I probably like DSD overall, though I’ve heard some SACDs that made me cringe, and I am not sure I can go as far to say that DSD is generally superior to PCM. There is some excellent DXD out there, and that’s just PCM. Still, I appear to be settling in on DSD upsampling on the Vivaldi. I like some DXD upsampling, and some stuff sounds better not upsampled, but my sense of timing and sensitivity to upsampling artifacts does not seem to be as acute as Pete’s.
Both the Vivaldi and MSB have SOTA SQ. I love them both. If you held a gun to my head, and forced me to give one up, it would be the MSB solely because it is the heart of my headphone rack. And if I had to choose just one system to have, it would be my speaker system, so that my family and friends could still enjoy music with me. Otherwise, here are some stream-of-consciousness comparative thoughts [and little of it is about SQ]:
Points that favor dCS Vivaldi:
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More vibrant, energetic user community. I really wish MSB would do something to build a community like the one here. It is a real delight.
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Very good technical support inside that community.
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The Vivaldi is set up for improved clocking in a very different way from MSB. I like this flexibility, but dCS is a tad coy about the clock specs one starts with in the basic DAC box. I have found that adding external clocks improves the sense of realism offered by the DAC.
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Overall, dCS seems to be more interested than MSB in providing engineering informatioin about their equipment. And there are way more reviews of dCS equipment than MSB.
Points that favior MSB Select II:
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More versatile. Swappable upgradeable modules make expanding and upgrading the DAC ridiculously easy. And silly expensive.
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More flexibility. Multiple modules, aditional preamp ins and outs. The Select is truly a DAC/preamp.
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I am about to test the following proposition: that the MSB USB solution is superior to the Vivaldi. dCS engineers and most users seem to agree that the dCS network playback solution is superior to the USB implementation, and this comes from the company that essentially invented asynchronous USB. I think the MSB network playback is also superior to USB. Personally, I can’t stand USB. But an awful lot of work has been put into making it decent. And now, MSB has a newish ProUSB module with built-in fiber isolation, that I plan to test out with an EVO432 server. We’ll see how it goes.
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If you like an industrial techno look, the MSB is lovely. If you want something different, the Vivaldi is gorgeous. Both are hefty and solid, but the MSB feels slightly more “whole.” Given that the box is CNC-machined from an aluminum billet, thats no surprise. I am hopoing that BVivaldi’s successor smoothes some of those sharp corners.
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The MSB display can be read from across the room, but it’s not very informative, and it looks a bit dorky. The Vivaldi display(s) are more informative, but are difficult to read from more th 8 feet away. Neither provides cover art. I use Roon; I don’t care.
If network play is unimportant, you could look at the Nagra HD DAC X. I’ve heard very good things about its analog section, but it never made my listening list due to absence of network play [Nagra is repoortedly working on that]. And you might also consider the Meitner; it does network play, takes upsampling to another level, but didn’t seem to me to sound as good as Vivaldi.
FWIW, I would not let the absence of native 256DSD be a deciding point. It wasn’t for me. I think Pete’s point above about procuring music in its recorded provenance, or as close to it as possible, is spot on.
If I had to pick one word to desdribe the MSB, it would be "ruthless.” It reveals everything. If I had to pick one word to describe Vivaldi, it would be “organic” or “lifelike.” I don’t know that Vivaldi doesn’t reveal everything, and something about its presentation allows me not to care.
Bioth have anti-obsolescence support paths. They are different. But you should feel confident in investing in either one.