. MSB/Taiko and Lampizator keep pushing the boundaries of digital replay. Impressive!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

The live recording videos are the truth.

define 'live recording video's'.

I would make a short video with my cell if I were you. Do you have any way to show it.

it's unfortunate that you are using the word 'live' with cell phone video's of a hifi system's music reproduction. it's very far from how we use that word. multiple levels of magnitude below 'live'.

you might get something from videos. but there is nothing to hang your hat on. some comparative value? sure; it might be useful. having fun with video's? sure.....knock yourself out. hifi system video's have value for those who like them. although they are not for me.

but truth? on so many levels random cell phone video's do not pass the smell test as truth. there is so much missing. i don't even need to go down that road, it's obvious.

claiming some negative MSB Select II "perception" from a video and then.......state it as a fact......that is pure baloney and really more a semi-trolling kind of comment to make.

 

[Al M.]

but truth? on so many levels random cell phone video's do not pass the smell test as truth. there is so much missing.

Especially when, as usual, they go through a $ 1 A/D converter in the phone. Talking about glare, apart from an absolute lack of logic when that's the pathway through which to "judge" high-end digital gear.

 

[itay123]

This stupid comments and the justification for cheap and inferior gear and being an anti-audiophile,
the search for degrade from high-end and ultra gear that they will probably never have,
always come from those users with inferior gear and cheap setups,
to convince themselves (exclusively) that there is no need to invest and troll every thread about high-end and super-quality gear that they will never have .

Do NOT feed the trolls.

 

[XV-1]

The name might imply that this technology will 'cascade' down to lower priced models (in addition to the data flow between modules). These guys are impressive innovators.

Yes, congrats to MSB in making a better sounding product and reducing the price.

If it were Wilson, Magico and alike price would just increase by 30 - 50% with no correlation to manufacturing costs.

 

[Al M.]

Another thread fouled up by a video fanatic with misguided beliefs.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Videos is helpful to people who can't listen the system. People can hear which system sounds better through videos.

In below video by AJ, Listen to people's voice and the music from speakers together in both natural sounds. This was 2 years ago, and my system sounds much better now.

Below videos are recorded with same camera on same day by AJ. Please notice how people voice and the music sounds. Anyone can hear the difference between my room and other rooms.

Why are you polluting my MSB thread with random videos?!?!

Please litigate your video stuff on a video thread.

 

[bonzo75]

Especially when, as usual, they go through a $ 1 A/D converter in the phone. Talking about glare, apart from an absolute lack of logic when that's the pathway through which to "judge" high-end digital gear.

Why are you polluting Ron's MSB thread with random video comments? Please litigate your video stuff to your system thread.

 

[marty]

System videos are destroying the high end.

+1

 

[itay123]

+1

+2

 

[Kingrex]

agree with Al. owned the MSB Select II for 4 years. heard it a dozen times at shows, paid close attention when i was auditioning it. never glare or veiling unless the recording had it. it did not obscure recording truth. added no tonal cocoloration.i

I don't find this to be true Mike. I was at your house comparing the MSB to Wadax with the Taiko as the source. The Wadax was much better. The MSB for lack of a better word was colored. No glare. But obvious it was digital.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I don't find this to be true Mike. I was at your house comparing the MSB to Wadax with the Taiko as the source. The Wadax was much better. The MSB for lack of a better word was very colored. No glare. But obvious it was digital.

if the poster claimed it sounded digital or not as fine sounding than the Wadax, based on personal compare, that would be something completely different. but from a video the poster claimed the MSB Select II is viewed as having glare/veiling.....below. and never added any sort of qualifier.

I hope a new MSB Cascade DAC sounds cleaner without MSB Select II's glare/veil.

if we are going negative 'for effect' to draw attention, that is the definition of trolling.

negativity requires some depth to our cases to be made. not shooting from the hip. otherwise we are obviously just asking for a strong reaction.

i have not owned the MSB Select II now for over 2 years, but it is a fine performing product that will require much effort to surpass. you heard it in my system multiple times and were positive about it prior to the Wadax compare.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I hope a new MSB Cascade DAC sounds cleaner without MSB Select II's glare/veil.

The MSB Select is my favorite solid-state DAC, based on direct A/B comparisons and close indirect comparisons (same system, but at different times) to a big handful of other solid-state DACs. I do not hear any glare or any veil from Select.

 

[Kingsrule]

Any talk of current MSB dacs without a Digital Director is meaningless

 

[Mike Lavigne]

The MSB Select is my favorite solid-state DAC, based on direct A/B comparisons and close indirect comparisons (same system, but at different times) to a big handful of other solid-state DACs. I do not hear any glare or any veil from Select.

Ron, it is funny, that when you visited me in 2018, i was very proud of my nice MSB Select II sitting right there, but in 3 sessions in my room you never once had an interest in listening to it. even though i asked you to.

agree it does sound very fine, and it did in 2018 too.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Videos is helpful to people who can't listen the system.

can be. over time it might help to understand differences. but it's no substitute for in person listening. it's just a data point. and separating particular gear's attributes from a cell phone video with it's limitations is a bad idea.

People can hear which system sounds better through videos.

no. they can have a preference for what they hear from the video. there is so much more a system is doing that a cell phone video cannot come close to capturing, yet elevates (or detracts from) the in person experience.

too much missing to get much past a preference without a rigorous process behind the videos. making one's own video's over time might help to track things. video's can be a tool to check progress. but it would not be a casual undertaking.

video's are less valid than hearing gear at an audio show. and we know that is not really something definitive and we throw out the negative encounters mostly. and difficult to isolate the performance of specific gear. for good reasons.

 

[Jeffy]

I am not an engineer and don't want to know about tech of MSB dacs. I just want to talk about it's sound in here.


Could you make a short video of sound of your MSB? I just want the sound. You can tape the camera lens.


Record the sound of your audio system with a cell phone (or camcorder). That is live-recording for me.


If it is that good, somebody should made the recording. That is the way of this world. Right? Where is it?


I would make a short video with my cell if I were you. Do you have any way to show it.

** I hope we will have a nice discussion here today.

Alex I'm not interested in proving what I hear to anyone else and video recordings to me is a total waste of time. If you want to hear what I hear your welcome to come to my place in the Detroit area proper. Jeff

 

[Elliot G.]

IMO system videos are like watching the cooking chanel versus actually going to the restaurant!
This was my clean analogy

 

[bonzo75]

+2

-3

 

[Wavetouch]

My posts here were a critic about the sound of MSB Cascade DAC. I tried to show what I hear with evidences (videos). There is no other way to show what we hear. And I thought it makes a good sense.

I see more respect members have different opinions. I know the argument doesn't solve anything. I am done with this thread.