The 7th February, something is coming?

dCS Products
407

I would need a little time before agreeing that it is “precisely” the same as the Vivaldi Upsampler, but directionally that seems correct.

My (limited) understanding was/is two key functions of the Director are (a) if you run multiple inputs. If you have multiple input modules going into MSB DACs theoretically things could get noisy. You can now move all those inputs to the Director, and isolate them, and then push them to the DAC via one isolated fiber connection. In that sense, I agree that this is similar to the Upsampler. However, if you only run one input, e.g., Roon, to the DAC, you can do that with the ProUSB fiber link and don’t need the Director.

What is more interesting is (b) more advanced filters/DSP. They seem to be saying that since the DD has much more processing horsepower, they can pull some DSP into the Director and write/execute more sophisticated filters. I’m not competent enough to explain this further (and open to hear from others!)

MSB Reference and Select DACs both process high resolution files–DSD 2x, 4x and 8x–without the need of another external box (Upsampler, if it could process higher res).

MSB has a compelling product architecture: completely separate power supplies, complete isolation of network effects, high accuracy clock, complete input/output modularity. This dramatically simplifies and reduces cabling expense and the spend on expensive, aluminum chassis (plural).

I was at the cusp of purchasing a Reference DAC, but had an opportunity to purchase a Rossini at an attractive price, and that’s how the cards fell.

I’m very pleased with my Rossini, it’s an incredible DAC, just IMHO, MSB is also a good choice.

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408

I was being a little facetious of course :laughing:

That said, Vince was quite clear in the vid; that MSB’s R2R/DAC reconstruction/analog side is already at measurable limits beyond what’s audible today, and that improvement would come from better source Digital Signal Processing - That was the first thing he started talking about regarding the DD, not isolation, ports, noise, Clocking etc., all that came after.

Give it a listen.

I’m sure they do. I don’t really know the internal architecture of the MSB DACs; A quick google search suggests some 80-bit internal oversampling before the analog reconstruction.

Google also brought up this from a 2018 Mono & Stereo interview;

Upsampling. Yes or no?

Honestly, it used to be yes–but now it’s a hard no. In the early days, upsampling in our products boosted sound quality. But as we improved our digital filters, clock technology, and DAC technology, it started to hurt. Therefore none of our new products have separate upsampling filters anymore.

I can see why they would avoid calling the DD an “Upsampler”, but the DD’s website explanation sounds pretty much like it;

… the Digital Director uses two high performance DSPs, each capable of sustaining 12 billion operations per second that work in tandem with two dedicated FPGAs. This is more than 4x the processing power currently available in the DACs onboard processors, extending the life of new and existing DACs well into the future.

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409

I agree @Anupc .

What was interesting to me in the video was that Vince basically said that they, MSB, did not see many areas to improve the core DAC or clock, because measured results were already so high/accurate. That is a profound thing for a high-end manufacturer to say.

It does seem that with the DD they are moving to an approach where now DSP and related software would be upgradeable through the DD…

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Ironically, it’s a testament to dCS’ Apex upgrade! (Prior to which I wonder if dCS might have suggested something similar about their analog stage :grin:). Given enough time MSB might feel differently as well; I assume their DACs are modular enough for an analog section retrofit-upgrade like Apex?

MSB’s choice of DSP/FPGAs on the DD is quite interesting. Similar to their DACs, it looks like they use Analog Devices’ SHARC+ DSP and Actel ProASIC3 FPGAs - points to some specific DSP coding expertise from years ago. Supply chain issues around volume shipment of these chip is probably a major problem though.

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Actually, the entire analog stage is removable/replaceable by anyone in the MSB Reference and Select DACs.

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412

Seems pretty impressively modular and user serviceable. MSB owners must be quite a happy bunch :smiley:

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413

Yeah, I think the modularity of the MSB systems in general is a strong selling point. And also for MSB, it’s an easy way to roll out hardware upgrades. It’s a fine system.

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414

I thought about MSB as well as dCS but my dealer here in the UK told me they had previously had some reliability problems and their customers were not happy, but did not go into details, although they no longer stock the brand. I placed an order for a Vivaldi instead, and from what the dealer tells me they are very reliable.

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415

I haven’t heard or read that. Always have to be careful with what “former dealers” might say about brands they once carried. Grain of salt, etc. I’ve owned my MSB Select II longer than my Vivaldi. Zero problems with either, and happy with both.

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416

Or ANY dealer (!)

; )

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417

I was between Rossini and Reference when I bought my Rossini.

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I was too. Someone local to NYC wanted to try the Playback Designs Dream DAC, which resulted in a used Rossini becoming available, and the price gap v new Reference was too compelling.

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Well, well…

I am pleased to report that both dCS and my dealer have (in my view) excelled themselves…

Kudos to dCS for delivering my Rossini Apex upgrade components to my dealer within 2 months of placing the order…

and also to my dealer for completing the upgrade, and installing the newly ‘Apexed’ Rossini in my system within 2 working days.

Clearly it’s early days, but I’m impressed with what I’m hearing now, so I look forward to hearing how the sound evolves during the (200+ hours) burn-in process.

PS I should probably also post this in an Apex thread, so I’ll do so.

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