The MSB Select Transport - My new toy for the new year of 2019

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
I just received a call from the MSB dealer in Hong Kong. He has read this WBF thread too.

He informed me that MSB is no longer supplying the soft-type of footer I mentioned on #1 of this thread anymore. All new Select/Reference Transports they receive will only have the metallic spikes & spike plates included with them.

He is not sure if MSB customers in other countries or in USA can get both footers. Please ask your local MSB dealer to confirm.
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
12,471
11,366
4,410
I just received a call from the MSB dealer in Hong Kong. He has read this WBF thread too.

He informed me that MSB is no longer supplying the soft-type of footer I mentioned on #1 of this thread anymore. All new Select/Reference Transports they receive will only have the metallic spikes & spike plates included with them.

He is not sure if MSB customers in other countries or in USA can get both footers. Please ask your local MSB dealer to confirm.

my experience with those rubber footers was that they were easily bettered by a number of passive footers i have at hand, and my Taiko Tana active shelf with LPS is considerably better than those passive footers.

also significant to my ears was separating each MSB Select II box onto it's own shelf. hard to claim this is absolute in every case, but if the Select II works this way with it's over-the-top construction, it would follow that those others would also be similar.

one issue is the length of the power supply cables and the side to side orientation of which box and which power supply cable input. and for me, also i had to deal with the proximity of my Tripoint Elite and the length of my Thor SE grounding cable.

lot's of logistics to work through to optimize the environment for these products. but then our ears get rewarded.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CKKeung

cat6man

Well-Known Member
Feb 6, 2013
891
995
1,155
west of NYC, east of SF
I haven't been to Shibuya in about 45 years and Tokyo for about 15 years.
I went to high school in Yokohama (it is no longer there, decades ago moved to Yokosuka) and have long promised my younger daughter a trip to Japan as a college graduation present (for me as well),
so off we'll go in May......Akihabara is always on my must-see list but since my daughter discovered vinyl when she started college, we'll hit Shibuya also.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CKKeung

adyc

VIP/Donor
Jan 5, 2013
873
399
973
my experience with those rubber footers was that they were easily bettered by a number of passive footers i have at hand, and my Taiko Tana active shelf with LPS is considerably better than those passive footers.

also significant to my ears was separating each MSB Select II box onto it's own shelf. hard to claim this is absolute in every case, but if the Select II works this way with it's over-the-top construction, it would follow that those others would also be similar.

one issue is the length of the power supply cables and the side to side orientation of which box and which power supply cable input. and for me, also i had to deal with the proximity of my Tripoint Elite and the length of my Thor SE grounding cable.

lot's of logistics to work through to optimize the environment for these products. but then our ears get rewarded.

Mike,

Do you connect ground cable from Select II powerbase to 458 as recommend by MSB? Or connect the ground cable to Troy? I’m interested in your experience.
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
12,471
11,366
4,410
Mike,

Do you connect ground cable from Select II powerbase to 458 as recommend by MSB? Or connect the ground cable to Troy? I’m interested in your experience.
no.

the amps are between my speakers, the MSB is 12 feet away along the left side of my room with my sources (my 3 Studer A-820's are over on the right side of my room). i use the Troy SE with my amps (and ground the passive speaker towers with it too), and the Elite with my sources. originally i had the Elite with the amps thinking that the Elite would have more effect on the amps, but it turned out the net performance was better with the Elite on the sources. i have 2 of the Thor SE grounding cables; one is hooked to one of the MSB power supplies, the other to my darTZeel preamp (which includes 2 internal phono stages).

to connect the MSB ground to the amps would require very long ground cables so i decided to pass on that direction. so i've not tried that.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
my experience with those rubber footers was that they were easily bettered by a number of passive footers i have at hand, and my Taiko Tana active shelf with LPS is considerably better than those passive footers.

Thanks Mike for sharing your experience in footers for the Selects.

May I know other than the best option of the Tana+LPS platform, what passive footers have you tried and your comments on them?

I have reserved a set of Center Stage2 and will try them on the transport after the burn-in.

Thanks again!
 

alfa100

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2014
262
49
258
South Africa
I also believe that physical discs sound better than streaming and computer audio. Experimented with different formats through my MSB UMT V and Analog DAC . Red book CD SACD DSD discs always superior
 
  • Like
Reactions: CKKeung

asiufy

Industry Expert/VIP Donor
Jul 8, 2011
3,711
723
1,200
San Diego, CA
almaaudio.com
Which inputs do you have on your Analog DAC?
 

asiufy

Industry Expert/VIP Donor
Jul 8, 2011
3,711
723
1,200
San Diego, CA
almaaudio.com
So how did you test streaming? Through your transport?
 

alfa100

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2014
262
49
258
South Africa
Congrats. I too have the UMT V Transport and now Aurender. Have u compared

Tidal / Hard drive with MSB Transport to a dedicated device like Aurender or computer ? I’m waiting for my Aurender to burn in at least 300 hours before I compare the same. BTWwhich DAC are you using.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
Congrats. I too have the UMT V Transport and now Aurender. Have u compared

Tidal / Hard drive with MSB Transport to a dedicated device like Aurender or computer ? I’m waiting for my Aurender to burn in at least 300 hours before I compare the same. BTWwhich DAC are you using.
Aurender A100 is new. I don't have any experience on it.

My dac is Select DAC with 33clock and two mono Powerbases.

The MSB ProISL optical connection is awesome.
I agree with you : not easy for a CAS server/streamer to win a MSB transport+dac combo.
 

alfa100

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2014
262
49
258
South Africa
Aurender has about 200 hours. My MSB UMT V Transport is back. I prefer The UMT V. Lower noise floor , black background , liquid easy flow. By comparison the Aurender is slightly forward and a little bright. This exact post is on another thread on WBF
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
Hello Alfa,
Why buying the A100?
I guess you don't need its dac section.
All-in-one must has some compromises.
If it can't better the UMT V, the MSB Ref Transport and Select Transport must be in a league several levels higher.
 

alfa100

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2014
262
49
258
South Africa
Hello Alfa,
Why buying the A100?
I guess you don't need its dac section.
All-in-one must has some compromises.
If it can't better the UMT V, the MSB Ref Transport and Select Transport must be in a league several levels higher.
I bought the X100L for convenience not for sound quality.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
IC.
It's X100L. No wonder.
 

caesar

Well-Known Member
May 30, 2010
4,290
767
1,698
Another way to tell how much better transports are than streaming is via the fairly ubiquitous dCS Rossini Player. (Don't try if you are allergic to "neutral" sonic signatures, like that of the dCS that can sound analytical in so many systems!)

That unit has both a transport and an ethernet connection. The transport is WAY, WAY, WAY better than the streaming option. Amazing so many in the audio media have abandoned transports and pushing streaming.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
Another way to tell how much better transports are than streaming is via the fairly ubiquitous dCS Rossini Player. (Don't try if you are allergic to "neutral" sonic signatures, like that of the dCS that can sound analytical in so many systems!)

That unit has both a transport and an ethernet connection. The transport is WAY, WAY, WAY better than the streaming option. Amazing so many in the audio media have abandoned transports and pushing streaming.

I once compared a Rossini Player as an all-in-one vs a Paganini sacd transport into the dac section of the Rossini Player.
The latter config was way better sonically, especially when playing sacd.
 
  • Like
Reactions: caesar

alfa100

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2014
262
49
258
South Africa
The same with my MSB UMT V transport. It connects to my router with Ethernet and streams Tidal. CD sounds way way better than streaming.
 
  • Like
Reactions: caesar

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing