MSB Dac on the shortlist
 

Time to upgrade my DAC.
Auditioning the Analog Dac by MSB. Its a demo unit, about 3 years old and think i can pick it up for about $13k CDN.
Loaded with all the upgrades including MQA, separate power supply and I2S.

As recommended, running the dac straight to the amp - no pre.
Tried it both ways but have to agree, without my Audio Research pre-amp, it sounds cleaner, more alive.

As MQA is essential, I will be comparing it to the Meridian Ultra Dac.

Any MSB/Meridian owners out there? Interested in your opinion.

Hey Mark - curious if you ended up purchasing the Analog DAC? I had the chance to audition the MSB Reference DAC and hooked it up directly to my amplifiers...I was amazed by the sound. Completely natural, smooth, detailed, yet retaining all of the grit, heft, and transients of the original recording. Very impressive stuff from MSB.

Curious as well, this is a progression contender if I am stupid enough later this year.

I recently had the MSB Reference Dac in my system for a few days. It was equipped with the Femto 33 clock and I hooked up directly to the amps bypassing the Nagra classic pre which I love. This was the best my system has ever sounded. I wanted to go through the pre to compare but couldn't get it done without rearranging the entire system:no:. MSB is SOTA in terms of DAC performance and is a modular design making it a safer investment in an environment where digital moves pretty fast. I have not heard the analog DAC but have read positive reviews from many people. I scared to hear the Select II.

I was only told this and never experienced the sound when ran direct to the amp but everyone I have come in contact with that runs MSB says this.

At the time, my dealer was trying to convince me not to buy the preamp from him I currently own and go with the MSB reference, and would lend it to me but it was a like another 10K dollars more at that point, plus a large group of people, some from here, said go with the preamp.

On my list at some point this year are:

MSB
Nyquist
DCS

Yes i did. Picked it up last week and at a better price than originally thought.
What an amazing dac it is. So smooth, so detailed.
When I upgraded my speakers last year, I found my dac at the time (NAD M51) started sounding harsh, more digital. Dont get me wrong, the M51 is an awesome dac and reproduces music way above its price point.

Nonetheless, the dac was clearly the weakest link in my chain.
I had a chance to audition the Select Dac by MSB at the Axpona Show-2015.
I was completely blown away by how "analog" the sound was. No indication I was listening to a digital file whatsoever

Unfortunately, the price tag of the Select Dac was way out of my league. Fortunately, Vince Galbo was there and we started talking about the Analog Dac.
Vince thought the Analog Dac with the separate power supply would produce about 80% of what the Select can do. Vince suggested adding the volume control and removing the pre amp from the chain.

He was right and wrong, imo.
Right in the way the Analog delivers much of what the Select can. Wrong in his suggestion to remove the pre.

I have a ARC Ref 3LE and in an a/b comparison, the pre added a greater sense of space and air over the dac being direct to the amp.

I also have the MQA upgrade which is a must in my opinion.