Review MSB Premier with Director - Silence of the bits (2024)

Review

Specs

Review MSB Premier with Director - Silence of the bits (1)

Intro

Contents

Fact: we have entered a class where every detail counts. Both listening and measuring-wise, this was a pretty tough review. But we do love a challenge at Alpha Audio. We review and analyze the MSB Premier dac, along with the Digital Director. What this is all about? No worries: we explain.

MSB Technology is an American high-end brand of converters and amplifiers. The company is based in Silicon Valley. Led by Jonathan and Daniel Gullman, the company has been designing and manufacturing high-end audio for about 25 years now.

Modular

What we immediately noticed is that the design of the dacs is completely modular. So you can very easily change inputs yourself. This is particularly friendly, since a system is not always a static entity. Suppose you would like to start with streaming. With an MSB dac, that’s very easily done by inserting a streaming module in an empty slot. Very nicely done!

Also, the upgrade path is kindly arranged. According to importer Very Fine Solutions, you only pay the difference. The ‘old’ dac is also taken back. No hassle selling your old dac. We don’t see that very often.

Own design

Not many dac manufacturers really make their own dac chips. There’s a good reason for that: it’s quite complex. Some examples of manufacturers who do it all by themselves are: dCS, Sonnet, Grimm, Mola Mola and… MSB.

Now it’s going a bit far to go into complete detail here. But simply put – and MSB explains it that way in their white paper – their ‘Sign Magnitude Ladder DAC’ does not work the same as a regular ladder dac. The main difference is that the ‘bits’ are basically already ‘half loaded’ (i.e., around the 0 point). The charge is then adjusted to the desired level. According to MSB, this works better because that is where our hearing is most critical – zero crossing point – and only small adjustments are needed. This results in fewer errors at the end, since with a ladder the accuracy depends on the sum of all the errors in the ladder.

Now there are many roads to Rome and the ladder itself is only one part of the whole chain. And after countless mails back and forth with Jonathan from MSB, we know that MSB has many more developments of their own, including the femto-clocks, pre-processing of the digital signal, and their filters, of course. Both in the Director and the DAC itself, MSB uses filters that they unfortunately – but understandably – don’t want to tell us very much about. In particular, this is about pre-processing where the necessary magic happens (our words).

The director

Speaking of the Director (16500 for the Premier DAC). Surely this is a wondrous little box. What we at Alpha Audio have talked about regularly is keeping out noise and other nasty influences. Dacs and streamers in particular can suffer greatly from this. Keeping out (common mode) noise helps improve playback quality.

MSB has developed the Director for this purpose. An additional component to which you connect everything. The Director then has two important connections to the DAC: a data link and a clock sync link. These are both optical to achieve complete, galvanic decoupling.

The beauty is that everything adjusts itself: you connect the Director and the MSB Premier (31000 Euros) in our case, immediately sees that it is a slave of the Director. Inputs are automatically recognized and settings are not necessary.

By the way, you can turn the filtering of the Director on and off. This is audible. Which one you prefer is up to you. Just like there is a Video mode for watching movies. The internal latency then goes from about 260ms (we saw during the measurement sessions) to 6ms, which is no longer audible.

Related Posts

Review Technics SL-1500C - playing vinyl seriously easy
Review System Audio Legend 40.2 Silverback and Primare SC15 Mk2 - an active combination
The review world needs to change now! (And for this reason)

Type test

Single Test

Inputs

  • Digital Coaxial
  • Digital Optical
  • Digital AES
  • Digital USB
  • Streamer ethernet

Outputs

  • Analog XLR

Product type

D/A-converter

Max samplingrate

3072 kHz

Max bit depth

32 bit

Weight

21 Kg

Dimensions

  • Width: 43 cm
  • Depth: 30 cm
  • Height: 5 cm

Production country

United States

Measurements

MSB Premier - Impulse - 24-44 - with director - passthrough

MSB Premier - Impulse - 24-44 - video mode

MSB Premier - Impulse - 24-44 - normal mode

MSB Premier - Impulse - 24-44 - with director

MSB Premier - Imaging 24-48 - normal mode

MSB premier - imaging - 24-48 - video mode

MSB premier - imaging - 24-48 - Director passthrough

MSB premier - imaging - 24-48 - Director mode

MSB Premier - Freq response - Video Mode - 24-192

MSB Premier - Freq response - Director Video Mode

MSB Premier - Freq response - Director Mode

MSB Premier - Freq response - 24-192

MSB Premier - dynamic range

MSB Premier - Director Passthrough - Freq response

MSB Premier - THD_N vs Freq

MSB Premier - phase response

MSB Premier - phase response theatre mode

MSB Premier - noise and interference

MSB Premier - noise and interference - 24-192 with Pasithea

MSB Premier - noise and interference - 24-192 with director

MSB Premier - noise and interference - 24-48 - video mode

MSB Premier - noise and interference - 24-48 - Director

MSB Premier - noise and interference - 24-44- video mode

MSB Premier - Lineairity

MSB Premier - Jtest - Director Mode

MSB Premier - Jitter 24-48

LEAVE A REPLY

Log in to leave a comment

Review MSB Premier with Director - Silence of the bits (2024)
Top Articles
Introducing Legion, the Intelligent Workforce Engagement Platform
Gmail: prywatna i bezpieczna poczta e-mail do zastosowań biznesowych i niezwiązanych z pracą | Google Workspace
How Much Does Dr Pol Charge To Deliver A Calf
Mopaga Game
Cad Calls Meriden Ct
Sarah F. Tebbens | people.wright.edu
Poe Pohx Profile
MADRID BALANZA, MªJ., y VIZCAÍNO SÁNCHEZ, J., 2008, "Collares de época bizantina procedentes de la necrópolis oriental de Carthago Spartaria", Verdolay, nº10, p.173-196.
De Leerling Watch Online
Explore Top Free Tattoo Fonts: Style Your Ink Perfectly! 🖌️
Craigslist Motorcycles Orange County Ca
Panorama Charter Portal
Union Ironworkers Job Hotline
Booknet.com Contract Marriage 2
97226 Zip Code
Hdmovie2 Sbs
*Price Lowered! This weekend ONLY* 2006 VTX1300R, windshield & hard bags, low mi - motorcycles/scooters - by owner -...
Barber Gym Quantico Hours
Ivegore Machete Mutolation
Amazing Lash Studio Casa Linda
Providence Medical Group-West Hills Primary Care
European city that's best to visit from the UK by train has amazing beer
Bill Remini Obituary
Mythical Escapee Of Crete
Prot Pally Wrath Pre Patch
Silky Jet Water Flosser
Malluvilla In Malayalam Movies Download
2015 Kia Soul Serpentine Belt Diagram
Craftsman Yt3000 Oil Capacity
Dl.high Stakes Sweeps Download
Free Tiktok Likes Compara Smm
How Do Netspend Cards Work?
Hoofdletters voor God in de NBV21 - Bijbelblog
Mobile Maher Terminal
Ma Scratch Tickets Codes
Ark Unlock All Skins Command
Unlock The Secrets Of "Skip The Game" Greensboro North Carolina
THE 10 BEST Yoga Retreats in Konstanz for September 2024
Zasilacz Dell G3 15 3579
WorldAccount | Data Protection
Colorado Parks And Wildlife Reissue List
Cocorahs South Dakota
How Big Is 776 000 Acres On A Map
Advance Auto.parts Near Me
Amateur Lesbian Spanking
Upcoming Live Online Auctions - Online Hunting Auctions
Used Sawmill For Sale - Craigslist Near Tennessee
All Buttons In Blox Fruits
10 Best Tips To Implement Successful App Store Optimization in 2024
Cryptoquote Solver For Today
10 Bedroom Airbnb Kissimmee Fl
Metra Union Pacific West Schedule
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Geoffrey Lueilwitz

Last Updated:

Views: 6239

Rating: 5 / 5 (60 voted)

Reviews: 91% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Geoffrey Lueilwitz

Birthday: 1997-03-23

Address: 74183 Thomas Course, Port Micheal, OK 55446-1529

Phone: +13408645881558

Job: Global Representative

Hobby: Sailing, Vehicle restoration, Rowing, Ghost hunting, Scrapbooking, Rugby, Board sports

Introduction: My name is Geoffrey Lueilwitz, I am a zealous, encouraging, sparkling, enchanting, graceful, faithful, nice person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.